Too little flying - Am I damaging my a/c?

[loansharkblv]

Ok, so here is the deal – I live on the coast and my position requires that I work myself to a standstill.

In has happened previously that when I do have some spare time the coastal weather does not play along usually leaving me in a bad mood…… (especially when the WX predictions have promised a fantastic weekend and I have cancelled all my other plans)

Where that leaves me is that I often go for a month or two without flying whatsoever – Notwithstanding the facts of HPL’s what are the inherent dangers of leaving a trike for this period?

I consider myself an extremely cautious person so after these periods I do a THOROUGH pre-flight before getting airborne. Engine run-up usually last me a good 5 minutes and thereafter for the first 5 minutes or so I stay n the circuit and within EASY gliding distance in the event of an engine out.

As these things so often happen I have been made aware on two separate occasions recently that by not running the engine for this period I may be putting myself at some risk – Is there any truth in this statement and if so how do I minimize my risks?

I guess the easy answer would be to go out to the airfield once every two weeks and run the engine which I am prepared to do but is that really necessary?

[Smiley]

Hello Bryan

Yip, I do beleive you get hangar rash. Some general things I look at long and short term.

Some things I'll check is the forming of water in the fuel(should be checked anycase).

Cracks form on rubber parts, but this is usually long term standing results

It's good practice to "lubricate" the engine when standing for a while. The easy way is to cut the motor after flying using the choke/enricher.

I've seen trikes that have been standing for 2 years . The ropes holding your battons in place started to break. So if my trike were standing for let say a year, I'll replace those.

[DarkHelmet]

Fuel is the major culprit, more to the point - water in the fuel. If I have not flown for a month I drain the fuel, start her up and let her run dry. A month is maybe a bit overkill but lawnmowers cannot fly and the premix works great for it!

[Morph]

It is true that 2 strokes need to be run regularly to stay reliable. One thing I would check is your carb float bowls everytime. The fuel evaporates and a white crusty substance has been known to develop especially under the floats themselves where they touch the aluminium body. This can cause blockages and engine outs.

Do like Smiley says, kill the motor with the enricher to boost the oil level.

582's are motor prone to corrosion inside the motor than 503's

Your fuel filter can also dry out and gunge up.

If anything, I would try to run the motor twice a month, even if you do not fly.

Finally, life's too short, get out there and fly more

[Fairy Flycatcher]

Have a look at your Rattex manual. In your Operator's manual, page11-1, there are clear instructions on what you should do if you don't intend to fly for 1-4 weeks, and the following page is for longer than 4 weeks. So besides the rest of your aircraft, its bad for the engine to not fly regularly, and you should take special care if you are not going to fly for a while.

Engine Preservation......


11.1.1) After each flight

- Activate choke for a moment before stopping engine
- Close all engine opeings like exhaust pipe, venting tube and air filter to prevent entry of contamination and humidity


11.1.2) At engine stoppage of 1-4 weeks


- proceed with preservation prior to engine stop or on the engine at operating temperature
- let the engine run at increased idle speed
- shut engine down and secure against inadvertent engine start
- remove air filters and inject approx. 3ccm of preservation oil or equivalent oil into the air intake or each carburetor
- restart engine and run at increased idle speed for 10-15 seconds
- shut engine down and secure against inadvertant engine start
- close all engine openings such as exhaust pipe, venting tube and air filter to prevent entry of contamination and humidity

11.1.3 At out of service periods or storage of engine for longer than 4 weeks up to 1 year
- proceed with preservation prior to engine stop and on the engine at operating temperature
- let the engine run at increased idle speed
- remove air filters and inject approx. 6 cm3 of preservation oil or equivalent oil into each cylinder and slowly turn crankshaft 2-3 turns by hand to lubricate top end parts. Refit spark plugs.
- drain gasoline from float chambers, fuel tank and fuel lines.
- drain coolant on liquid cooled engines, to prevent any damage by freezing
- lubricate all carburetor linkages
- Close all openings of the engine like exhaust end pipe, venting tube and air intake to prevent entry of dirt and humidity.
-spray all external steel parts with engine oil

Engines don't like to be idle

[kb]

There are also cases where I don't fly the trike for a while, like now I am looking at 5 weeks. I have asked someone at my hangar's, that when they are there, just to turn the prop a full 360, and a bit. The "bit" is the important part. I cannot tell you why, I'd hav to kill you. This at least stops the insides getting to confortable, and by turning the prob, lubricates the insides. I also aggree with Morph, start it after a whiile, if you can, and try fly more.

P.S. Beaut conditions here today - did another 2.4 towards my IF rating.

[Tumbleweed]

You could always do it the lazy way like me. Crappy weather, or at night;

1. Remove loose objects from hangar,
2. Push trike to deepest part of hangar with doors fully open, start, rev high.
3. Switch off, move to oppsite side of hangar, fan facing the door, start and rev.
4. Any angles missed, repeat no 3.
5. Do next pre- flight and fuel up in case you're always late like me.

Hangar cleaned, no stress before next take-off.

[loansharkblv]

Hi All,

As always thank you for the invaluable information –

Delta VV, Not sure that I would be quite happy with point 5

Do next pre- flight

Like I said I am over cautious (probably to the point of being anal) and I would be very hesitant with doing this even if I was in my own private, lock up hanger.

I assume what you meant was that you do a MAJOR pre-flight when you lock up and a more basic one before the flight…