Pre-flight items you never thought about: Piper Comanche

After owning Our 1967 piper Comanche 260B for 8 years, these are the things I inspect that are not listed on any POH!

[williammagill]

You say you are not a mechanic, but I feel if you were, you would be a good one! Excellent video. I’ve been flying complex aircraft for 20 years, but I picked up some good ideas from you. Also, your video could apply to any plane, so I’m sure everyone who flies could benefit from it. Never too old to learn! Thank you sir.

[RR-klsl]

I'm looking to buy a Comanche and as a new beginning pilot these kinds of videos are extremely helpful !! Thanx man

[CaptainJaison]

Your Comanche and mine were made around the same time haha I have 48P! lol
It's cool knowing that I do the same things during my preflight. Fly safe my friend!

[kyliepug]

Thanks for the great video….will definitely help me improve my preflight moving forward!

[TbirdP]

Excellent video. I’ll be sharing this with my Comanche-flying friends. Something all aircraft owners could learn from.

[jeffmandery]

This guy is 100% spot on, all pilots should do exactly what he says. kinda put your hands on everything, and think critically. A sloppy pre-flight can get you killed.

[theflyinglife]

Thanks so much. As a newer Comanche owner I appreciated this. Also based at F70 and have Bradford taking care of the plane!

[sugebzzy]

This was a great video. I have a 260B myself so this helped me rethink my pre-flight.

[robasen]

Fantastic video... I'm awaiting delivery and closing on a 260. This is so valuable..thank you!

[johnelliott]

Great video, point being check yor plane completely at least monthly.

[antoniobranch]

Aircraft: "They are Heaven in the air. But, Hell on earth."....I own a Comanche. You taught me a lot.

[EtiRats]

Great stuff, nicely done! Just one ? regarding that Cylinder 5 overheat you found - the baffling hole that you plugged to cure it is beside Cylinder 6 (rear right). I know airflow does strange things around engine compartments, but seems a little odd that the leak was on the other side to Cylinder

[Lee-rpkk]

Do you use your cowling support rods? Oh, I guess you did at the end of video. Nice clean engine compartment. Mine is 9233P.

[tombrotherman]

The key to learning a complex system such as an engine is break it down slowly. Be satisfied today that you know it's an engine. Tomorrow learn that it uses air. The next day learn that it the air needs to go through a filter. The next day learn that it the air goes into the engine and has to come out. Everyday (or whatever timeframe), learn something new. Learn what it is, what it does, why it's there, how long it should last, and why the "idiot" who designed it 20-30 years ago used that material (because that was the best available at the time, or planned to fail, or the designer was an idiot..) Somewhere along the way you'll realize you know a crapload about a complex system. What's cool is that when you think you know it all you can find another rabbit hole to go down and learn something else. Moral of this story - You can learn if you're willing to, and you should always be learning.

[i.r.wayright]

The four bolts securing the air box to the servo are too short and the safety wire job looks questionable. There is an improved baffle seal material that is very slick on one side and that is the side that contacts the cowling. It reduces the level of vibration that gets transmitted from the engine to the cockpit. I had a customer with a Cherokee that said it made a fair amount of difference. The wire insulation discoloring is just the age process, coupled with the heat inside the cowl after you shut down on a hot day. You want to look for cracks in the insulation as the plastic hardens due to age. The wires are not getting hot from carrying normal 12 volt current. They have a relatively short distance to run anyway. The alternator output wire is the one to watch. I had one short due to the rubber part of an Adel clamp failing. It was under the 1&3 cylinder and hard to spot. The alternator mount bracket is notorious for breaking and/or the bolt holes wearing. Some heat shrink tubing of the right size might stiffen up that static wick. You said you wash the plane a lot. The aileron rod end bearing you showed looked dry. They will last longer if you put a drop of oil on them occasionally instead of waiting until the annual. I recommend looking up in the tail pipe with a flash light to see if there is any distortion of the metal where the heat muffs are installed. And while you are looking over the exhaust system, check the pipe flanges at the cylinder head for any brown dust deposits and any dark line indicating a crack from between the fins around the spark plugs. Also check the nose gear steering stops (if they are still there and not knocked off already.) It doesn't take much for a line guy to damage them with a tug. If the brake bleed fitting came loose it was not tight enough to begin with. Lastly, I recommend some kind of CO detector. Lightspeed has a new headset with a built in detector, how cool is that? I was in a PA39 headed from PA to Nashville once and I could tell CO was coming from the Janitrol heater in the nose. Back at the base we found someone had welded a crack in the burner can. That is not allowed either.
BTW, my background is 42 years in the business (now retired) A&P, I.A. D.O.M.

[philipmacduffie]

Does your aircraft have the correct airbox on it ? Why does it have carb heat?

[leeoldershaw]

This is not really a pre flight check but more like a 100 hrs or annual.