Launch countdown

[John Slade]

I'd promised to start on the FAA paperwork this week, so I spent a couple of hours working on it last night. I pretty much have it done, but I'm not going to mail it until the engine is running. Once the engine starts I'll probably drive the paperwork down to the FSDO to save a day. There's a nice cover letter on the EAA web site which lists everything you have to include in the package you send to the FSDO, or have ready for the inspection. I've never been one for forms, but this stuff looks pretty simple.

 

I picked up a digital scale (Char WILL be pleased), a battery for the smart level (I don't trust the spirit method), some plugs (finally found them at Discount Auto), a K&N #1004 oil filter (friends don't let friends fly Fram), and some gas (hi-test $1.89/gal) for the right tank. While at the auto store I also picked up a manual oil pressure gauge ($12.89 complete with line and fittings).

 

I don't want to run the engine until I know I have oil pressure, so I installed the gauge by the firewall for temporary use until my Westach gauge gets fixed. Hmmm. I can't see the gauge while cranking the engine from the front. I climbed in the back and hot-wired the plane so I can operate the master solenoid, the starter and the essential bus override from temporary switches by the firewall. I can now turn on the master and crank the engine. Once the engine starts I can turn off the master, but keep the engine running off the essential bus. This way killing the essential bus will kill the EFI computer and stop the engine. Tomorrow I'll hot-wire the fuel pump as well so I can kill this quickly if necessary.

 

I cranked the engine from the back and watched the oil pressure gauge. After a couple of turns I get 20 - 30 psi. OK. I put the new plugs in except one which I grounded and watched for a spark while the computer was on and the engine turning. No spark. You're supposed to see a visible spark - right?

 

Since I have no spark I didn't bother checking the fuel. I checked for power at the coils. Yep. Looks like I'm going to have to recheck all the EC2 wiring, and my EC2 manual is at home.

 

Total time - 3 hours including the shopping. This is day seven, so I decided I could rest.

 

Plan for tomorrow

Take intercooler and pipes back to Charlie for welding

Check EC2 wiring / fault test instructions

Take Tracy's phone number to hangar

reweigh using new scale

plumb bob and chalk thing to check the fuselage stations

tidy up and label some loose spare wires behind panel and at firewall

order 90 degree al cast from turbonetics for turbo intake

order 2 * 2.25 silicone sections and 4 clamps

engine start attempt #2 ?

 

Later

get ac pipes from breakers yard?

make AL pipe from the condenser to the drier.

[John Slade]

A day of consolidation

 

Last night before going to bed I almost went down to the hangar to check that I'd taken the battery off charge. I didn't, and I hadn't. This morning you could smell "battery" when I walked in the hangar. Last time I left the charger on overnight the battery was hot. This time it was pregnant. I didn't know batteries could do that. It is visibly swollen and obviously toast. It still has a couple of volts left in it, but not enough to even move the nose lift, never mind crank the engine. Luckily I have a replacement coming in the morning. Now I need to order a replacement for the Aux battery too. Maybe I need an auxiliary power plug?

 

Tim Ragonez was there working on his Velocity. He needed more room, so I had to move my plane. Perfect time for a clean-up and reorganization, especially since I have no amps to turn my engine today. We wheeled my plane onto the ramp - she looks great sitting on the ramp (I attached a picture). We cleaned up the space, then rotated my plane 180 and brought her in forwards. Now my back end is by the door where I have more light and better access. I reorganized my tool trolley and started on the bench.

 

Cleaning up - 1 hour

Reorganizing - 2 hours

Being able to find tools and parts when I need them - priceless

 

Since I couldn't do much with the engine I decided to get started on reweighing the plane. I tried Chuck's 2 * 4 trick, but there's 600# on the lever, and the 2 * 4 gets in the way of the sliding the scale into place. I reverted to the "EZ" screw jack. While I was jacking up the plane I came to a decision. The "engineering" (if you can call it that) is done, but I don't want to spend any more time on the AC right now. So - why carry the weight? I removed the compressor, belt, tension wheel, condensor duct, condensor and pipes and stored them under the bench. Later, when I've flown off the 40 hours and have some spare time (and cash) I can retrofit the AC system in a day. (Jim's right. There's a lot more to this AC stuff than meets the eye, or the wallet.) I explained the decision to Char and she accepted it....for now.

 

I contacted Westach about the oil pressure gauge problem. They say it sounds like a transducer. A new one is $175. Geeze. I can buy a replacement guage and sender for MUCH less than that, and the analog guage is temporary anyway. Hopefully Chuck's right and it'll work when it gets enough volts. Failing that I'll run the manual one to the cockpit with a restricter in the line.

 

I took my faulty pipe to Charlie. It had a small pin hole in the edge of the weld. He fixed it immediately and I reinstalled it.

 

Tomorrow I should have my turbo pipes and a battery, so maybe I'll be able to move forward. The guys on the fly rotary list think that the most likely reason I'm not getting a spark is a lack of volts. Tracy explained how to check the crank angle sensor wiring in case this is the problem. Combine this information with me having a dead battery and, maybe my starting problems are a non-issue. We'll see.

 

Oh, by the way - how about this for a brilliant piece of engineering design... The upper cowl can't be installed without removing the prop. Duh. I'm going to have to rethink the cowl / turbo shield interface.

 

Plan for tomorrow

Collect intercooler and pipes from Charlie

"final" installation of intercooler and pipe

reweigh using new scale (once the nose lift works again)

plumb bob and chalk thing to check the fuselage stations

tidy up and label some loose spare wires behind panel and at firewall

install new battery & charge

engine start attempt #2 ?

 

order 90 degree al cast from turbonetics for turbo intake

order 2 * 2.25 silicone sections and 4 clamps

[John Slade]

Judgement day is the day when you have to face up to all you're sins. Today I met a few of mine head on.

 

I'm having trouble remembering what I did first thing this morning, So much has happened since. Hmmm. Ah yes - throttle cable bracket # 3. I removed the AC compressor yesterday. My throttle cable bracket was bolted to it. I figured a way to mount a new one on the engine mount support and set to making it out of 4130 steel. Next I worked for an hour or so on the lower cowl screws. The cowl seems to have changed shape since I made it. I had a couple of torx screws in place. There are a total of 25 on each cowl. One screw just wouldnt go in. Finally I realized why - I'd used a small size nutplate and the screw was too big to go in. Thankfully it was one of the easy to reach ones, so I replaced it and moved on. The lower cowl is now securely fixed in place with tinnerman washers and screws in all the holes.

 

My turbo pipes wern't done, and the battery hadn't arrived, so I started on the weight and balance with my new nose gear scale. The nose lift didnt work, but this was a perfect opportunity to test the manual system with a socket wrench. It worked just fine so I carried on with the weighing. Tim arrived to help so I checked the scales, sat him in the pilot seat, checked the scales again, then weighed him. This way I could confirm the pilot moment. I came to 58.76. The Pilot manual says 59. Not bad. Next I added 5 gals of fuel to the right tank and checked the scales again. I now have about 8 sets of scale readings, with and without seats, with and without Tim, with and without fuel, oil & coolant, with and without the AC etc. etc. All done without the intercooler, but with a weight in its place. I weighed the AC stuff I'd removed - 25lb., but it's moment is close to the cg, so it doesnt really make a lot of difference to balance, but I'm getting ahead of myself....

 

This morning I mentioned my upper cowl problem to Tim. He suggested a small removable plate at the top of the cowl, in line with the vertical blade. This way I'd be able to remove the plate, then the cowl would slide back off the turbo shield. I'll do that tomorrow.

 

With all the weighing done I packed up the scales and went home to check on the battery. It had arrived, so I put it on charge (briefly). After lunch I picked up the finished turbo pipes and intercooler and worked on fitting them. I didn't complete the job because I was anxious to do the plumb bob stuff needed to calculate all the fuselage stations and finish off the balance part of the weight and balance. I hung the plumb bob from the nose, the canard LE, the wing root, the firewall, the nose wheel axle, the main axles and the prop flange. On the floor I stuck duct tape and marked each point. Now it was just a matter of connecting the dots and measuring along the center line. I came home with a few pages of notes and dived into Excel.

 

The first thing that became clear was that I wasn't too clear on what was in the plane when. My notes say the total weight went up 29 lb when I added just over a gallon of oil. That can't be right. There are a few other anomolies in the data that make me mistrust it, so a rerun is needed. I do almost everything at least twice - why should this be different?

 

The moment stuff is fairly simple once you get the hang of it. I played what-if in excel for a while. This will help me have a better understanding tommorrow when I do all the balance work again. I finally came to a bunch of dubious bottom lines. If I trust my data, which I don't, the good news is that with Char and I on board the plane won't need any ballast and will easily carry full fuel, even with all the baggage Char tends to take on trips. Depending on where I set my gross weight we'll be able to carry back seat passengers, plenty of fuel and some baggage. Weight isnt the problem. Balance is the problem. The bad news is that with just me (at 157lb) I'll need a LOT of ballast. I need to put on some weight! Just to get in the "acceptable" envelope at a cg of 102 I'll need 62 lb of ballast. To get in the recommended first flight envelope I'll need 91 lb. Now we're talking about ballast in the ballast compartment at -3 moment. Here's where the sins start to line up on me. I used up half of this area for my nose light. I'd be suprised if I could get more than 30 or 40 lb in there now.

 

So... when the ballast moves back, it gets bigger. There's very little room in the nose compartment because my AC plenum is in there. I could move the batteries from the firewall (2 * 13lb), but there's nowhere to put them up front. I'm probably going to need a couple of 50 lb sand bags on the passenger seat.

 

I built a light airframe, then I started adding stuff and couldn't seem to stop. All stuff I'd like to have, to be sure.... leather seats, turbo, etc. etc. Now I have to pay the piper (or should we say the sandman). Lots of horses help get you off the ground faster, but they don't make you land any slower. I wonder - how different my plane is to others? Norm, Marc - what do you weigh and what ballast do you carry when solo? I guess it's a combination of me being light and having a turbo that adds the extra ballast requirements. Where can I loose some weight near the front? Should I care too much about the ballast? Hmmm.

 

I'm tired. Perhaps everything will be clearer in the morning. I hope so.

 

7 hours at the hangar, 2 playing in excel

 

Plan for tomorrow

Get lead shot

reweigh using new scale (once the nose lift works again)

plumb bob and chalk thing to check the fuselage stations

finish "final" installation of intercooler and pipe

finish throttle bracket # 3 (or is it 4)

tidy up and label some loose spare wires behind panel and at firewall

install new battery

engine start attempt #2 ?

cut cowl and make plate for easy cowl removal

 

order 90 degree al cast from turbonetics for turbo intake

order 2 * 2.25 silicone sections and 4 clamps

[John Slade]

I started the morning by redoing the plumb bob fuselage station calculations. I got different numbers in daylight - go figure. I also received good input (including weight and balance spreadsheets) from Marc and Norm on weight and balance issues. Seems I'm not so far out after all. We don't talk about it much, and I guess its really a non event for those who are flying but, unlike a 172, the Cozy needs careful attention to weight and balance, and needs considerable ballast for solo flying. This is just one of the features. Deal with it. The advantages in efficiency, glide ratio, speed, range and coolness factor more than make up for this minor inconvienience. I also hear that most Cozys and LongEzs tend to be tail heavy, that flying aft cg (within limits) is better, one guy says its even faster. I've been told that one Cozy (no names) flys just fine at 2200lb gross on a standard day. Per Marc's advise I'll redo the weight calculations at least once. This time with the hangar door closed.

 

I decided to leave the next weight measurement session until after the engine's running. Everyone, including me, wants to hear this sucker MAKE NOISE.

 

I swear the turbo pipes were perfect when I took them for welding. Charlie's too good to weld them wrong, so I think the Cozy gremlins must be in town again. I had to saw off an inch from one pipe and a 1/2 inch from the other. I spent about 3 hours battling with them before getting an acceptable fit. Apart from the turbo inlet from the plenum the turbo and intercooler pipes are now done.

 

The new throttle cable bracket worked out nicely first time. I like the sound of that. I don't get to say it often.

 

I removed the pregnant battery and installed the new one. Maybe I should give the old one some more volts - it might deliver a little battery for my lawn mower.

 

With the new battery the engine cranks over REALLY fast, especially with the plugs out, but it still doesn't spark. Also, I'm not sure if I have a problem with my fuel pressure regulator. It seems to be holding the pressure and not releasing any fuel to the return. The pressure gauge doesn't give me any reading at all, but there's definately fuel pressure on the rail. More debugging.

 

This evening I went down to the hangar to look into the spark problem. I tried it with both controllers, then checked the crank angle sensors. They seem to generate a tiny pulse when you move a piece of steel away from them. Tracy says the positive side of the pulse goes to the EC2, and the negative to the return wire. The pulse is very small, but it seemed that I had the wires reversed so I swapped them. Still nothing. There are 2 sensors. The "outer" one which gets a pulse every rev, and the "inner" one which gets lots of pulses per rev. I tried them both ways. Nothing. Next I pulled the coil connectors one by one and checked the connections to the EC2, ground and power. I also tested the "trigger" pin to see if it was getting a ground or power when the engine turned. Nope.

 

I spent a couple of happy hours testing the connections from the EC2 pins to the control panel pins. There are 30 or so pins on the EC2. I hooked each one to the meter in turn, then jumped out of the back to test the other end. That's a lot of jumping in and out of the back.

 

Every wire checked out fine. Conclusion - take 2 asprin & call Tracy in the morning.

 

Plan for tomorrow

Call Tracy for debugging tips

Get lead shot

tidy up and label some loose spare wires behind panel and at firewall

cut cowl and make plate for easy cowl removal

 

Outstanding orders

order 90 degree al cast from turbonetics for turbo intake

order 2 * 2.25 silicone sections and 4 clamps

Call Polyfiber for new crosslinker

Order clevis pin for cowl flap

Order replacement alternate battery

[John Slade]

I had a chat with Tracy first thing this morning and went down to the hangar with a few ideas of things to test. On the way I called Buly and asked him if he'd like to drive up and help with the debugging. I had given him my spare crank angle sensor. Maybe we could test this against the two on the plane.

 

I removed the sensors, put some duct tape on the faces and hooked them up to the lowest volt scale on my meter. If I bring a piece of steel to the face quickly I get a positive jump on the needle. With this jump positive, and the jump when you move the steel away negative, plus = live, minus = return. I was correct originally. I'd misread Tracy's email and reversed them, so I reversed them again. I'd just reinstalled the sensors when Buly arrived. We removed all the plugs and Buly held one to ground while I cranked the engine. Spark! We have a SPARK! Buly had HELD the plug against the block. I had just taped it to a braided hose (which I'd tested for ground). I thought ground was ground and that was that. Apparantly not.

 

We tried all the plugs and had a spark on both trailing plugs, but nothing on the leading plugs. We put the plugs back in anyway and pulled my Saab into the hangar for a few extra amps. I cranked, and after a few turns the engine coughed. Two, maybe three fires - just enough to help the starter along, then stopped.

 

Three more phone calls to Tracy and a lot of wire chasing didn't get us a spark on the leading coils, but together we eliminated a few of the possible causes. Buly had to leave, so I carried on with checking the coils and plug leads by swapping connectors. There is 12v on every coil, but only two of them spark. Swap the connectors and the other coil sparks. Hmmm. During another chat with Tracy I suggested cross connecting the trigger wires on leading and trailing. He said this might work, wouldn't do any harm, and might help us understand the problem. It didn't do any of the above.

 

It was gone 6pm by now, I'd been at the hangar 8 hours and I hadn't eaten all day. Char brought dinner to the hangar and with it some good vibes. After dinner she went home to check the dogs (plural still), and I carried on staring at the problem. I dismantled the GM wiring harness, removed their big suspect interal connectors and reassembled it. As I was doing this I noted that the power for leading and trailing coils is supplied seperately. Hmmm. Both read hot, but maybe one is "more" hot than the other. I thought volts were volts and that was that. Apparantly not. I cross connected the hot leads and cranked. Spark on all four plugs. Weird. Ah well! I blew off the plugs and installed them, primed the engine with a couple of squirts of gas and cranked. It was firing. Not running - just firing. Enough to help the started along, but not enough to pick up on its own. But - better than what I had been getting.

 

I gave the starter a rest, put the battery on charge and removed the plugs for cleaning. They were wet and oily. I'm sure there's a lot of grease and preservative left in the housings.

 

After 1/2 hour I reinstalled the plugs, primed the engine with gasoline again and cranked it some more. It fired, kept up with the starter, then, Brrrr aaaa PPPPPP. Oh! What a beautiful sound! Not only because I'd been looking forward to hearing it, but also because it truely is a beautiful sound. Somewhere between a deep growl and race car whine it spoke of power and precision. I'm looking forward to hearing more of it tomorrow.

 

The engine ran for maybe 6 seconds and generated a blast of black smoke. I hadn't turned on the fuel pump. I turned it on, tried again, but didn't get even a cough of recognition. I wasn't ready to remove and clean the plugs again. It had been a long day, it was 9pm, and this was a good note (literally) to end it on.

 

I noted a small oil leak from the turbo oil feed, and a slight drip of water from the water pump lower fitting.

 

When I got home Char said I smelled of "engine". She liked it.

 

Plan for tomorrow

Fix minor oil leak

Find out what's wrong with the volts on the leading plugs

Remove, clean & reinstall plugs

try to run engine for more than 6 seconds

 

Catch up on ordering, especially second battery.

[John Slade]

Another long day. Yesterday was 12 hours. Today was 9.

The battery had been on charge all night, the starter was cold and the plugs were clean. I cranked the engine from my amatuer built rear remote operations center - three switches by the firewall, one for master, one for essential bus and one for starter. It cranked fine, but didn't attempt to fire at all.

 

I removed the plugs. I noticed that the trailing plugs were very oily, and the leading plugs were just wet. Hmmm. I cleaned them with compressed air, cranked the engine with the plugs out and sprayed the wing (and myself) with oily gas spots, put the plugs back, then got on with something else while the battery got its breath back.

 

My first task was to eliminate the firewall based starter solenoid and feed the solenoid on the starter directly from the battery. Maybe I'll reconnect the second solenoid later as a protection from a stuck starter, but right now it and it's connections are drawing valuable amps.

 

Moving the starter cable meant also moving the fat alternator cable. Unfortunately this was too short to reach across to the battery solenoid, so I had to make a new fat wire. I had the wire, but my propane torch was out of gas.

 

I've been wondering why I get no fuel pressure reading. Tracy suggested that perhaps it was on the return side of the regulator rather than the feed. I checked the manual and didn't get much help. Before taking off the regulator I thought I'd check the wiring to the gauge. I removed the canard and looked down at the back of the gauge. There were no wires going to it. This could be the problem right here Once I had the gauge hooked up it showed me an off the scale (50+psi) reading. Here the manual did help. I adjusted the regulator until I got about 35psi.

 

Time for another crank. This time I pulled the car up to the plane and hooked the battery directly to the starter. The engine cranked really fast.

 

I removed and cleaned the plugs again and got on with something else while the battery got its breath back. The pattern was getting familiar, I was getting really quick at getting the plugs in and out, and me and the wing were getting really dirty, but I wasn't making progress, so I went home for a break.

 

This evening I stopped at an auto shop and picked up a can of starting fluid and some propane. I also priced RX7 starter motors - $168 and they'll test your motor for free (yea, and I'll bet they usually discover that it's no good).

 

The plane was all ready for another start attempt. In short -Nothing. Not even a "pop", even with the starter fluid. I got on with something else - I forget what - and, well you know the rest...

 

A little later I tried weakening the mixture and cranking with the fuel pump off.

 

A little later I tried with computer B.

 

A little later, it was gone 9 pm and I was ready to call it a night. I was leaning inside the cockpit wondering why the fuel pressure was fluctuating when I decided to try another start attempt from the cockpit, this way I could try moving the mixture and flipping computers while it was cranking. I cranked and it popped immediately, before I had time to touch any switches. It seemed to be turning a lot faster than it had been. It tried to keep up with the starter, popping a few times here and there, but it couldn't quite make it.

 

Now this is going to sound a little weird. I thought - maybe the bird wants me to sit in the pilot seat. I hooked up the throttle cable, got in (without cleaning the plugs), settled myself in the seat and worked through a pre-start checklist. Master on. Fuel pump on. Fuel pressure good. Ignition to start.

 

Pop...pop...pop..pop..pop.pop.pop.poppoppop brrrrappp, brrrrappp, brrrrappp, brrrrappp. Yellow flash. Engine stop. This time I got maybe 25 seconds of wonderful noise. Hmmm. What the hell was that yellow flash? One of my "light up when blown" fuses had blown. I checked, and found it was a 5amp fuse for the ignition circuit. That explains why the engine stopped. I've heard that the coils need 7.5. Not sure why I had a 5 in there. Checking all the fuses against draw is on my todo list. This is one way todo it. I checked for leaks around the engine, put in a 10 amp fuse and tried again. The starter was too weak, so I quit for the night.

 

I suppose there's a scientific explanation for why the bird started when I operated the controls from the pilot seat. I can't imagine what it might be. The wires are shorter from the firewall and they make the same contacts. Anyway, I'm comfortable with the idea that "dreamland Express" likes having me in the pilot seat, so from now on that's where I'll be starting her from. Of course, it could be that she only likes to go after 9pm at night.....

 

Plan for tomorrow

Check fluids. Try to get to the point where she'll start at will and run till I turn her off. Check for leaks. Tracy the problem with the leading coil circuit.

[John Slade]

Well, I achieved my objective, so I guess I should be happy. Unfortunately I now have a whole new set of objectives.

 

I picked up a new set of plugs on the way to the hanger. Paul and Tim were waiting when I arrived. I installed the plugs and cranked and she fired right up. Relatively smooth and sweet. I ran her for about a minute, then shut her down to check for leaks etc. Paul and Tim did monotoring duties at the rear while I started her up from the cockpit.

 

Over the next 3 hours I ran her for a total of eight minutes in short bursts of a minute or so each. So - the engine's running. The engine was packed with petroleum jelly when it was rebuilt, and all that was needed was perseverence to burn it out. Now it starts easily every time. I'm past the ignition and oily plug problems, but I've found a whole bunch of new ones.

 

Obviously I have some programming to do on the computer to get it into sync with the engine's fuel needs at various RPM etc. But, I have a few mechanical issues to deal with too.

 

Cooling.

1. I don't think the coolant is circulating at all (hence the short runs). This may be because of the small leak at the water pump outlet which is allowing air to be sucked into the system - just a wild guess.

 

2. I think the turbo may have overheated because of item 1. Also, I think the engine is starved for air - I'm showing very low manifold pressure (fluctuating around 20inhg) and the engine cycles on its own from 2000 - 3000 rpm without any throttle change. Something is definately not right here. I'll take a close look at the turbo tomorrow. No big deal. I was planning on having it rebuilt anyway.

 

3. Vacuum. The clutch isn't working. Have to check the wiring on this.

 

4. Oil pressure. I get 30 - 40 PSI on cranking with no ignition. When she starts the mechanical gauge does a full circle and goes off the scale. Hmmm.

 

4. Electrical. My "charge" light does not go off and the voltmeter isn't showing a charge. Need to check if the alternator solenoid is closing. Something really weird is happening with my EC2 computer fuse. It's one of those LED ones that lights up when it blows. It's lighting up based on RPM, but not blowing. I have no idea where to start on this one, but something sure ain't right there.

 

It's interesting how people show up when I run the engine. They wander in from all the surrounding hangars intrigued by the strange sound of a rotary.

 

Day zero tomorrow. Anyone want to take a poll on whether I'll take this beast around the block?

[John Slade]

I hope no-one reading this seriously thought I was going to fly the plane today. It's nice to know, however, that I've actually reached the stage where I could have. It would have been a crazy stunt for sure, but it could have been done with maybe a 20% chance of survival. Not my kind of odds. It would only have taken me an hour or so to install the prop, canard and upper cowl. The engine is running (consistantly if not smoothly) and the airframe is ready.

 

This morning I started by checking the turbo. It seems just fine. I guess I'll get used to how hot the turbo gets. That reminds me - the stainless turbo sheild doesn't get very hot at all. It has engine paint rated for 500 c, and it hasn't even blistered except in the area where it's closest to the turbo. The turbo itself, however, could be used as a tail light. You can see an orange glow when you look up the exhaust pipe. Note: If doing this - listen out for the word "Clear" . Anyway, as I was saying, I removed the turbo oil feed and cranked the engine. I got lots of black oil. Time to change the oil and filter. What I didn't catch with a rag went all over the turbo where it created a nice cloud of smoke next time I started up.

 

On to cooling. I removed the thermostat, replaced the housing and added some water. Now I could hear the air bubbling around the system. The thermostat had been blocking it's path. Maybe I don't need a thermostat. They say I have to block a bypass channel to remove it, but I dont see one on the 3rd gen. The guys on the fly rotary list have been helping me though the difficult spots over the past few days. They're incredible! I asked a question at 9am and left for the hangar an hour later with a printout of the answers from five experienced rotarians, including Tracy himself.

 

I checked the vacuum pump clutch wiring. I traced the wires down the harness to the firewall and came to a knot in the wires. That is - two wires tied togther in a knot. Now I remember - I ran out of butt spices, so I just knotted the wires so I'd know which ones they were. Butt splices work much better than knots for conducting electricity, so I put one in.

 

I started the engine, ran it for about a minute, then switched off and checked the cooling system. The pipes and radiator were warm and it took a little more coolant. Looks like I've got a cooling system after all. I turned on the cabin heat fan and was rewarded by warm air from the vent. Pity about the AC, but we'll get to that later. It's February.

 

I restarted the engine and ran it at various rpm for a total of about 7 minutes. It's very picky on throttle setting, tough to find a sweet spot but I found a few at various rpm by playing with the mixture. I ran her up to about 5500 rpm (The Tiny Tach is working fine) but most of the run was done at about 3000rpm. The noise level isn't really that high, and it's a very nice sound - at least to me. I can tell the difference in sound when I open and close the wastegate. With the wastegate closed it is a little quieter. The coolant temp climbed slowly to about 180, and the oil to 160. I switched on the Ferrari cooling fan, and the temperature readings moved downwards visibly almost immediately. Interesting. The EC2 obviously needs programming for correct mixture at various rpm, but I can't do that until I install the prop.

 

When I checked the engine after this run I found a water leak from my air bleed hose connection at the top of the engine. I had been thinking about bolting the prop on and taking her around the block (on the ground) just for the hell of it, but this water leak put an end to that idea. I really need more static run-ups before taxiing anyway.

 

The alternator contactor is definately not closing. I need to check the wiring on this against my Bob Nuckolls wiring diagram and revise as necessary. And I still have my variable glow LED fuse to figure out.

 

Summary

"Day zero" has come and gone, and she's not quite ready to fly. But - she's a LOT closer than she was a month ago. There is no "construction" left to do. Just checking, debugging and minor stuff like the alternator wiring and the cowl flange for easy removal. Of course I'll give it another 30 days, or 60, or 90 or however long it takes until I'm totally comfortable that everything is working properly, both with the engine and the airframe.

 

This was an exercise in making progress. As such, it worked. A "deadline" for a first flight is just what it sounds like. I haven't even sent off the FAA paperwork yet. Now I have to catch up on a few things - like earning a living, doing some jobs around the house etc. etc., I hope this countdown has been interesting for those trying to get some perspective on what's involved in putting a rotary in a Cozy. It's fun, it's challenging, at times it's frustrating, and it's rewarding. The fact that the "deadline" wasn't met is also a good lesson in airplane building. Set them by all means, because without them you can just "float", but there's always something that gets in the way and slows you down. Don't be put off by this. It's par for the course. Just do something (anything) every day and you'll get there eventually.

 

As I get around to it I'm reposting the text from here to my website http://kgarden.com/cozy/launch.htm and adding pictures taken as I went along. I'm also updating the things to do list at http://kgarden.com/cozy/things.htm when I get a chance. I'll add comments to this thread when important or interesting events occur, but the blow by blow daily account takes time and has served it's purpose. Unless anyone objects, I'll remove the chatter (and much appreciated help and encouragement) from this thread and leave just the daily entries for others to read and, hopefully, enjoy.

 

Plan for Tomorrow

rewire the alternator contactor

run the engine some more

check vacuum, oil pressure

catch up on ordering

Fit a carpet in the new "florida room"

Paint the house

Earn some money...

[John Slade]

Taxi test number 3 was performed today. I have a witness. CNCDOC was there to make sure I haven't been making all this up.

 

The test went fairly well. She got her first "sniff" of the runway from a taxiway intersection. At first I was measuring engine time on the hobbs in minutes - almost up to an hour now. Now I can measure distance travelled and speed. Today we did around a mile and got up to - maybe - 25 mph!

 

I fixed a few things, and found a few more minor snags. Details at the end of http://kgarden.com/cozy/chap27.htm

[CBarber]

...include a banana in a post. Yeah, that's better.

 

:offtopic:

 

BTW, I installed nut plates and attached my airilons and rudders last PM. Now to figure out the best way to suspend them from my ceiling, then I get to roll my fuselage back in and start on the center spar . This is kinda on topic.....it is a launch countdown for me instead of John.

 

Kinda funny, I spent all that time (per Velocity manual)getting my surfaces smooth and pretty...then undid a lot of the process creating and installing the control surfaces. Live and learn. I will have a lot to do to "pretty" it up when I am done with the core construction.

 

Y'all all have a great weekend. Don't get too many fiberglass cuts Wow, these dancing icons are distracting huh? , but they are very well synced Ok, enough, no more multiple banana 's

 

All the best,

 

Chris

[John Slade]

Chris

I WAS saving the multiple dancing bananas for the first flight announcement. Now I'll have to find something different.

 

Hmmm. An attorney with multiple dancing bananas? Now that's something you don't see very often.

 

PS - no work on the plane today.

[steve]

did u get a non-turbo and put in turbo parts? i found a 13b non, but was thinking u had 260 hp and i would want that,or do i find a turbo 13 b ?,or just call atkins* and order one..4000-5000 us ?

[John Slade]

Mine's a turbo with non turbo (high compression) rotors.

You can get an engine from either Aitkins, or my preference, Bruce Turrentine. I preferred to let an expert build it.

[Dave Clifford]

John,

Is there any advantage to using a turbo engine with non turbo, low compression rotors?

[John Slade]

Actually its the other way around. The stock turbo rotors are the ones with lower compression. I've spoken with a few rotary experts on this. They say that running the turbo with high compression (non turbo) rotors gets you more power with less boost. Apparantly this is common practice with the race guys. You have to be a bit more careful of overboosting to avoid detonation (hence my 6PSI pop off valve). One guy put it this way - you're getting you're power from the hardware (compression) rather than the software (boost).

[buzzard]

What's the latest this week? Your saga is like a good soap opera, you leave us hanging for more!

[mplafleur]

John has an update at http://kgarden.com/cozy/chap27.htm

[John Slade]

Spent the morning arranging for the radio to go back to ICOM , trying to find a DAR that charges less than $1500 , lining up in the post office and dropping off my data plate for engraving. Later today I might get to start tuning the engine. and annoying the neighbors

[CBarber]

HOLY CRAP! I was under the impression it was about $200 on the low end to about $450 on the high. Geez. I am not even gonna get started.

 

Chris

[Marc Zeitlin]

Originally posted by John Slade

... trying to find a DAR that charges less than $1500 ....

Amazing. The FAA FSDO up here did the inspection and all the paperwork for free. My tax dollars at work, I guess. For that much money, you should truck the plane up here to MA, have it inspected, and then truck it back. As Chris said, I've always heard #'s in the $300 - $400 range.....

[John Slade]

Well, $1500 was on the high end. I do have a quote for $650.

Down here both the FSDO and the MIDO say they don't do experimental inspections any more, so DAR stands for Designated A..hole Rammer. So much for the wonderful new EAA ABDAR program. Can you say BOHICA.

 

The good news is that ICOM are EXCELLENT. They say they'll have my radio back turned around in 48hrs. Most likely cause - voltage spike.

[Jim Sower]

Originally posted by John Slade

... trying to find a DAR that charges less than $1500 ...

DAMN!! How does one become a DAR? Nice work if you can find it!

[John Slade]

How does one become a DAR?

Easy really - check out the ABDAR program on the EAA site. Basically you:

 

1. Complete an experimental

2. Do 3 annual "condition inspections" of that plane

3. Attend a training course

[mplafleur]

You would think that they would have a clamping circuit consisting of a couple of Schottky diodes in the radio. I'd ask them how high a voltage spike they are protected for. You can also clamp the supply just in case.

[John Slade]

A quick update...

 

We're getting closer. Taxi test # 4 went well. Todd (of toddscanopies.com) is coming today to help me buff the canopy. mplafleur plans a visit tomorrow, and I found a reasonable DAR who builds and flys Velocities. I still have a few things to do, but the inspection is scheduled for some time towards the end of next week.