bobgoodman
New member
I'm about ready to annual my cruisemaster.
today i ran the compression test and rebuilt my tailwheel suspension. the bushing that holds the locking collar and provides for the spring to move up and down had slipped down a little bit and i was operating without a steering tailwheel (which was an interesting story as i woke up after sleeping on the seat with my feet sticking out on the wing on my last night bringing it home with no right brake, since i was at a deserted airport i made up a cocktail of motor oil and jet fuel and poured it into the master cylinder. it worked fine, the hardest thing was pouring it in through that tiny hole with a funnel made from a piece of paper).
also, the oleo was frozen up from sitting so long i guess and i put it in the press and loosened it up so it works ok now. the thing is that there is not much weight on the tail so the strut is fully extended unless you put a lot of pressure on the tail. i just want to know if that's normal for a cruisemaster. the adjusting screw in the top tube is stuck and i can't easily reduce the spring pressure, so if it's not a problem i plan to just leave it alone. i don't have the numbers in front of me from the weigh-in, but it wasn't much, even with the extra weight on the battery box. it has a big tailwheel and i didn't put much air in it so i have some shock absorption there.
after 40 years of sitting in oil and then about 30 hours of flying my compressions were very good. the motor has about 300 hours on a factory overhaul so it's pretty new, and the lowest compression was on number 5, at 73 over 80. all the rest were 75 or better. i need to run it some more after it is licensed and check it again, but since it doesn't use much oil i feel pretty good about the motor. before i ferried it i cleaned the plugs and measured the gap, i didn't need to adjust any because they only have about 300 hours on them and they looked like new. the electrode is still round, unlike the plugs in my rv8, and they tested good on the plug pressure testing machine. i know small wire plugs are the rage, but those massive plugs last forever. i can testify they will run good long after they fail the gauge tool test. on my rv, of course, i would never put an old "worn out" plug in a certificated airplane. that would be illegal.
i wanted to look at them because i wanted to see if i have been running it too rich. my leaning is dependent on my ear and a single egt probe on cyl #5, and i am definitely running it rop, but the plugs looked good, didn't even need cleaning but i had them out so i figured wth. i have to lean it a lot on the ground to make it idle good. the motor runs good and sounds very good. you got to love a 6 cylinder motor. except at overhaul time.
i think i am ready to have my ia out and walk it through with him. i have a long ad list, most of them are for the engine from the various continental fiascos from the 90"s and don't apply. the most interesting was from the 70's. it consisted, as far as i make out, to see if the ailerons were hooked up backwards. i think the only recurring ad i have left is the wood deterioration ad (which takes a good while if you follow the directions). the rudder bellcrank was replaced years ago, i have the new part number and theres no elongation or play. let me know if you know of a recurring ad i have missed. I use that avant computer program and it's up to date.
theres a lot to go through on the annual. i used the general low wing bellanca inspection checklist since i couldn't find one specially for the cruisemaster. it was in the packet of info i got with the plane. the former owner (don vaughn, some of you may remember him, he was a member of this club) was a pack rat on bellanca literature and a copy of most everything about cruisemasters you can find on the internet was printed out and included, including an article in an old magazine that showed my plane being built in 1957 and some pictures of it when it was new. i don't know what drug the guys who test flew it were using, but i want some. they were pretty gaga about it and reported some amazing performance figures that i can't match.
it's been fun, and i think it will pass muster pretty well. and i am still very happy with it. i know this is a long post and nobody's interested, but i was ready to read a new post on this forum and decided since nobody else had anything to say i would post one myself.
it was a good day today. i even went flying (in my rv, over to borrow a compression tester, i have one but it's home made and i only use it on my rv)
bobg
today i ran the compression test and rebuilt my tailwheel suspension. the bushing that holds the locking collar and provides for the spring to move up and down had slipped down a little bit and i was operating without a steering tailwheel (which was an interesting story as i woke up after sleeping on the seat with my feet sticking out on the wing on my last night bringing it home with no right brake, since i was at a deserted airport i made up a cocktail of motor oil and jet fuel and poured it into the master cylinder. it worked fine, the hardest thing was pouring it in through that tiny hole with a funnel made from a piece of paper).
also, the oleo was frozen up from sitting so long i guess and i put it in the press and loosened it up so it works ok now. the thing is that there is not much weight on the tail so the strut is fully extended unless you put a lot of pressure on the tail. i just want to know if that's normal for a cruisemaster. the adjusting screw in the top tube is stuck and i can't easily reduce the spring pressure, so if it's not a problem i plan to just leave it alone. i don't have the numbers in front of me from the weigh-in, but it wasn't much, even with the extra weight on the battery box. it has a big tailwheel and i didn't put much air in it so i have some shock absorption there.
after 40 years of sitting in oil and then about 30 hours of flying my compressions were very good. the motor has about 300 hours on a factory overhaul so it's pretty new, and the lowest compression was on number 5, at 73 over 80. all the rest were 75 or better. i need to run it some more after it is licensed and check it again, but since it doesn't use much oil i feel pretty good about the motor. before i ferried it i cleaned the plugs and measured the gap, i didn't need to adjust any because they only have about 300 hours on them and they looked like new. the electrode is still round, unlike the plugs in my rv8, and they tested good on the plug pressure testing machine. i know small wire plugs are the rage, but those massive plugs last forever. i can testify they will run good long after they fail the gauge tool test. on my rv, of course, i would never put an old "worn out" plug in a certificated airplane. that would be illegal.
i wanted to look at them because i wanted to see if i have been running it too rich. my leaning is dependent on my ear and a single egt probe on cyl #5, and i am definitely running it rop, but the plugs looked good, didn't even need cleaning but i had them out so i figured wth. i have to lean it a lot on the ground to make it idle good. the motor runs good and sounds very good. you got to love a 6 cylinder motor. except at overhaul time.
i think i am ready to have my ia out and walk it through with him. i have a long ad list, most of them are for the engine from the various continental fiascos from the 90"s and don't apply. the most interesting was from the 70's. it consisted, as far as i make out, to see if the ailerons were hooked up backwards. i think the only recurring ad i have left is the wood deterioration ad (which takes a good while if you follow the directions). the rudder bellcrank was replaced years ago, i have the new part number and theres no elongation or play. let me know if you know of a recurring ad i have missed. I use that avant computer program and it's up to date.
theres a lot to go through on the annual. i used the general low wing bellanca inspection checklist since i couldn't find one specially for the cruisemaster. it was in the packet of info i got with the plane. the former owner (don vaughn, some of you may remember him, he was a member of this club) was a pack rat on bellanca literature and a copy of most everything about cruisemasters you can find on the internet was printed out and included, including an article in an old magazine that showed my plane being built in 1957 and some pictures of it when it was new. i don't know what drug the guys who test flew it were using, but i want some. they were pretty gaga about it and reported some amazing performance figures that i can't match.
it's been fun, and i think it will pass muster pretty well. and i am still very happy with it. i know this is a long post and nobody's interested, but i was ready to read a new post on this forum and decided since nobody else had anything to say i would post one myself.
it was a good day today. i even went flying (in my rv, over to borrow a compression tester, i have one but it's home made and i only use it on my rv)
bobg
