Cowl Flap Has Partial Travel

[Ernie Martin]

My rear cowl flap works perfectly but for only the center half of its travel. On a flight today I wasn't able to close it at cruising altitude. Upon landing I found it roughly half open. When you tried to close it, you could hear the motor run and the cowl flap would close maybe an inch, to roughly 1/4 open, and the motor would stop. When you tried to open it, it would again run, the cowl flap would open maybe an inch or two, and then the motor and cowl flap would stop. We are going to investigate next week, but has anyone seen this? Maybe a worn gear? Any thoughts?

Ernie

[WebMaster]

Ernie, I would first check the limit switches. They can come out of adjustment, and cause exactly what you are seeing. I would doubt it was a gear, if the motor shuts off.

If the motor was continuing to run, I would suspect otherwise.