Hangar Flying => Hangar Flying => Topic started by: Kilo42 on April 01, 2005, 12:49:26 AM
Title: Replacement tube
Post by: Kilo42 on April 01, 2005, 12:49:26 AM
Are there any compatible tire tubes (front or back) that can be found at local stores? i.e. Wal-Mart etc...
Or is a call to Ken Miller and Express Mail my best bet?
Kilo42 Long-Ez N81HM
Title: Replacement tube
Post by: Kilo42 on April 01, 2005, 04:27:19 AM
Well, once again I sort of answered my own question. Wal-Mart is out of the question. Especially at 2 o-clock in the morning.
I suppose a little more detail of my story might be required. You see, I have recently became a new owner of a quality built Long (Herb Sanders does great work!). A pioneer Long you might say. You see it's one of the first ones completed. It's a proven performer that's as smooth as baby's milk. I have been studying these aircraft for about a year now and have been reading everything I can get my hands on. But like many before me could not appreciate the fine details of lessons learned. Well here's another I told ya so.
Wanting to prove to my girlfriend that this flying machine could significantly cut down on travel time and increase our time together, I could not wait to fly to Shreveport for a visit. Off to the airport I go to un-hangar my new plane of two days. Pre-flight was completed by the checklist. Cockpit arranged for ergonomic placement of charts, gps, pencils etc...Strapped in the cockpit I ran the run-up checklist and taxied for departure. Pre-takeoff checks complete and I'm rollin'. The day was perfect. Early morning air and a scattered to broken layer at 030 made for a smooth climb and beatiful scenery as I climbed on top. 170 knots and 25 minutes of smooth air had me touching down at my destination. (2.0 hours by car)
So far so good. She picked me up out front and off we went for a bite to eat and then home for the required 'haven't been home in a week or so' festivities. Three hours later the yard was cut, weed-eated, flowerbeds cleaned out, new flowerbeds made, leafs raked, and a trip to the local nursery to buy more plants. What did you think I was talking about? :lol:
Well the time hade come for me to return home. You see, I have to be at work by midnight and a few hours of sleep back at home station would be nice. When we got to the airport I asked, "Would you like to come and see the plane?" Not knowing what to expect as she is not aviation oriented, she strolled out to take a peek. As you might have guessed her idea of an airplane does not look like this one! These words followed "What in the He!? is this thing?" and then the dreaded "Death Trap" statement. Oh no! Things are going south and I mean fast! What do I do????? Hey I know, relax. Let that 18 years of military Top-Gun, pick'em up at the O-club, smooth pilot talk cool the situation. And so I started with the safest airplane ever designed, ramp comparison, economical, dependable, Space-ship One thing. (She's still not happy with it)
Proud of myself and eager to get home I loaded up, ran it up and called for taxi. Cleared for taxi I throttled up went three feet and then Boom! The airplane settled a little on the nose and basically stopped. What? Systems checked ok. A peek through the nose door window and there sat my little nose wheel on the RIM! A few choice words later and a feeling of being literally stranded the "I told ya so's" set in.
I have read over and over again about the mis-fortunes of others and the necessity of putting together an emergency kit for times just like this one. If I would have taken the time to get my airplane outfitted with the required items instead of being in a hurry to show its capabilities this problem could have been easily solved. As soon as my plane is back home, my "kit" will be the first item of business.
Fortunately for me there was a Med-Evac bird from my unit there and was able to give me a ride home at which time I found out I didn't have to go to work after all. :?
Kilo42 Long-Ez N81HM
Title: Replacement tube
Post by: Ken on April 01, 2005, 10:30:27 AM
The usual culprit here is insufficient air pressure in the nose tire, and the rim then damages the tube (and tire) when you touch down or make a turn. After happening three times to me in the early years of flying my now 2000 hour Long Ez (twice during landing rollout, and once during taxi), I became compulsive about checking air pressure before every flight, by squeezing the nose tire. If you can dent it by squeezing, probably not enough pressure. Since I have been doing this, and filling it regularly, I haven't had any further problem. For a long time I carried a spare inflated wheel/tire/tube, but don't anymore. This has been the only thing in 2000 hours that has grounded me on a trip.
Title: Replacement tube
Post by: Dan Patch on April 01, 2005, 12:29:06 PM
I'll vote with Ken who just about covered the topic. Low air pressure generally is the problem, particularly in the nose tire which, because of it's low total volume is prone to losing air at a considerably higher rate than the mains. Given that it's generally tucked up out of sight, more time than you would like to think can go by between checks unless you become "compulsive" about checking - which obviously is an excellent idea!
More than enough electrons have been wasted on battling over the "proper" air pressure in the past, so I'm not going to go there except to note that the value called out by Burt in the POM has always worked fine for me, and that I've seen some numbers that seem a mite on the "holly @&%$, where did you come up with that number?" Ken's "if you can dent it, it needs air" test is a good one.
I always carry a inner tube for the nose and one for the mains. On cross county trips I usually also carry a main tire (unmounted) because my little 3.40x5 isn't available at your friendly FBO. The only flat I ever had on the road in 1900+ hours was in Mojave with a pinched main tube that should have blown months earlier (my bad!). With 100 other canardians around it wasn't too hard to get it fixed. :)
So, stuff happens (generally at an inconvenient time) and you get a bit wiser (sometimes) in the process! :roll: Just keep in mind, you're REALLY gonna enjoy your Long-EZ! :D
So welcome aboard & with luck we'll cross paths on a ramp somewhere!
Title: Replacement tube
Post by: Hank Clark on April 01, 2005, 06:29:04 PM
Well Kilo, I'm too new at this canard thing to help with the tire pressure, but I was fascinated with the non-flying lady's first impression. I guess the moral of the story is to prepare the person for what they are about to see. Personally, I am absolutely smitten by the sleek looks of my friend's complete and flying Long EZ and I always show people that aircraft when they want to know what I'm building. But non flyers need a little preparation I guess. Plus, let's face it, if she saw it with its nose on the ground, you were asking for trouble. I suggest we all learn the art of tying the nose to the ground with the gear extended for the bennefit of the uninitiated. Your blown tire is a small problem. Here I am, married to a lady whose only comment about my airplane is 'it's in the way' despite all my promises about the wonderful places this machine will take us.