234 – Why the Airplane’s Heater Didn’t Light Last Winter

Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

I’ll get right to it… I think it was because one of the brushes in the heater combustion fan motor was severely worn, and when the motor / combustion fan did not run, the heater did not light.

Here’s a comparison of the old brushes and the new brushes I just installed:

(The 2 old brushes are on the left.)

This episode also includes the nose gear support structure rivets that needed to be replaced:

Now you might be wondering, “What kind of airplane is this?!”

It’s an Aerostar… a great airplane, but like all airplanes, it does take some maintenance.

And one area that needs to be inspected closely is the nose gear support structure. (The rivets in the above photo are in a bracket that supports the nose gear door rod shaft. The bolt below the center red arrow holds the left side of the shaft in place in the nose gear well.)

Listen to the audio to hear the complete list of squawks being addressed in this year’s annual inspection.

---

Have a great week!

The post “234 – Why the Airplane’s Heater Didn’t Light Last Winter” appeared first at AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com