January 2000 - American Bonanza Society

wing root is a curved thin pipe for one vent into the airstream.Nearby, in a recess, probably protected from icing, is a secondvent. These two join together going to the tank. Outboard ofthe tank is a third vent. At places are one-way valves to preventfuel from venting overboard. Interestingly, all three vents eventuallyjoin, entering the bladder through a single nipple. Theobstruction was at thi s spot, causi ng a panial block of all vents.The prolonged full power climb with high fuel flows was probablyenough to create a partial vacuum and di slOrt the bladderand fuel gauge indication. I was too new to this engine to havea good feel for how much of the partially filled tank I had actuallyused.Now for the "Fate is the Hunter" analogy. Had this happenedbefore I switched tanks doing the ILS into P-Town, wou ldI have been smart enough 10 switch tanks over the harbor? Sixmiles from the nearest shore over cold water, I like 10 think that2,500 feet would have given me the time 10 figure tbis out.Had [ not tried a "high key" at 1,500 feet, would I havemade the runway? Had I made a wide pattern like so manypeople do, would I have made the runway? Had I not been incoordinated flight, would I have been able to use 2.5 of the 3gallons of unusable fuel ? (Remember, J could have tried to slip10 lose the extra altitude.) Had I put down full flaps when Iturned final, would [have made the runway? Many people putdown half flaps on base and fuU flaps turning final.Some people talk about a no-flap approach until you havethe runway "made." That is essentially what we do on an ILSin the Bonanza. Why not in the pattern? Had I transferred fuelfrom the tip tanks or been more tuned in to what the fuel gaugeshould have shown, I wouldn't even be writing this.Yes, instead of routinely switching to what appeared to bethe fullest tank for the landing, I shouldhave been more aware of fuel usage andtimed the climb, but that familiarizationwith the new engine wi ll become part ofme as it did with the old.At any rate. I'm here, the plane is backflying. The GAMls go in tomorrow and apitot-static check in three days, then backto the routine. -@.-- Elliott SchiffmanMAINTENANCE EXPERIENCES,comililled from page 6033the stud (empty) end which caused erratic,higher resistance. Dilige nt workwith cotton swabs and electronic contactcleaner removed the crud and tarni sh.The wires are quite small and easily disturbed.so 1 scrubbed along the wires, notcrosswise to them. Finally. I scraped themetal around the rivet holes and theground lug to ensure a good ground contactwith the airframe.After reassembling the unit, its resistancevaried smoothly. Problem solved'Reinstallation in the tank was simple,although safety-wiring the mountingscrews is tedious since space is tight. OurA&P inspected our work and functionally checked the circu it to finish theproject with the proper log entry.This effort was educational and muchbetterthan buying the Rochester kit fromBeech at some unholy price.1111n! a sloner solenoid problemA few weeks ago on a quick turn aftera fli ght. the right engine wouldn'tstart. It wouldn't turn over at all. No clickor anything. I suspected the starter sole-noid was the problem, but it was late ona Friday- no chance for a shop to fix itor get pans until Monday. So [checkedfurther.Pressing the starter button put batteryvoltage at the solenoid, but prodUCed noresponse. I took out the solenoid (original1960 equipment, Guardian Electric PIN348 lOA) to check its coil resistance. To mysurprise, it wasn't shorted nor was it open;the reading of 110 ohms looked reasonable.Why didn't it work?I noted two plastic covers on the unitthat could be easily removed. The lowerone, big and rectangular, enclosed theheavy contactors that carry juice to thestarter motor. The contacts were onlyslightly tarnished, but I cleaned them anyway.They moved freely within the coil andmade good eleclrical connection.The top cover was circular with asingle safety wire. Inside was a verysmall pair of contacts on a leaf spring. Aresistance check revealed the contactswere not "contacting" about II 0 ohmsinstead of zero.A simple cleani ng restored good continuity.Great, but what do these contactsdo? The solenoid, it seems, actually comprisestwo co il windings. The small contactsare normally closed, connecting thewindings in parallel. That draws a highcurrent to provide maximum magneticforce when the starter button is firstpressed.Pressing the starter button causes thearmature to snap the bottom contactorsclosed very rapidly with a loud click. Armaturemotion also opens the small topcontacts which cuts out one winding, reducingthe current through the solenoidto a level that just keeps the startingcontactors closed.Interestingly, this "sustaining" coil isnot strong enough to move the armaturewhen you first press the starter button.Both windings are needed. So if the tinycontacts atop the solenoid get dirty, thething won't work. This isn't mentionedanywhere in the Beech manuals (whicbin my opinion are poorly written).Re-assembly was routine. The top capuses safety wire and the bottom coveruses jam nuts. I put it back in the airplane,connected the starter wiring andmade sure my A&P was happy with thework. At several hundred dollars to needlesslyreplace the solenoid, plus labor,thi s is a very simple repair that saved abunch of money!-@.--Page 6048ABS January 2000