Heavy Maintenance

[Ultralights]

gday, im in the process doing a bit of maintenance on my VG, for its 1000 hrly, i have found lots of surface corrosion, nothing serious, just little spots everywhere, also, the instrument panel is being rewired and upgraded, also part of the 5 year rubber replacement, i have also replace all the rubber fuel lines within the aircraft also..

 

more worringly i have found corrosion on the lift strut attach plates, the plates between the wing spar and the lift strut, where it is held by the large bolt. i will have to remake the plates, also, the undercarriage material is showing signs of corrosion on top of it where it rests on the rubber mats and blocks under the fuselage,

 

this now brings me to a dilemma,

 

how do you jack and support a Savannah so i can remove the Undercarriage structure, and also remove the lift strut to spar joining plates?

 

I am thinking of large surface area wooden trestles under each wing, and a tail support to remove the undercarriage, any other suggestions??

 

 

[rick morawski]

gday, im in the process doing a bit of maintenance on my VG, for its 1000 hrly, i have found lots of surface corrosion, nothing serious, just little spots everywhere, also, the instrument panel is being rewired and upgraded, also part of the 5 year rubber replacement, i have also replace all the rubber fuel lines within the aircraft also..more worringly i have found corrosion on the lift strut attach plates, the plates between the wing spar and the lift strut, where it is held by the large bolt. i will have to remake the plates, also, the undercarriage material is showing signs of corrosion on top of it where it rests on the rubber mats and blocks under the fuselage,

 

this now brings me to a dilemma,

 

how do you jack and support a Savannah so i can remove the Undercarriage structure, and also remove the lift strut to spar joining plates?

 

I am thinking of large surface area wooden trestles under each wing, and a tail support to remove the undercarriage, any other suggestions??

This is how I do it-

 

Have someone push down on the tail and slide a saw stool/ trestle under the firewall, using some blocks so the blocks only touch the firewall and not the angles or omega.

 

Then you can jack up the back at the main gear, or have a couple mates carfully lift the back up by the main gear, and put a trestle in under the rear fuse close to the the main gear. use some padding. You can now remove the discs and calipers and lay them aside without disconnecting the brake line. then remove the main gear. Be careful not to be too rough so it doesn't move on the trestle.

 

The strut attachments are a bit easier. (don't do it at the same time the plane is up on trestles as you may have to tap the front strut out) First remove jury strut and then front lift strut. The wing will be OK on just the back strut. The strut attachments can be removed with a small 1/4" drive ratchet with a 3/8" socket. You can only get one hand in at a time so you have to get creative about using the ring spanner to hold the bolt head. Use vise grips to make an extension or tape the ringy to something so you can hold it in, it's not too hard just gotta be patient. I would get replacement bits from ICP so you know they will fit first shot.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Cheers

 

Rick

 

 

[rankamateur]

I would get replacement bits from ICP so you know they will fit first shot.

Got to love CNC manufacture, the plates shouldn't even brake the bank unless you want them in a week.

 

 

[Ultralights]

Got to love CNC manufacture, the plates shouldn't even brake the bank unless you want them in a week.

fortunately i am a structures guy by trade, so it wont take long to make up some during my lunch break!