Spats and tyre pressures

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mikeblackburn
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Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
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Spats and tyre pressures

Post by mikeblackburn »

Has anyone modified their spats to enable easier tyre pressure checking/inflation? Currently it takes me around 45 min to check and inflate all 3tyres due to the minuscule amount of space between the wheel and the spat...

Was thinking about making a hinged door to open to the outside ...
Mike Blackburn

Sling 4 Owner
S/N 009 ZU-IBM 'Miss Daisy'
Johannesburg, South Africa
ebrunye
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Nov 25, 2019 9:33 am
Location: San Diego

Re: Spats and tyre pressures

Post by ebrunye »

The new design has you drill a 29mm diameter hole in the spats that gets covered with a rubber plug while in flight. Does your plane have this feature and it is still not easy to use? If not, check out the new build manual for the undercarriage on the TAF dropbox and see the drilling detail.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c6r57tqkde54 ... 3NSGa?dl=0
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mikeblackburn
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Re: Spats and tyre pressures

Post by mikeblackburn »

I have the same hole on my spats - trust me, it’s really fiddly - there is very little space. I spoke to the guys at TAF and they say they have no issues doing this with the valve at the bottom of the wheel.

I’m still struggling but will have another look on the weekend.
Mike Blackburn

Sling 4 Owner
S/N 009 ZU-IBM 'Miss Daisy'
Johannesburg, South Africa
ebrunye
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Nov 25, 2019 9:33 am
Location: San Diego

Re: Spats and tyre pressures

Post by ebrunye »

mikeblackburn wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 12:00 pm I have the same hole on my spats - trust me, it’s really fiddly - there is very little space. I spoke to the guys at TAF and they say they have no issues doing this with the valve at the bottom of the wheel.

I’m still struggling but will have another look on the weekend.
Interesting. I'm glad to know you have them and aren't satisfied. I'll keep an eye on it before I drill mine. Would a larger hole work? Or is it a location issue
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mikeblackburn
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Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2019 9:41 pm
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
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Re: Spats and tyre pressures

Post by mikeblackburn »

To be honest, a larger hole may work - the problem I find is that I can’t get my fingers and the inflation hose in and screw it in through the the current hole. The documents call for a 44mm hole. The Cirrus has a door which hinges out - may be worth doing that from the get-go?

I’m told the RV-10 also has the same issue - lots of folks have put doors on the spats.
Mike Blackburn

Sling 4 Owner
S/N 009 ZU-IBM 'Miss Daisy'
Johannesburg, South Africa
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