very easy

To me it seems like the 0-200 is not a lot of power for this plane. What do you guys think? Are there guys putting 0-235's or 0-320's? does this also pick-up the gross useful at all?

 

PICS WOULD BE NICE TOO.

 

 

Thanks,

Jamie

I've seen the occational one over time including a jet engine. The jet uses 39 gallons per hour at 10,000 feet. Does not increase your max take off weight, but the extra weight will reduce the amount of fuel you can carry and/ or passenger weight.

MacGyver,

You're right about saving weight. You could build a plane out of steel that will survive 100 g's but it will never fly. Also, if the wings break off elsewhere at say 13 g's, which is a figure given to me for the varieze, no point making heavy pins that survive many times more. I take back that the pins were poorly designed. My homemade pins however need to be heavier to do the same job. That's a better assesment.

MacGyver, thanks for taking the time out to write this important info. for all to see. Being a home made plane, one should should take into consideration that any part of the the construction could be inadequate. A donated varieze had it's wings tested to distruction and failed at 7 g's-much less than expected. Was attributed to maybe not enough fibre glass in critical areas. One should fly a home made plane of unknown quality with as little g's as possible-slow speed in turbulance, moderate angle of bank, gentle landings.

I'll retorque my pins as I probably used 5-10 foot pounds, and see where they sit. A couple sit now 2 or 3 thou below and the rest are flush or higher. They are very hard to pound out [including the one I made] and need a brass bar as a wooden dowl won't move them.

A note again on making a pin, I would like to develop a modified pin that can be home made just on a lathe. To harden the pin and grind to shape requires specialized equipment. How about a pin that is solid with only a very small recess in the top for the bolt head and bottom nut. This would require longer bolts. It might not look so neat, but would be very strong in shear and not distort. When I first saw the origional pin, it stood out as being poorly designed. It's strength was severely compromised in order to get a neat result. What do you think, MacGyver?

Norm

#1- Did you get a set of aircraft build plans and engine install plans with the airplane.

Its sounds like you have bought an airplane with a preexisting problem.

With that being said you have to start at the beginning.

#2- Did the builder deviate from the plans in the fuel delivery layout (vent lines, fuel valve and gasculator install). When was the last time the fuel lines were replaced (and for that mater the vent lines, you need to check for obstructions in these lines, don’t just look at the lines remove and check them for obstructions). What material are the fuel lines made of (not part of your problem but need to be replace if they are the vinyl style from the tanks to gascalator).

#3- Do a fuel flow check as pur the engine install manual.

After this you can move on to an engine-related problem (which would include how the engine control cables were installed to the “carby”, check the plans).

 

Bob Setzer

Don't have any plans. Can see the fuel line goes from the tanks to the gascalator then to the carby. There is no fuel pump other than gravity. No fuel comes out of the gascalator. Will disassemble and clean fuel system.

Hi MacGyver,

Those wing pins are more complicated than I thought. Maybe each wing pin has to be matched to it's position on the wing and logged. Howabout I smear blue dye on the wing taper, insert the pin, and see if there is a uniform transfer of dye to the pin. Then file the pin to a different taper to match, if required. With regard to the hardness of the pin, the pin is easier to replace than the wing fitting and should be softer and not hardened. Replace them when they show wear.

Will dismantle and clean out the fuel system. The plane was built in 1982 and flown only 300 and a bit hours. Gunk from dried up fuel probably has collected.

Just had a look at the plane. If I pull a knob which empties the gasculator [thats also a lowest point drain] only about a teaspoon of fuel runs out . Have to wait a couple of hours to get the same again. Thought gravity filled the gasculator constantly and kept the carby supplied with fuel on demand. Plane was half full, on three wheels, not running and got the same result on reserve and wing tanks. Could that be a blockage?

Drew, he knew it dropped on the sound of the engine, performance. I had my asi checked and it is accurate. Not getting expected performance. Going now to look.

Thanks WT, will check it out.

Thanks all for the info. Tomorrow I will go down to the a/c with my sledge hammer, power saw and other aviation tools to sort this out. Seriously, Chuck Yaeger attributed his survival to knowing the systems on his aircraft and probably a lot of quick thinking under pressure. I'll have to do the same. Yes, hand propping has it's hazards as we had one runaway a/c in the club. The last thing I check before meshing my body with the prop is the throttle position. All other settings can be off and no disaster. My new wing pins are being made in comfort knowing that my wings will rip off before the pins sheer. All this and more I learned in a few days on the forum.

Thanks Kent,

By the time I fault find this engine, I'll know it inside out. Thats how I learned to fix cars decades ago. Just ordered a Continental manual from Aircraft Spruce.

Thanks Bill,

First I will check the fuel flow according to the 1977 varieze manual. There is a knob attached to the fuel filter via a cable instructing me to pull it to clean the filter. Nothing visibly happened. Is fuel supposed to gush out and clean it or is it all badly clogged? Is there more than one fuel filter. Auto carbies which I've worked on a lot, used to have a small round gauze where the fuel enters the bowl as well as the in line filter.

Hi all,

I am repeating a post I put in the varieze section. My varieze has the usual 0-200 engine which I just bought from the USA. I can't get more than 2400rpm on cruise, and 2300 static rpm. I just phoned the previous owner and he said it would occationally drop on cruise from 2800 to 2400 and would bring the throttle to idle and then back to cruise to correct it. He tried another carby on it but did not solve the problem. The engine runs very smoothly from idle to 2400, but has never gone higher for me in 10 hrs flying. Any fault finding guys out there with ideas.

Thanks,

Norm

Hi all again,

I just phoned the previous owner of my Varieze and he said that the engine would sometimes drop from 2800 rpm on cruise to 2400rpm. He would put the throttle to idle and then back again to regain rpm. I've done 10 hrs flying and never seen the rpm above 2400. On the day he showed me the a/c it was running ok. He replaced the carby before, but made no difference and so put the old one back. Looks like I am the one who will have to solve the problem. Runs smoothly all the time from idle to full power so faulty lead would probably be out. Can mags do that? Any fault finding guys out there with ideas.

Thanks all for replying,

My static rpm is 2300. At 90 kt climb it is 2400 and at cruise, wheel and brake up full throttle, still around 2400. I assume you should be able to red line the rpm at 2750 full throttle. At 2400 rpm the engine would not be producing full power. Where would I get a silver bullet prop or similar in Australia, Longez. Lynn, the a/c has wheel pants and what looks like standard tyres. I'll make the rest of the pins with my standard grade of 8.something high tensile steel. The walls will be thicker as I will make a smaller hole in the center which fits my socket. Phil, if I am passed by a Beech Musketeer, I'll know who it is. But you won't get full marks for navigation.

Thanks,

Norm

Hi all,

This looks like a good forum to learn about my varieze. Recently brought it over from USA to Australia where I live. One issue with the a/c is that max. indicated cruise speed is 120 kts and the 0-200 continental revs at only 2400 rpm. Adjusted the throttle so the carby opens up more, but no improvement. We at the club think the pich of the prop. is too high. It is 57 " dia but does not have any pich info. The engine has good compression with only 163 hours.

Is there anything else I need to check before changing props? Also, some of the tapered wing pins are flush or slightly below the surface. They are .990" max dia. Made one up out of high tensile steel 1.00" dia and it sits ok. Though someone mentioned if the high tensile steel has enough sheer strength. Can you buy those pins in different sizes?

Any comments appreciated

Thanks,

Norm