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Spares

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:17 am
by fastj22
After one year and 70 hours of flying, I'm finding there are some things that are handy to keep in inventory in my spares box. Some are because I needed to swap out and bought an extra, some are just because I thought it would be good to have.

A spare tire and tube
Oil pressure sender
Fuel cap
An opps fitting

What's in your spares box?

What do you take with you on cross countries?

Re: Spares

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:14 am
by MichaelFarley56
Great question! For most of my local flying I don't really carry much in the airplane, but if I'm going on a long distance (for me, over 100 nm) trip and I know the airplane will be parked outside and tied down (such as Oshkosh or Crossville), I'll generally carry the following:

1. Tie down kit (The Claw)
2. Sonex canopy cover
3. Extra quart of oil
4. My travel tool kit, which includes:
- assortment of tools, including sockets, wrenches, screw drivers, pliers, etc.
- assortment of spare parts, including lots of AN bolts, nuts, washers, cotter pins, tie wraps, etc.
- spare tube (don't carry a tire...maybe I should!)
- flashlight
- different tape, including electrical and duct tape
- canopy lock
5. Cleaning supplies, such as microfiber towels and cleaners

At some point this spring or sumer, either before Oshkosh or when I'm up there, I also plan getting a spare fuel cap for my tank and adding it to my kit. Unfortunately my tie down kit and tool kit are both pretty heavy (I'd guess 10-15 lbs each) but I'd rather have all that stuff and not need it.

Re: Spares

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:53 am
by fastj22
Its really two different lists.
One is my box in the hangar of spare parts I probably will need over the life of the plane and want to keep them in stock.

The other is what you mention, what to bring with on trips.

Re: Spares

PostPosted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:29 am
by vigilant104
Some additional items for the at-home spares "what expendables do I need to maintain this plane" box:
- Oil change parts kit (2 gaskets, 6 small sump screw washers, oil plug washer)
- Oil
- Spark Plugs
- Rivets (assorted)
- Cotter pins (assorted)
- Lock-nuts (assorted)
- Batteries (to fit my ANR headset, GPS, headlamp, etc)
- Chemicals:
-- Gasket sealant (Permatex #3)
-- RTV
-- Locktite red
-- Locktite blue
-- Antiseize compound

For the "take on the cross-country" kit, I think Mike's list covers it. I'm still looking for an inexpensive, light way to tie down a plane in the grass--seems there must be a better way than a variation of a zillion solid, heavy round steel stakes (which is what I've been using).