MAINTENANCE ITEM #28 - NEWSLETTER #56

(by Lee Beery)

We have had many inquiries about modifications that members have done on their VG-21 aircraft. The following is a brief description of mods that we are aware of. We have photos of some and documentation on a few. If you have one or two photos of any of the mods that change appearance, please email to us to help complete the info.

1. Stabilizer shimming (corrects inability to trim aircraft for level flight, decreases drag)
2. Plexiglas top for canopy (increases visibility)
3. Landing gear strut fairings (decrease drag)
4. Increase hose size to oil cooler (reduces oil temp)
5. Replace starter with Sky Tech unit (easier start up)
6. Replace fuses with circuit breakers (some fuses and fuse holders are no longer available)
7. Install step (assists in stepping up onto wing)
8. Add hand grip to cockpit latch mechanism (makes opening hatch easier from the inside)
9. Starter operation indicator (indicates when starter solenoid is powering starter — hung start)
10. Low oil pressure light (indicates when engine has lost oil pressure; also indicates master is on when engine is shut down)
11. Low voltage indicator (reverse current relay and voltage regular replaced by single unit with indicator light)
12. Stall warning light (extends wire/lamp from stall warning horn/unit to instrument panel)
13. Shoulder harness (adds A-frame to front seat structure)
14. Carb air box support (supports forward part of air intake box to reduce cracking)
15. Engine baffle rework (adding hole to baffle reduces man hours to replace engine mounts rubber cones)
16. Slide-out chart table (adds pull-out table under instrument panel)
17. GPS fold-down table (installs fold-down table on side wall for portable GPS)
18. Cockpit stowage box (container that attaches to battery box for charts, etc.)
19. Aileron trim tab (replaces bendable tab with Van’s RV type trim adjustment)
20. Rework headsets for noise canceling (installs kit to cancel out engine noise)
21. Battery box (relocated to engine compartment)
22. Oil cooler (relocated to front of engine to make room for battery box)
23. Cherokee fuel system (prevents fuel siphoning from one tank to the other)
24. Wheel pants on all three gear
25. Engine change to 160 hp
26. Sliding canopy
27. Rear seat storage area
28. Instrument post lights

FOOD FOR THOUGHT ... “How Long Can An Airplane Sit?”

When shopping for another airplane, the following questions kept coming up: How many hours has it been flown in the last few years? How often is it flown? Of course the prevailing thought is that it is bad for an airplane to ‘just sit” and not be flown (corrosion and other types of deterioration). But this raised other questions: How often SHOULD an airplane be flown to keep deterioration to a minimum? If you know you won’t be flying for a month/several months/a year, what do you do to prevent deterioration? Various procedures/techniques were discussed: (1) engine heater; (2) heated hangar; (3) 15w/50 oil; (4) pickling.

What is your minimum interval between flying? What are your temperature considerations and how do you handle them? What special products do you use during down times? Do you use a battery tender?. . . if so, do you always use it? or just when you know the aircraft will sit for more than a few days? Tell us what you do to keep deterioration to a minimum between flights or when you don’t fly for significant periods of time.