The first thing I checked was the tailwheel to rule it out. The reason I even bothered is because it was hard to determine the source of the sound while taxiing...the fuselage resonated in its entirety with the vibration. I don't mean to make it sound all that bad. I mean, it was just a moaning brake, but the fuselage acts like a megaphone essentially for all little noises and bumps as you taxi. Anyway, when I inspected the tailwheel, it looked like the right side was rubbing the fork slightly. Ok, that could be it.
I propped the tail up, removed the tailwheel, and cleaned everything off. While I was back there I greased the tailwheel bearings and the tailwheel swivel. I stole a couple of -6 washers off Tom Prokop (thanks!) and spread the tailwheel fork slightly. Once the tailwheel was reinstalled with the washers as spacers it had plenty of clearance on each side. I got in, taxied it around, nope...problem was still there. Next step, check the brakes.
That was yesterday afternoon, and I had to leave to do some stuff last night, so this morning the plane was waiting for me. I had done some research on noisy brakes and had made a list of about seven or eight things to check and to try. Some people had talked about lubing the caliper pins, some had talked about shimming the brake pad, etc. There are lots of ways to quiet noisy brakes. For me, the day started with a general inspection of the brakes, which didn't turn up anything unusual. I decided to bleed the right brakes from scratch...because the theory is that if any air is in the system, any resonance can become amplified due to the compressibility of the air -- or something like that...
I pulled the right seat and got into the cockpit to feel the brakes with my hands. The right side was definitely a little on the spongy side.
So I got out my trusty vacuum pump, the little hand jobby that I got from the auto parts store a while back. I've done this a couple of times, so it went quickly. I just sucked the all the fluid down and out through the bleeder valve and into the little vacuum catch canister. I discarded the old fluid (just a habit of mine to always use fresh fluid). I got out my little cheap Harbor Freight special oil can and pumped fresh fluid up into line until I saw it go up the clear tubing in the cockpit (between the master cylinder and reservoir). Once the level had reached the reservoir, I closed the bleeder valve and topped off the reservoir.
I got back into the cockpit on my belly and felt the brakes again. Mo betta. Time for a taxi test. I figured the problem would still be there, you know, with my luck and all. Nope, the problem was gone. So in the end, the noisy brake just needed bleeding. Easy enough.
After lunch, Linas and I went flying. I told him I feel bad dragging him away from his project and all, but he didn't exactly seem too upset about it. We climbed up above the scattered to broken layer that has seemed to hang around here for days now. We cruised over to the "box" where I did my 25 hours, and I showed Linas where he'll be spending his 25 hours eventually.
We stopped in at Corona for "cheap" fuel (they jacked the price up to $2.64 again), and I bumped into my buddy Ron. I dropped Linas back off at Chino so he could get some work done, and then flew back to Corona to pick up Ron. I wanted to show Ron my latest mode of travel...18" at 1940 RPM, leaned to about 50 lean of peak. It burns 3.6 to 3.8 gallons per hour. Indicated airspeed is only about 110 knots, but hey...when you're not in a hurry, why burn lots of fuel? This engine and Airflow Performance fuel injection system really rocks. Putzing along, you can still beat the 152s out there and burn less fuel. I dig it.
We flew down the 15 and then decided to give Lake Wohlford a shot. That's a private strip north of San Diego. It's a 1300' mostly paved strip on a plateau above a small lake. I had never landed there, but Ron had been in there with his Skylane. I guess he knows one of the guys based there. Anyway, on my first approach I didn't get it down soon enough so I went around. The second time I got it down and we lived to tell. The setting there at Lake Wohlford is beautiful. The views are awesome, the air is clean, and it's just a short hike down the hill into "town." We ate at the Lake Wohlford Cafe, which is right across the street from the lake.
Back at Corona I topped off. Today I flew 3.0 hours and burned 17 gallons of avgas. Can't beat that with a stick. I'm glad I have fuel infection and can operate lean and clean...