I've worked in the trades, and like them all, except for plumbing; it takes a special breed, and I have a lot of respect and appreciation for plumbers. I went back to school to get out of the trades. I got into this hobby because I like planes, and I hope to work in the aerospace industry when all is said and done. Well guess what I got stuck doing today? Yep, plumbing.

I've been noticing a bunch of fuel all over the fire wall, and have been chalking it up as spilled fuel from filling. But it's been getting worse. Finally yesterday I heard some roughness in my engine when flying, and upon further investigation came to the conclusion I had an air leak somewhere. But where? I drained fuel from the tank, pressurized the system, and could find nothing. On a hunch, I tightened the bung screw and replaced the line from the fuel tank to the carb. Today, there were little bubbles in the line going to the carb, and had the same problem when flying. So I spent my whole day at the field today, plumbing[:@] For me, plumbing is fixing one thing, then finding a problem in the next thing. Every can is a can of worms, and it's been that way for nearly all of my 30 years of life. So today, I removed the engine, fuel lines, fuel tank, etc. Pressurized just the fuel tank; pressurized just the lines around the remote needle valve. Heard nothing, saw nothing, but replaced some lines anyway since I had the whole thing apart. Put it all back together, and couldn't prime my engine. Thumb over the carb (wide open) like I do 4 days a week, two turns of the prop, and no fuel. A few more turns of the prop, and the little air bubbles reached near the carb, but would not get sucked into the carb. So I tried starting anyway, and did get it started, but not as easily as normal. Now the engine runs spectacular (as it should, it's an AX) both on the ground and in the air.

Why can't I get it primed right? It sounds like an air leak, but I checked and changed everything! Which brings me to a simple question: when the engine is hot and the cylinder sleeve has expanded, does priming actually get more difficult due to the looser fitting piston/cylinder seal? But even if it did, I had the engine out and fuel lines apart, so the engine had plenty of time to cool down.

I wish we had a field plumber. I can do all of the other trades very well; I can assemble a plane, repair a plane, fly a plane, tune an engine, pretty much anything, except for plumbing. Boy do I hate plumbing. I guess most people do, 'cause it seems to be the last thing anyone wants to help with