Hello Coupers, Well today was gorgeous and I went out and did some things to the Coupe that I had been wanting to do (move some things around under the dash, secure any wires hanging down, etc.) and then I thought it was time for my first lesson. Well, we *almost* made it . . .
We did a pre-flight and found water in the gascolator. Every time we would check it it would still have a little water. We ended up taking the bowl off and emptying cups full, each time seeing water. It seemed like the gas had kind of "absorbed" the water since each time we would find more (usually after it was swished around in the cup a little- you could almost see it "fall" out of the gas into a little puddle in the bottom of the cup.) Eventually we just drained the whole header tank and poured this into my old little Honda Civic (it was Mogas) and filled the header back up with 100LL. We also cleaned the bowl really well. Fortunately my instructor is an IA (and also the FBO) so it was a learning experience for me and he had all the proper tools (like the slick wire twister pliers for putting the safety wires back on the gascolator.) We did taxi the plane some and plan on flying in the morning. The previous owner always had the plane tied up outside without a cover over the header cap and I'm pretty sure the water got in through the header cap where the wire sticks up through for the gauge. Any ideas on sealing this or putting something over it that won't blow off? I could buy another cap and use that but then I would have to switch back and forth each time (which I suppose I would have to do with any cap I put over it.) It would be slick to have something I could attach over it so it wouldn't blow off and it wouldn't have to be heavy. Love the 'Coupe more all the time. Now that I have the underside of the panel all clear (except for the slim radio between my knees) my 6'7" frame fits really well. Want to imagine something funny? View me facing backwards with my feet sticking out of the windows trying to get my shoulders under the dash so I could do some work under there. I had to practically do a gymnastic routine- hope no one video taped the view from outside the plane or it might just show up on some cable network somewhere! Keep it light! Joa www.deschutes.net/~co291 "Vaircraft/CH-601 Building Page" _________________________
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