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[April 5, 2020]


I started on the 2020 annual conditional inspection today with taking care of something that has been needed for a while - new tires. My old tires were quite worn down, missing tread in spots - so new retread tires. I also installed new inner-tubes. My previous tires had a pretty terrible shake to them at any taxi speed above 15kts. I bought a wheel balancer at Harbor Freight (used for motorcycles) and some balancing weights off of Ebay. It was a pretty straight forward process with each wheel requiring 1oz (4 - 1/4oz weights) exactly where the valve stem was. I also took the opportunity to install new brake pads as the old ones were running on the thin side. And of course my favorite messy activity - repacking the bearings with grease.

I also installed a new PC680 battery. My old one was cranking a little slower than I thought it should, and at a little over $100, I consider it cheap insurance. The old battery had a metric hex capscrew on it (with metric threads) which I never really liked. The new battery came with a 10mm metric bolt. 10mm is just slightly larger than 3/8", so with a file I made the 10mm bolt a 3/8" bolt! It's nice to use a common set of tools for general and field maintenance.

Finally I broke in the brakes and did a quick flight. WOW - the wobble in the wheels is GONE! Balancing really paid off.
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Last Modified: October 5, 2024