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Hand layup and vacuum bag with epoxy resin and fire glass cloth can get very near the efficiency of aluminum. Again someone has to make the molds, but the result will last a lot longer than trying to weld aluminum. Someone ambitious could create replacement left and right front corner parts...

The adiabatic compression of a monotonic (single atom per molecule) argon filled strut will be slightly different (which way I don't recall) from a diatomic nitrogen filled one. The gamma in an adiabatic compression is different for a monotonic gas vs a diatomic gas such as nitrogen. It is...

Maybe roller lifters might only be a partial solution to Lycoming cam problems? If nothing else, the Hertzian stresses on the camshaft running on a radiused follower would be higher than if the same cam profile was running against a simple tappet flat surface. My own WAG is that it may well...

If you can identify an oil leak to be at a particular through bolt, have a mechanic check the torque on that bolt. If it makes specified torque, it is probably OK to ferry. If it doesn't, no way would I ferry it.

Think of the ETOPS consequences at United:(

In industry its called "tramp oil". It can minutely ooze thru anything and will go everywhere.

OP - A clarification pls: Does the compass always read 10 or 15 degrees too high, or too low? Or are there directions that the error cancels out? If it reads the same amount and polarity of error in all directions, that would suggest that the internal magnet has slipped (or been...

You don't simply machine bore aircraft cylinders with a boring bar. The fins on the outside of the cylinder are machined thougyh. I would look really hard on the ring and ring gap, and the piston ring lands. And is the spacing of the inside marking identical and correlated to the fins on...

How about trying for a low level parallel to the non existent beach cartwheel into the tree-shoreline interface? I can swim if not knocked out. If I am out it isn't gonna hurt anyway. Crack open doors before crashing.

After a solvent wash and dry, just smear the strut w full strength STP. It really reduces friction of elastomeric seals. DAMHIK.

A crosscheck scheme using the old LORAN system would eliminate spoofing. Fiddling with that 100 KHZ signal would require a huge antennae - not anything portable.

But the fatigue damage problem isn't just the students occasional +2G (a pretty bad bump) vs 1 g static. The important "special event" in its fatigue history is where the loading goes to Minus 1 g. There are not many of those very significant cycles in the average fatigue history.

The loosening torque for a #2 locktab is just as bad as safety wire. If bolts 5 were long and with nuts, there would be preload. Having three would be even better. Being only two and short & with direct threads into aluminum it is a marginal design worthy of a Harley.

There would also be a reduction in max output power, which would reduce takeoff performance. This has already been given by others as a reason not to more widely use MoGas, but a slight reduction in allowable gross weight would accomplish about the same thing.

That wasn't the alternator design I encountered. This one (what's it from?) is much worse. What are they thinking? Short bolts, directly threaded into the crankcase, relying on safety wire to keep from coming apart, and only two fasteners co-linear (should be at least 3 in a triangle...

And the front mount of belt driven alternators on 4 cylinder Lycomings can be expected to give trouble. The resonant frequency of the alternator on the mount I tested was about 80 Hz which would be excited by the engine's second harmonic at 2400 rpm. The whole engine squirms about it's CG at...

How sad to be so close ........and yet so far.....!

Flame spray really only has a mechanical bond to the substrate material. It is still porous so its ability to support bearing loads on an oil-journal bearing would be very poor, and would do nothing to restore the mechanical properties of an undersized crankshaft. My experience with it is with...

Hmmmmm.... Originally I said OK for mag checks in the air over flat country, but I'd never do it with anything except my own aircraft. Maybe because looking for maintenance issues? I haven't rented for 53 years.

Another quick worthwhile mag test would be at idle (on the ground). The idle won't be smooth if the points are bad or any other marginal components.