diamondaviators.net

Inquiring minds want to know...

1) My LH governor is "hunting". With the RH stable at say 2,070RPM, the best I can get the LH to do is to flutter between 2,060 - 2,080. Anybody else?

2) Drip drip drip

How long after your last TKS usage do your TKS panels drip? Do you really run them once a month?

Per the attached, they will drip for a long time in summer months, then require a lot of priming if you want to use them.

3) The big one - oil level

I noticed in my DA40NG that when it was on my tug's "ramp", the only shifted aft and the oil reading's were off about 1/3 - 1/5 liter. With the DA62 the problem is exacerbated by the nose gear strut/ram. I can roll the plane off the tug, but I can't compress the strut. Under about 50% power the nose does drop down, but when the power is reduced, it springs back up.

So how do you get a true reading of the oil level? My current thinking is to add only a half liter and only when it's on the MIN mark. Does anybody else have a better suggestion?

Boatguy wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:52 pm Inquiring minds want to know...

1) My LH governor is "hunting". With the RH stable at say 2,070RPM, the best I can get the LH to do is to flutter between 2,060 - 2,080. Anybody else?

2) Drip drip drip

How long after your last TKS usage do your TKS panels drip? Do you really run them once a month?

Per the attached, they will drip for a long time in summer months, then require a lot of priming if you want to use them.

3) The big one - oil level

I noticed in my DA40NG that when it was on my tug's "ramp", the only shifted aft and the oil reading's were off about 1/3 - 1/5 liter. With the DA62 the problem is exacerbated by the nose gear strut/ram. I can roll the plane off the tug, but I can't compress the strut. Under about 50% power the nose does drop down, but when the power is reduced, it springs back up.

So how do you get a true reading of the oil level? My current thinking is to add only a half liter and only when it's on the MIN mark. Does anybody else have a better suggestion?

1)RPM: I don’t have a specific answer to your rpm question but having two engines opens up new opportunities to explore one’s OCD tendencies. On a long cross country the thrum thrum of slightly out of sync propellers - we don’t have prop levers to mess with so you try adjust the power lever to sync the props but then you’re flying with 76% on one engine but 74% on the other. And why does one engine use slightly more oil?

2) TKS: TKS is a mess. It drips a lot for a week and a little for another week after that. I run mine once a month, six weeks at the longest. Letting it dry out can be a difficult, expensive fix.

Run the system away from home. Put containers on the floor of the hangar to catch the drips. My Cirrus dribbled over a wide area, hard to catch it all. The DA42 primarily drips in just four spots, easier to manage. TKS evaporates very slowly but you can speed it up by sloshing some water onto the TKS puddles then sweeping or mopping it around a bit. Some put carpet runners under the wings to absorb the fluid.