Has anyone seen my checkbook? I seem to have misplaced it.

Getting ready for the annual tear the airplane apart and put it back together again ritual. I prefer the owner assisted variety. That way I really know the condition of the plane I'm flying. I'm hoping there are no ugly surprises this year, because money has been flowing out of the account like water out of a fire hose.

I bought a set of VG's to install this weekend too...it's gonna be a busy one.

I am very interested as all of the guys that have them seem to be of the M-too big for me and I don't know how our wing will vary from their's. Being a lowly M-4, I have yet to run into another m-4 that has a direct "before and after" to sway me one way or the other. What brand did you get, how much and good luck with your annual. Understand your going to join us at Lands Inn. Look forward to meeting you if we did not already at Johnson Creek last year.
Kurt MacKenzie

I bought the Micro Aerodynamics VG's, and got them painlessly from Jeremy. I've heard from several sources that they make a big difference on the M-4 and M-5 wing. The M-4 and M-5 wings are almost identical - same span but I think there are differences in the length and placement of the flaps and ailerons. All Maules have the same modified USA 35-B airfoil and this airfoil is said to benefit a good deal from the boundary layer reattachment characteristics of VG's at high angles of attack. IMHO, I think the shorter winged M-4's and M-5's would see a big improvement in low speed flight characteristics with VG's but I'll let you know when I've flown with them a bit. Everyone I've talked to who has them on a Maule says the handling near stall speeds is improved a lot and is more predictable.

I spoke with Bill Duncan about VG's at length a while back when I called him to inquire about his bushwheels. He used to have a M-4-220 with them installed and he recommended that I get the VG's, then call him about his bushwheels. Sounds like high praise for VG's to me. Given the reasonable cost of the Maule VG kit I think it's a good gamble for some increased control authority and improved handling below sixty-five mph. Bill also recommended the longer 82-84" prop. He used to have his M-4 set up with the VG's, 29" bushwheels, and the longer prop. He also said in retrospect that he wished he'd never sold it.

The annual inspection is almost complete. No big expensive surprises this year. Compressions were excellent - two 78's, three 79's, and an 80. We had to adjust the elevator cable tension and rigging, adjust the flap cable tension, replace the brake pads, adjust the alternator belt tension, and replace the gas cap gaskets. I'm also replacing the boots that cover the top of the oleo struts inside the cabin because the old ones are torn to pieces - don't want to give a mouse an easy way into the cabin to build a nest.

The Vortex Generator install was surprisingly easy. But I'm gonna expound on that in a seperate post after I've had a chance to fly the plane a bit with them. I'm still in the process of putting the plane back together. Hope to fly this weekend.

Did you use the Staton gas cap gaskets or go through Maule for that? I found some wear in one the other day and vaguely remember some thread about direct replacements via FAA/Maule and National Aviation Parts Assoc. And, how much?
Glad to hear about the easy annual.
Kurt

Kurt,

I ordered new gaskets from Bruce at Maule - $3.36 a piece. I had to order other things so I decided why not just have them send me those too. Don't recall ever seeing the Stant gaskets at the auto parts store, just the complete caps.

Hey Gang,

I finally got to fly with the new VG's last weekend, and wow, what a positive change they made in the way the plane handles at the bottom end of the envelope. Actually they seem to do positive things for handling through most of the ranges of speed but especially when slow and manuevering. There may be a loss of a couple knots cruise but I'm still tryin' to figure out just how much it is. I'll be flying cross-country to Californistan this weekend, so I should have a better set of mental data points (uh, oh) to give a more complete picture of what sort of changes there are. Thought I'd run it through the ringer at a couple of ag strips near my in-laws house over there and do some speed measurements on the trip back and forth.

I'll be posting a new topic to the Modifications forum to give a more detailed description of the install and the changes in flights characteristics, but I already recommend them heartily.

Ohhhhhhhh, Aahhhhhhhh, I need to wipe my chin!
How about aileron control and "mushiness"? At low speeds are you using ailerons or rudder? Changes in slow flight in general, take off, etc.
Wanting to see the upcoming posts!!

Aileron authority is much better...patience weedhoppa.