ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

After almost a month of really bad weather I have flown my AirBike three times in the past three days.

Each was a bit less than an hour flight, but at 60 degree temperatures, that is enough.During the last flight I took some photos, one of the interesting ones is the collection of cotton bales temporarily stored in the fields.

Growing cotton in Kansas is expanding in popularity, often these bales are left in the fields for months before being transported to the mills. This photo shows several bales out of a group of more than a dozen.

During my flight at 1000' AGL I encountered a blueish plume of haze. Turns out it was from a distant grass fire. There was still enough heat in the smoke to cause turbulence when I flew through it.

It felt good to be airborne again.

One more thing, I replaced a leaky fuel valve yesterday. Anyone know how to get this thing apart so the o-rings can be replaced. Fortunately, I had another new valve as a replacement, but I would like to fix this one. Actually the photo shows the new valve and tubing but the challenge still exists for the old valve.

Paul Fiebich

Hi Paul it is good that you have your knees in the breeze again. It is difficult to tell how big the bails of cotton are, can you tell us? They must have a special tool to load them on a trailer to get them to the mill. I hope the Hun hunter is running finiest kind. Have fun and be safe.

that airbike could sure use some cabin heat. Looks cold got up to 65 degres Fahrenheit here today.  

I have that same fuel shutoff valve plumbed into my five gallon tank, I have never been a fan of a shutoff valve unless the fuel tank is gravity fed to the engine. Ie no fuel pump needed.

Hey Paul
Look on the bottom of the valve opposite the lever and see if there is a snap ring there. Just a guess, If you get it apart. Order Viton "O" rings from McMaster_Carr. NOTHING bothers that rubber. you will probably have to buy a hundred of them, but they are fairly cheap.
Glad you got to fly.
Bob

Paul glad you are airborne again. Those cotton bales is the pict are actually modules. They consist of 10 to 15 bales and weigh up to 10 tons. The cotton fields here are my friend when flying.

Monte

Ace, I use three of those 3-way valves, one on each gravity feed wing tank and one on the panel. The panel one has three positions: off, on, and auxiliary tank. I have had these same valves on the plane for 21 years, this is the first one to fail.  Bob, there is no snap ring at the bottom of the valve, I think it is just pressed together with some sort of internal "catch."

Monte, thanks for the data on the cotton bales, I walked them off and they are about 8' wide, 9 to 10' high and about 25' long. After the packer is done making the bale the end opens up and the tractor pulls it forward in preparation for the next load. Quite an operation!  Photos below show my walk-around of the picking operation near my hangar.

Sorry for the enlarged photo, I selected the wrong one and now I can't seem to delete it and replace it with the smaller one..

Paul Fiebich

Cotton in Peru still  is being picked by hand. Peruvian varieties, Tanguis and Pima, are much taller plants and the machines cannot harvest those plants.
What calls me the attention is the harvest season. Our's were done at early spring and yours by winter end.
Anyways, cotton crops have been replaced by fresh vegetables and fruits for export which gives  10 to 20 times more profit than cotton.

Interesting information Ricardo, any photos of the cotton being picked? Also, where in Peru do you live? My daughter-in-law is a volleyball referee and will be reffing a sit-down league championship there in a few months. I will find out from her exactly where.

Paul

Ricardo, she goes to Lima, Peru near the end of August. I looked on Google for the satellite images of Peru, wow, is that ever a mountainous country! It appears as the only liveable areas are near the coast or deltas.

Paul

Paul, I live in Lima with my family but I stay at the farm during weekdays which is a two hour drive from Lima.
Female volleyball is very popular down here.
I’ll be more than glad to assist your daughter in law on anything she may need.
And yes, Peru is ver high mountains (the Andes) deserts and amazon jungle (75%), all that within driving time.

Hey Paul It would help with a three way view of the valve but I would say that the lever has a way of coming off the top and removing so beneath the large washer is a nut the holds the spigot in place, or you may need a very thin wrench to unscrew the nut beneath the washer and there you will find your leaking culprits. Or you cheap old xxxx( a description my wife applies to me frequently), go buy a new valve. I have the same malady of trying to fix something at three times the cost of replacing it with a new one. But, it does feel gratifying when you fix it and it actually works. Take Bobs advice about the Viton it doesn't deteriorate from methanol, ethanol and what everols  its some good stuff. Good luck on your repairs!!!