Some General Comments on Maintenance and Safety
Issues
- Insure that all AD's are complied with!
- Keep your Mite stored inside, protected from the weather and
sunshine.
- Install a shoulder harness if possible. Weld up a new seat back with
inches added to its height so that the height of the harness passing over the
top of the seatback is higher than the pilot's shoulders when seated.
- Ensure that the aft-most fuselage bulkhead has at some time been
replaced with new material, or that the original remains like new, that is,
securely glued and bolted in place. A tail skid impact can break loose the old
glue holding the bulkhead in place, resulting in loss of elevator control.
- Check the welds in your rudder pedals for cracks at every annual. If a
pedal breaks when applying heavy pressure on toe brakes, you are in for an
interesting ride either on the surface or in the air.
- Keep a check list visible and use it. Mite owners have been known to to
occasionally forget to put the landing gear down, and sometimes even forget to
retract it.