Leaderboard

It may just need to be cleaned, buy 1 new one and work on the leaky one as a spare. I'm amazed the other brand used for wing tanks are plated steel and that type once rust had started were not fixable. Who'd have thought to use steel as the best material for parts that are sliding together and their one job is to collect water ready for draining. I changed to the all SS version no more issues but for the other locations I use those brass Curtis and they are the best. The rubber is important for preventing the metal parts from snapping together and on some designs this is enough to break the retainer off and loose the plunger.

I saw a C-180 where the bird went back to the Mainspar. Over Griffith in a Beech A-36 I only just missed a Large wedgetail at 8000 ft Seemed as though it was asleep in a thermal. They will easily go through most light aircraft's windscreens. Nev

We can say certification and design would never allow such a situation. But history of the 737 max and self certification by Boeing with minimal federal oversight has allowed the seemingly impossible to happen. Until the final report and one that's accepted by the European safety authorities, we can not be sure. I do not have a great deal of faith in the USA been a beacon of safety over profit, esp given the Trump cuts. This is India's first full modern investigation into a crash and in a country with known compliance issues, as such we need to wait and see. They may do a great job or they may not. Question? Does the 787 have a single FADEC for both engines? Is it not possible the FADEC is the culprit? Computers are never completely failsafe. To openly speculate about pilot suicide whilst possible does the poor families a great disservice and pilots in general. It also shifts the focus away from technical matters that need to be exhaustively tested. I remember everyone blaming the Pilots for the Max 737 crashes and Boeing happy to blame them, even after the second crash. We can desktop cowboy all we want but we don't know what happened.

Hi All, Recreational Flying (.com) will soon come to an end...BUT, Aircraft Pilots (.com) will be born. This site has outlived most other sites around the world having been going for over 22 years now providing a great, informative, helpful, vast resource to all recreational aviators but it is time to be more comprehensive in helping all types of aviators, no matter what you all fly. The features that are available to you cover the needs of all, it is not just a Forum site, but features like Groups, Blogs, different types of Media like Articles, Movies, Books etc, ALL types of Aircraft in the Aircraft Section and the Resources section provides tools for every kind of pilot. Also Clear Prop (.com.au) will also be moving to Aircraft Pilots (.com) and currently a Single Sign On (SSO) is being developed to provide a single registration and login system to both the forums etc and shop. When it all happens both Recreational Flying (.com) and Clear Prop (.com.au) will have redirects to Aircraft Pilots (.com) to make it easier for users to make the transition. HOWEVER, if your Email Address in your account settings here at Recreational Flying (.com) is no longer active, incorrect or not working in any way you will be LOCKED OUT of the new site. To check your email address, click your avatar at the top of the main menu and then click "Account Settings": Thanks and stay tuned for some updates

Curtis Valve; Viton O'ring; Ebay; Brown or Green spec; order 10, use 1, store the rest in a safe place that you know you will forget and never be able to find them again.

Thanks Ian, for all your good work. I'd just like to add, to all websites users - Please ensure you assist Ian with the website running costs - it's only $50 a year to become a full member, and even if you're cash-strapped, I'm sure he'd appreciate any level of donation to help offset website running costs, which run into many hundreds of dollars a year. With this site, you get free classifieds, free valuable aviation information, aviation camaraderie, plenty of opinions, and many aviation contact opportunities, so I believe the small annual donation requested is pretty good value.

If there had been an engine failure or an almost mathematically impossible double engine failure BEFORE the cut off switch movements it would have shown up on the flight recorder as a reduction in N1, N2. THEY WOULD HAVE PUT THIS IN THE REPORT.

The one that hit me was in attack mode. Hit the wing near the fuselage. Wakes you up. Pushed the leading edge back quite a way.

I agree with all your above Onetrack. I programmed decades of automation (though not in aircraft). I had a lot to do with logging plant data, also examining it. And I have a strong troubleshooting background. On that basis I would like to add this: There are lots of posts here that assume the EAFR cannot be wrong, in either the data it logs, or the timestamps. So there seems to be a general acceptance that certain exact things happened at certain exact times. While I have no doubt that the people who design these systems do everything they can to ensure that, we cannot be sure that is so. The data accuracy depends on where the data is sourced and how robust that source is (in this case in accurately reflecting the state of some switches). We should not be simply assuming that the EAFR 'looks' at the switches. It is entirely possible that it 'looks at' something in the software that is interpreting the condition of those switches. In which case there is more to consider than just a couple of switches. Regarding the timestamps: the EAFR is sharing a common central comms bus with many other things. And it is capturing a broad array of data. Whether it grabs all this data pretty much in one burst, or a bit at a time, I don't know. But any major disruption of those central comms...or indeed any failure to answer by whatever provides the data... has the potential to put the time stamps out from the actual events.The timestamp is when the EAFR managed to source the data. We need to be confident of rapid uninterrupted data access for those timestamps to be taken as accurate. I write this not to further muddy the waters. But from the info provided, I think we should be saying 'The switches were logged off/on at these specific times.' Not 'The switches went off/on at these specific times.' I should end by saying that close inspection of the captured data and of how and where that data is sourced would clarify much of the above. And I am hopeful that there are impartial investigators with access to do that.

As with all investigations trying to discover all the facts, the timeline, the motives, and to examine all the potential scenarios, the worst approach is to rapidly come to a conclusion, and to then make the facts fit the conclusion one has come to. Many Police forces have failed dismally when trying to solve major crimes with limited evidence, damaged crime scenes, lies, and often, seemingly no motive - because they approached the cases with preformed ideas, and ignored seemingly small pieces of information, instantly considering them as having no value, and dismissing them from the investigation. In essence, despite air crash investigations being based on avoiding the placement of blame on any one party, the principles of crime investigation should also be applied to air crash investigations, to ensure that even the tiniest piece of evidence of the crash cause or causes, is not ignored, or dismissed out of hand. There is sufficient power pressures at play in this major crash (almost on a par with the Erebus crash), that suspicion is harboured in many quarters, that political or corporate pressure will be applied to ensure that either Air India, Boeing, or even the Indian Aviation regulator come out of the investigation, squeaky clean. An interesting factor now is that a U.K. based law firm, intent on placing blame on a particular party involved in the crash, has commenced its own separate crash investigation, utilising the skills and knowledge of a very senior commander from the IAF. I do feel that this law firms investigation may be skewed from day one - and they are still reliant on the AAIB providing them with information, whereupon the AAIB may withhold critical information if it reflects badly on Air India or Indian aviation training, or the Indian Aviation regulator. However, it's perhaps not a bad thing to have another investigation running alongside the primary AAIB one, to maybe uncover facts or issues that the AAIB may overlook, or ignore. I've seen one of the victims relatives describe the preliminary report as "reading like a product review", rather than placing all the facts on the table. The preliminary reports failure to address the timing of the crew voices on the CVR, and to identify those particular voices, is something that seems to be a major failure in the report and has numerous aviation experts carrying on at length about the 10 second delay in returning the fuel cutoff switches to run. That 10 second delay could easily be explained if the voice records had been given a precise timeline in the preliminary report. There would almost certainly be a "WTF" few seconds in the cockpit as the engines spooled down, power to the displays flickered (as it does in the switching from the primary generators to backup power), and a visual check of thrust control positions was carried out, immediately after major thrust failure.

I could say ! . Curtis sent me the wrong one , so no good , & expensive . The oring free from my local " fuel injection " shop . & working good ! . The different thread ! , straight or tapered . spacesailor

After 30+ years in the computer industry... 'Cannot Occur' is not something I can agree with The coincidental errors occur with usually the most inconvenient timing

I reckon best to replace the valve with a new one. I carry two small size O rings as temporary repair in my spares kit but the seal is a square o ring shape. You can buy them ex USA, but best just get a new whole item.

Let’s focus on the AAIB report and not speculate. So you’re speculating the AAIB, FAA, BOEING and GE are all covering up both Left and Right FADECs failed within 1 second of each other, then around 10 seconds later they recovered? Speaking of cowboys, if the 737 MAX crew had followed SOPs neither of those aircraft would have crashed.

I second Area-51, the brown and green Viton o-rings are exceptionally durable. I keep them in a PVC ziplock bag in the top sliding drawer of my toolbox - where you always know where they are, because you have to shove them aside, to get the tools out. 😄

The O ring is what does the sealing.

The 1 second gap switching the fuel switches my not be as significant as some suggest. Time is normally taken from the GPS. Many GPS only grab the GPS output once a second mainly cause it takes time to calculate the position and forward it to other devices. If a second action (second switch?) occurs 2-10 hundreds of a second after the first it may 'wait' for a GPS time to log it. Also 10 seconds to identify a non-standard engine condition, think about it and then react correctly is a very short period of time. We dont know what we dont know.

10 seconds is a LONG time to move the switches to ON. Another thing is It's better to have the gear DOWN when crash landing other than ditching. nev

it would have scared sh#t out of you wouldn't it. did it come through your windscreen. i have heard of a truck in wa that had a wedgetail eagle come through the windscreen and was still alive in the cabin. trouble with them is they feed on roadkill and don't move fast enough when you get near them.

Happened to me a couple of months ago in the middle of the Nullabor ! Lots of damage

And of course, sometimes whatever fault or design flaw caused one thing to go haywire occurs at a similar time in other devices of the same manufacture date.

Some comments here are clearly so one-eyed and judgemental, I've taken to just skipping over them. Here are 787 Oral Notes that go some way towards describing the general layout of the electronics and automation: https://pdfcoffee.com/787-oral-notesdocx-2-pdf-free.html

You can replace the oring. Need to obtain correct one from an aircraft maintenance organisation. If you choose to replace the valve then you need the correct thread, there are several similar looking threads in use. Take your valve to the your value to the maintenance shop and they will advise.

First flights of FMS new mini PA-18. It has reasonable detail for little scale model and the well applies stickers do make it highly visible. The red stickers were pre-applied but there was a blue set in the box! We enjoyed flying it especially it's ease of take off/landing. The large wheels allow smooth take-off and it almost perfect landings can be achieved. Even in a 10-15mph breeze it is very stable in the air. We also liked that the non-stabilised/Manual mode which IS very flyable unlike many other mini Warbirds you can buy. We think the 'return to home' feature is a little mis-named. Preset the direction at take-off and it will always head back on the opposite to that direction when the RTH button is used. The red Stunt button works perfectly every time. Execute loops and rolls with ease. If travelling at 2/3 throttle or more then the rolls are very axial. The propeller does detach VERY easily from the claw mount on the motor shaft. The smallest touch on the ground and it will ping off so be careful you don't lose it. I wish they had included at least 1 spare propeller and prop hub as they are the components that are most likely to get broken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2eHexlynUY

Aircraft Spruce says they should be replaced, not repaired. Curtis Pipe Thread Drain Valve - CCA-1650 | Aircraft Spruce Australia WWW.AIRCRAFTSPRUCE.COM.AU Curtis Pipe Thread Drain Valve - CCA-1650 Quick opening brass drain valve for aircraft oil or fuel systems. A slight twist opens valve.

Gee, that must have been some decent sized bird. Poor bugger, how unlucky could you be? I can recall a pilot operating a Cessna twin from the W.A. mainland to Koolan Island, way back in the early 80's, or perhaps even the late 70's, hitting a Sea Eagle (Osprey) that came through the windscreen on him. It hit him smack in the face, knocked two of his front teeth out, and actually knocked him unconscious for a short period. The worst part was the bird carcass partly shredded and the cockpit filled with feathers and blood and guts. He managed to keep control of the aircraft, he then turned back to the mainland and landed it successfully. It must have been a very stressful experience.

One passenger fatality. A telecommunications technician. Tragic. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-14/nt-police-investigating-fatal-helicopter-incident-in-gapuwiyak/105531216