Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:26 am
by gyroron
Yesterday was a terrible day for me and my waiex. Could really use some solid advice here from folks that know more than me. Have airframe and jabiru engine issues to sort.
So went to a fly in yesterday, and was aware of a storm drain grate in the middle of a taxiway from the hangars to the runway. Just wasn’t aware that there was two of them… went to leave and while taxiing out, the tailwheel fell into the grate, got caught and the force snapped it off.
The whole assembly was wore out to start with, and back in mid March I ordered a entire assembly new from Peter Anson out of Australia. It’s still sitting at the post office in Australia now, for coming up on 2 months.
The assembly snapped off where the steal portion that slides onto the tail spring, is welded to the steal portion the tail fork pivots on. The pivot bolt was also bent a little and the lower portion of the fork that the bolt goes through was all jacked up, although this tail wheel assembly catches on everything because it’s so low so this may have already been messed up to start with. The steering rod was also slightly bent.
We stopped the plane and got out and lifted the tail and walked it up to a friends hangar.
I used his mig welder and was able to weld the assembly back together. Probably and certainly not a world class weld but good enough I felt to get me home. Put in a new bolt for the pivot and actually, once all done the assembly was a lot tighter and less sloppy than it was before.
So then I reinstall it on the plane and more issues began to surface.
First off the tail wheel is no longer centered with the small rudder above it. When the wheel is centered the rudder was over quite a bit to the right. I could not remember it being this way before. That got me to looking closer at the ( I’m guessing titanium spring rod ) and how is it attached to the plane… then I see where it looks like the rod itself may be slightly pulled out of the steel assembly bolted to the inside of the rudder hinge area / rear of the plane.
I have no idea since I didn’t build the plane or get plans with it, how that rod is secured. But there is a line visible on the rod where it looks like it might have been further up in that steel mounting assembly.
Then when I look at the steel assembly, it looks like it might be slightly pulled back and or bent upwards as well. There is a piece of paint missing on that piece just above where it appears to be deformed.
I don’t know how that part is supposed to look.
I also don’t know how you would remove it to replace it or service it. I see quite a few bolts holding it on, but if there is normal nylock nuts on the inside of the plane, I don’t know how you could get in there and hold them from turning.
We decided to make a new steering rod, because the one on the plane was non adjustable. We were able to make one that centered the wheel with the rudder.
I taxi the plane out to the runway, took off and flew back to my airport and taxi back to my hangar no problem. And handling wise it seemed just fine.
So then the next issue crops up.
While in the pattern to land at my airport, when I reduced the power to idle as I am turning base, the engine starts to lose power and I had the notion it might flame out if I didn’t add some throttle. Did it again after turning final so was keeping a little power in till I knew I had the runway made. Once I landed and was slowed to where I could u turn and back taxi to my hangar, the engine surged again and acted like it was going to die.
Parked in front of the hangar and it was surging at idle and very low throttle opening. Got out my phone and video it and it actually died while recording the video. It acted like it was running out of gas…
I double checked my fuel level , was nearly full, and removed the gas cap ( to rule out a blockage of the tanks venting system ) and hopped back in to restart and it had no effect the surging and wanting to die was only getting worse.
Leaning the mixture or going full rich had no effect either.
Any ideas? It’s a jabiru 3300 with a aeroinjector.
I did take some pics of the fuel filter and see it hasn’t been changed since 2016. If I had to take a guess I would guess it might be clogged up and causing a loss of fuel pressure to the aeroinjector. But was weird that in flight there was no power or running issues till I throttled back down to idle. But while on the ground in front of my hangar it seemed to be wanting to die even with the throttle opened up partly.
Anyways. I hate this crap. I don’t mind tinkering on the plane some but hate chasing issues and being responsible for fixing things I am not sure of the problem that’s causing the issue. So I turn to your folks for help!
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:29 am
by gyroron
I posted this on the sonex Facebook page as well with likely better pictures and video.
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:31 am
by gyroron
This forum is messing up the pictures!
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:32 am
by gyroron
Pics are sideways or upside down
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:40 am
by gyroron
Tried to load video of the engine running poorly but it won’t load
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:41 am
by gyroron
Skin on rudder above rudder horn seems like its is buckled slightly
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:42 am
by gyroron
Fuel filter, where would I be able to get a replacement
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 9:02 am
by Rynoth
I hate to say it, but I think disassembly of the tail post may be in order, or at the very least, replacement of the welded fitment for the the tailwheel in the tailpost. It’s not an impossible task but it’s not an easy one either. This service bulletin may be helpful in showing you how those parts are connected:
https://www.sonexaircraft.com/files/pdf … rawing.pdf
The tail wheel mount is attached in 2 places. #1 at the aft of the tail post where you can see it bent outwards, and #2 at another angle inside the fuselage. If the post was forced aft, there is probably damage at that angle inside the tail at #2 as well.
I’m really sorry that this happened. It must have been a heck of a jolt in the cockpit.
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 9:25 am
by Rynoth
gyroron wrote:Skin on rudder above rudder horn seems like its is buckled slightly
I’m trying to imagine if that skin buckling is related to this incident. If the tailwheel steering pushrod was also pulled aft with significant force, I could imagine the stub-rudder being forced to full deflection to the right and beyond, which “might” have put stress in that area of the rudder but it’s hard to say for sure.
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 11:08 am
by tx_swordguy
Can’t help with tw assembly however the jab issue sounds like the fuel filter needs changing or replaced. You may not find the exact one so your plumbing may have to be changed. I have a cleanable filter from summit racing with a wire disk to strain the fuel. I clean it at least once a yr or any time I have it off. I would also look at the plugs they may be fouled out.
Mark
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 2:05 pm
by WesRagle
Hi Ron,
gyroron wrote:But was weird that in flight there was no power or running issues till I throttled back down to idle.
By all means, change the filter if it is time to do so.
Since you have a gravity feed system and the engine ran fine during high power operation the filter probably isn’t the issue (yet). When you reduce power to idle the fuel will take much longer to pass through the hot engine compartment giving it a lot more time to absorb heat and vaporize. So, sounds like a typical case of vapor lock (AKA the “burps”) as it presents itself with AeroInjector type carbs.
Ref: http://sonexbuilders.net/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=5586#p42337
Best of Luck,
Wes
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 6:30 pm
by racaldwell
Sorry to hear about your troubles.
I have a new fuel filter from Earl’s Racing that I was going to install on my CAMit 3300. A friend saw it and said he had an extra filter that came with is fuel pump system. So he gave it to me. Much larger so I’m using it and have the one I bought from Earl’s sitting in the hangar. If your interested, let me know.
Rick Caldwell
Xenos 0057
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:09 pm
by pappas
Regarding your tailwheel assembly. I’m sorry, you are having trouble. I have also dropped the small tailwheel into a grate. You are not alone. Luckily I didn’t have that kind of damage but I would bet others may have. Don’t despair.
I have built 2 Waiex’s. Now, I know this will sound like a lot but it really isn’t. If that was my bird, I would remove the rudder, and simply drill out the rivets holding the aft 12 to 16 inches of the aft fuselage side and bottom skins. That should give you all the easy access you need to complete the fix. (Watch the videos on how to drill out stainless rivets without enlarging the existing holes. Even if you mess that up, just use the next oversize rivets to reassemble).
Assess the damage, as you may have a couple of bent longerons, and replace the entire tailwheel mount assembly right through to the tailwheel. Go for a bigger tailwheel because the small ones just suck in a lot of ways other than their light weight.
If you don’t like the rudder skin anymore, you can likely just straighten it. If you prefer, the replacement rudder skin kit is inexpensive and you can then say that you built a part of your aircraft. The rudder should take a couple of hours to finish if you use new parts. Straighten it out in about 15 minutes.
The plan pages are available and there are a lot of guys that will send you a copy. The whole job should be able to be done in a day. At worst an easy disassembly on one day and reinstall the next. Even by a novice. If you have some friends with regular mechanical skills…one day.
Remember, if it is made of metal, a big hammer can fix it!
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 8:58 pm
by GordonTurner
I believe Wes and Lou have the correct solutions to your two problems. Unfortunately I recently sold my extra tail wheel mount. Sonex will sell you the weldment, but Peter Anson makes one that it is far superior if you can get it.
Gordon
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 7:37 am
by gyroron
Thanks for the replies folks.
I spoke to a few " Experts " and although a good inspection inside the plane is warranted, the general consensus is the parts on the plane now are probably going to be okay to leave as is. Obviously the tail wheel assembly should be replaced, and I have already a new one on its way to me from Peter Anson… But that the rudder skin, and possibly bent steel fitment that is bolted to the rear of the plane should be fine to leave as is.
I would have to drill out some rivets to even get a look inside there, that or some type of camera system?
As for the engine, IDK… This was probably the warmest day I have flown the plane since I bought it, but I have a hard time believing it was vapor lock. There is literally only maybe a foot worth of fuel line that comes through the firewall, and goes straight into the aero injector. And it has fire sleeve on it. Seems like there shouldn’t be enough fuel line on the hot side of the firewall for heat to cause vaporlock. And it started doing it in the pattern after a 30 mile flight. Outside air temp at the time was maybe 78 degrees.
I think the most logical thing is the fuel filter may be clogged up. Just luck that It didn’t clog in flight, and just started to clog once in the pattern.
IDK, of course that seems fishy too, how does it SUDDENLY clog… and not do so when higher fuel flow is needed such as during takeoff and climb out and even cruise flight.
I hope to get out there maybe tonight after work, or tomorrow and see if the plane will start and run normally. Then remove the fuel line from the aero injector and try to run some type of test to figure out how much fuel the line flows… then replace the fuel filter and redo the test to see if the filter was actually blocked up some.
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 9:42 am
by tx_swordguy
Ron, for no other reason than time in service, change the fuel filter. It may have been getting just enough fuel to the carb with the majority of the filter clogged. Vibration could have shifted some sediment to cover up the only part of the filter allowing fuel to get through. also check the plugs. I tend to think fuel but plugs are easy enough to check/replace. Since it was already running at a high rpm prior to going to idle (when the problem started) I am doubtful it is ignition related. However I have seen cars hide a miss at a higher rpm and would not show it until it was at idle. My belief is the faster rpm just “carries through” the combustion process since it is happening so fast at the higher rpms and the next cylinder just picks up the slack of the missing one. Once at idle each cylinder is needed to keep the combustion process moving smoothly or it stumbles or dies. (I am a shade tree mechanic so take that for what it is worth). Hope that helps
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 9:45 am
by Rynoth
gyroron wrote:I would have to drill out some rivets to even get a look inside there, that or some type of camera system?
The fairing that’s between the top of your rear stabilators should be removable (likely with machine screws.) If you remove that fairing you can use eyeballs (and maybe a mirror) to inspect the tailwheel mount. It’s standard (for me anyway) to remove this fairing on condition inspection to check the stabilator attach points.
Also, depending on when your Waiex was completed, there may be an inspection panel on the bottom fuselage skin near the tail. If it was finished prior to the Service Bulletin for the tail being issued, builders had to cut a new hole to gain additional access to the tail post bolts.
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 10:46 am
by GraemeSmith
tx_swordguy wrote:Ron, for no other reason than time in service, change the fuel filter. It may have been getting just enough fuel to the carb with the majority of the filter clogged. Vibration could have shifted some sediment to cover up the only part of the filter allowing fuel to get through.
What Mark says here and what I said on your FB post where you elaborated that the fuel filter had not been opened since 2016. It’s a dirt cheap and simple check to do. And awful expensive one to overlook if a clogged filter is what it is.
Following in a constructive tone - not to start a flame war… : And as I also said on FB - three Condition Inspections and no one thought to open the filter to examine it? Honestly? That’s an accident waiting to happen.
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 10:59 am
by Onex107
Rough idle with a hot engine. It would run fast, like leaning out, then slow, like getting richer. It wouldn’t idle below 13-1400 rpm without dying. Only after a flight with everything up to temp on a warm day. It was an easy fix. My AeroInjector started doing the same thing when the weather warmed up. My fuel line is longer and enters on the front side (prop side) of the injector and was insulated very heavily. More than just fire sleeve. I have been through all the “burp” problems and thought I had it solved. The only thing that is not insulated is the AeroInjector it’s self. So I added a blast tube to the end of the AeroInjector where the fuel line enters. I was like day and night. No matter the temp, it now idles fine after a flight. The blast tube also admits cooler air to the Injector and that is a plus, I think. I had to conclude that the alum body of the Injector was getting hot enough to cause some vaporization at the needle or in the shut off orifice. I do burn car gas and it seems to have more problems with vapor than 100 LL.
Re: Had a bad day with my waiex, airframe and jabiru issues
Posted: Tue May 19, 2020 7:51 am
by gyroron
GraemeSmith wrote:
tx_swordguy wrote:Ron, for no other reason than time in service, change the fuel filter. It may have been getting just enough fuel to the carb with the majority of the filter clogged. Vibration could have shifted some sediment to cover up the only part of the filter allowing fuel to get through.
What Mark says here and what I said on your FB post where you elaborated that the fuel filter had not been opened since 2016. It’s a dirt cheap and simple check to do. And awful expensive one to overlook if a clogged filter is what it is.
Following in a constructive tone - not to start a flame war… : And as I also said on FB - three Condition Inspections and no one thought to open the filter to examine it? Honestly? That’s an accident waiting to happen.
Yeah, who knows how well they did the inspections. I know that The log books showed the battery had just been replaced a few months before I bought the plane and I had problems with the battery not giving me more than 1-2 good starting attempts before the battery would be drained down too low to really crank the engine over fast enough to start… I kept having to pull the cowl to hook up jumper cables. Long story short, the battery was old. Was manufactured years earlier and was defective, only producing about half or even less than half of the amps a new replacement produced. I don’t think the battery was ever replaced, that or the seller pulled out the new battery and installed the old one before I came to look at the plane. So who knows how well the rest of the inspections were done.