{"id":17748,"date":"2019-02-11T11:39:16","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T15:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/?p=17748"},"modified":"2019-02-11T11:39:16","modified_gmt":"2019-02-11T15:39:16","slug":"use-the-tap-test-during-preflight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\/","title":{"rendered":"Use the \u201cTap Test\u201d to Reveal Hidden Problems During Preflight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There has been a lot of discussion about the importance of the preflight inspection in general aviation, and with good reason. When performed properly, preflight inspections can save lives by revealing dangerous problems that may be lurking out of sight.<\/p>\n<p>But all too often, pilots fall victim to complacency and rush through the preflight to \u201ckick the tires and light the fires.\u201d A visual inspection is often not enough to tell you if an airplane is ready to fly. You have to get hands-on during preflight to spot hidden trouble, and a good place to start is with the \u201ctap test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For example, when inspecting the aircraft propeller, give the spinner a gentle knock with the back of your hand and listen closely for the sound of any loose items, such as a detached screw, that move in response. You can also tap on the surface of the wings to detect any loose or detached parts. If you hear anything abnormal, have it addressed by a maintenance technician before flying.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a composite propeller, you can inspect the blades for delaminations and debonds by gently tapping the surface with a metal coin. You will hear an audible change \u2013 a dull, hollow sound \u2013 when you encounter a dead area in the bonding. Hartzell Propeller has a helpful <a href=\"https:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/news-events\/videos\/repair-and-maintenance\/?id=15499\">tutorial video<\/a> on using this technique to check for damage in composite propellers.<\/p>\n<p>As the final authority regarding an aircraft\u2019s airworthiness, it\u2019s up to the pilot in command to determine if something isn\u2019t right prior to a flight. Take your time during the preflight and don\u2019t be afraid to get your hands a little greasy in the process. Approach the preflight process as if your life depends on it \u2013 because it does!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There has been a lot of discussion about the importance of the preflight inspection in general aviation, and with good reason. When performed properly, preflight inspections can save lives by revealing dangerous problems that may be lurking out of sight. But all too often, pilots fall victim to complacency and rush through the preflight to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":16626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[13,31,136,339],"class_list":["post-17748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-aircraft-propeller","tag-composite-propeller","tag-propeller","tag-propeller-spinner"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Use the \u201cTap Test\u201d to Reveal Hidden Problems During Preflight - Hartzell Propeller<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The preflight inspection can save lives by revealing dangerous problems lurking out of sight. Learn how to detect problems with a tap test.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Use the \u201cTap Test\u201d to Reveal Hidden Problems During Preflight - Hartzell Propeller\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The preflight inspection can save lives by revealing dangerous problems lurking out of sight. Learn how to detect problems with a tap test.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hartzell Propeller\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HartzellProp\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-11T15:39:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hartzellprop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Signs-It\u2019s-Time-for-a-Propeller-Replacement.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"260\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kern Patton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HartzellProp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HartzellProp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kern Patton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kern Patton\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/deef57ef7cfc97dda2ae76f3caa1cd05\"},\"headline\":\"Use the \u201cTap Test\u201d to Reveal Hidden Problems During Preflight\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-11T15:39:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":304,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Signs-It\u2019s-Time-for-a-Propeller-Replacement.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"aircraft propeller\",\"composite propeller\",\"propeller\",\"propeller spinner\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/\",\"name\":\"Use the \u201cTap Test\u201d to Reveal Hidden Problems During Preflight - Hartzell Propeller\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/use-the-tap-test-during-preflight\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Signs-It\u2019s-Time-for-a-Propeller-Replacement.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-11T15:39:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hartzellprop.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/deef57ef7cfc97dda2ae76f3caa1cd05\"},\"description\":\"The preflight inspection can save lives by revealing dangerous problems lurking out of sight. 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