FEDS APPROVE... (050100)
Subject: Landing Gear
From: Dennis Mee <jmmee@nh.ultranet.com>
Hi Jim,  The fed's finally showed up today, they inspected the installation but did not care to see it operate, they took my word for it. I've mailed you a copy of the approval just to keep with your records, the final package was about six pages with pictures, and a copy of your approval. The good news is that my new PMI will be a lot easier to deal with then the present one. I checked the LG adjustments IAW SB #7 & #28. Item #9 of SB #28, for s/n prior to 3501, (N3812K is s/n 3501) calls for a gear-up pull down cable tension of 90 -100 lbs. AD 51-11-4 (every annual or 100 hrs) applies to all s/n, so I backed off on the pull down cable tension a little and that solved the up-lock problem. Now all I have to do is get the strips painted and she will be ready to fly!!! Thanks again for all your help, sometimes the paper work is the most difficult part of the job! -- Dennis Mee

DO IT ON THE JACKS... (050200)
Subject: Re: Hydraulic Pump Motor
From: Phil Howell <POPPAPOU@aol.com>
Jim: Question: Is it a no-no to test the emergency system in the air now and then in addition to the tests on jacks? Thank you for your help. Phil >>

Phil,
I wouldn't say it is a no-no but I wouldn't do it. If something malfunctions, you probably would end up with a belly landing. It's better to test it on jacks, where any error (human or mechanical) is easier to correct. -- Jim

PULL DOWN CABLE ADJUSTMENT STOPS GEAR PUMP MOTOR CYCLE...  (060300)
Subj: Electric Gremlins
From: Peter Kailey <kailey@sunri.com>
Monty,
I am a rookie Swift owner and am learning much already from the group. My Swift has a panel mounted Apollo GPS that was pronounced to be "intermittent" by the previous owner. In monitoring the unit in flight, the problem does not seem to be in the GPS, but rather in the power source. What happens is that every few minutes in flight, the "gear pump" light comes on for a split second. At the same moment, the ammeter shows a very large drop in voltage, again for just a split second. The "gear up" light does not flicker during this moment, however. As soon as this occurs, the GPS goes into it's startup sequence, just as if it had been turned on. (The digital Nav/Com is not affected.) This event occurs more often in rough air, and I must confess I have not noticed if it occurs when selecting "Gear Down"...I seem to be too busy to look just then. While I suspect that the answer may be to add the filter or capacitor you mentioned concerning the fuel totalizer problems of another member, I also am wondering why the pump light should come on for that split second. It doesn't seem to come on long enough to actually do anything...is there some adjustment in the switch that could be a simple fix? Peter Kailey

Peter,
I think you have the answer to your GPS problem. All we have to do now is figure out why the pump motor comes on in flight. Obviously, the gear is falling out far enough to activate a microswitch. With the airplane on jacks and the gear up, turn off the circuit breaker switches. Make sure there is no pressure on the hydraulic system by operating the flaps. Place the gear selector down. If one gear comes out, or can be pulled out, the actuator arm may be mis-indexed with the gear in the actuator. (one tooth off) Or the pull down cable may simply be too tight. Read the service bulletins. Perhaps you can get by adjusting the microswitch so it doesn't click.  (providing the gear doesn't come all the way out of the well) Dennis Mee had some gear problems recently, maybe he has some hints for you. -- Jim

WELL... IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT WE DO INDEED HAVE SOME HINTS FOR PETER FROM DENNIS MEE...  (060300)
Hi Peter, Monty copied me in on your gear problem, I had a very similar problem with the pump coming on in flight causing a voltage spike on the radios. I determined the problem was with the left gear by turning the hyd pump motor off in flight and letting the speed build up in a shallow descent then with a gentle pull up the left gear came out, I have the external "curb feeler" indicators on the gear doors so I was able to see it was the left gear, after slowing to 80 mph I retracted the gear and pressed on with my flight. The same thing can be accomplished on the ground with the airplane on jacks by following Monty's directions:

Make sure there is no pressure on the hydraulic system by operating the flaps. (manually - with the hyd pump motor off). Place the gear selector down. If one gear comes out, or can be pulled out, the actuator arm may be mis-indexed with the gear in the actuator. (one tooth off), Or the pull down cable may simply be too tight. Read the service bulletins.

I followed Monty's directions and found that with a hefty pull the left gear would come down, but it took a good pull. I had already replaced seals in any actuator that had the slightest leak in the entire hyd system, and the travel on the gear actuator looked ok so I focused on the pull down cable. Following the advice of Monty and Steve Wilson this is what I did: with the Swift on jacks and the gear down I loosened the pull down cable turnbuckle in the left wheel well until the cable had no tension on it, (about five or six turns). I then retracted the gear, when the gear is up and locked take the hyd pressure off the system as Monty previously described and try to pull each gear down, if they both stay up, then extend the gear and tighten the turnbuckle one turn and try it again. You may have to do this several times, tightening the turnbuckle until it is just loose enough to keep the gear locked up. Once you have the correct cable tension set so that the wheels cannot be pulled down you will have to check the operation of the emergency gear extension system. Caution never retract the gear unless you are sure the pull down system has been reset, (cranked back up)! With the gear up and the hyd pump motor off place the gear selector lever to down, crank the gear down (about 52-54 turns), when you have finished cranking check the over center side brace links and the hyd down locks IAW AD 47-06-01 (due every 100 hrs or annual inspection) and Swift service bulletin # 7, if this is ok, with the gear lever down turn on the hyd pump motor and gear switches to check for proper light indications. This would be a good time to reset the pull down system, (crank it back up if you haven't done so). AD 51-11-04 (due every 100hrs) and Swift service bulletin # 28 address the pull down system, don't forget to check for the spacer, I was recently helping someone annual a Swift and found that did not have one installed, this was a very well maintained and documented Swift. You may want to charge the battery before you return the Swift to service. This solved my problem and is not as complicated as it sounds.  

I've sent a copy of this to Monty so he could make any corrections or additions, he knows far more about Swifts then I do, but if I can be of any help just let me know. Good Luck, Dennis Mee

EMERGENCY PULL DOWN CABLE SHOULD BE TIGHT AS A "G" STRING... (100400)
Subj: Pull down cable
From: Sheridan Owens <Sandb12345@aol.com>
My emergency pull down cable broke during a gear swing. was rusted a little bit. put in new cable and pulled the gear up the cable is tight as a "G" string adjusted to pull the locks at turn and a half as per blue book. but still seems tight. is this normal??? thanks. Sheridan Owens N80776 sandb12345@aol.com

Sheridan,
Yes, when the cable is adjusted right and the gear is cranked down it seems VERY tight.  --  Jim

HOW ONE SWIFTER SOLVED THE EMERGENCY EXTENSION CABLE TENSION PROBLEM... (100500)
From: Porter Houston <phouston@erols.com>
Subject: Emergency cable G String Problem
I solved the cable tension problem many years ago with two very minor modifications to the original design of the gear emergency extension system. The original design, as a concept, is good except the design cable travel is actually less than what is required for gear up/ gear down positions. Basically the jack screw is too short. Also, a spacer at the bottom of the jack screw( required by AD) reduces travel even more. Therefore, the correct cable adjustment is so critical there is even and AD note on how to do it. Also, the tension on the cable has to be excessively high because just as it goes into down lock there is alot of extra force required. This translates into very high cable tension in gear up position. The modifications address these two problems.

(1.) increase the available cable travel. (2.) decrease force required (read cable tension) to pull into down lock position.

Mod #1 : To increase available cable travel cut the cable groove in the pulley deeper by 1 cable diameter. I used a wire saw blade available from local hardware stores and using a shoe shine action to deepen the groove. The side benefit is that the cable rides deeper in the groove and doesn't pop out and therefore the original simple cable guard bracket is all you need. I also adjusted the up stops and micro switches as far out as required so gear doesn't over center in up position and gear doesn't fall out of gear well in flight.

Mod#2: .To reduce the force required to pull into down lock I replaced the AN315-3 nut that locks the #10 socket head adjustment screw with a AN365-1032 elastic stop nut installed backwards. The extra thickness (use washers as required) of the AN365 nut eliminates the space between the head of the socket head and the old nut. Originally the down lock lever would fall into this space and the extra force was needed to raise the down lock lever over the head of the screw into position. Plus the AN365 nuts tapered diameter creates a ramp for the down lock lever to fall into position almost on its own.

These two mods allows you to significantly reduced the gear up cable tension and still guarantee gear down lock when you need it. -- Porter Houston

SWIFTER DON ON THE EMERGENCY EXTENSION CABLE...(010502)
Subj: Gear extension cable
From: DON THOMSON <swifterdon@attbi.com>
Hey Monty:
I was reading your response in the GTS newsletter to Jack Gladish about the tension on the emergency gear extension cable. I thought it would be worth sharing the experience I had with Charlie Hopkins when we did my last annual. During the gear emergency extension check we found that the left gear leg fell from the wheel well immediately after placing the selector in the down position, but before we started cranking on the handle. I remember you telling me that the condition was a symptom of the cable was too tight. We continued to play with the tension until we could place the selector lever in the down position, with the circuit breaker pulled and the gear would stay in the wells. We found that the difference between being "right on" or being too loose or too tight was not more than a 1/4 to 1/2 of a turn on the adjusting turnbuckle. Charlie and I had a blast getting it right, but once we figured it out, the satisfaction made the effort justifiable. The extension worked with the customary 51-52 turns to get the green lights on the panel, and the gear down and locked. After reading your advice about setting the tension between 90-100 pounds, I got curious and went out to the airport to measure mine. It was exactly 95 pounds. Good call on your part. About the only other thing I remember doing was checking to see that the gear cable didn't rub excessively on the wing ribs in the wheel wells. Minor adjustments corrected that problem, and I was sure to polish the opening in the rib with a small Dremel stone to avoid any unnecessary wear on the cable. Well, it's clear here today, so I'm going to go out and warm of the oil with a flight around the valley. Oregon gets so few beautiful days in the winter, but when they come, they're usually spectacular. Keep up the good advice, we all depend on it. Thanks, Don T.

LEAKING HYDRAULIC FLUID RESERVOIR...(030102)
Subj: Emergency Pulldown
From: Brian Silcox (briansilcox@harbornet.com)
Hi Monty,
I am doing my annual on N46GS, had a strange thing happen when I pulled the gear down with the cable this time. I have been doing this each year since I got the plane ten years ago, and never had this: As the second (left) gear is reaching the stop limit, the reservoir over fills and squirts several ounces of hydraulic fluid out the cap vent. Thinking it was a transient anomaly, I reset the cable, refilled the reservoir and recycled the gear up and down.... no problems. fluid level remained at the proper level. I once again pulled the gear down manually (cap off, cowl open) and watched the gusher a second time. I repeated the above one more time to ensure I wasn't seeing things, and once again same! It works fine in both the normal, hydraulic powered cycle, and extends fine manually. I am suspecting a port problem in the powerpack... return fluid is moving back to the reservoir, but not vice versa through the down lines during the pulldown. When the overflow occurs, the reservoir is absolutely full, and stays that way till you activate the system hydraulically, and then it indicates the fluid loss on the stick. Ever seen this one? Thanks, Brian Silcox

Brian
Unusual? No, that is a very USUAL happening. This is the first time in 10 years that that happened? You must run very low levels of hydraulic oil in your reservoir. Ordinarily, when the gear is cranked down it is quite common to have hydraulic oil spray out the vent and over the windshield. Rather than repeat myself, go to the "Monty the Answer Man" archive and read about "Landing Gear - Emergency Extension". I think Charlie Nelson even talked about that same thing in this months newsletter. Jim

MANUAL LANDING GEAR EXTENSION...
Subj: Swift gear cable question
From: Larry Owen <Larry.Owen@Tenethealth.com>
Hi Monty
A few years ago, the gear cable was replaced during annual because "it needed it" by a inspector I never used before or since. I was doing some prep work for an upcoming annual and found something "odd", that I have not noticed before. On the ground, the emergency retract cables are "just short of slack", or VERY light tension. The retract spring is all the way up and lose enough to move around with your fingers. When I do a retract test (on jack stands) and retract the wheels using the hydraulics, the tension on the cable is serious, VERY serious. The retract spring is compressed all the way down and the cable will pluck like a violin string !!! I can easily adjust the cable tension, using the cable splice turnbuckle in the left wheel well, but I am concerned that by doing that, I will put too much slack in the system during wheels down. Does the retract spring need replacing to keep the wheels down tension "normal" after backing off the cable turnbuckle? The pulleys all test good, free and smooth turning. Thanks ! Larry Owen N78287

Larry
I don't think you have a problem. The cable is "almost slack" when the gear is down. The cable is very tight after cranking the gear down. Also, with the gear up the cable gets very tight. If you read S/B #28 you will see they call for 90 - 100 lbs. I presume you have done retract and emergency extension checks at annual inspection. DON'T back off the cable tension because it "feels" too tight! -- Jim

PORTER HAS A SENIOR MOMENT... (OCT 02)
Subj: SB 28
From: Porter Houston <porter.houston@comcast.net>
Monty,
Ref: Emergency gear extension. I seem to remember, or maybe I'm having one of those senior moments, but is there a special lower casting used on some late model Swifts that does not use the spacer per SB#28. Fact or Fiction? I've never seen anything in print about this. -- Porter

Porter
Yes, s/n 3501 to 3760 had a different casting which does not require the spacer. The s/b requires some interpretation to deduce this - since it is not required to have the spacer on s/n 3501 and later, the casting is different. However, the parts catalogue only shows one p/n -- 11-532-2894. When I used to have all the Swift parts around, I remember comparing two brackets and they were a little over 1/4" different in height. -- Jim

OOPS... (JAN 03)
Subj: Gear emergency pull down cable
From: John Ewing <jonewing@bellsouth.net>
Jim:
I broke my pull down cable the old fashioned way, by raising the gear with the system wound down after maintenance testing. Is it difficult to thread a new cable in? I can easily remove the sheave bolts in the gear wells, but how do you thread the male threaded end around the pulleys in the crank down apparatus itself. I say this not yet having removed the panel to look at the piece itself, but only looking at the drawings provided in normal swift manuals. Please advise if the are any "swift secrets". Thanks for your help, hope to see you at "Sun n' Fun. Over, Jon Ewing

Jon
I haven't installed that cable in a few years but I don't recall anything very hard about it. The right side (long) cable must be routed thru the three pulleys at the c/l of the airplane. To hold the screw at the outboard end of the cable at the actuator clamp a short Phillips bit in a small vice grip and then ratchet the 10-32 nut off. (unless someone has put in a slotted screw!) I don't remember if it is necessary to remove the pulleys or not but it was not a hard job as I recall. -- Jim

SHARING A "GOTCHA"... (AUG 03)
By Larry Owen
Was doing a retract test this last weekend. Things were normal enough, but was not quite smooth. Cleaned everything and did several more tests. Couldn't find a problem but..... Did a manual test with the hand crank, worked but not well, not smooth, something as "almost" not working. Took the rest of the day to find it. In the left wheel well is the splice joining the two gear cables together. It of course, has safety wire on it. The safety wire was no longer "perfectly wrapped". Tight and solid but not neat and uniform. It had been dragging on the Phenolic block used as a guide in the wheel well. The block was slightly beat up, the safety wire was "not straight and pretty". A chicken or egg type of question of which problem came first. Removed the cable, cleaned and smoothed out the block, re-installed the cable and redid the safety wire, (verrrrryyyy carefully) ! Manual crank down is much smoother, electric pump sound is much more even. Have to remember to look at the safety wire separately and not just look at the gear wire during pre-flight. ( And I didn't even have to break anything to learn something this time!)

Larry Owen
N78287
El Paso, Texas
915-577-6832
Larry.Owen@tenethealth.com

CABLE CONCERN... (FEB 04)
Subj: Pull down cable problem
From: Harry Fenton <gippsaero@charter.net>
Hi Jim,
On pre-flight today I found that the pull down cable has jumped out of both of the big cable guide at the actuator and has gotten wedged between the guide and actuator. It looks like a relatively simple fix of fishing the cable out and re-installing in the guide. Must have happened on the last flight as I check for this condition before every flight thanks to Mark Holliday's instruction. My question- is this a common experience and is their a fix or maintenance that I should do to keep this from happening? To be honest, the cable is wedged in pretty tight and if I were out on a wind swept ramp, this could be a real hassle. I'd just like to avoid this as a continuing problem. Otherwise, the Swift is flying great! The Hanlon Wilson mufflers really put out the heat!! Too bad they don't sound as good as the straight stacks.I should have checked first, but found some answers out on the Swift website in the answer archive. Sounds like this is a common problem. I've been going through each system, bit by bit, but my shop isn't heated, so kind of tough to do any real maintenance in the winter. And when the weather gets warm, I want to go flying! It's a vicious circle, but safety first. I'll knock my bird down for a month or so when it gets warm and really go through it. Harry

Harry
You have already found the answer but be sure you read the Commings Hydraulic Manual Pg. "Hints and Tips From Here and There" Also I believe the blue book covers it. Like Mr Commings says -- you can drill #60 holes in the crank down pulley and safety wire the cable to the groove. Univair used to sell a kit which did essentially the same thing in a more elaborate manner -- it kept the cable in the groove. -- Jim

CABLE CONCERN. THE PLOT THICKENS...(FEB 04)
Subj: Pull down cable problem
From: Harry Fenton <gippsaero@charter.net>
Hi Jim,
Well, what seemed like a simple fix has become a bit more complicated. The right cable is back in place, but the left is firmly wedged between the cable guide and the shaft extending from the actuator. I've tried wiggling the pulley to get the cable loose, but no luck, the cable is pinched really tight. It looks like I could loosen the bolt at the scissor link to which a support bracket from the cable guide attaches to get some freeplay . My concern is the down lock and if I can trip it loose with my fiddling. I don't have a set of jacks yet, so I'm trying to do this work without. Is it a bad idea to be trying to fix this without putting it on jacks? -- Harry

Harry
You usually can insert a screwdriver and pry the pulley enough to get the cable out. You will need jacks or jackstands sooner or later. If you don't want to pop for jacks right now just make some fixed height jackstands. Make them out of car jackstands or 2x4's just about 2" higher than the distance from the jack points to the floor with the struts fully extended. Raise the tail, put the jackstands in place and lower the tail. (You will need a helper to put some weight on the tail) If you do get it jacked up by some means, take a big straight screwdriver and push the downlock in and partially fold the gear. It may be necessary to put the selector in the cockpit "up" or in an intermediate position. The cable will not be too tight and by manipulating it you should be able to break it free. On jacks, you can remove the center bolt in the retract linkage and then the pulley will be loose on the retract arm. The cable should come free easier then. When up on jacks, the gear should be checked per the reoccurring AD notes and the gear door fit should be checked. -- Jim p.s. You can do this with just one side jacked up. That way the airplane will not have such a tendency to nose over.

WHAT A JOB! (FEB 04)
Subj: Emergency gear fixed- finally!!
From: gippsaero@charter.net (Harry Fenton)
Hi Jim,
I finally fixed my jumped cables- what a job! The cable for the left gear had developed a small loop, and then this loop was wedged between the landing gear housing and the cable guide. I had to disassemble a bunch of components to loosen the cable guide, disconnect the cable anchor end from the guide and pulled on it like crazy until it came loose. It probably took me four solid hours to get it finally worked loose. One significant condition that I have noted is that the emergency cable is pretty loose in tension. I have read in some of the discussion on this topic that the cable tension should be pretty tight. A second observation is that there is an adjusting turnbuckle that is positioned right in the middle of the grommet in the center rib in the left wheel well. This turnbuckle seems to be hanging up on the grommet as the cable pulls through. Finally, the kink in the cable caused by the pinch bent the cable and the cable tends to keep jumping out of the guide. I'm going to tension and lube the cable, and drill the guide to install safety wire as described in the Swift maintenance tips book. A final mod is to replace the Phillips screw that anchored the cable with an Allen head machine screw. The Allen head is much easier to work with than a Phillips in that tight environment. -- Harry

Harry
I use the Phillips head screw, I clamp a Phillips bit in a small vice grip and that works fine for loosening/tightening. The cable tension is only meaningful after the gear is cranked down. (about 100 lbs) Normally, there is only spring tension on the cable. The cable tension should be just enough to pull the gear to the down position. Too much and you may have retraction problems or the gear may come unlocked in flight. You are on your way to becoming an expert! -- Jim