Front Prop Clearance and Nose Strut Deflated

[Kim Geyer]

I used a single short jack on the jack point behind the nose gear. I have weighted the tail end down with cases of oil in a pinch (@8- 12 qt.) The nose wheel needs to be off the ground to service it. If you try to do it with weight on it, it will take 250+ psi to get it to move.

[CO_Skymaster]

I went down today to see if I could get access to the Schrader valve to put in some air. It looks like there is a metal cap that can be loosened with a hex wrench, but try as I might, with the aircraft not jacked up and the strut deflated, I could not maneuver my arm in there without hitting the side of my body or head on the gear doors. I'm going to have to purchase a nose jack and try again later. Good news is it looks like my A&P is finally starting to move through his backlog of aircraft for annual. Wither he fixes before I get to it or not, I need to learn how to do it, so I will keep trying to work with it.

Thanks everyone for your help,

Karl

[Frank Benvin]

The cap on the valve should be able to be loosened with your fingers

You can see it in the picture attached

Frank

[CO_Skymaster]

Thanks Frank.

That's what mine looks like, good to see I'm on the right track. I was also looking at a nose jack as my first jack purchase. I was looking at Alpha Aviation (those are the red hydraulic jacks I see on Aircraft Spruce), but I can't find the specific model for the nose. Does anyone have a recommendation for a nose jack model or even another company?

Thanks,

Karl

[Kim Geyer]

If you are only servicing with nitrogen or air I have done this without a jack. I would connect the nitrogen bottle and stet the regulator to @ 30 psi then pull down on the booms till the strut was full extended. When the weight was put back on the nose gear, you can see if you need a little more or not if you don’t have enough extension add a few psi and do it again.

[CO_Skymaster]

Thanks Kim,

But I'm the only one working on the aircraft at the moment. I could go grab a friend of two to help me, but I don't want to rely on that. I think I figured out what jack to get, but I need to go find the measured clearance from the ground to the nose jack point to be sure.

Karl

[SteveG]

This sounds like you're considering jacking the nose wheel off the ground using only a front jack. IMHO that's a poor idea. The front jack point is primarily used to stabilize the aircraft while supported by wing jacks. Lifting the nose without tail boom stands risks dumping the aircraft over backwards. Take care.