Jimmy, as an stickler for cataloging my own needs, I've learned to use white-boards with sources and bids. May I suggest you do the same for resources from your viewers, to be your eyes out there in the Aero World. You know that in hangars and garages everywhere are possibly the replacements you need for little to nothing. So what I'm suggesting is posting a list of needed parts for the 310, accessible to us viewers that we can take in our Scavenger Hunts. Just a suggestion.
That is a VERY good suggestion. Harness the power of the internet! We all have junk drawers and friends with junk drawers. More than likely, we'll send you whatever you need for nothing if we have it, just to see our junk put to use.
Jimmy - A&P tech here with 20 years of experience on Cessna light twins. The 310 maintenance manual has a super detailed landing gear rigging procedure that must be followed in order to avoid gear collapse. Please read it thoroughly and perform all steps in order to ensure the landing gear is properly rigged. Pay particular attention to the over center break away tension.
I think the rigging procedure is overlooked by less experienced techs. If they get three green on the initial swing it’s ‘good enough’. Also, I think not being familiar with the entire landing gear system is a contributor. From the gear box to the outer doors techs need to know how it all works.
Steve, you took the words right out of my mouth. I've owned a Cessna 401B for 24 years. The electromechanical gear is the same as on the 310. I rig my gear per the Maintenance manual every year!!! It's a couple of hours but hours well spent. Jimmy there are some special tools needed to rig the gear. One is a bent bar with clips on it that is needed to measure the tensions. Not sure if the tool is still available and at what price but if you need one, I'd be glad to lend you mine. Also be careful how you push and pull on the landing gear. Those torque tubes are a subject of an AD and susceptible to cracking around the arm. All the push pull tubes need to be carefully cleaned and inspected for cracks. The landing gear attach points on the wing rib also need to be inspected carefully as they are prone to cracking. There is a service kit for a Side Brace reinforcing plate. You should look into it. I can't stress enough how thoroughly the landing gear needs to be inspected, lubricated, and adjusted. A gear up in a 310 will be the death of the plane.
Baah. Over center...under center, as long as it's close to center it's close enough, lol. That's sarcasm, btw. You defintely want exactly the right amount of over-center lockup.
The problem is the specification and certification costs. Back when I worked for Air NZ I once saw the price of a door for the toilet in a DC8... it was $6000 (in the 1960s!). It was made out of aluminium sheet (same as the stuff they use for caravans... textured) on a frame if aliuminium extrusions, pop riveted together.... nothing fancy or structural, just a loo door. The expense was because every component had to be planned, specified and certified down to the last rivet. Ridiculous. The door could be made for about $250 in 1965.... crazy....
Just lost my highlight aviation channel. I did not expect the politicizing on the T shirt and cray cray man sponsorship. Love you lots Jimmy and I know your channel will be mega! You are fresh breeze on YT. Cheers.
I love his content. It's his channel and I respect his alternate views but I wish he'd do it a little less often. He seems to be including it a lot more lately.
Dear Jimmy, I was thinking last night about your projects. It occurred to me that nobody should be searching for stuff without the help of several clubs whose membership includes people who may not use a computer, cell phone or have a clue about Saving the 310. I suggest you join the Cessna Pilots Association, similar organizations for Piper and Beech. You then have cross platform exposure for info and places on where to find parts etc from the entire membership. Why go around with one arm, a patch over one eye and not avail information of a vast network of like minded people who would say a 1956 Cessna 310 is their first born child. You get where I'm going with this. You ask the universe where to get a bolt, part or salvage. Suddenly you have a team searching all across the World for you. Not just those who can watch RU-vid. We did that for our Commanche 260 we owned. Every bit of advice will be there from the membership. Hope this helps in Saving the 310, restoring the Mighty Aztec or making Beech Sundowners great again. Happy Flying & buy shop towels in bulk 😎
Jimmy, I'm another A&P reaching out to give pointers to you. The manual / emengency "EXTENSION ONLY!!!" is for extension only (even if the POH says its ok to use for manual retraction).Using it to raise the gear can cause catastrophic failure, that may or may not show itself right now, but on one of your next flights. As a fellow pilot, we were always instructed, NEVER retract gear that won't retract itself. Also, if you haven't done it already, be sure to disengage the hand crank handle before you extend the gear electrically. I have found that many times that customers have had failures on this type (electromechanical instead of hydraulic) of gear retraction units have been because of owners making these two mistakes. Keep the blue side up! SAVE THE 310!
Hi Jimmy. Loving what you’re doing. Big fan of old airplanes myself, both as an AME (Canadian version of A&P/IA) and ATP. Note on the Sierra rpm issue: Highly suggest you calibrate your tach using a good ol’ fashioned optical hand-held tach. The one that looks like a digital thermometer. Select the number of blades (2) and put a strip of white electrical tape on each blade ~ 6” in from the tip. Have a brave hand shoot the rpm during a full power run. Incidentally, in 25 years and 6000 hours of flying constant speed props, I’ve never had one reach max rpm on a ground run unless at higher elevation on a dry day. Bolt er on and send it. Keep up the cool work. -Tom
Also check the prop governor set screw and adjust if your tach ends up reading properly. Not sure if you’ve tried this yet since I’m a new subscriber to the channel but always check tach accuracy and adjust prop governor stop as needed if tach checks out ok.
Love the 310...Part of me really wants you to toss the carb setup and find a full on fuel injection system. Cant believe the cost to rebuild those old things. love the videos, keep em coming.
If you ever have to trace a mess of wires, get a power supply where you can set the voltage and the current. Set the voltage to about 5 volts and limit the current to about 0.25 amps and apply power to the load end of the wires ie, fuel pump, light, motor, etc. Then search at the switch end for a wire with that voltage.
Hey Jimmy! Proud to say I'm part of your world. I was an engine mechanic in the Air Force and was blown away anytime I got a part out of bench stock at the prices of those parts. Why? Because they're "certified"? Stay safe.
A lot of the old Cessna's used parts right off of Chevy's. I had a Cessna 175 with a G0-300 and all the magneto seals the Starter seals o rings etc were all cross reference-able if that is a word to old Chevy car parts and Timken bearings and seals I saved a bunch of money that way. The Generator was a direct part number from a 57 Chevy. Also if you use off the shelf hoses and stuff that will help too.
Coolness! Glad it's coming together. A tip, though: next time you disassemble a plane, bring along a couple boxes of ziploc baggies and a sharpie. That way bolts, nuts, etc. are all together and labeled. A cheap but handy thing to save you a lot of headaches down the line.
One step further is to take a 4 by 8 sheet chipboard. Cover with butcher paper. Outline the plane on it and staple bolts nuts small stuff in baggies on it to qwik. Find. The parts
OK, I have been watching your videos for about 6 months. I think a lot of people would like to do what you do so that they could fly. I am turning 66 and think that maybe I can fly some day. That said I do have a few comments. Surely they have a chemical cleaner that can clean the aluminum in the floor area and around the engine. Next I have always pressure washed my engine. A good de-greaser, lit it soak and have at it with pressure washer. The mags may be an issue so remove them and plug the hole. I am a Navy Veteran. I pressure washed / steam cleanned electrical equipment in the Navy. They though I had lost it until we tested them and they all worked. Finally, "Have a Great Day", "Clear Prop" to you sky lovers.
A 310 is such a cool plane to be resurrecting. I don't know which engine is the 'bad one' that makes the airplane more tricky to fly if it fails in flight, but the correct procedure to handle it ought to be practiced endlessly until you can do it in your sleep.
Hi Jimmy, Ok, greetings from Australia!! Australia 🇦🇺 I have been studying your videos from your first post with the Bonanza. I find it so interesting that from there you were sort of let’s see what happens outside your comfort zone with what will happen during the process of the Bonanza & where it may lead to. Complete respect with how you worked your guts out to bring the plane up to standard. At first I watched your videos mid way though your journey & thought to myself that you were a bit of a “weirdo or a bit cray cray” I guess.. But, learning your journey from the start has given me the understanding that working on one project like that would make anyone cray cray! 😆 You have reached your goal with your first project & continued on with more exciting projects no matter the extended costs & made your channel fun to watch as you have evolved plus gave us audience an insight to the kind & fun Jimmy, Thank you for this. I must say when you took the prop out off the car I was waiting for a “clear prop” remark, so I was a little let down. 🤣🤣 I’m not a pilot or anything but would love to be. Love your work bro!! Kind Regards James
Jimmy as an old 310 pilot thanks for saving that great old bird. When you are done you will be in it thousands of hours and about a million dollars, but they sure fly nice😀
Jimmy, don’t forget about 3D printing for parts that in some cases be printed exceeding spec requirement and if necessary just printed as a dummy form for forge molding when the part is no longer manufactured or available by other means to be valid. Great content , good luck!
Cardboard, a craft knife and a permanent marker are your friends when taking stuff apart for saving bolts. Make a small cross slit in the cardboard, push the bolt in, mark where it comes from, write on the cardboard what area you're working on. Make a new piece of cardboard for every new area you're working on. Slip the cardboard into a bag once it's filled to prevent a bolt falling out from getting lost. Also, the mantra is photo, photo, photo, photo, photo. Make photo's of everything. (or nowadays, film what you're doing). It takes time when taking this apart but it saves triple that when putting it back together.
Hey Jimmy, Great news about the Sierra's prop! It's probably worth you looking up and reading a propeller manufacturer's manual that they put out for EXPERIMENTAL builders using their propellers. It doesn't apply to any of the certified designs you're working on, but it walks you through the process of setting up the static rpm on a plane and then setting up the governor. When I was confused about some propeller stuff with my Mooney, I looked up Hartzell's manual for experimentals and it was very informative. My takeaway from that is this. A certified engine has a redline rpm and the engine supposed to produce a certain amount of torque and power at that rpm (at full rich, at sea level, at standard temp and pressure), within a fairly small margin. The certified propeller that goes with that engine has its low-pitch stops set (this is from the Harzell manual) so that at full power, full rich, airplane stationary on the ground, (with the governor properly adjusted and prop control full forward) the engine will turn a bit under redline rpm, maybe 50 rpm below. That is, if the engine is making full power, the fine pitch stop is set so that it *just* absorbs the engine's power in such a way that it almost hits redline rpm. (You know this; I'm putting it down here for other readers) The governor is adjusted so that at full prop forward in a static full-power run-up, it shouldn't be regulating yet, but the target rpm should be closer to the redline rpm than the static runup rpm. So as long as the governor is adjusted correctly, and the prop's low-pitch stops are correct, then the only conclusion to be drawn is that the engine is producing significantly less power than it's supposed to. I'm sure you're checking (but perhaps just haven't put on video) the following: Check that the throttle opens all the way, make sure that the mixture is right. If everything you can easily get at fails, you could pull the rockers and check the camshaft lift on all the lobes. I knew a guy who had a neglected Mooney that turned out to have camshaft spalling. He finally had to admit it wasn't climbing very well, so he had the engine checked and they found the cam problems. If you're careful you can check this. You can do climb rate checks and cruise speed checks (knowing what the airplane total weight is) that will give you a good idea of whether or not the engine is making full power. You could go and do a climb performance comparison with someone who has another airplane like that. Surely someone within a flight of you has one. Stay safe. Your videos are fun and interesting. Thanks!
Also - the parts manual lists the hardware types for the landing gear. Considering the model year hardware is probably using AN designations for diameter, shank length and thread count. You should be able to determine what bolt goes where using the parts manual, an SAE scale and a micrometer.
ima be real jimmy has addicting personality and can look past whack sponsors like my pillow and still can thumbs up and enjoy his content, i'm saying this as people are quick to turn away the minute they dislike anything in a video, we gotta grow past that stuff and just enjoy the content! keep up the amazing work jimmy and keep dropping us this gold tier content!
Working on my 1959 C310. Needed the fuel tank switch valves light “cover”. Found used one for ….used $160. Piece of plastic 3” long formed in U shape. Once again should have built it myself. Older 310s are not for faint of heart.
With old classic cars we use a plate full of Plaster of Paris that takes care of the mice and rats. It is the only way to protect the interior. They eat it and when it hits the digestive system, they get terminal constipation, hence no more mice.
Jimmy, just how SURE are you that your tach is calibrated correctly? Since your prop/gov checked out to be within specs, it just might be an error in the instrument/sensor...
If you are using the mechanical tach to check the RPM. They are the most inaccurate instrument on the panel. Always use a electronic tach or visual blade sensor portable tach PERIOD.
Getting this done by April would be a full blown miracle. I just spent 5 months waiting on an engine....let alone all the other stuff. I hope to see it at Sun n Fun!
Hey Jimmy! I own an Aprilia Caponord motorcycle that's a 2003. I learned really quick that the engine is also in several other bikes and to look up those parts instead of anything tagged with my own bike's branding. Saved me so much money
Just a thought but maybe go to a plain old hydraulic shop. Like small and heavy equipment parts supplier for your hydraulic parts. I would think that hydraulics are universal. I could be wrong. Can I get a CLEAR PROP?
Great news on this video! I love that you talk about the money you spend and the savings too. On the Sierra’s low RPM, we know it’s not the prop so let’s look at timing, carburetion, compression etc. Nice savings all around!! 👍🏽👍🏽
@@crissd8283 A mechanical tachometer is likely to be the least accurate instrument. It's essential to have it calibrated, and a lookup calibration chart placed next to it would be sensible.
@Jimmy - I do not have a pilot's license. I do not own a private airplane. And my knowledge about private airplanes is almost zero. But it is a real blast watching you buy old abandoned airplanes and spend tons of money & time getting them airworthy and selling them. Hopefully, you can make enough money to support your family and buy more planes to fix up & sell. It is also really cool that you have a son who shares your interest in private planes. And by the way, how does it feel to share your name with the James Webb telescope that was launched into space to uncover the mysteries that are hidden in the deep void of space? Remain cool and keep posting more awesome videos on You Tube.
Isn’t it amazing that we can say the quiet part out loud by just simply hanging an American flag. Thanks for supporting the parallel economy jimmy very admirable! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Take the throttle cable off and rev the engine up by turning the lever on the carburetor by hand, that way you will be sure it isn't a linkage problem. (Be careful :-)
In the 70's General Motors had three sizes of frames, A,B and C. the A was for Cadillac, Impala etc. the windshield for the Cadillac was $400 the same windshield for the Buick was $350, the same for the Chev was $250. I got a STC for my Cessna carburetor float to change from a phenolic to brass float and Massy Furgeson had the same part number for the exact same part and it cost $12, Cessna price was $225. I called FAA general aviation dist ofc and asked them about whether I could use the MF one and was told absolutely not. OK, then I got another STC to change the friction lock seatbelts to metal to metal type, Cessna wanted $450 for two. I checked and found that automotive seat belts were rated much higher than the aircraft ones, again GADO said no can do. I had a set from a Lear jet we changed for the owners wife that didn't like the color and used them. Go figure. Good luck Jimmy
So I watch your videos on my big screen and have to use my cell to comment. Really look forward to seeing that 310 in the air. And you always crack me up FAR reverend Jimmy.
Like electronics...you should make recordings of resistances on primaries of motors,transformers,etc; so you can test em yerself to see if they have shorted windings and continuity,etc;
Great to see you making progress on that 310. Something about twin engines sync'ing and that nice drone noise they make. You probably already know 310pilot here on YT, just a beautiful plane when it's right!! Good luck.
100% truth. With Experimental the most expensive things are your metal lathe and vertical mill tooling to make your own parts. #ownerbuilder is the way to go!
That prop you took to the prop shop has a oil fill hub with red die in it. There is an AD on that prop. The blades would crack internally. If you see red looking oil on the blades do not fly it.
My buddy who is a Beech trained tech, that has owned his shop for 30 years, has come up with the dart board pricing technique. That's how he says they set prices. By tossing darts at a dartboard, they come up with prices.
I sent my 88 year old father a link to your videos he loves flying he used to be in the royal New Zealand Air Force and usev to fly tiger months and Harvards.
In Canada we have a thing called BRASFCO. And you can buy every size every grade every metal tape and roller bearings seals. I guarantee they’re buying that boat for $1.99. Isn’t it crazy it’s like the marine stuff not as bad as airplanes. But a bolt is a bolt is a bolt especially if you’re matching grade
Jimmy, Im a loyal viewer and each time I watch your video with lots of enthusiasm. Thank you so much for all effort into editing and sharing your adevnture! AWESOME! Cheers mate.
You know, when I started watching this channel, I didn't know what to think of you. I'm still not sure what to think of you, but I am having a lot of fun watching this. Jimmy, I'm sorry, money is really tight these days, I have to save up about $5,000 for a class later on this year, and I have no clue where I'm going to get that money from. I can't donate to the 310 project, I wish I could.. I hope you can get the carbs off of ebay and that they will work properly for you. I'm looking forward to seeing all what you can get back in the air. I can't wait to see what you do with the avionics for the 310!
hi jimmy . form over the pond. uk tone... big thanks for putting a smile back on my face. when i had almost given up hope of ever smiling again. you have a good out look on life. even when it serves you up some crap. but to see you and your son just having fun and getting the jobs. ( ohh a poet ho ho ho.. ) can not wait till the next one ... you are the bees nees man of the year... lololololololol love from the 53 state England.. lolol .. tone
If it fits it ships on those early 310s. Our family had(33X) a 310 b flew the pants off that girl never left us stranded anywhere Easy 200 mph w the trick exhaust
Love all the humor on Jimmy's channel on a serious note I wonder if Jimmy's ever thought about just building an experimental aircraft seems like it would be a lot less money maybe I'm wrong, but I'll probably missing the point restoring these old aircraft is the dream of every aircraft nut when we visit an old airport and see all the rusting hulks sitting around
Great video! Thanks for demonstrating manual/emergency operations of the landing gear on a 310 while showing the mechanical connections and motor moving. The 310's landing gear system is quite complex and your video makes it clear how it works.
Morning Jimmy, Relatively new to your channel only a few months, and just to let you know that from someone who has nothing to do with aeroplanes! Your channel is still very interesting and amusingly curious. It is so easy to fly a plane over there, over here in the UK and Europe its all tied up in officials saying what you can't do. Did enjoy the trip back from Texas. Regards to all Richard 🇬🇧
