When I first put the amphibs on the plane I had a terrible time turning. Somebody pointed out I was sitting quite high and suggested if I lowered the mains it would put much less pressure on the nosewheels and turning would be easier.

The mains are now lower and ground handling is much improved but now I have a new problem. The plane will not sit consistently level, sometimes during taxi the left wing drops but more often the right wing will be lower. It seems to correct itself fairly quickly but it is a bit unnerving to have the wing drop on the takeoff roll.

It happens inconsistently during taxi but is pretty consistent on the takeoff roll. It is always the right wing that drops on takeoff. I haven't experienced this phenomenon while landing, or taxiing after landing.

Obviously, I'll discuss this with my mechanic but if anybody can offer an insights before that conversation I'll be better equipped to give guidance.

Thanks, Allan

Could there be air in the system?

180Marty wrote:Could there be air in the system?

There better be air in the system!

It sounds like your struts are serviced unequally, either with the amount of air (nitrogen) or fluid (Mil-H 5606) or both.

When was the last time your struts were given a proper inspection?

Halestorm wrote:
It sounds like your struts are serviced unequally, either with the amount of air (nitrogen) or fluid (Mil-H 5606) or both.

When was the last time your struts were given a proper inspection?

I'm not sure, to be honest. The mechanic that lowered the mains seemed to have some difficulty adding nitrogen. He fiddled with it for a long time. Come to think of it, that was on the left side too. Might be a good place to start.

There is actual service information available for those floats, if you don’t have it you can get it from EDO corporation.

Those floats are at least 50 years old and required a disciplined and proactive approach to maintenance when they were brand new. At the risk of sounding preachy I suggest you educate yourself on those floats and take an active part in their maintenance.

If you are operating routinely in the water then all the service points (Zerk fittings) should be greased every 25 hours at a minimum, if not after every day of water operations. EDO recommends a water resistant grease that most landplane shops are not familiar with.

Wheel bearings are going to fail at a rate much higher than most A&P are expecting. In my experience chrome bearings don’t hold up noticeably better than steel.

Thanks Halestorm, I know you are pretty well versed in all things float-related so I was hoping for your input. One day I'll ask why you don't like Wip floats but for now I'll stick on topic-- I'm trying to educate myself as best I can but I haven't found a lot of info.

I've learned the wheel bearing maintenance requirement and now grease after every water trip. I can't recall the type of grease but my mechanic works on a lot of float stuff so I'm pretty sure it is suitable.

After reading your comment I've sent a note to EDO. Hopefully they have something in the archives regarding service requirements but on their page they only list installation instructions and a parts list.

There better be air in the system!

I guess I can say I've flown some hours on Wip's and Aerocet's and assumed it was just hydraulic oil in there.

180Marty wrote:

There better be air in the system!

I guess I can say I've flown some hours on Wip's and Aerocet's and assumed it was just hydraulic oil in there.

With aircraft, oleo struts serve as both spring and damper with the air charge acting as the spring and the oil traveling thru a metered orifice acting as a damper. It's the same design on Wips and Aerocets for suspension.

All of these floats do use a hydraulic system for retraction/extension and they usually self bleed air out of the system after a couple of cycles.