How do you open and close it? If you
remove the cap in order to screw the hose adapter on, what keeps the oil from
coming out?
From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Dennis Johnson
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 6:39
AM
To: Lancair
Mailing List
Subject: [LML] Legacy Oil Pan
Quick Drain
I've been flying my Legacy IO-550 for seven years and about 720
hours. Over that time, I have done many oil changes and spilled oil onto
my hangar floor many times. Early on I tried installing the
"standard" quick drain fitting but there wasn't enough clearance from
the nose gear. Back when I was building, I had to use longer than normal
over center link arms on the nose gear to get the required rake
angle. I think that change made my clearance too small for the
standard oil drain valve.
So a few months ago I installed a different quick drain valve,
called the "Lancair IV Oil Drain Valve," Aircraft Spruce part
#08-01298. It looks like this:
I installed the drain valve into the oil pan, lifted the nose gear off
the ground, and manually swung the nose gear. The clearance was tight,
considering how much the engine rocks and rolls, but it looked like there would
be enough. For the first few flights after installing it, I
inspected the drain closely, looking for rub marks. I didn't find
any. There is no evidence that the nose gear strut is contacting the
drain valve.
I flew it for about 50 hours and recently did my first easy and clean
oil change. Draining the oil was simple and effective. The
instructions say to let it drain overnight, so I expected it would drain
slowly. But it drained pretty much all the oil in an hour or so.
The oil was hot when I drained it; I'm sure it would be much slower if it was
cold.
So long as you check clearance after installation, I recommend
this quick drain valve for those of us with reduced clearance.