Narrative:

Upon landing in the cessna 150; I raised the flap selector switch to the up position per normal procedures. In this 150; the switch has 3 positions - neutral/off; up; and down. When the switch is pushed into the down position it will return to neutral if you remove pressure from the switch; whereas it will remain in place when pushed into the up position. Upon taxiing off the active runway I noticed the flaps had not fully retracted - they were still at approximately 20 degrees. I thought I may have accidentally pushed the switch back to neutral so I pushed the switch to the down position so the switch would spring back into neutral. The flaps then lowered to the maximum deflection (40 degrees) and did not raise at all when I subsequently pushed the switch to the up position.once I had shut down the engine I attempted to further diagnose the problem. The electric flap motor could be heard running if the switch was placed in the down position; but no sound could be heard when the switch was in the up position. I checked the fuse and found it to be in good condition. I inspected the flaps outside the aircraft for obstructions or anything that could prevent them from being retracted and found no problems. My determination was that the flap switch had partially broken during the landing rollout. It was still clearly allowing electricity to flow through to the motor in the down position but not in the up position.it should be noted that there are no services here. No fuel is available; and there is neither an FBO on the field nor any maintenance facility or a & P mechanic. Due to this; options were extremely limited as far as addressing the issue with the flaps. I called the FBO that I rented the aircraft from and discussed the issue with one of the owners; who is also an a & p-ia. He instructed me to remove an access panel from underneath the right wing to locate the electric flap motor. I removed the access panel and located the motor. He then instructed me to reach into the wing and try turning the drive coupling on the motor to manually turn the screw drive and raise the flaps. I attempted this for approximately 5 minutes and determined that; while I could turn the coupling; it was not going to retract the flaps.in the process of opening the access panel; I gained access to the two power wires leading to the electric flap motor. Knowing that the flap switch still worked in the down position and that an electric motor operates on polarity; I suggested to the FBO that I reverse the polarity by switching the wires leading to the flap motor. They told me to proceed and I cut the wires; switched the polarity; and then was able to successfully raise the flaps by placing the switch inside the cockpit in the down position. I then wrapped the wires leading to the motor with electrical tape; closed the access panel under the wing; and pulled the fuse from inside the cockpit to ensure no electricity would flow through the wires to the electric flap motor. After a complete pre-flight; I was able to depart and return home (including a fuel stop enroute) safely by making no-flap landings.I believe that; acting as PIC under 91.7(b); as well as 91.3; the aircraft was in an airworthy condition and could be operated safely without flaps - that is; it could be operated with the flaps fully retracted but unable to be lowered. No-flap landings are a permissible maneuver per the pilot operating handbook (poh). Thus; I exercised my PIC authority and determined the aircraft was airworthy for the flight home. My concern is in regard to part 43 and whether or not the act of raising the flaps was permitted. I am submitting this report because; after the flight; I have come to question whether these actions may have been inconsistent with the regulations on maintenance. But I must stress that I did not knowingly or intentionally act in any such manner at the time. I opened the access panel and raised the flaps in accordance with instructions provided by the a & p-ia at the FBO. While I realize that does not exempt me from the far's as the PIC; I did believe the actions taken to raise the flaps were legal and necessary. Ultimately; I believe that I did what was necessary - under the guidance of an a & p-ia who also is the owner of the aircraft - to return the aircraft to an airworthy state.for me; this has been a valuable learning experience and certainly will lead me to be much more proactive in the future when it comes to questioning the activities allowed by far part 43; as well as the use/request of a ferry permit if necessitated by the aircraft's condition.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Upon landing; a single Pilot of a Cessna 150 realized the flaps would not retract after selecting the flaps up. With the help of the aircraft owner via phone call; who was an A & P and IA; the pilot swapped flap switch wires; raised flaps; flew back to home airport executing no-flap landings per the Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH).

Narrative: Upon landing in the Cessna 150; I raised the flap selector switch to the Up position per normal procedures. In this 150; the switch has 3 positions - neutral/off; up; and down. When the switch is pushed into the down position it will return to neutral if you remove pressure from the switch; whereas it will remain in place when pushed into the up position. Upon taxiing off the active runway I noticed the flaps had not fully retracted - they were still at approximately 20 degrees. I thought I may have accidentally pushed the switch back to neutral so I pushed the switch to the down position so the switch would spring back into neutral. The flaps then lowered to the maximum deflection (40 degrees) and did not raise at all when I subsequently pushed the switch to the Up position.Once I had shut down the engine I attempted to further diagnose the problem. The electric flap motor could be heard running if the switch was placed in the Down position; but no sound could be heard when the switch was in the Up position. I checked the fuse and found it to be in good condition. I inspected the flaps outside the aircraft for obstructions or anything that could prevent them from being retracted and found no problems. My determination was that the flap switch had partially broken during the landing rollout. It was still clearly allowing electricity to flow through to the motor in the Down position but not in the Up position.It should be noted that there are no services here. No fuel is available; and there is neither an FBO on the field nor any maintenance facility or A & P Mechanic. Due to this; options were extremely limited as far as addressing the issue with the flaps. I called the FBO that I rented the aircraft from and discussed the issue with one of the owners; who is also an A & P-IA. He instructed me to remove an access panel from underneath the right wing to locate the electric flap motor. I removed the access panel and located the motor. He then instructed me to reach into the wing and try turning the drive coupling on the motor to manually turn the screw drive and raise the flaps. I attempted this for approximately 5 minutes and determined that; while I could turn the coupling; it was not going to retract the flaps.In the process of opening the access panel; I gained access to the two power wires leading to the electric flap motor. Knowing that the flap switch still worked in the Down position and that an electric motor operates on polarity; I suggested to the FBO that I reverse the polarity by switching the wires leading to the flap motor. They told me to proceed and I cut the wires; switched the polarity; and then was able to successfully raise the flaps by placing the switch inside the cockpit in the Down position. I then wrapped the wires leading to the motor with electrical tape; closed the access panel under the wing; and pulled the fuse from inside the cockpit to ensure no electricity would flow through the wires to the electric flap motor. After a complete pre-flight; I was able to depart and return home (including a fuel stop enroute) safely by making no-flap landings.I believe that; acting as PIC under 91.7(b); as well as 91.3; the aircraft was in an airworthy condition and could be operated safely without flaps - that is; it could be operated with the flaps fully retracted but unable to be lowered. No-flap landings are a permissible maneuver per the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH). Thus; I exercised my PIC authority and determined the aircraft was airworthy for the flight home. My concern is in regard to Part 43 and whether or not the act of raising the flaps was permitted. I am submitting this report because; after the flight; I have come to question whether these actions may have been inconsistent with the regulations on maintenance. But I must stress that I did not knowingly or intentionally act in any such manner at the time. I opened the access panel and raised the flaps in accordance with instructions provided by the A & P-IA at the FBO. While I realize that does not exempt me from the FAR's as the PIC; I did believe the actions taken to raise the flaps were legal and necessary. Ultimately; I believe that I did what was necessary - under the guidance of an A & P-IA who also is the owner of the aircraft - to return the aircraft to an airworthy state.For me; this has been a valuable learning experience and certainly will lead me to be much more proactive in the future when it comes to questioning the activities allowed by FAR Part 43; as well as the use/request of a ferry permit if necessitated by the aircraft's condition.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.