www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 1
PO BOX 1382 Hanford CA 93232-1382 United States of America 559-584-3306 Editor@CONTACTMagazine.com
Volume 16 Number 2 Nov-Dec 2007
Issue #91 MISSION CONTACT! Magazine is published bi-monthly by Aeronautics Education Enterprises (AEE), an Arizona nonprofit corporation, established in 1990 to promote aeronautical education. CONTACT! promotes the experimental development, expansion and exchange of aeronautical concepts, information, and experience. In this corporate age of task specialization many individuals have chosen to seek fresh, unencumbered avenues in the pursuit of improvements in aircraft and powerplants. In so doing, they have revitalized the progress of aeronautical design, particularly in the general aviation area. Flight efficiency improvements, in terms of operating costs as well as airframe drag, have come from these efforts. We fully expect that such individual efforts will continue and that they will provide additional incentives for the advancement of aeronautics. EDITORIAL POLICY CONTACT! pages are open to the publication of these individual efforts. The views expressed are exclusively those of the individual authors. Experimenters and builders are encouraged to submit articles and photos of their work. Materials exclusive to CONTACT! are welcome but are returnable only if accompanied by return postage. Every effort will be made to balance articles reporting on commercial developments. Commercial advertising is not accepted. All rights with respect to reproduction, are reserved. Nothing whole or in part may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher.
I have a lot to cover and not a lot of space so I’ll jump right into it.
WEB DESIGNER NEEDED We need help with the website. If web design is your forte and you can volunteer a few hours per week, let me know. I’d like to make it more friendly and interactive. Shopping carts, direct credit card subscriptions, movies, articles and photos, etc. We’d like to consider the possibility of devoting a specific page to each of our readers who have an on-going project, perhaps even a completions gallery. I think this could be a great way to share the excitement of experimental aviation with other readers.
3
6 6 7
8. 12 15 16
19 SUBSCRIPTIONS Six issue subscription in U.S. funds is $24.00 for USA, $28.00 for Canada and Mexico, $40.00 for overseas air orders. CONTACT! is mailed to U.S. addresses at nonprofit organization rates mid January, March, May, July, September and November. Please allow time for processing and delivery of first issue from time of order. ADDRESS CHANGES / RENEWALS The last line of your label contains the number of your last issue. Please check label for correctness. This magazine does not forward. Please notify us of your date of address change consistent with our bimonthly mailing dates to avoid missing any issues. COPYRIGHT 2007 BY AEE, Inc.
20 29 30 32
32
LAST PUSH FOR VOLUME 3 We’ve been pre-selling Alternative Engines Volume 3 for almost a year now and we finally have enough in the coffers to go to print. So this is your last chance to order Volume 3 at the discounted rate. Please see the rear inside Continued on page 27
A Subaru Legacy with Redundant EFI. Ken Lehman does an outstanding job describing the redundant nature of the electrical systems installed in his EJ22 powered Murphy Rebel. MegaSquirt. EFI: For the Do-It-Yourself Builder. Marcotte Redrive. A very brief side piece with contact information. Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin alerts the operators of airplanes powered by Volkswagen air-cooled engines of an airworthiness concern where the engine loses power due to the loss of cylinder head fastener torque. No One Believed That We Walked Away. Phyllis Ridings-Murawski, details the fiery loss of their Wheeler Auriga. Carburetor Icing-- One More Time. Another great discussion on carb ice, this time by Harry Hill of the Winnipeg Area RAA Paul Lipps Checks In and gives us some stats on the performance with a recently installed Elippse prop on an RV-6 Alternatives to the Rotax 912 & 914 Engines. Don Parham of RFI Power Systems compares the Rotax series of 80-115 hp engines to automobile conversions available from the US market. Raven Redrives Checks In. Raven Rotorcraft and Redrives’s latest offering, a three-cylinder, 38-hp direct drive Geo/Suzuki engine. From COPPERSTATE to COPPERSTATE. Nicholas Wood tells of his experiences during his first year working at CONTACT! Magazine Prop Balancer Revisited. John Steere takes the Paul Lipps designed propeller balancer and adapts it for wheel balancing. Builder Assist Program. Bruce Sturgill provides us with a progress report on being a Personal Cruiser beta builder. End of an Era: Exemption 7162 Expires. Owners of experimental aircraft could once o be compensated for renting their aircraft to others who sought experimental aircraft-specific flight training can no longer be compensated. EASA Supplemental Type Certificate for Light Speed Engineering’s PLASMA CDI on a Lycoming O-360
On the cover: Ken Lehman’s Subaru EJ22 powered Murphy Rebel. www.ContactMagazine.com ISSUE 91 PAGE 2
CONTACT!
ELECTRICAL REDUNDANCY Our installation features two electrical systems powered by two small 9 ampere-hour (AH) sealed batteries that are momentarily connected in parallel for starting even though one alone is capable of the cranking chore. A 20 amp John Deere permanent magnet dynamo (generator) and a 40 amp Nippondenso “one wire” alternator keep them charged.
Alternator Dynamo Story and photos by Ken Lehman, Ontario, Canada klehman@albedo.net As of this writing, I have 140 hours on an internally stock 1997 Subaru EJ22 hanging from the nose of my Murphy Rebel experimental aircraft. Total time includes a meandering 5,000 mile trip I took this past summer that took me through the Canadian Rocky Mountains on my way to the EAA Regional Fly-in at Arlington, Washington. We were a flight of four Rebels, loaded with camping equipment during that 58 flight-hour adventure.
PERFORMANCE The Lycoming O-320 plane burned $2,500 worth of leaded aviation fuel (100LL) while the Subaru and two Rotax 912 powered Rebels each burned $1,000 or less of automobile fuel (mogas). Interestingly, my Sube could match the Lycoming powered machine’s performance for takeoff and climb but, then at an average 17 liters per hour (4.5 gph), pretty much match the lighter 912 powered machines for economy cruise. My engine is set up to make a conservative 120-hp but that’s about all the fixed -pitch Lycoming does during takeoff and climb, although he definitely cruised faster.
DONOR ENGINE The engine that we used was from a brand new (but damaged) vehicle, so I didn’t split the case. However, the first engine purchased had 40,000 km on it and although it had also been pulled from a wreck, opening it revealed a bad rear main bearing so we chose not to use it for that reason and others. www.ContactMagazine.com
This end of the engine fits neatly against the firewall and clearly shows the location of the redundant charging systems, the cam-driven vacuum pump and the crank position sensor.
EFI The 1997 engine runs on a stock 1991 Subaru electronic fuel injection (EFI). However, believing that established automotive reliability can’t always be counted on with the transplanted engine and one-off wiring, I opted for a second (redundant) backup EFI system. The goal was that no single electrical failure could stop the engine. A second set of multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) injectors were installed into bungs welded to the intake manifold, operated by a MegaSquirt® EFI Controller kit. Two switches supply power to the respective set of injectors. Interestingly, if both switches are on the engine keeps running (although ridiculously rich). For more info on the MegaSquirt EFI system, please see the side piece at the end of this article. The stock Sube EFI runs about 800° C (1,472° F) EGT at full throttle and about 820° C (1,508° F) in cruise. Initially those temps seemed high but by running on the backup EFI and manually adjusting the mixture I have confirmed that the stock system is always running at peak EGT in the 4,000 to 4,400 RPM range in which I cruise. It’s no surprise when you realize that the stock (automotive) system is targeting 14.7:1 stoichiometric mixture to keep a catalytic converter happy. It seems that I can reduce fuel consumption about 5% (and lower EGT a bit) by running lean of peak on the backup EFI in cruise, but that requires fiddling with the manual mixture
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 3
knob on the backup computer. Once you get used to not playing with mixture and carb heat or closely watching engine temps for peaks and shock cooling, it is more enjoyable to just fly on the OEM system and ignore the engine unless the engine information system (EIS) monitor calls attention to something.
Air enters through two, 3-inch dia. holes (roughly) and exits through side ramped vents. You may notice a reverse air scoop on the top of the cowl. That was to let hot air out after shutdown and to give a bit more clearance to the TBI while avoiding rain ingestion. A tuft confirms that air flows out of it on the ground but into it during flight due to pressure build-up ahead of the windscreen.
A high pressure fuel valve allows for feeding one or both fuel rails. While I have two submerged fuel pumps in a two-gallon, gravity-fed header tank, they each have external check-valves as well. The pumps also have internal check valves but a rubber hose failure between the pump and the tank outlet could cause loss of fuel pressure without external check valves.
The image above shows the modified manifold, including the addition of injector bungs. Note too the oversized pulleys on the alternator and dynamo, designed to prolong life while fitted to a relatively highrevving engine. When it came to aluminum manifold modifications, I found that TIG welding was a joy to learn and use and cheaper than expected. Some have claimed very high weight for the cast aluminum manifold but I recall it being only 4 or 5 pounds when stripped and I estimated the runner length to be tuned about right for me.
REDUNDANT IGNITION
Two-gallon aluminum header tank with redundant submerged electric fuel pumps plumbed in parallel.
INDUCTION and COWL Combustion air is taken from inside the cowl and unfortunately runs about 30° C above OAT. I’d like to get that cooler but haven’t been able to get cooler air up there without cutting a hole in the cowling door, which I’m reluctant to do. The cowl is fairly tight to minimize drag.
The primary ignition utilizes the stock Sube system, but the secondary system is from a mid-80s Chevrolet Cavalier. Interestingly, despite being a distributorless system (like the primary Sube ignition), when one coil failed in ground testing the backup ignition would still run the engine on three cylinders with the primary ignition off. The H.V. (high voltage) system is a bit complex as dual polarity, high voltage coil joiners are used to feed either or both ignition systems to one spark plug per cylinder. Two MSD joiners are used for normal polarity and high voltage diodes have been potted into a 6-cylinder distributor cap for the other polarity. The Chevy crankshaft position sensor (seen in the photo to the right, opposite page) overhangs the stock crankshaft harmonic damper. It is set for 10° BTDC static. The Chevrolet Distributorless Ignition System (DIS) module advances with RPM to about 25° before TDC in cruise. That is not as much advance as the OEM system but it is adequate for starting and maintaining flight. It is also in the ballpark for running a 40-hp shot of nitrous in the future for operating on floats out of small lakes. The Chevy DIS runs all the time and there is a switch to provide +12 volts to the Chevy coils when their output is desired. The engine does not miss a beat when switching between EFI systems or ignition systems on the fly.
www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 4
The description of the redundant nature of the systems seem complicated at first, especially once paired with the switchology involved, but it takes only a few seconds of viewing the panel and the way the switches are laid out to understand the simplicity it actually carries.
COOLING SYSTEM Keeping the engine cool has been a problem-free experience. Even in 37° C (98.6° F) OAT weather, the water temperature will not go above the thermostat setting while on the ground. Normally the water temp is controlled by the thermostat and for awhile I was sure I had overbuilt the cooling system. However, in heavy, extended climbs to 8,500 ASL (12,500 density) such as coming out of Golden, B.C., in very hot weather, the water will climb to 100° C (212° F) so it looks like we’ve got it nailed. I always climb at full throttle but I can see why a 3" thick radiator or a bit larger one might be appropriate for those with a modified cam or who cruise at full throttle in warm air temps.
The radiator sits under the fuselage and is two inches thick with a face area of 22" wide by 6” tall. I had to consult Kuchemann’s book The Aerodynamic Design of Aircraft before I felt that I was even beginning to understand a liquid-cooled system for aircraft engines. I believe the cooling chapter is available on the Web. I recommend Kuchemann because the last serious research was probably done during WWII and little has been learned since outside of the experimental-aviation community. There are just too many conflicting examples of modern theories and installations that sometimes work and sometimes don’t. My radiator intake scoop is far enough from the propeller to accept a lot of air during ground operation. It’s also far enough behind the prop to avoid blade interference if indeed there were any. The bottom of the intake duct goes straight to the bottom of the radiator but the top of the duct conforms to streamline flow as described by Kuchemann. That means it curves up to the top of the radiator fairly suddenly as it meets up with the radiator, much like the bell of a musical instrument such as a tuba. The goal was good cooling with no more parasite drag than an air cooled engine. There is a cockpit-adjustable exit damper (the equivalent of a cowl flap) about two feet behind the radiator but it doesn’t do much as the thermostat controls the water temperature nicely. The cockpit-adjustable feature is probably not worth the effort for a 100 MPH airplane. One-inch silicone hoses are routed to and from the radiator. There have been reports of problems using smaller hoses for remotely located radiators so I opted to not take chances. A small steam vent has been fitted to the top water manifold exiting the engine and it continuously flows back to a pressure sensor through 5/16 coolant hose and to a translucent plastic sealed reservoir from a Volvo. Originally it also flowed through the throttle body to keep it warm but I have since bypassed it. No swirl pot was needed in the car or the airplane and there have been no issues with trapped air. I have a Modine oil to water heat exchanger which helps warm the oil after cold weather starts. I have seen 120° C (248° F) crankcase oil temperatures during the aforementioned hot weather climbs but that’s fine for 5W50 synthetic oil. The water output from the Modine goes to a large cabin heater on the forward side of the firewall. It turned out to be ridiculously oversized for cabin heating but I have the option of rearranging to vent air from it overboard if further cooling is needed after retrofitting floats to the Rebel. Few pilots fly in the winter here but I find they are still preheating while I’m warm and airborne. I ended up fitting a fan to the cabin heater but with the fresh air intake located below the spinner the fan is simply not needed, even on the ground. Occasionally a small defrost fan blowing air up through the glare-shield and onto the windscreen is useful though. The plan was to have the floats finished for next summer but we are having so much fun flying to little grass strips that I think we’ll keep the plane on wheels for another year.
www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 5
EFI: For the Do-It-Yourself Builder For the true experimenter or do-it-yourself type of individual, there is another option in electronic fuel injection systems. MegaSquirt®, by Bowling and Grippo, offers a new option in EFI technology by providing experimenters with the guidance to build their own EFI Controller using just a few basic tools.
REDRIVE and PROP The M-200 Marcotte 1.92:1 ratio propeller speed reduction unit (PSRU) is driven through 6 rubber doughnuts to minimize crankshaft loading and provide some damping. The first set of rubbers was replaced at 70 hours. I’ll let the next set go for twice that before pulling them for inspection. A Teflon tube sight-gauge has been fitted to the PSRU to monitor oil level and it used to have a tendency to vent some oil periodically. This venting was reduced by extending a 1/4" vent tube down vertically about 1/4" into the space between the prop shaft bearings. After that, switching back to heavier 85W140 synthetic gear oil stopped it completely. 3/8" Teflon tubing is also used for wing fuel sight gauges. With the ignition off, the engine will windmill down to about 40 knots but once stopped it will not rotate again without the starter regardless of airspeed. That is with a three-blade 72" Warp Drive propeller. To my surprise, the glide ratio is about the same whether windmilling or stopped on my installation. For more info on the Marcotte PSRU, see the side article to the right.
EXHAUST and ENGINE MOUNT A fairly large stainless steel muffler accepts exhaust from both cylinder heads and then expels out one side. I used .049 type 308 stainless pipes and .035 sheet for the muffler. I gas welded the engine mount out of .058 tubing for easier welding for a first timer. It, too, is redundant in that any one broken weld will not cause a problem. The exhaust, like the intake system, was also TIG welded with Solar Type B backup flux and some argon purging. After much effort I concluded that there was no advantage to tuned headers on this engine since there is almost no valve overlap to exploit with the stock cam.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to mention and thank Bob Nuckolls of the Aeroelectric website and newslist, the late Garfield Willis, Don Parham, Bob Patterson, and of course the publishers of and contributors to CONTACT! Magazine who all helped us learn to build a better airplane. Ken Lehman, Ontario, Canada
klehman@albedo.net
www.ContactMagazine.com
They are able to do this by offering a few key pieces such as the 68HC908 processor, a small integrated circuit chip, but the builder will need to gather the remaining components such as pumps, fuel rails, sensors, etc. A builder can design the EFI Controller for a variety of applications spanning single injector up to sixteen injectors and even-odd firing engines of nearly any make. Bowling and Grippo emphasize the initial steps by addressing specifics in the beginning, helping the builder determine his needs, then building from there any custom features desired. Ultimately this is intended to provide an educational experience for those with a desire to learn, build and fly. For more on the MegaSquirt® visit www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html
Long-time readers of CONTACT! Magazine may recall Jean-Pierre Deschenes’ article in issue #51, featuring the Marcotte redrive, (July/August, 1999). The story included a cover photo of Guy Marcotte’s PSRU mated to a Subaru followed by an in depth walk through the entire manufacturing process. This is an excellent read for anyone wishing to understand the inner workings of a typical gear driven PSRU, including but not limited to gear machining, ratios and general design. In brief, Marcotte originally set out to design an affordable aircraft performing missionary and other charitable work in third-world countries. He built the plane and opted to install a V-8 (for obvious reasons), thus creating the need for an affordable but strong (and simple) propeller speed reduction unit. The Marcotte PSRU was made available for varying engines ranging from 150-hp up to 450-hp with an option for variable pitch hubs for traditional controllable props. There is a small inventory of redrives still available, with the promise of a new production run coming soon. We hope to produce a follow-up article to the one in Issue #51, but in the meantime, for more information you can e-mail Ray Fiset at raymondfiset@bellnet.ca
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 6
Introduction This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin alerts the operators of airplanes powered by Volkswagen air-cooled engines of an airworthiness concern where the engine loses power due to the loss of cylinder head fastener torque. Background On March 5, 2006, at 1430 Central Standard Time, an experimental amateur-built Quickie Q-2, N89WW impacted an agricultural field near Edwardsville, Illinois, receiving substantial damage. After takeoff from St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN), Alton/St. Louis, Illinois, the pilot reported to air traffic control that the airplane was having engine problems. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot was fatally injured. A post-accident investigation revealed that both left cylinders had no compression. All the cylinder head fasteners were found with zero torque. In fact, the lower forward hold down fastener was backed out 1/8 inch. After removing the cylinder head and barrels for both left cylinders, both barrels and both heads showed evidence of severe combustion gas blow by . Metal was melted out of the heads at the bottom forward and bottom aft hold down fastener areas, obviously caused by the combustion gas blow by.
Recommendations Ensure that the owner/operator, follow the engine manufacturer/supplier torque procedures (initial and repetitive). The following are the recommended torques for the cylinder head fasteners on Volkswagen Type I, Type II, and Type IV. Type I engine with 10mm head studs 23 ft-lbs Type II engine 23 ft-lbs
Type I engine with 8mm head studs 18 ft-lbs Type IV engine 23 ft-lbs
NOTE: The above torques are offered only as information. Refer to the engine manufacturer/supplier maintenance instructions for the recommended cylinder head torque procedures. For Further Information Contact Peter L. Rouse, Aerospace Engineer, Small Airplane Directorate; phone: (816) 329 4135; email:peter.rouse@faa.gov www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 7
Photo: Phyllis Ridings-Murawski
The loss of an aircraft, and survival of a dream. By Phyllis Ridings-Murawski, Photos: Steve Garvin Geared Drives, LLC 1510 South 3rd Conroe, TX 77301 (936) 827-5126 www.GearedDrives.com Bud@GearedDrives.com CONTACT! Magazine readers may remember seeing this plane on the cover of our July-Aug 2007 issue, #89. Although the staff at CONTACT! is deeply troubled over the loss of such a beautiful plane, we can’t help but be elated that our friends on board survived the accident unharmed and are in the process of getting back into the game and, in a way, the accident has opened the door to new possibilities. ~Pat To see the photos of the scene, it is easy to see how no one believed that we walked away. My father, Bud Warren, and I were looking forward to our flight in the Wheeler that Thursday afternoon, October 18, 2007. EAA Chapter 774 had previously invited us to give a presentation for their members and guests regarding the use of Chevrolet engines in experimental aircraft. They were expecting us to fly in that afternoon. Of particular interest to the group was Bud’s Geared Drive, a straight-cut spur gear propeller speed reduction unit (PSRU) with its fully automatic centrifugal clutch and flywheel assembly. We were planning to arrive at the meeting early so that we could remove the cowling from the Wheeler to allow everyone to get a good look at the installation. They were all looking forward to a question and answer session in order to learn more about Bud’s engine and PSRU setup in his Wheeler Auriga. What better way would there be to accomplish this than to fly the aircraft in for an up close and personal look? www.ContactMagazine.com
We just met our new friend James at our local EAA Chapter 302 meeting the Saturday before and we invited him to join us on our trip to Brookshire, Texas, the home of Chapter 774. As our guest, I offered him my spot in the right front seat and I piled in the back with my laptop, big screen monitor and all the other magic electronic stuff that it takes to do a really thorough, professional and entertaining presentation for an EAA Chapter meeting. Within a few minutes we were cleared to taxi to oneniner at Lone Star Executive Airport, located in Conroe, Texas, for a departure to the west. Ten-mile visibility, weather was fine, winds were light and it looked like a nice afternoon for a flight to West Houston. We planned to fly back home later that night following the meeting.
GETTING OFF TO A BAD START As we departed the pattern to the west and flew along just to the south of Lake Conroe, we pointed out landmarks to James. The air was really calm and stable and the flight was smooth. However, several miles out we encountered some haze so we dropped to about 1,500 feet in order to stay out of it. Moments later, Bud announced that his engine oil temperature was higher than normal. This alarmed us because he resolved all engine cooling issues years before, back when he first developed the engine package. Engine oil temperature indicating on the high side is never good news. “The water temperature looks fine,” Bud said, “and the oil pressure is perfect. What the heck is going on?” A second later, the engine coughed. “Now, this is not good”, Bud said. The engine coughed again. I noted to Dad that I thought the engine smelled like it was hot. I also thought it smelled like burning oil. The engine was losing power, and smoke began to fill the cockpit. Then those dreaded words were heard. “You guys help me find some place to land — we are going down.”
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 8
PICKING THE PLACE TO LAND Bud immediately banked to the left to do a 360-degree turn and survey the area for possible landing sites, remembering that the closest and best place to put her down could be have been just behind us. There were no roads nearby we could land on. No smooth asphalt airstrips, nothing but piney woods all around. Then suddenly, about a mile in the distance was a beautiful hayfield. Believe me, to us there has never been a more beautiful hayfield! On the right-hand side of this rather wonderful hayfield was a nice, long, smooth and level area between the fence line on the right and a long row of huge round hay bales to the left. We weren’t sure if we would make it far enough to clear the iron ore strip mine that stood between the hayfield and us. The iron ore mine was rough, with large holes and uneven pits all around and filled with water. At that point, the hay field seems so very far away. If we could make it there, it would be our grass landing strip, our only chance for a safe landing. Thank God for farmers, I thought as Bud trimmed for max glide and made for the hayfield. By now, the smoke was getting thicker and the engine was running weaker and weaker. The atmosphere in the cockpit was calm and matter-of-fact. This gave me a lot of peace and I was able to just relax and take what was to come. I remember thinking, If anyone can get us out of this safely, Dad certainly can. I don’t believe that anyone really ever expects to have an engine fire or a forced landing, but a pilot had better be ready for one at any given minute. There was a moment of nothing but quiet in the cockpit. I think that the three of us were all going through our own emergency checklist in our minds. Suddenly I remembered something I could add, and I blurted out with a rather loud and forceful, “Pop the door, James!” I had been watching my DVD’s and reading my books and, as a student pilot, this was a detail that was fresh in my mind. I wondered why I had not thought to say it sooner. I guess that you never really know how you are going to react in an emergency until it really happens to you. All I remember is that Bud was intent on getting this airplane and his passengers safely to the ground. James was busy with his own personal checklist and we were all busy watching the ground coming at us faster than we would have liked. It all happened so quickly.
TOTAL POWER LOSS Dead sticking the Wheeler in itself was not a big deal but it certainly glides better while making at least some power than when it’s not. We prayed that we could stay in the air long enough to make it over the fence and into the hayfield; our survival depended on it. But just as we cleared the jagged open-pit mine, the engine quit altogether. With the subsequent increased rate of descent, we didn’t quite clear the farmer’s fence and the Wheeler clipped two large posts with the left wing. This destroyed the wing and ruptured the fuel cell. www.ContactMagazine.com
One fence post broke off and one was completely pulled out of the ground. I remember seeing a broken post and dirt flying past the left window just before we made contact with the ground, and thinking how very odd it looked. The aircraft made impact with the ground hard enough to punch the landing gear up through the wings. Striking the posts with the left wing sent us rotating in a counterclockwise motion, on the airplane’s belly, as we slid across the slick grass of the hayfield. While we were spinning on the ground, all we could see from the windows of the airplane was bright hot orange and red flame all around us. We must have looked like a pinwheel on fire until we came to a stop.
EGRESS It was a surreal moment. I sat in the back seat stunned for what felt like minutes, but could only have been seconds when I heard Bud yell, “Get out of the airplane!” I don’t even remember actually seeing who made it out first, but I know it was James. He raised the right hand door that he previously unlatched and bailed out. I made my quick exit from the back seat out the right side following James. Bud was the last one out of the airplane. The left side of the airplane was burning like mad, and it would have been impossible to escape through the pilot’s door. Thank God for cool heads and two doors on an airplane. I ran a few steps away and looked up to see James and my father standing side by side. I thought that was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen; the two of them, safe and alive. I ran to them and gave them both a big hug, surveyed them for injuries, then turned to see the burning airplane for the first time. The sight of the Wheeler burning, with nothing we could do about it, made me feel sick. The reporter in me required that I reach in my handbag for my digital camera and get a shot of the scene, but by that time the entire cockpit was completely engulfed in flames.
VERY MINOR INJURIES James suffered a bruised ribcage, a few scrapes and what looked like sunburn on his face from the heat of the fire. Bud had two large goose eggs on his head. The backs of his calves were burned, some of his hair was singed off, and his face was burned a bright pink from the heat of the flames. His seat belt buckle got so hot that it burned his fingers when he removed it. In a moment of complete gratitude, I realized that as a passenger, I survived an in-flight engine fire, a forced landing and total loss of an airplane with only a scraped elbow. My sense of elation was overwhelming. We stood quietly in the hayfield, watching the airplane burn, wondering what to do next. We could not call anyone since we all left the aircraft so quickly that we didn’t grab cell phones or any of our electronics. I managed to grab my purse but on my way out, my cell phone must have fallen out. Bud wondered aloud how long it would take for someone to find us.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 9
RESCUE The black billowing smoke must have made it easy to track us because in a matter of moments the farmer and his friends showed up in their pickup trucks and they stayed with us until the emergency personnel got there. They were kind to us, offered us their phones, and we were able to contact our families, our FBO, and EAA Chapter 774 to tell them we would not make it to the meeting. I looked up to see a friend of mine, Leslie, running toward me, shouting “Phyllis, is that you?” She gave me a bear hug and said that she could not believe that I was alive. I told myself that maybe I lived in Montgomery County too long when the first person who showed up after we crash landed an airplane in a field is a friend of mine! What are the odds?
FAA The next few days were gut wrenching for Bud. Friday was FAA day, that dreaded day when you must interview with the feds and submit your report. Then the NTSB gets involved, makes their notes and you go away nervous, not knowing what they are going to do or say. Following the interview, Bud was told that the scene had been released, and he could go ahead and begin clean up and salvage operations. The following day, Saturday, Bud took truck and trailer to the site and cut the airplane into pieces, removing the wreckage from the hayfield. Sunday was spent cleaning up the hayfield and repairing the farmer’s fence that we destroyed. I felt so bad for my father; it must have been sickening for him to have cut up into little pieces the charred and burned wreckage and then to haul it away.
how very close we were to having fire in the cockpit during descent until we saw that hole in the firewall. Thank God for the haze that appeared, requiring that we fly lower than we would have otherwise. We didn’t have any extra time to descend from a higher altitude. Thank God that this fire did not happen on our way home that night. I am pretty sure that no one would be able tell a hayfield from the piney woods at night, not even my Dad. And thank God for Dad’s unwavering and decisive piloting skills. Never did I doubt that he could get us down safely. I was not afraid. My friends asked me if I would ever fly again. My answer: any time, any day, with my Dad. The postscript to this story is that Bud’s Geared Drives PSRU escaped the impact, prop strike and fire completely unscathed. Inspection of the unit on the bench following the accident (with witnesses in attendance) revealed absolutely no damage to the aluminum case, shaft, gears, flywheel, clutch assembly, or any of the other components. We were both stunned and humbled at the same time.
THE AFTERMATH That airplane was a dear friend; Bud could hardly speak about it afterward but once the pieces were home, he disassembled the engine and PSRU. Close inspection revealed that the engine caught fire along the right side due to the failure of a braided steel fuel line near the fuel pump. Apparently the lining failed, allowing fuel to spray back along the right side of the engine, igniting it on the headers, burning the distributor completely off and leaving the spark plug wires looking like wire mesh. The fire burned a hole in the aluminum firewall; the smoke we were seeing was in part due to the insulation burning between the firewall and the cockpit. We did not know www.ContactMagazine.com
Bud’s PSRU performed far beyond his expectations and under the worst of circumstances. One of our friends joked that we could now tell everyone that we literally “test run ‘em into the ground!” Sometimes laughter is what gets you through.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 10
The unscathed internals of Bud’s charred PSRU.
The Monday following the loss of his aircraft Bud continued on in typical style, fulfilling his obligation to attend and participate in the COPPERSTATE Regional Fly-in, and conducting several forums on automotive conversions. Bud is currently making plans to build his next air-
plane and is leaning heavily toward building an RV-10. He has already begun plans to build his firewall forward package for this aircraft and plans to have an LS-1 engine with a Geared Drives PSRU on an engine stand to demonstrate at Sun ‘n Fun, 2008. Of particular interest, he has just delivered three PSRU’s to customers in New South Wales, Australia, for installation in their scaled P51s. One is for use with a Chevy V-8 and two of them are set up for use on BMW V-12 engines. Bud has delivered another PSRU which is currently undergoing testing for possible use in a Reno air racer. His agreement with this customer is that if they can blow it up in testing, he will do what it takes to beef it up so that they can race it at the 2008 Reno Air Race! Several other interesting projects are underway, not the least of which is the one-of-a-kind Mooney experimental that Bud has been working on for part of the last year. This airplane has a Supercharged Ecotec 2.0 L Chevrolet engine installed with the Geared Drives PSRU, and at 205-hp it is really expected to be a super performer. We also have a customer in Canada who is flying a Chevrolet V-8 with a Geared Drives PSRU installed in his Cessna 182. The progress of these and additional projects will be posted on at www.GearedDrives.com. Note: The intense personal nature of the loss of our Wheeler has made it difficult to write about or to tell others about. However, the fact remains that we experimental aircraft enthusiasts can learn from one another’s trials and tribulations, successes and failures. Our hope is that perhaps someone will benefit from us sharing our experiences. We humbly offer a special thank you to our experimental aviation family for your support and good wishes throughout this time, which has been difficult for us, but know that it will take more than the loss of an aircraft to destroy our vision and dampen our determination. See you all at Sun ‘n Fun and Oshkosh in 2008! Bud Warren and daughter, Phyllis Ridings-Murawski
www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 11
...and probably not the last. The following is a reprint of an article that appeared in the October, 2007, issue of the Winnipeg Area Chapter of RAA Canada monthly newsletter (Winnsock), written by one of our loyal subscribers. ~Pat By Harry Hill hhill56@shaw.ca I may not have been thinking too well when I suggested an article on this topic for your Winnsock. And your editor Bob Stewart, being hard up for articles, wasn’t too choosy and gave the go-ahead. I was probably influenced in making my suggestion by my experience as an investigator and as a pilot. It seemed to me that occurrences involving carburetor icing (carb ice) kept happening despite all that is said and taught on the subject. Thanks to Google.com it’s easy to see that carb ice related incidents and accidents are still rather commonplace. So maybe there is some sense in trying again to understand this phenomenon and its proper handling. In this, my part of the discussion, I will try to concentrate on icing in the carburetors of the smaller types of engines that most of us will fly. And I will not give much time to other than carb heat as a means of combating carb ice. Other ideas or thoughts will find a way in of course.
WHY IS THERE AIR? Although I couldn’t find it on the records (LPs) that I have, I feel quite sure that the question was the title of a stand-up bit by Bill Cosby and with him, I feel equally that the answer was something like “to blow up basketballs.” That makes sense to a kid growing up in a big city in the USA, but those of us involved with aviation might have a similar tongue-incheek answer, “so that we can fly.“
small amounts of other gases including water vapor. Near the surface of the earth, natural processes keep the two main gases in balance near the values given. However, the amount of water vapor in a sample of air can vary from a high of about four percent in tropical areas to a small part of one percent in the Arctic. The other Gases don’t mean much to our use of air but the water vapor certainly does. There is a maximum amount of water vapor that a sample of air can hold at any given temperature and pressure. For our use, we express lesser amounts of water vapor as a percentage of the maximum and we call such percentages “relative humidity.” Air containing the maximum amount of water vapor is said to be saturated. If a sample of air that contains water vapor but is not saturated is cooled down sufficiently, a temperature will be reached at which the same amount of water vapor becomes the maximum amount that the sample (at the new lower temperature) can hold. We call that lower temperature the “dew point”. And in normal circumstances, the vapor condenses and becomes visible in the forms of cloud, fog or ice crystals, or maybe something else that I haven’t thought of at this time. Aviation weather reports usually include the temperature and dew point and we call the difference between the two the “spread.” When the spread is small, a small amount of cooling can cause the air to become saturated. And a small spread also means a high relative humidity of course. A large spread indicates a low relative humidity and what we call dry air. It is worth noting that very cold air, say –30° C (-22° F), can have a high relative humidity but contain only a very small amount of water vapor. When that air enters our homes and is heated to say, 20° C (68° F), it then has a very low relative humidity. Thus ends the lesson on air.
So let us have a quick look at air because it is, of course, essential to our enjoyment of flying and, at times, gives us problems in flying. I expect that we all were supposed to learn something about air when we were learning to fly. If you know it all, please forgive me this review. The major components of air are nitrogen and oxygen, about 78% of the former and about 21% of the latter according to one weather related text that I have. There are www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 12
ICING IN GENERAL Discussions of carb icing frequently start with at least mention of induction system icing and three types of icing that can happen: impact icing, throttling icing and fuel evaporation icing. The first can happen when supercooled water or wet snow contacts surfaces such as air filters and intake ducting that are below freezing temperature. Of course, when that happens ice will also accumulate on the airframe and stress levels will rise in the pilots and knowledgeable passengers. In our kinds of airplanes, we don’t usually have the means of getting rid of airframe ice so we better have means and knowledge that will allow us to keep the engine running so that we can get out of the conditions causing the puckers. The effects of impact icing are sometimes taken care of by “suck-in” doors in the induction system located ahead of the carb. In the second type of icing previously mentioned, throttling refers to the reduction in flow area in the throat of a carburetor caused by the venturi or by the throttle plate. Both of these situations (impact and throttle) cause a reduction in pressure and a consequential cooling in the throat of the carb. We have all probably felt fuel evaporation cooling because we have all probably spilled gasoline on our hands. The cooling effect is immediate and quite noticeable and results from our body heat being used to evaporate the fuel. In the research that I did for this article, I was unable to find estimates of the amount of cooling in a carb that was attributable to each of those cooling elements. I did find that it is estimated that the total cooling can reach about 40° C (104° F)! Consider a nice summer day, with a temperature of 20° C (68° F) and relative humidity of 50%. If I have correctly read the small psychometric chart in a handbook that I have, it would take only about 11° C of cooling to raise that air to 100 % RH. So carb ice happens.
temperatures. Again, my 1993 info says, “In severe cases, ice may form at OATs up to 20° C (68° F) higher than with AVGAS.” I presume that that happens because mogas evaporates more readily than avgas and in so doing, causes greater cooling due to evaporation.
EARLY DETECTION And how do we know if carb ice is happening? To simplify this discussion, let us look at cruise flight at a consistent altitude and throttle setting. When carb ice develops beyond a trace of ice, you can expect a power loss. With a fixed pitch propeller, there will be a loss of RPM. With a constant-speed propeller, there will be a drop in manifold pressure. In either case, the engine could start to run roughly. We can use carb heat to see if icing is the culprit, as we’ll discuss later in this article.
UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES CAN IT HAPPEN? First, consider the conditions of the air in question. You can find lots of words about the weather conditions in which carb ice can happen but I think that the information is much better presented in a temperature and dew point forecast. The graph will enable you to estimate the severity of icing that might happen while in flight under those conditions. Carb icing can be more severe with closed throttle or reduced throttle settings. I would surmise that is a result of the tighter restriction in the throat of the carb and resulting greater cooling effect. At the same time, less power and less heat under the cowl are generated with lower throttle settings. And smaller throttle openings result in smaller gaps for ice to bridge if it starts to develop. Things could get ugly in a hurry. This may help explain the “serious icing with descent power” area shown in the carb ice graphs. So carb ice happens in various flight conditions. Also, the use of mogas can lead to carb icing at higher ambient www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 13
CAN CARB ICE BE PREVENTED? In 1970, the Fuels and Lubricants section of the National Research Council of Canada issued a report titled “Aircraft Carburettor Icing Studies”. (Yes, they did spell it with two tees). The main purpose of the study leading to the report was to see if additives in the fuel or if surface treatments in the throat of the carburetor could markedly reduce or eliminate carb icing. In my judgment, the test was well set up and some good results, relating to icing in general, were obtained. For example, the test set up allowed quick disassembly of the intake after a test permitting good photographs of ice that had developed before melting could eliminate the evidence. It was found that a couple of glycols with fancy names could eliminate icing and that a Teflon coating of the throttle plate and carb throat would prevent ice from adhering to those surfaces. Neither of these practices were adopted, of course, and so we are left with carb heat as our defensive weapon. In our type of airplanes, the carb heat system usually starts with a muff around some part of the exhaust system to gather heat. Heated air from the muff is ducted to a means of introducing heated air into the intake system before the carburetor. A manual control in the cockpit controls the diverter valve in the system. The carb heat system bypasses the intake air filter and so it is recommended that heat not be used on the ground except for check purposes. For flyers of factory-builts or of amateur-builts with good operating instructions, the use of carb heat starts with an understanding of any instructions with respect to the topic. After that, I think that the use of carb heat starts with a check of the weather reports and forecasts before flight. A check of the spread will permit, with the carb icing graph shown on the opposite page, an estimation of the possibility and severity of carb icing. Some aircraft check -lists or handling notes call for a check for carb icing on run-up. Whether it is called for or not, I think it is a good practice, especially if the spread is not great. It is a simple check, usually done at an intermediate RPM used for other checks on the run-up.
GROUND CHECK The throttle is prevented from moving and the RPM noted; full carb heat is applied and left long enough to ensure that any ice is removed; then the carb heat control is moved to full cold and the RPM noted. If there is an increase from that seen before the check, there was ice in the carb and it can be expected to occur again as the flight progresses. Carb heat should not be used on take-off as power will be reduced by its use. If take-off is delayed much after the run-up, heat could be applied until just before take-off to ensure that no ice will develop during the wait. The routine of the check is the same. If icing is found, then the pilot can expect more ice build-ups as the flight progresses. The routine of the check will remove any new ice that may have formed. Some handling instructions www.ContactMagazine.com
suggest trying to find a setting of the carb heat control just high enough to prevent ice build-up. If that can be done, the mixture should be adjusted to suit the higher intake temperature that results. If the throttle is not wide open before setting the carb heat, it can be adjusted up to regain power before adjustment of the mixture. If one is just punching holes in the sky when carb icing may be present, it would be prudent to occasionally level off, set the throttle and go through the icing check process to eliminate any ice and to prevent worsening of an icing situation. I seem to remember (from some 50 years ago) that, in Harvard training, we did a full “vital actions check” that included a check for carb icing before doing stalls, spins or aerobatics. If icing was present, we were not supposed to do spins as they were done with the throttle shut off and the engine at idle. On descent with reduced power, exhaust and under-cowl temperatures will decrease. If a partial carb heat setting had been used while in cruise, a higher setting (during descent) should be selected to ensure the prevention of ice. Some handbooks call for full heat on descents and in the circuit. A note in a Cessna 172 manual, in a section on landing reads, “Carburetor heat should be applied prior to any significant reduction or closing of the throttle.” Sources seem to agree that if carb heat is on prior to landing and the landing is aborted, or if a touch-and-go is made, the throttle should be opened fully before the carb heat is removed.
CARB TEMPERATURE INSTRUMENTS I am a fan of carburetor temperature gauges. I think it started with my introduction to the Beechcraft C-45 Expediter when I was flying in the RCAF (Aux) or reserve or whatever it was called. I was with 402 Squadron in Winnipeg and the Air Navigation School was also flying the bug-smashers from Winnipeg. There were some losses and someone decided that the problem was carb icing. The solution to the problem was to require that after take -off, all RCAF operators maintain 5 to 10 degrees C on the carb air temp gauge. The probe/sensor for the system was downstream of the carb and all of the engine cooling air so that maintaining carb temp in that range ensured that ice would not form. It was simple, it worked for me and many others, and I never noticed any performance loss during my fairly long experience in those airplanes. About the only thing a pilot had to remember to do was to add a little induction heat after reducing power for descent. Adding a carb air temp gauge to a certified aircraft is not impossible, just expensive. I found the Web site of one supplier of a system. It would be easier and less expensive for an amateur builder to add a carb temp gauge for his power plant. A local “engine person” suggested that a Radio Shack temperature gauge could have its sensor epoxied into the intake system downstream of the carb and provide the vital information. I imagine there is someone out there with more elegant but still doable and not too costly solutions.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 14
Jim Smith of Wichita, KS, has been doing true airspeed (TAS) tests of his ELIPPSE-designed, Fred-Felix-made, three-blade prop on his stock 150-hp, Vans RV-6. His best speed was at a density altitude of 7,000' where the four-run, GPS-derived, TAS average was 191.6 MPH at 2,741 RPM, with high and low speeds of 193 MPH and 189.5 MPH. His average ROC from takeoff at 1,350' to 10,000' was 800 ft/min at 95 MPH IAS at 1,440 lbs., and a recent ROC test yielded an average of 1,032 ft/min from 2,000' to 10,000' at RPM ranging from 2,300 at 3,000' to 2,175 at 10,000', 1,440 lbs and 95 MPH IAS. His previously installed two-blade 68-72 prop gave him 191.5 MPH at 3,880' D-Alt at 2,800 RPM in February of last year, and 181 MPH average of two runs at 11,200' D -Alt, 2,700 RPM. elippse@sbcglobal.net ~Paul Lipps
“Low” Altitude performance There are many instruments available that can give the pilot carburetor temperature information, many of which are non-TSOd “stand-alone” units for the amateur-builder, in addition to these single instruments (such as those made by Westach) there are several engine information systems (EIS) such as those offered by Grand Rapids, Rocky Mountain and Dynon that offer the option to monitor carb temperature and even include alarms.
Average Speed
D-Alt
RPM
Old two-blade Prop 68 x 72
191.5 MPH
3,880’
2,800
Elippse three blade Prop
191.6 MPH
7,000'
2,741
“High” Altitude performance One thing more about the use of a carb heat system— I was in the right seat of a DC-3 when we were about to take off into a temperature of –40° F or maybe even colder. I remember thinking that if I were captain, I would have added some carb heat before take-off. Not because carb ice might happen but because I was sure the engine would not like having such cold air pushed into its vitals. As confirmation of this, I am sure that one engine at least made one quick burp as we rolled out for the take-off run. No harm was done but I felt sorry for those poor engines. Not many of us are likely to go flying at – 40° F in our little aircraft, but if the occasion arises, may I suggest the addition of some heat for take-off. There will still be lots of power and the wings will develop bags of lift in such cold air.
Average Speed
D-Alt
RPM
Old two-blade Prop 68 x 72
181 MPH
11,200'
2,700
Elippse three blade Prop
180.3 MPH
11,000'
2,655
As I review the above, I am not impressed. I apologize for its shortcomings and hope that it will at least lead to some discussions that will lead to greater enlightenment on the subject. Harry Hill hhill56@shaw.ca
www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 15
Don Parham RFI Power Systems P.O. Box 263 Indianola, Ok 74442 Phone: 918-823-4610 rfi@oklatel.net By Don Parham A true pioneer in experimental aviation, Don Parham has been developing and building auto conversions for gyroplanes and fixed-wing aircraft for many years. An experimenter with particular interest in gyroplanes and frequent contributor to CONTACT! Magazine, Don has expertise and experience in using various Subaru engines which has helped lead to their popularity among homebuilders around the world. Aside from his business which converted these engines for aviation use, including the manufacture of a successful belt reduction drive, Don published the popular monthly Homebuilt Rotorcraft magazine for more than fifteen years. His Current interests are with providing wiring harnesses to take advantage of the stock electronics that feed fuel and electricity to the Subaru engine. ~Pat The Rotax 912, 912ULS and 914 four-stroke engines are quite pricey for their 80, 100, and 115 respective horsepower ratings. The 80-hp 912 is over $12K USD, the 100 -hp model is in the $15K range or higher, and the 115-hp turbocharged 914 engine is in excess of $25K.
These three engines have an individual displacement of only 1,000 cubic centimeters each, (about 61 cubic inches) and rev at two-stroke speeds to develop their power—well over 6,000 RPM. The 914 is good for 115-hp for only three minutes and then it has to be throttled back to 100-hp continuous. The Rotax engines have a very favorable power-toweight ratio and they are quite fuel efficient. While they are certified under the European JAR 22 regulations, a lot of the high price has to do with the value of the Euro over the American dollar. The Rotax 912S is FAR 33 certified and is currently the only aircraft engine approved to utilize automotive fuel without a supplemental type certificate. Practically all of the European-built lightsport aircraft utilize the 912 or 914 including all of the new European gyroplanes. There just isn’t much available that’s manufactured here in the USA that compares to the Rotax four-stroke engines in the 80 to 115-hp range except for the 80-hp Verner and a couple of versions of the Subaru EA81 and Raven Aircraft’s three and four cylinder Suzuki auto engine conversions. We know of two companies that build EA81 Subaru engine conversions for aircraft use, they are Stratus, LLC and Ram Performance. Ltd. The Stratus EA81 conversion has been around for a dozen or more years and has been used in a number of light aircraft and several gyroplanes. The Stratus EA81 develops 100-hp at around 5,000 rpm and has a good track record. Cost for a complete engine package is in the $8,500 range. The engine utilizes dual Bing altitude-compensating carburetors and a cog belt reduction drive with a 2.2:1 ratio. Propeller offset is close to 8 inches above the crankshaft centerline.
Rotax 914 Turbo
Rotax is an Austrian engine manufacturer, founded in 1920 in Dresden, Germany. Operations were moved to Wels, Austria in 1943 and finally to Gunskirchen, Austria in 1947. In 1959, Rotax merged with the Vienna-based Lohner-Werke, a manufacturer of automobile and railway wagon bodies. In 1970 Lohner-Rotax was bought by Bombardier, who uses Rotax engines in their motorwww.ContactMagazine.com
By the way, there is only one other cog belt drive available for Subaru engines and that is the Groen Brothers Aviation EJ22/25 Subaru engine for the SparrowHawk gyro. The prop is offset 7.75 inches below the crankshaft center on that reduction drive and may not be of much use to fixed-wing tractor applications. cycles, personal water craft, and snowmobiles. The company constructed only two-stroke engines until 1982, when it started building four-stroke engines and aircraft engines. Other important dates include 1962, when a Rotax engine was first installed in a snowmobile and 1989, when Rotax received Type Certification for its 912-A aircraft engine.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 16
Rotary Air Force is out of business as of the first of April, 2007 and we hear that Northwest Aero which built Subaru cog belt drives, is also out of business or doing business under another name. We at RFI Power Systems discontinued building Subaru and Mazda reduction drives over two years ago although we do sell CAD plans for all Subaru engine models. See CONTACT! Magazine issue #90 for more on that. As of this writing, we know of only one gear drive PSRU manufactured in the US for Subaru engines and none are built for the EA81 and EA82 engines. The other EA81 aircraft conversion offered in the US by Ram Performance Ltd., Clinton, Ohio, utilizes a gear reduction system built by Neil Hintz in New Zealand. Ram Performance offers components, short blocks, and complete engines and also complete packages that include custom fuel injection systems, performance headers and the Autoflight gear reduction drive from Neil Hintz. The drives are available in three different ratios: 2.2:1, 2.48:1, and 2.94:1 and are available with the offset up or down. Offset is around 3.5 inches.
140-hp @ 5,700 140 FT/LBS @ 3,400 RPM EA81 MPEFI Real World Solutions EFI controller. 176 pounds as shown. The Ram engine packages are rated at 115 and 140-hp. The higher output version utilizes dual port heads with multiport fuel injection. Cost of the 115-hp version is $10,995 and the 140-hp model costs $12,995. That is pretty reasonable when compared to the cost of a Rotax 914 at $25,000 or more by the time the engine is shipped to the USA. Ron Carr who operates Ram Performance has been building Subaru performance packages for over ten years and is an expert mechanic. Check out Ron’s website: www.ramengines.com for more details. www.ContactMagazine.com
Jeron Smith of Raven Rotorcraft and Redrives Inc., fielding Q&A outside the forums tent at COPPERSTATE, standing next to one of his direct-drive ultralight engines, mounted to the hood of his car as a test stand. I recently talked with Jeron Smith who operates RavenRotor, LLC in the Denver area and is a regular forum presenter at the CONTACT! Magazine forum tents at Sun-n-Fun and COPPERSTATE. He offers two basic engines: the 1,000cc three cylinder and the 1,300cc four cylinder Suzuki auto engines with cog belt reduction drives. The three-cylinder engine is offered with three different reduction drives and can be installed either upright, or at 20° as it is mounted in the car, or horizontally.
Raven Model 1300 SVS: 90-hp @ pounds. With turbo: 115-hp @ 190 pounds. The four cylinder Suzuki engine is available in a flat (horizontal) configuration with a dry sump oil system and is offered in normally aspirated or turbocharged models. Cost and weight of the engine packages is as follows: three cylinder normally aspirated, fuel injected, 62-hp is $5795. 75-hp turbocharged three cylinder engine is $7495. The 1,300cc four cylinder model normally aspirated develops 90-hp and weighs in at 168 pounds. It costs $8795 and the 115-hp turbocharged model which weighs the same costs $10,995.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 17
Suzuki conversion will fill the bill at approximately half the cost of the Rotax counterparts. If you are building a centerline thrust gyroplane either Ram or Raven engines will provide a thrust line on or near the crankshaft centerline. The Autoflight gearbox is offset 3.5 inches above or below the crankshaft center. If you get the horizontal version of the 1,300cc Raven engine the prop offset is not too far above the crankshaft. If you need 140-hp for a two place ship, the high output EA81 engine would do the job at a weight of around 200 pounds which is at least 100 pounds lighter than an EJ22 or EJ25. The dual port head EA81 should provide plenty of power for a typical two-place gyroplane and performance should be pretty impressive with the absence of a hundred pounds or so. Neil Hintz (Autoflight) also has a 140-hp engine that is a little over 200 pounds dry weight. That is the EA82 engine with custom dual port heads. Airplanes and rotorcraft are very weight sensitive in the performance department, so the lighter you keep the total weight the better you can expect the performance and fuel economy to be.
The majority of the offerings from Raven are geared more toward the Ultralight market, like this Model 1000ULRS 62-hp @ 130 pounds. Jeron said that he has built around 220 engine packages and had experienced good success with them. The Suzuki three cylinder engines in the Geo Metro cruise at 3,950 rpm and are very reliable. The Geo Metro automobiles have been routinely used by courier drivers with only routine maintenance performed for over 150,000 miles of service. If you want to build your own engine you can purchase components from Raven. Cog belt reduction drives for the three cylinder Geo engine run $2,095 to $2,695 depending on the model while the drive for the flat four version of the 1,300cc engine comes in at $3,295. Turbo kits for the three cylinder run $1,695 and the four cylinder is $1,995. Raven also offers a detailed engine conversion manual for the do-it-yourself builder. For more information on the Raven engines check out www.raven-rotor.com.
A lighter weight engine means a lighter weight airframe and in the case of rotorcraft, smaller diameter blades to lift the same payload, and of course as mentioned earlier the less fuel will be burned. The high cost of fuel in Europe is one of the reasons why the Rotax four-stroke engines are popular there, plus the cost is less in Euros and there is less shipping costs. The new, 2008 Subaru autos are up on the Subaru website. There isn’t much change in the engines for the new models except that horsepower has been reduced slightly. The 3.0 liter six cylinder is down to 243-hp from 250hp and the normally aspirated EJ25 is now rated at 170hp. According to Subaru, the reason for the reduction is that the new ratings are for use of regular fuel. We still haven’t heard anything on the new diesel boxer engine (see CONTACT! issue #86). Still don’t know displacement, weight or power rating but do know that it is turbocharged. It will probably come out for domestic Japanese and European autos first and it may not be available in the USA for some time, if ever, since we are not that keen on diesel engines in this country. The newer Subaru engines should be a little lighter than earlier models because the 2006 and later engines have a plastic intake manifold which should knock ten or fifteen pounds off of the all up weight.
THE ECONOMY OF AUTO POWER One nice thing about auto conversions is that overhauls or engine replacements are inexpensive as compared to an aircraft engine. The Rotax 912 and 914 engine components are as expensive as Lycoming and Continental engine parts and aren’t any more reliable either. If you need 80 to 115-hp as in a replacement for a 912 or 914 either a Ram Performance Subaru or a Raven-Rotor www.ContactMagazine.com
It is a shame that Subaru doesn’t have smaller engines available in North America. There are EJ15 and EJ16 engines built for the domestic Japanese market that are smaller versions of the EJ18, 20, 22, and 25 which have favorable power-to-weight ratios and develop around 100 -hp. In the meantime we will just have to be content with the EA81 and EA82 or the three and four cylinder Suzuki engines. Don Parham
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 18
Jeron Smith of Raven Rotorcraft and Redrives Inc. is in his 12th year of selling engine products for aircraft needing between 58 to 115+ horsepower in a lightweight, reliable, fuel efficient package. Designing around the readily available 1.0 liter and 1.3 liter Geo® Metro/Suzuki® automobile engines, his goal from the beginning has been to provide a costeffective line of aircraft engines that are an alternative to the Rotax® 503, 582, 912, 912S and even 914 powerplants. Jeron offers several versions of reduction drives that have been designed from the ground up for reliability as well as adaptability to a broad range of aircraft kits. In addition to all this, Jeron has been a friend of CONTACT! Magazine longer than I’ve been editor. We can always count on him to deliver excellent forums for us at COPPERSTATE and Sun ‘n Fun, but for the life of me I can’t get him to slow down long enough to write an article. The following are two emails I received from Jeron in September, 2007. ~Pat September 11, 2007 Just a quick note to keep you guys posted on the Direct Drive Geo engine development. We ran it yesterday on the test stand, without prop, just to get things dialed in. We will be running it and thrust-testing with the 1/2 VW Tennessee Propeller later this week. It’s being run with the stock fuel injection first as we do not want any variables in our testing due to carburetor jetting. We are testing at our facility with a field elevation of 7,200 feet, well over 10,000 foot density altitude on a typical 90° autumn afternoon in our area. Dry weight: 95.5 pounds. Hand propped, carbureted, with radiator. This includes the weight of mount brackets and 4 Barry mounts (vibration isolators) with hardware, and either a small 5 amp alternator built into the water pump pulley (to be developed if the engine tests out) or a small two pound battery to run it for now. Prop with bolts and spinner adds 4 pounds, so even with a prop and spinner we are just under 100 pounds dry weight. It has required every trick in the book learned in our 12 years of working with this engine to make it this light. This version is being tested upright as we want to have accurate data on power output before we invest any more in the inverted engine development. The inverted version is actually a couple of pounds lighter as well. The engine is absolutely bullet-proof and we have thousands and thousands of flight hours on it worldwide in the PSRU version running continuously at the 4,400 to 4,800 RPM cruise range with a fuel burn of 2 gph. 3,300 to 3,500 RPM is loafing this engine. Its rods, crank and counterweights are so overbuilt for that loading, we could see an additional five pound weight reduction if they www.ContactMagazine.com
To watch a video of this engine running, visit our website at www.ContactMagazine.com were resized to match direct drive power output. We also expect a fuel burn of less than 1 gph at this RPM. We should have some real-world answers soon. We ended up working on the direct drive Geo (for an FAR Part 103 legal Ultralight) after looking seriously at a lot of other options. We still have a Briggs V-twin in pieces after disassembly to see what the internal build-up strength margins were. September 13, 2007 Just finished running the Direct Drive Geo 3-cylinder 993cc engine on the test stand last night. We are more than pleased with the results! Easily pulled the 54" by 24” pitch Tennessee propeller to 3,400 RPM static with an old used Geo engine. We still have to dial in the ignition timing and see what exhaust flow will work to optimize the engine power at this lower RPM. From what I can gather from website searches we are pulling much better than the stock 1/2 VW. Thrust testing will happen next week but we really need to get the test engine to sea level for some real world comparisons. The Chilton Manual specifications for the stock Geo of 58 ft/lbs. @ 3,300 RPM seem to be right on the money. The engine runs smooth from 1,000 RPM on up and starts with hand propping fairly easily. We were told earlier by someone who had tried this that it could be hand propped easily with two fingers—we would say it more realistically takes three fingers on the prop blade and a quick flick to fire it off when warm. Still experimenting with best prop positioning on the hub to bring the hand propping arc into alignment with the three-cylinder firing pulses when starting. May require a shot of starting fluid to fire it off easily when cold—we shall see. With these test results we are now moving the “Direct Drive Geo” project to the front burner and would definitely want to plan on running this little guy for folks at COPPERSTATE the end of next month. We are very interested in supporting the FAR Part 103 legal Ultralight market with a reliable, smooth, easy-to-build four-stroke engine alternative. That’s all for now. Will keep you updated. info@raven_rotor.com (303) 440-6234
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 19
By Nicholas M. Wood EAA# 831459 nick@ContactMagazine.com It’s not normal for us to print “human interest” stories within the pages of CONTACT! Magazine but this time I hope you’ll appreciate what Nick has written and forgive me for crossing the line with your magazine. Some of you may already know that Nick is my assistant as well as being a long-time family friend. For those of you who may have read my article on how I came to be a Corvair engine lover (issue #75), Nick was the young man (high school kid) I mentioned who resurrected his uncle’s old `65 Turbo Corsa and was doing burn-outs in front of my house while I was fretting over which engine I was going to use to replace the VW I was then-currently installing in my Dragonfly. Nick had one heck of a first year with CONTACT! Magazine and he wanted to share his experiences, so I’m letting him. But don’t feel robbed—I’ve expanded the page-count to exceed the normal 24 pages to more than cover the space used for Nick’s epic tale. Either way, I think you’ll enjoy reading his article as his freshness may reminisce some of you back to your first experiences with experimental aviation and attending fly-ins. ~Pat My inauguration and subsequent immersion into experimental aviation began by way of a seemingly innocent invitation to volunteer at the CONTACT! Magazine alternative engine forums tent at COPPERSTATE 2006. But that’s not the whole story. My enduring passion for experimental aviation actually began several years earlier, when I was a teenager. I would frequently stop in and visit with a friend whose father was building a Dragonfly and would occasionally rig it in his driveway. The only thing I can recall thinking the first time I laid eyes on it is, Wow! What a great example of experimental aircraft. It wouldn't be long before I found myself taking my first ride in a Cessna 152, making multiple passes over my hometown.
Pat’s Dragonfly, circa 1996. www.ContactMagazine.com
At the pinnacle of Nick’s year-long journey through all things experimental. Enter the editor of the Dragonfly newsletter, and future editor/publisher of CONTACT! Magazine, Patrick Panzera. Patrick was the one with the Dragonfly and both his son Antonio and his daughter Angela were close friends of mine from grade school and well on into adult life; this gave me an excellent opportunity to poke around in Patrick’s garage and learn. Patrick is a natural mentor, listening to those who have done things before him and passing on his experiences with others in the same way, which is exactly what any eager student (like me) needs. I had a strong desire to not only fly, but to learn as much as I could about all aspects of aircraft and flying. Most of all, here was someone who had the ability and desire to teach and had access to aircraft like the Beech T-34 Mentor (that we terrorized the river bed with) and the Tomahawk we trained in. But stick-time would take a back seat to ground school even though I was on a fast-track in the beginning. I accrued enough proficiency to solo, and would have soloed if my hours had been with a certified instructor and not merely learning to fly with Patrick who, unfortunately, is not a CFI—yet. But I also didn't have a third-class medical certificate, which would soon become nearly impossible to get anyway. While learning to fly with Patrick I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, making the possibility of a pilot’s medical certificate only a dream, while nearly taking my life in the process. At best, if I was to beat the cancer and live through the chemo, it would probably be at least four or five years of clean health before I could even consider applying for a medical—but it’s getting close to that now, being four years in remission.
Pat and Nick doing a little unofficial flight-training.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 20
Long before Nick became an official part of the CONTACT! Magazine crew, Pat (right) and John Moyle (center) would invite him along on flights, especially when ballast was needed. On this particular trip to the Zenith open house in Cloverdale, CA, the guys stopped off at Columbia, CA, for the 2nd Annual Cinco de Mayo Canard Fly-In. Nick earned the nickname, “meat ballast” as they needed someone in the back seat of the Skylane.
FAST FORWARD TO THE PRESENT Bringing things back to the now, it was the “new” Sport Pilot/LSA rules that rekindled the desire to become a pilot (after about a four-year hiatus) and changed flight from a possibility to a reality. By this time Patrick was well into his third year producing CONTACT! Magazine and I had since become great friends with the magazine’s associate editor, John Moyle. I was invited with more frequency to have lunch or go on trips with Patrick and John, listening to aviation jargon and barely keeping up with all the technical abbreviations for this-and-that. As I listened I was also hoping that someday I would be better versed and capable of holding such conversations with others like Patrick and John, so I submersed myself in learning all I could. I began reading with an insatiable appetite—I would devour two or three aviation magazines a day from Patrick and John’s unending library. Books, videos and magazines on everything from ultralights and war birds, to general aviation aircraft and experimental were at my disposal and were consumed.
But it was the experimental branch of aviation which captivated my mind and heart. I wanted to be just like my mentors and those heroes in the pages of Experimenter, To Fly and vintage issues of Sport Aviation magazine who would build their flying machines in their garages or basements with their own hands and then take to the sky. Designs so unique even the most experienced general aviation pilots would turn their heads and dream of building and flying something unique. I started out at CONTACT! Magazine as the only member of the three-man crew to take home a small paycheck each week, working part-time filling orders and maintaining the subscriber database. Even though I would read through huge stacks of other magazines, the content I found in the pages of CONTACT! still felt too technical for me to grasp since much of it went beyond my fledgling ability to understand and digest. However, through all this reading I was being introduced to the names and faces behind some of aviation’s greatest designers and builders, the true “doers” in their field. Along the way I was discovering more and more names in our subscriber database, recognizing that they were the ones I was reading all about.
NOW BACK TO THE ORIGINAL STORY
Photo: Pat Sladey
Truth be told, the fire was lit under Nick when he and Pat were at the COPPERSTATE `06 awards dinner where he found out about the “youngest pilot” award.
www.ContactMagazine.com
I was invited to tag along with Patrick to attend the 2006 COPPERSTATE Regional EAA Fly-in. CONTACT! Magazine has hosted forums dedicated to alternative engines for aircraft for many years and I knew this would be an excellent way for me to become more deeply involved with CONTACT! and experimental aviation. I still was listening to Patrick and John talk about so many different types of aircraft and I still did not completely understand the small but important details. I couldn't wait for my chance to be part of the action. We pulled into the airport in Casa Grande, Arizona, a little after sunset the evening before the first day of the
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 21
Pat giving a very informal Corvair forum. show. Towed behind us (from our office in central California) was a small trailer loaded with tables, boxes of magazines, display materials, and of course several engines for display, including Patrick’s beautifully crafted Corvair-based aero engine. We dropped off the trailer for unloading the next morning and proceeded to drive around in the dark to check out all the early arrivals parked along the ramp. The experience both excited and inspired me but still didn’t prepare me for the next few days’ events, as I found myself jumping around from forum to forum and hovering over dozens of various homebuilt airplanes. Talk about stirring up a strong desire to fly! I was soon to come to a turning point.
that he was considering placing this plane into fractional ownership, with a buy-in price that was somewhat obtainable for me. I thought it through and presented my idea to Patrick. It looked like it was something that could be done. Patrick has just about everything ready to become a Sport Pilot-CFI except a plane in which to build the minimum LSA specific hours and also take his checkride. So with the Sakota being available, I might have found both a plane and an instructor. My very first fly-in had pushed me over the edge. I just had to fly one way or another. I set my goals and was bent on returning to COPPERSTATE the next year as an owner and a pilot.
GET IT TO WORK This was much easier said than done. I am young, I have no credit to speak of and I still live and work paycheck to paycheck, but my determination is strong. I also have the advantage of having two top-notch enthusiasts and mentors as friends. They would be more than capable of guiding me through my efforts and, even better, they both want to see me succeed.
With the new Sport Pilot/LSA rule making it easier for me to take to the sky and with this overwhelming desire to get back in the air, I had to take a seat and ponder how I could make this happen. Two things tend to usually put learning to fly just out of reach, money probably being the bigger of the The proverbial “carrot at the end of a stick”, the stunning Rans S-10 Sakota. two. Flying can be prohibitively expensive for many young people my age, but not in all Upon returning home from COPPERSTATE I immediatecases. Some sacrifices can be made to accommodate ly set to working for both Patrick and John in their rethe need to fly or the desire to learn, its just that priorities spective small businesses. I was doing data entry for have to be made when budgeting for goals. The second CONTACT! Magazine, building construction with Patrick problem, more so for the LSA class than general aviaat his day-job and slinging hot dogs and pop for John on tion, is the availability of appropriate aircraft and instructors. There are exactly zero LSA qualified aircraft available from the dozen or so FBO’s within a hundred mile radius of my home, and I would assume an equal number of CFIs interested in training sport pilots. While sitting on the back of the small trailer behind the magazine’s forum tent, looking out across the field of airplanes and away from the rush of people, I had my epiphany; my very close friend John Moyle has a beautiful Rans S-10 Sakota he purchased not long ago and this aircraft was just waiting for some attentiveness to be shown to it. At this same time, John was starting up a small business serving hot dogs and pop outside the local Home Depot store. Maybe he would consider hiring me to help at the hot dog stand in exchange for a partial shared ownership of the Sakota? The Sakota is well within the guidelines of LSA and John already mentioned www.ContactMagazine.com
The S-10 is way overdue for TLC and upgrades.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 22
the weekends, and to top off my already busy schedule, I started playing bass with a newly formed blues band, performing late-night gigs for up to four hours a night weekly. And in our “spare” time, Patrick and I would work on the Sakota to make it airworthy again while making small changes for instruction purposes like adding a second set of toe brakes, ELT, and a Nav/Com radio with an intercom, just to name a few. But there would be more to come. With all my new enthusiasm I was still digesting five or six magazine back issues per week.
CONTACT! readers are well aware that we strive to bring the newest technologies and breakthroughs to their mailboxes six times a year and the stage was set to deliver the proverbial goods to the folks attending Sun ‘n Fun 2007. Honestly, I wasn't completely clued in as to just what we were going to be doing outside of manning our booth. Saying that everything that occurred after arriving was completely off my cuff, is the best description I can give about how things played out.
In January 2007, Patrick decided that it was necessary for me to work the then-upcoming Sun ‘n Fun show in Lakeland, FL, in place of John who was recuperating from bypass surgery. I was incredibly excited; I couldn't wait for the new challenges I would be faced with once there. I am a natural pitchman and enjoy selling, which is exactly what I would need to do while at Sun ‘n Fun.
SUN ‘n FUN The point of having a booth at Sun ‘n Fun each year is to introduce CONTACT! to more people and encourage them to become subscribers. By this time I was well versed with the contents of the back issues of CONTACT! and was retaining a lot of information. Presenting the magazine was going to be easy since I knew other prospective readers would share my enthusiasm. Also, by the time the show came around I would be close to my half-way point in earning my share of the Sakota. Unfortunately, life sometimes finds ways to step in and plans can change in an instant. While Patrick and I were all set to leave for Florida tragedy struck our close family ties, as Patrick’s daughter Angela (my long time personal friend) lost her life in an auto accident and her 7-year-old son, Alex, was badly injured. Patrick wasn’t going to be able to accompany me to Florida so John stepped up and insisted that he take Patrick’s place. Prior to the accident, Patrick and I were all set to go; the magazine relies on new subscribers gained each year at the shows so cancelling was not an option. Patrick needed to be with his family and just wasn’t in any shape to attend. While I was extremely excited at the opportunity to represent CONTACT! at Sun ‘n Fun, I was going through my own sense of loss, and I knew it was going to be tough without Patrick there to show me how he normally represents CONTACT! Magazine. We didn’t have a booth at COPPERSTATE so this would be my first time working any show other than managing a forum tent. To me, this was big. So off to Lakeland John and I went. It was excellent having John around Sun ‘n Fun, although I did have my worries about him. He was still recovering from his surgery only three months earlier and I wanted to make sure that he had a good time while still taking it easy. But of course that always seems to be the case when aviation enthusiasts like us find ourselves in the middle of such events and this is where the true spirit of CONTACT! Magazine and experimental aviation collide in the most awesome way. www.ContactMagazine.com
The Personal Cruiser was featured in traditional detail in CONTACT! Magazine’s issue #88.
A NEW DESIGN We brought along to Florida our most recent issue (#88) featuring Scott VanderVeen (of Pro Composites) and Morgan Hunter's brand new Personal Cruiser, a single seat, low-wing composite aircraft powered by one of William Wynne’s Corvair conversion engines. This was a completely new aircraft designed by Steve Rahm of Daytona Beach, FL. We featured another of Steve’s planes, the Vision, way back in issue #39. Unlike the Vision, the Personal Cruiser was designed around Steve’s unique “FoldaPlane” technology that was debuted in the December 2002 edition of EAA’s Experimenter magazine. This show was to be the official unveiling of the Personal Cruiser and its introduction to the market in kit form. We set up our booth and played host to Scott and Morgan. We all worked together taking turns presenting the magazine to new readers and introducing Scott and Morgan’s new kit aircraft gracing our current magazine cover. Although it hadn't been planned, one of the most exciting things (for me) to take place was my involvement in the aircraft showcase. Each day around noon various aircraft would be demonstrated over the field with each one getting about seven minutes to fly passes overhead while being accompanied by promotional announcement broadcast over the airport PA system and radio station; the Personal Cruiser was no exception. Scott mentioned that he needed an announcer and John quickly responded that I had been an on-air personality at a small rural radio station back home. Scott decided that was qualification enough to offer me the opportunity to become the official "voice of the Personal Cruiser." I was thrilled to introduce this exciting new product to the audience as Morgan flew multiple passes overhead. Over the course of three days I was invited back up to the announcer’s tower and allowed to speak to the crowd about all of the Personal Cruiser’s awesome features.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 23
knew I would see again soon. One such meaningful friendship I came home with was with Pat’s old boss from the mid 70’s, Herb Tipton. Herb was one of three owner/operators of the El Mirage Soaring Center when a 14 year-old Pat was a mere lineboy working for Herb. From behind the scenes and all the way across the country, Pat made the introduction and arrangements for this exceptional gift of flight I received from Herb. I never thought that this is how it could be. I knew that John and Patrick had many friends throughout aviation—however they have been doing this much longer than I have. I just never thought that I would have left Sun ‘n Fun such a wealthy man. Nick and John Moyle manning the booth at SnF. But that’s not all that happened while attending the show. Besides working the booth I also took time to tour the grounds, see the hundreds of different aircraft, and found out first hand just how big the experimental aviation community really is. COPPERSTATE had surprised and inspired me, but this show left me in awe. While at the show I also learned a lot about the EAA and the role it plays in the aviation community. It was exactly what I wanted to be a part of, and I had to sign up. That wasn’t all— during one of my breaks from the booth I signed up for and received my student pilot certificate at no cost, getting me one step closer to becoming a licensed pilot. Back at the booth, I was grinning from ear to ear, showing off my certificate to John and the rest of the gang.
FLY-IN AT JEAN The next event would be much smaller than the previous fly-ins, but would throw me more into the realm of hosting an event. Each April, CONTACT! hosts its own fly-in featuring experimental aircraft that use “alternative” engines. In the past, the Alternative Engines Round Up was gathered at Laughlin, NV, but the facilities in Jean, NV, have now become our home for this event, even though our offices are located in central California. Patrick and I were able to put together quite a gathering, hosting several well-attended forums featuring many of the names synonymous with the world of experimental aviation including Jess Meyers of Belted Air Power and propeller guru and pioneer Paul Lipps.
While at Jean, Nick managed to score a ride with AirVenture Lindy Award winner, Jim Patillo in his masterfully crafted Q-200. Nick got a little stick time in an LSA with Herb Tipton from M-Squared. Nick was honored to have Herb make the first entry in his log book. One of the biggest things I gained while attending this show, besides an increased spirit for experimental aviation, was the number of meaningful friendships I was making. Countless names filled my address book when I departed for home, all of whom I
All told, we probably had close to 30 or so airplanes fly in, some of which came from as far away as Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The weather was perfect for flying and each evening after the day’s events, several
The Alternative Engine Round-Up 2007, Jean, NV just after the awards dinner.
www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 24
pilots would hop into their creations and fly passes through the desert valley where the airport is nestled. There is even a soaring school across the runway where some of the guys attending the event managed to trade stick time with the glider pilots. Once the sun had set each night we would all eat dinner together at one of the many casino buffets, concluding with a great barbeque at the airfield's Sport Aviation Center on Sunday.
Nick (right) helping Morgan Hunter (left) and Scott VanderVeen (center) park the Personal Cruiser in the show’s highest place of honor.
Even though this fly-in was much more scaled down from the previous two I had attended to date, it became clear just how much effort goes into planning and setting up events like these. From Jean I left with even more appreciation for all those who volunteer to help make these incredible fly-ins possible. I look forward to our 2008 event, which I hope will be an even bigger success. Keep an eye on the CONTACT! Magazine web site for more information and a schedule for the next Alternative Engines Roundup this coming April.
Both being fans of the Sadler Vampire, Pat and Nick were in awe when Bill Sadler showed up at the CONTACT! Magazine booth at AirVenture 2007
OFF TO OSHKOSH AND AirVenture ‘07 One of my earliest memories involving aircraft is watching the coverage of the Oshkosh air show while sprawled out in front of my parents’ TV. I didn’t know what it was called, but I sat on the floor with my eyes glued to the TV for two hours as the hosts toured the grounds and followed acrobatic aces through the blue skies over Wisconsin. (This is also my earliest recollection of a place called Wisconsin.) So when I was again invited to volunteer for this event, I felt like I was the luckiest guy in the room. But I don’t think I was actually invited—Patrick just kept saying, “Wait till you get to Oshkosh” when ever I’d www.ContactMagazine.com
tell him how awesome Sun ‘n Fun was. I don’t know if it was just by my enthusiasm for experimental aviation or if somehow he knew that this would be a dream come true for me, but without CONTACT! Magazine I don’t know how else I would have ever had such an opportunity to not just visit OSH but to be a participant. This trip was just Patrick and me, but we shared our booth with Larry Morgan of Vari-Prop, also featured in CONTACT! (issue 89). Sometime back, Patrick and John had introduced Paul Lipps to Larry, setting forth the opportunity to mate Paul’s incredible Ellipse propeller blade design to Larry’s variable-pitch prop hub. This is another great example of what CONTACT! does. Not only are we featuring articles about today’s "garage technology," as I like to put it, but through this we are able to share knowledge and make introductions that benefit everyone. AirVenture ’07 was an opportunity for us to showcase another great product, this time brought to market by Bud Warren, whose Wheeler Express was the cover story for our then-current issue. I met Bud, his daughter Phyllis and her husband Glen earlier that year at Sun ‘n Fun. They are some of the great friends I made earlier that year in Florida. Things picked up right where they had left off as if only days, not months, had passed. Also in attendance were my good friends from Pro Composites with the Personal Cruiser, this time making quite an impression on the folks at EAA. Rumor has it Paul Poberezny saw Morgan Hunter’s prototype on its arrival and while being staged in a row with other auto powered aircraft, had them diverted to the prestigious archway display area adjacent to the ramp. It truly was a thrill for me to witness their success with this new design and it was great meeting up with Scott and Morgan again. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun we all had during our week together in Oshkosh, and how much I am looking forward to the next season. There is one more item I would like to mention regarding my visit to Oshkosh and that is another important group of people I met while there. Just being at AirVenture was inspiring to me, but it was again the people who really bring it around full circle. I had the great fortune to find myself in attendance at the Sonex factory open house. That evening it seemed as if Patrick went out of his way
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 25
to introduce Morgan and me to his friends from EAA headquarters. The list goes on and on as to the “Who’s who” we all met, but I think I can speak for both Morgan and myself when I say it meant a lot to us to shake hands with all those who had inspired us. For me it was all the folks from EAA’s publishing department whose editorials, articles, and efforts had guided me through the world of aviation and had shared their stories and lessons with me each time I devoured yet another magazine. For Morgan, I think it was meeting more people who share his passion for designing and building flying machines. Needless to say, I left Wisconsin in total wonderment and am still trying to process it all.
OUR S-10 SAKOTA By the time we got back from AirVenture, COPPERSTATE ‘07 was just around the corner. Since my return from Florida, Pat and I had spent countless hours bringing the Sakota back into flying condition. We were making a lot of changes in regard to radios, instruments and interior ergonomics to accommodate our desire to fly greater distances safely. When we started, the plane had been equipped modestly even by day VFR standards, and in order to reach anything on the panel the pilot would need to undo his shoulder harness. We both wanted to transform the little acrobatic mid-wing ship into a cross country flyer we could ferry to shows. Most of all, we both wanted to see it flown to Arizona, to the place where my year-long journey began. Unfortunately, I quickly began to realize that even if the Sakota was ready, neither Patrick nor I would be. We both have busy schedules and the Sakota was concealing bigger headaches than either of us could foresee. The fuel tanks were close to sixteen years old, and had been manufactured at a time when ethanol-laced fuel was not a concern. The resins used in the fiberglass tanks proved to suffer from long-term exposure to mo-gas containing alcohol (or other California fuel additives) and needed to be replaced or rebuilt. Our available time to accomplish this task had run out.
A TRIUMPHANT RETURN Finally it was time to return to Arizona and my experience was just about to come full circle. A lot happened www.ContactMagazine.com
over the previous twelve months, leaving my head spinning with memories of my great adventures. I arrived at the COPPERSTATE Fly-in only a year before with nothing more than the thought of helping out where I could but my preceding journey led me through a world I had only read about. My trip to Sun ‘n Fun with John, cohosting the fly-in at Jean, a road-trip to Idaho and back with Patrick to bring back a donated Cozy MKIII and then AirVenture ‘07 with Patrick all still seems surreal. I was now going to return to where it had all began for me. This time I not only had Patrick and John together with me, but I also had a much better idea of what we were all there to do. I had become the person I wanted to be; I no longer only listened to the conversations, I was able to participate alongside my new friends and other enthusiasts. I found so much in common with my peers and best of all, for the first time I felt experienced and confident. I had set a goal and even though I hadn’t returned to the fly-in as PIC of my own experimental airplane, I still returned as an aviator, if not on paper, at least in spirit. Along with my friends at CONTACT! I owned a share of what I consider to be a really fantastic and beautiful airplane, plus, over the course of my yearlong adventure, I met numerous people who shared my passion and enthusiasm for experimental aviation.
COPPERSTATE 2007 saw the triumphant return of our fully recuperated John Moyle, as well as our new friend Phyllis Ridings-Murawski, who overcame her own difficulties to get to this event. See page 8 of this issue for more details on that.
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 26
SWITCH ON! Continued from page 2
Call it volunteering or just plain abuse, Pat took Nick on a road-trip from central California to Idaho and back to pick up a Cozy MKIII. While in attendance at the 2007 COPPERSTATE Fly-in I again served as a volunteer for CONTACT! Magazine, working beside my friends and even presenting a couple of forums in the Alternative Engines tent. I reconnected with the gang from Geared Drives who, like us, had had their share of ups and downs over the course of the season and made even more cherished friendships. With so much still ahead of me it is easier to plan my life. I used to wander aimlessly looking for my niche, never finding what I was looking for and not really fitting in anywhere. But I’ve found it now— I know that wherever life takes me I will carry along my passion for aviation and I know that I have an extended family of equally passionate members, most of whom I realize I’ve yet to meet. I want to keep it close to me and I look forward to someday passing it along, just as it was (and still is being) passed to me. I have set new goals and I am feverishly working to achieve them. I hope to earn my Sport Pilot license soon and begin flying the Sakota. I’m also looking forward to someday becoming a Sport Pilot flight instructor (hopefully sooner than later). And while it isn’t necessarily a goal, I would like to fly the Sakota to the next fly-in at Jean. Watching those guys bomb around the evening sky over the desert sure looked like a lot of fun. Maybe that will be me next time. I believe 2008 will be the year I get my feet off the ground. And maybe, just maybe, next year I can sit down at COPPERSTATE, in the shade of the wing of the Sakota I piloted, and ponder even loftier goals. Maybe someday I can be a mentor too. ~Nick
flap of the cover-wrap for details. Alternative Engines Volume 2 is officially out of print but hopefully we’ll be able to reprint it as soon as the dust settles from printing and delivering Volume 3. Alternative Engines Volume 1 is still available. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Volumes 1-3 are compilation books containing 300+ pages of our past engine-only or engine -related articles. In essence, Volume 1 contains the first five years worth of engine articles, Volume 2 would be the following five years worth, and Volume 3 would be about three to four years worth, but still has the same page-count as the previous books. My guess is that in about a year or so, we’ll have enough information compiled to make Alternative Engines Volume 4. More information, as well as a full list of the contents in each volume, is available online at: www.ContactMagazine.com/Altengines.html
PRESS RELEASE On page 32 you’ll find what appears to be a traditional press release, typical of those that fill several of the first few pages of your traditional aviation magazine. So why are we publishing something as seemingly run-of-themill as this press release? Because the product has its roots deeply entrenched in experimental aviation. It’s difficult enough to get a good experimental aviation product to market in a profitable manner, so when one of “our own” makes it to what seems to be the “big league”, I feel it’s worth celebrating. So with that, I’d like to offer a sincere congratulations to Klaus Savier and the gang at Light Speed Engineering.
A NEW MEMBER OF THE TEAM We are thrilled to announce the addition of Nichole Scott to the staff of CONTACT! Magazine. On a strictly volunteer basis, she has taken on the chore of proofreading our work as part of her educational portfolio. We, of course, have others who have been diligently plugging away at this chore for several years, but the more eyes on the text, the cleaner the work comes out. So in addition to thanking Nichole, I’d like to thank everyone else who helps me cross “t’s” and dot the “i’s”.
LETTERS Dear Pat, In issue #43 and #52, I chronicled the development and installation of a GM 4.3L V-6 in Ken Miller’s RV-6A. It is in its ninth year of fun flying, with well over 600 trouble free hours on its clock. This winter we plan to pull the motor apart to see how it’s holding up. I’ll send you an update article with pictures. Keep up the good work, Stan Pitts Pat and gang,
Just before COPPERSTATE, Nick got some stick time in a V-8 powered Glasair that will be on the cover of an upcoming issue of CONTACT! Magazine. www.ContactMagazine.com
Development continues on the Personal Cruiser. With winter upon us, the priority is a more robust carb heat system and a new cabin heat source. Newly designed
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 27
SWITCH ON! Continued from previous page exhaust headers contained within the cowling allows for the incorporation of these items as well as a muffler, so we’ll probably pick up a few knots from eliminating the existing short exhaust stacks. Fuel economy has continued to improve; in testing it has been a joy to top off the fuel tanks. The average fuelburn is between $10 and $15 per hour. We installed the new Sensenich 64x52 wood prop in September. With this prop, top speed is 151 mph, (down from 156 mph with the Sterba 52x56) and our best economy is at 116 mph and 46.4 MPG. So why the change? Climb is better by 200 fpm and efficiency is improved at a lower speed. We’re reviewing our induction system for improvement and looking at various wheel pant designs. There are plenty of areas left for drag reduction and other improvements which could easily improve top speed another 1218 mph and economy well past 50 mpg. Recent flight-testing has revealed a slight downward pitch while slipping to a landing. It feels very intuitive, a surprising benefit of the V-tail configuration and could help to prevent an inadvertent stall. We’re always looking to leverage recent inexpensive and proven technology for homebuilding. In development is an electric pitch-trim system which uses an actuator with an integrated microcontroller. A benefit of the design is that the trim potentiometer position will correspond exactly with the trim tab position. The system also provides for a simple LED indicator and integration of an inexpensive piezo-type gyro, currently used in hi-end radio-controlled model aircraft and UAV’s. The stability of the Personal Cruiser is very good in all axes so the addition of gyros are to add a simple means of altitude hold and possible wing leveling. The biggest benefit is the simplicity of installation and it’s near feather weight, not to mention price. Scott VanderVeen Pro-Composites, Inc www.pro-composites.com
AWARDS In an effort to promote the accomplishments of our readers as well as other experimenters flying with auto conversions, this year we decided to do what we could to commemorate the achievements of those who flew their aircraft to a few of the fly-ins we’ve attended. Beginning
with EAA’s AirVenture 2007, we brought along with us commemorative hats which read “I Flew My EXPERIMENTAL Aircraft to AirVenture 07”, and featured the words “Auto Power”. These hats were given away free to those who flew their experimental auto powered aircraft, and were considered a hot item among those in attendance. We continued this new tradition at our annual visit to COPPERSTATE. Again, the hats were well received and appreciated by those who flew in with auto power. If you flew in to either of these venues and didn’t get your hat, please let us know and we’ll send you one. With the response we received from displaying the hats, we’ve decided to remove the “I flew my…” from the log and create hats that we can offer to the general public. We’ll have them available at all the shows we attend, as well as on our website, once we have them in stock.
RAFFLE Another successful promotion we started in 2007 was to hold a raffle for a lifetime subscription to Contact! Magazine. The raffle was held at our booth during our attendance at COPPERSTATE. We had a lot of newcomers as well as current and previous subscribers purchasing $1 raffle tickets throughout the weekend. And with that, a big Congratulations goes out to our raffle winner Mr. Will Horn of Prescott, Arizona. The proceeds from the raffle will more than cover our costs unless Mr. Horn lives beyond 125 years old.
BULLETIN BOARD While manning the CONTACT! booths we’ve found many of you bringing photos of your projects to share and discuss with us. Aside from posting these stories and photos on the website, we think another good idea would be to put up a bulletin board at each show we attend. On this bulletin board you could write a brief letter or story about your project and post it up to share with others during the show. Our next scheduled event is Sun ‘n Fun. Please consider bringing photos of your project which we may share by posting in our engine forum tent. If you have any ideas on how we could improve our website or if your group is planning an event during our visit to shows and you would like to get the gang at CONTACT! Magazine involved, please email me with your ideas and suggestions. Lets work together to create another successful year.
CLASSIFIED ADS You may have noticed that our classified section is looking a bit bleak this issue. The classifieds are available for free to current subscribers. It’s limited to noncommercial ads only and must include a price. Other than that, anything (aviation in nature) goes. Ads will be run for three consecutive issues before being deleted, unless the seller renews. If you have a current ad or are planning to place an ad, be sure to notify me if you sold your item(s) or your ad needs to be changed. ~Pat www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 28
Rather than taking the time to make that nice looking steel stand shown in the article, aircraft hardware bits from my spare parts bin were attached to the opposite end of the safety wire. This allows the balancer to be suspended in space by clamping the nut in the end of my drill press chuck. The spindle return spring on the drill press is sufficient to hold the wheel in space without clamping the drill press’ spindle.
By John Steere JSteere@harmanbecker.com John Steere’s beautiful BD-4 appeared on the cover of Issue #82 but was actually debuted in Issue #66 several years earlier. John has enjoyed hundreds of hours flying his supercharged Ford (T-Bird) V-6 powered experimental aircraft, including multiple trips to OSH. As an avid reader of CONTACT! Magazine he used an article we published and took it to the next level and is sharing that info with us. ~Pat
Like most true “experimenters,” I didn’t follow the plans exactly. The differences are of little consequence and simply suit my preference and available materials. The tube is one-inch aluminum from the ACE Hardware aviation department. The ferrule was changed from aluminum to plastic and the diameter in the center was reduced by 1/16”. This creates space to wrap a piece of low-density foam tape around the center of the ferrule.
It works great! Thanks to Paul Lipps and the gang at CONTACT! Magazine for the excellent article. John Steere Indicator disk Stainless steel safety wire Tube
Wheel adapter rings Ferrule
Base— sized for prop balancing
Not to scale
I read with considerable interest the article in issue #84, “Static Prop Balancer,” by Paul Lipps. Balance has not been a concern with my three-blade Warp Drive prop because it runs very smoothly, but I had a significant outof-balance condition on both of the main gear wheels on my BD-4. It looked like fabricating a wheel balance rig would be my next project, but after reading the article it became evident that the prop balancer could be used for both prop and wheel balancing with a simple adaptation.
Wire retainer
The foam tape provides enough friction against the inside of the tube to insure the ferrule will not move unless deliberately repositioned. The aluminum cap was eliminated by turning the indicator disc O.D. to match the tube O.D. While on the lathe, a wire retainer disc was turned with a counter-bore large enough to accept a knot tied in the end of a piece of 0.032” stainless safety wire. To adapt the balancer for my wheels, simple plastic adapter rings are positioned on the tube O.D. in positions that line up with the inside of the wheel bearings. The I.D. of these adapter rings provides a snug fit to the tube, so they will stay in place while sliding the assembly through the wheel bearings. www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 29
By Bruce Sturgill bruce@pursuitofflight.com Photos: Morgan Hunter CONTACT! Magazine readers may remember Bruce’s contribution, “Building a Corvair Cruiser”, in the May -June, 2007, issue where we featured the Personal Cruiser. As a beta-builder we asked Bruce to keep us posted about his progress and provide us with follow-up articles. So with that, here’s number two in what we hope will be an ongoing series. ~Pat I’m building a sporty, sexy little plane, the Personal Cruiser, a kit aircraft that’s manufactured by ProComposites Inc. Some time back I produced a TV story on a couple of builders who were going through “Lancair’s Builders Assist Program” at their factory. I thought it was a great idea but at a cost of $4,000 per week at that time, it was way out of my budget, so was their plane, but that’s another story. The builders I interviewed really liked their program and thought it was well worth the time and money. Having someone walk them through the building process certainly gave them a jumpstart on completing their plane. So I thought, how could I get some type of assistance like that with my plane?
IT SEEMS TO MAKE SENSE My reasoning was building with someone who has already built a plane like the one I’m building should be a really good shot in the arm for both the plane and myself, being a new builder. So I called Scott VanderVeen at Pro -Composites and asked if they had such a program. He said they do offer a builder assist program where they come to your garage/hanger and assist you with the construction of your Personal Cruiser or the Vision Aircraft. Being a beta builder of the Personal Cruiser, the thought of having someone come to me never really crossed my mind during my construction process so I jumped at the chance. Arrangements were made, plans were discussed, materials were ordered and Morgan Hunter of Pro-Composites came out during the first week of October. He arrived on Monday around noon after a long flight from Florida to Portland, Oregon, and we didn’t waste any time getting to work. He looked over the plane closely to see exactly how good my construction skills were, patted me on the back, and said I did excellent work but also pointed out some things that could be “a little more excellent.” And thus we began by making an attack plan for the coming week, including correcting a few minor mistakes that were made during my construction. Morgan’s attention to small details of my plane helped make assembling other parts a lot easier. www.ContactMagazine.com
THE WEEK BEGINS Over the course of the week (Morgan left very early the following Sunday morning), we took my “tub” and turned it into a “tub with wings” or something that really resembled an airplane. We aligned spars, drilled holes, poured liquid foam, mixed epoxy, laid a lot of fiberglass, microed wing cores in place to make those spars look like wings and mixed a lot more epoxy. I also got to experience what happens when you have micro that’s too thick and you get an exothermal reaction. You don’t want to do that with wing’s cores and pour foam; it’s a lot of work and time fixing that little mess. Morgan did comment that construction goes a lot faster when you have someone mixing micro and cutting glass for you; loosely translated, “slave.”
Morgan turned out to be the resident photographer so the best photo available of him doing any work is this one where he’s fitting a rib to the spar. I found out that what you think you should get done and what actually gets done are very different. I planned out all the things that we were going to accomplish during
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 30
Morgan’s visit, yet we only completed about half. During the course of construction little things would pop up that needed to be fixed, purchased or moved that I didn’t anticipate. One of those things that I didn’t think about, we had to move the fuselage from side to side in order to accommodate putting each spar on so the wing foam cores could be attached. I could have opened the garage door and had both wings on at the same time, but that makes heating the space a little difficult in the Northwest. There were other little things like this that I didn’t anticipate which took time, like driving for two hours to purchase pour-foam. Even though mixing epoxy and cutting glass for Morgan speeded things up a lot, most of the time we’d be working on separate parts of the plane and we’d prepare our own epoxy and fiberglass, thus building more parts. Here’s a tip: Measure out exactly how much glass you have on hand, not about how much you think you have. Un-roll the roll and measure it; it looks like you have more than you think (at least it did for me). I ran out of bidirectional glass two days before Morgan left and no one had any locally. We still worked other tasks that needed to be done, just not the ones I would like to have accomplished during Morgan’s stay. Was I disappointed that we didn’t finish all the things I had planned? Yes, at first. However, after looking back on what we just accomplished and all the little things that I didn’t anticipate, I’m very pleased. My disappointment could have also been separation anxiety of a good building partner, but I’ll save that story for the Oprah show. You have to take into account that with two wings, a fuselage and a 4’ X 10’ table in a two car garage, you start to move a little slower, especially if you don’t want to break any foam parts.
The wing spar attachment. Although the plans call for 3/8” bolts, Bruce felt better with 9/16” bolts. er in a reasonable amount of time. It was to say at the very least, an enjoyable experience to have Morgan there for the week. He’s a very smart and enjoyable person to be around, even for 10-12 hours a day for 6 straight days. Not only did I learn a lot of other things about airplane construction, but also my little jewel is getting closer to becoming a plane. I still have a long way to go but it doesn’t look as far away as it used to. I just wish I had started building at the young age he is and not put things off for one reason or the other. So for you guys that are thinking about building a plane, get started!
Morgan said he wouldn’t mind if I shared what the cost of this week was for me. Total including putting Morgan up in a hotel (not a classy one but not a dump either) and meals was right at $1500 and worth every penny to me plus I got a little break being a beta builder of the Personal CruisI would highly recomer. I could have mend to everyone if saved the hotel bill by you can, take adhaving him stay at my vantage of some type house, but I thought of builder assist proafter working 10-12 gram or help. My exhour days together I’d perience with Scott need some time with and Morgan’s prothe family and Morgram was just great. gan needed his perDid everything go sonal time too. Now, according to Hoyle? this price didn’t inNo. But at the same clude the “trade” with time a lot of things my wife, which is one were accomplished. week for plane conWe spent virtually no struction and one time just standing around chatting, ex- The current condition of Bruce’s project. More BID is required to week for the kitchen cept when one of my finish the wings. The left wing is ready for sanding and the right destruction. Considflying buddies or a needs the trailing edge put on. The gear legs are under the table ering all new cabinets and appliances, mayneighbor would stop and ready to go. be this wasn’t so by to see how things “inexpensive” after all. I’m still waiting for her to order the were going with the plane. We were busy from the time cabinets, so maybe that week for “kitchen” duty won’t Morgan arrived to the time he left and it just takes time to happen until after January sometime. In the mean time do a job right. I learned where I was doing a really good I’ll be in the garage working on my Personal Cruiser job and where I could speed up in other areas, plus I feel N73BS and something else. Bruce Sturgill a lot more confident about my abilities to finish the Cruiswww.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 31
END OF AN ERA:
EXEMPTION 7162 EXPIRES November 1, 2007 —Midnight on October 31, 2007, signaled the end of an era as EAA’s exemption No. 7162 officially expired. That exemption allowed owners of experimental aircraft to be compensated for renting their aircraft to others who sought experimental aircraftspecific flight training and flight reviews. Its goal was to reduce the number of fatal experimental aircraft accidents, especially during the initial test flight period of an amateur-built aircraft and during the initial 10 flight hours after buying an experimental aircraft. By that measure, Exemption 7162 was an unqualified success as it contributed to a dramatic reduction in fatal experimental aircraft accidents - from 340 in fiscal year 2000 to 49 in fiscal year 2006. Exemption 7162 was developed in partnership with the EAA Safety Programs office, the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), the Small Aircraft Manufacturers Association (SAMA), the FAA and the NTSB. Even though this exemption has ended, the historic safety partnership continues. The Certification of Aircraft and Airmen for the Operation of Light-Sport Aircraft (Sport Pilot) rule issued on September 1, 2004, includes a new regulation, FAR 91.319(h), which gives FAA Flight Standards District Offices (FSDOs) the responsibility of working with experimental aircraft owners who offer their aircraft to be rented for specific flight training and flight reviews. With the exemption no longer active, experimental aircraft owners of who wish to use their aircraft for flight training will need to contact the Operations Supervisor at their local FSDO and apply for an Experimental Aircraft Flight Training Letter of Deviation as outlined in FAA Notice N 8900.15. Once that letter is issued, the aircraft owner may receive compensation for the flight training use of the aircraft. Individuals building an experimental aircraft or buying an experimental aircraft who need aircraft-specific flight training, or experimental aircraft owners in need of a flight review should contact the Operations Supervisor at their local FSDO office and ask for a list of the experiment aircraft within their FAA Region that are available for the needed flight training or flight review. With the termination of exemption 7162, EAA no longer maintains a national database of experimental aircraft that may be used for flight training. That responsibility has shifted to the FAA Flight Standards Division and each FSDO. Members with questions concerning this issue should call EAA Safety Programs at 888-322-4636, ext. 6864.
EASA SUPPLEMENTAL TYPE CERTIFICATE FOR LIGHT SPEED ENGINEERING’S PLASMA CDI ON A LYCOMING O-360 Issued to Helicopters Guimbal’s new CABRI G2 thoroughly tested and qualified for use in the rugged aviation environment.
On December 10th, 2007, Helicopters Guimbal received a Supplemental Type Certificate from EASA* for the Light Speed Engineering Plasma CDI as standard equipment on their new Helicopter, the Cabri G2. The modern design of the Cabri G2, powered by a Lycoming O-360 engine, included the Plasma CDI from the beginning as one of many advanced concepts introduced with this aircraft. The Plasma CDI contributes to the excellent efficiency, reliability, reduced operating cost and superb performance of this all-new helicopter. Over 20 years of experience with electronic ignition systems in experimental aircraft resulted in the current Plasma CDI design. More than 3,500 pilots are enjoying significant fuel savings and improved performance made possible only by Light Speed Engineering’s Plasma CDI. The certification by EASA confirms that the Light Speed Engineering Plasma Capacitor Discharge Ignitions are built to the highest standards, This is the first STC issued for an all-electronic CDI without moving parts. Reciprocal agreements between the FAA and EASA can facilitate future applications on certified aircraft. Visit www.lightspeedengineering.com for further details. * The European Aviation Safety Agency is the European equivalent of the FAA.
www.ContactMagazine.com
CONTACT! ISSUE 91 PAGE 32
