Cessna 150 quetion

futboler14 · Post by **futboler14** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:42 pm

I was wondering if anyone has ever had a beacon light not work correctly. I took off of cyxe this evening to do some night x-country and when I was airborne tower called me up and told me to make sure my lights were on. I checked, and yes the switches were on and circuit brakers were all in. As it turns out my BCN light was not working so I just decided to land and check it out. When I have the plane at an idle the BCN works fine. When I give it some throttle it just dies. Would this just be a lose wire somewhere down the line? When I did my walk around it worked fine also, so maybe the vibrations losen the connection? This happen to anyone?

Troubleshot · Post by **Troubleshot** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:09 am

Check out your local AMO and get an AME to troubleshoot the snag, I have a good idea what your problem is BUT ...you need to get a qualified professional to check it out as it could be serious ( ie. wiring). I know this is worst case out come but you may not be as lucky next time and you may not get to just turn around and come back.

I am not trying to be snarky or cocky , I am just trying to give you the BEST advice!

twotter · Post by **twotter** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:44 am

Excellant advice Troubleshot.

Chemtech · Post by **Chemtech** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:10 pm

I had the rotating beacon in my 150 work intermittitly. I needed to replace the power supply in the tail of the aircraft. This is just my experience, like stated before get your AME to check it out to determine the cause for sure.

Cheers

Wrench · Post by **Wrench** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:57 pm

It sounds like a loose connection. Most probaly at the conection in the tail. It could be as simple as the element in the bulb is broken and it makes a connection until its shaken.

openendwrench · Post by **openendwrench** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:21 pm

Replace the bulb. The small blob of solder at the base of the bulb will wear away overtime and give you a poor connection.

Troubleshot · Post by **Troubleshot** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:46 pm

Holy F@#K, This reminds me of the commercial where the Doctor is trying to give a guy directions to self-surgery over the phone !!

If you have ever complained about benefits, wages, or working conditions at your AMO...well if you have you've just contributed to the problem. By offering shot-in-the-dark troubleshooting to this pilot who has no technical training what so ever you could inadvertently cause more harm to him than good, What if (just as an example) he over tightens the lens cover?? what do you suppose will happen ? That’s right Johnny!! a cracked lens, or a bulb shattered inside the socket...seams easy enough to get out eh...well not to an un-trained individual who will surely try and pry it out and break something else, we all know the list of potential problems he could be faced with in this particular snag. This is not a shot at the pilots intelligence, I'm sure he is a great pilot but you don't see me on this website asking how to fly a plane.

My point is Gents what may seem easy to you, may be a nightmare to someone else and they do not have the experience, tools, or training to tackle even the most simple tasks. We have all heard the expression "Opening a can of worms"... well with these irresponsible posts...you may just have done just that !

Wrench · Post by **Wrench** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:34 pm

Troubleshot your a clown. He was only getting told to check the bulb. Light bulbs are elementary maintenance. A bulb is cheap. Bring it to a amo it might be the bulb plus the cost of the amo.

Troubleshot · Post by **Troubleshot** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:00 pm

Wrench wrote:Troubleshot your a clown. He was only getting told to check the bulb. Light bulbs are elementary maintenance. A bulb is cheap. Bring it to a amo it might be the bulb plus the cost of the amo.

A mature response as I was expecting...This guy can do what he wants to his plane, I am trying to point out that guys like you are the reason we don't make as much as plummers and subway drivers. I gave him the best advice. GET A PRO TO DO IT !! and judging from your smart mouth comments to my post , your no pro so he defintely shouldn' take your advice.

hangarline · Post by **hangarline** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:53 am

I absolutely agree with Troubleshot. Sure it's only a light bulb and yes it is elementary maintenance, but already i see the trend. He's asking what do I do? I have no problem with a pilot performing elementary maintenance, but if he has to stop and ask for directions who is he asking? Yes, let's call up the local AME or AMO and ask for advice. (spelled free) We don't have time to answer questions from everyone who want advice, but don't want to pay for it. Now if the same person were to book an hour to sit down and discuss it and pay the shop rate for that hour then great, however it is usually cheaper and easier to have the shop do the work in the first place. That's my opinion for what it's worth.

BoostedNihilist · Post by **BoostedNihilist** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:38 pm

MCRS · Post by **MCRS** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 2:58 pm

I read this somewhere a while back:
Rates for Maintenance:
Parts: $45 dollars if AME installs
Parts: $150 dollars if Pilot/owner does it.
Parts: $300 dollars for AME to replace part blown up by Pilot and to install new said part correctly.

CID · Post by **CID** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 3:36 pm

When you change a bulb in a strobe, whether its one of those flashing light bulbs you find in Cessnas or an actual Xenon strobe element, make sure to keep your finger prints off the glass.

The oil on your skin can make a high power bulb burn out prematurely.

dashx · Post by **dashx** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:49 pm

You boys might want to consult with rfcpilot. heh heh heh...

It's always nice to have two different opinions on things.

Nobody contributing to this changes the oil in their (ground) vehicles? Keeps snow tires on rims ready for winter? Resets their engine check lights with a cheap OBD tool? And on and on. I didn't think so.

I agree with troubleshot and wrench and openend wrench. Each of you makes a good point.

If it turns out to be a simple bulb change how much would a decent AMO charge? Ok some troubleshooting? Power supply change? Splice connector?

50? 100? 200?

ad81 · Post by **ad81** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:52 pm

Nobody contributing to this changes the oil in their (ground) vehicles? Keeps snow tires on rims ready for winter? Resets their engine check lights with a cheap OBD tool? And on and on. I didn't think so.

Well ok I do service the ground equipment, got snow tires ready to go and have an OBD tool and know how to use it.

Anyways I say let the pilot change the bloody light bulb, if he cracks the lens or damages the socket then I guess an AME can charge him for appropriately to fix his mistakes.

dashx · Post by **dashx** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:12 pm

Right on.

twistedoldwrench · Post by **twistedoldwrench** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:48 pm

Its like the old filter comercial on TV! You can pay me now or pay me later! The learning curve of "trying" to fix stuff can get very expensive in the long run!

twotter · Post by **twotter** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:18 am

Chemtech wrote:I had the rotating beacon in my 150 work intermittitly. I needed to replace the power supply in the tail of the aircraft. This is just my experience, like stated before get your AME to check it out to determine the cause for sure.

Cheers

Am I the only one to notice that a rotating beacon doesn't have a power supply but a flashing one might?

Ok all you other Engineers owe me f*ck up beers for that one..

black hole · Post by **black hole** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:08 pm

I think that there is a good chance that futboler doesn't know weather he has a rotating beacon or an Aero Flash beacon (Cessna) so lets flip to see who owes who, the beer.

BH