Does the ES have any "areas of concern" for my 1st condition inspection

[Doug Snider]

In a few weeks, my new to me Super ES (#82) will be going in for it's first Condition Inspection since I bought it. My mechanic has worked on lots of Cirri and a Columbia. We were wondering if there are any characteristic problem areas, weak areas, wear areas or areas of concern that have become apparent over the years.

The tape over the gap at the wing root has started to fall apart. I found a 3M tape that appears to be similar. Is that the correct material? I did one side by myself on a windy ramp and didn't get a very smooth application; too many bubbles and folds. Is there a technique or trick to a neat job?

I have gap seals everywhere except that the top part of the gap seal on the left elevator is missing. What is the product and where can I get more? Is it a simple glue it on application?

My door latch mechanism is of an earlier style, as I understand it. It has rods that move laterally, fore and aft, into holes in the door frame. The inner handle seems to have very positive control for locking and unlocking. However, the exterior handle seems very loosely connected. I'm concerned that I won't be able to open it if I get it fully latched down. When I'm traveling and need to leave it tied down, I just barely engage the pins and put a cockpit cover on. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Does this sound as though there is something wrong and is there a solution?

[George Wehrung]

Well congratulations on the ES. I think it’s one of the best kits Lancair ever sold.

There areas of concern:
- check torque on spar bolts
- check torque in engine cradle to fire wall bolts
- check torque on engine cradle to nose strut

Tell you what, send me an email to gw5@me.com and I will send you a copy of my inspection

Gap seals. I don’t use them. Messy. Haven’t seen any that last more than a year or two before the fade and look ratty

Wing root to fairing seal. Any type of silicone that is ok for fiberglass.
- tape off the area on either side of gap. Squirt the material into the gap and smooth it with your finger or some other corner caulking tool.


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[J.C. Peterson]

Other than the usual areas covered in Appendix D to Part 43 and those George mentioned, I would add the shimmy damper and checking for play in the main landing gear leg sockets. Both are areas that seem to be overlooked regularly. Otherwise the ES is a pretty simple and easy-to-maintain airplane.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/c ... 0Part%2043

[George Wehrung]

I did forget the door latch mechanism. Yes the inside is tighter than the out side the inside latch is connected directly to the rods that go for an aft into the Airframe to secure the door. I have the same design. The outside door latch is more of a collar with a slot to where you have to get near the end of the travel before the slot engages to the pin, that connects to the inside door handle. And when you rotate it enough, the spring action takes over and throws the rods to either retract or lock in a poor man’s over center type of a mechanism. What typically happens is there is a very hard but brittle Allen socket screw that breaks from over pressure. You need to order a kit from Bob Pastusek that will allow you to rotate the inner latch if that screw breaks. If that screw breaks, your outside handle will come out easily and you have no way to open the door from the outside. With his kit you can insert it to the outside portion of the door and it allows you to rotate the inside door handle to open up the canopy door. Keep it in the back where you can access it from your luggage door. If you don’t have that kit and your handle brakes then you have to crawl into the airplane from the luggage compartment or return with a rod to try to pull your inside door handle.


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[Doug Snider]

Thank you gentlemen. I'm starting my condition inspection this afternoon. I'll let you know what we find.

[Ryan Riley]

All good info posted. I disagree with George "Jorge" as my wing gap is pretty big, so I want the laminar flow. I did a bunch of glider flying a long time ago, so I prefer to use the glider tape because it is inexpensive, takes 15-20 min to do both wings (lower and upper), and comes off really easy. The tape that the previous owner used hardened and was a major PITA to remove. I'll post some pics of what the glider tape looks like. And it holds up to 180-200 kts. The tape has no rips or tears, but I'll redo it probably every 6-12 months just because it is easy to do.

Other things that sometimes people omit are packing wheel bearings, and lubing the control rod ends and linkages.

[JamesMunafo]

J.C. I am interested in your reference to "shimmy damper and checking for play in the main landing gear leg sockets.". Can anyone post a picture of what you are referring to. I asked my Mechanic and he did not know where one could place the a shimmy in the main landing gear leg sockets to prevent shimmy.

James Munafo Jr.

[George Wehrung]

James,

There was a theory that the shimmy that many ES owners experience comes from the the main landing gear in that the sockets could be drilled out to their maximum diameter but within tolerances and that the main gear legs could be at their minimum diameter but within tolerances and that could lead to 'slop' for lack of a better term. But, I am attaching pictures of the shim material that I did use between the gear leg and the socket. It's basically very thick aluminum foil. It made no difference in my situation. Your likely causal factor for the shimmy could be from the following:

1. Landing too fast. should be between 78-84 knots in the flare depending on weight.

2. Improper hardware and torque used on all the nose strut attach hardware. You should be using the heat treated stop nuts anywhere in the engine compartment, not the nylock stop nuts as the nylon can heat up and loose its torque.

3. The nose strut may not be attached to the engine cradle per the build manual. There are a lot of planes where they used one-piece of think aluminum between the spherical bearing block and the engine cradle whereas you should be only using a thin washer "L" series where the bearing block is not fully touching the engine cradle. The side plates of the cradle likely heated up during all the welding of the tubes to it causing some distortion and the bearing block does not fit fully flush inside of the cradle. When the AN4 and 3 bolts are properly torqued the block will distort and cause the spherical bearing to not seat properly. In my plane I have one thin washer per side and not on the same bolt.

4. Ensure all the draglink and the attach bolts to the engine cradle and nose fork are properly torqued. Must check each year.

5. Ensure the engine cradle to firewall bolts torque are checked at each year during the condition inspection.

All of the above were wrong on my plane. Once I addressed each of those, no more shimmy.

see pics.

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[George Wehrung]

additionally, you should be doing the nose strut servicing each condition inspection as well. These struts need to be overhauled every 5 to 10 years depending on how much you fly. The fluid gets dirty and the small orifices that affect the anti-shimmy and self centering get clogged.

Basically, you do the following:

1. build a grease filled skid plate to turn the nose wheel side to side with a tow bar and normal weight on the nose. Two pieces of steel that won't flex with 600 lbs of nose weight and put grease between the plates.

2. lift nose, slide plate under nose wheel, lower nose onto plate. attach nose tow bar and swing side to side about 45˚ left and right, no more. Should move easily and smoothly. If it doesn't move smoothly, your strut needs attention.

3. Turn nose off to left or right. Remove tow bar. Lift nose off of skid plate and observe nose wheel self centering as strut extends. Then do the other side. If it does not self center your strut needs attention.

I am happy to send you some videos.

[JamesMunafo]

George, thanks so much for those pictures! I only had a very bad shimmy when I replaced my strut from one popular source, but then got ahold of Bob and had him build me one, which he indicated was his last. That seemed to take care of the problem...mostly. I still feel a slight one now and then, but very minor, so I am still cautious.

I will have my mechanic take a look at the areas you suggested, like the heat-treated stop nuts, vs nylock stop nuts, and the thin washer L series...proper torqued bolts etc.

I don't have any comparison, but it just seems to me that if I put a little pressure on the engine/nose area directly sideways, the front seems to wobble back and forth a bit much for my liking, but it could be just me. Perhaps addressing tightening up the front bolts might help?

James Munafo Jr.