Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
No Engine Start This Month
Winter has dealt an unfortunate blow. Until two days ago, we had a total winter accumulated snowfall of 3/8" and I was gloating about it. However, for the past two days, everything is shut down. The Southern Illinois Airport has been closed for two days. Even the Dairy Queen is closed. M'boro has about two plows and a they are overloaded. We are still waiting for a plow on our street.
I helped the neighbors get free two mornings in a row. Naturally, I got them out with my years of experience living up north. (beats hands on chest).
I doubt I will get to the hangar today, and tomorrow I have to drive to Chicago, to give a presentation on Friday.
Right now, it looks more like an engine on a test stand, than an airframe. I just want to get the thing running, then come the refinements.
So, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, provided I can get the plane out of the hangar. So here we sit...
I helped the neighbors get free two mornings in a row. Naturally, I got them out with my years of experience living up north. (beats hands on chest).
I doubt I will get to the hangar today, and tomorrow I have to drive to Chicago, to give a presentation on Friday.
Right now, it looks more like an engine on a test stand, than an airframe. I just want to get the thing running, then come the refinements.
So, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday, provided I can get the plane out of the hangar. So here we sit...
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Drum Roll ... Please
My goal was to have an engine start by the end of January.
The fuel injection lines are all hooked up and I checked for leaks. There is now six quarts of oil in the home made oil sump. Spark plugs and wires are installed. There is a propeller on the plane. There is 10 gallons of fresh gas in the plane. All I need to do hook up the wires for the five fuel intectors, and we're ready.
They are predicting, for tomorrow, one of the worst winter storms we've had in years.
Other than that, it's all good.
The fuel injection lines are all hooked up and I checked for leaks. There is now six quarts of oil in the home made oil sump. Spark plugs and wires are installed. There is a propeller on the plane. There is 10 gallons of fresh gas in the plane. All I need to do hook up the wires for the five fuel intectors, and we're ready.
They are predicting, for tomorrow, one of the worst winter storms we've had in years.
Tonight...Snow...sleet and a chance of freezing rain. Snow may be heavy at times. Snow and sleet accumulation of 4 to 6 inches. Ice accumulation of up to one quarter of an inch. Lows in the lower 20s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.
Tuesday...Freezing rain and sleet. Sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Ice accumulation of up to one quarter of an inch. Highs in the mid 20s. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.
Tuesday Night...Snow likely with possible sleet and freezing rain in the evening...then snow likely after midnight. Snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Total snow accumulation 7 to 10 inches. Total ice accumulation one quarter to one half inch. Lows around 17. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.
Other than that, it's all good.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Starting to look like an Engine again
I've got the exhaust mounted, ignition coils, the spark plugs, EGT/CHT, and a bunch of other stuff. The wires look bad, but it's really not that bad. UPS brings the last of the fuel fittings on Monday.
A Wife Can Cut to the Chase
At breakfast, I remarked to Sandy that she hadn't produced a painting, suitable for hanging on the wall, since she started taking formal art classes at SIU. She responded, "You haven't flown your plane in a year, either".
It's 18 degrees, here in Murphysboro, and the winds are 16 gusting to 26. Windchill is 3 F.
I hope to have an engine start next week.
It's 18 degrees, here in Murphysboro, and the winds are 16 gusting to 26. Windchill is 3 F.
I hope to have an engine start next week.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sam the Plumber
Cold weather continues to hamper progress. Last week it was 19 degrees F and the hangar was probably 23F.
To me, this electronic fuel injection is a big deal to install, but very interesting. Right now, I still don't have have all the plumping fittings that I need.
It seems like I always have the wrong ones. I recently sat down and ordered everything I thought I'd need. I used a couple of sources, Summit Racing and Ebay. When everything arrived I found a major screw-up. I ordered -6 fittings, instead of -4. Rats! You ever try and return anything through Ebay?
Yesterday, I found that even the different brands aren't always compatible. I had accumulated Earls's fittings, Summit Racing's own brand and Aeroquip. I find that the Earl's fittings don't like the Aeroquip braided hose. From here on out I will try to use the Aeroquip, but man, they are proud of their stuff! Expensive!
The fuel system is a closed loop. Here is the path:
From the header tank
through the shutoff valve
through the 40 micron gascolator
through the fuel pump
through the 10 micron filter
through the left firewall
past five fuel injectors
returned through the right firewall
through the fuel pressure regulator and
back into the header tank.
There are probably 30 joints where fuel can leak, this part is a challenge.
Speaking of fuel injection, through a rotary engine news group, I came across a link on rolling your own fuel injection controller, from Paul Lamar. While it may look promising, it apparently hasn't been built yet. There is also some information about Klaus Savier's fuel injection system.
To me, this electronic fuel injection is a big deal to install, but very interesting. Right now, I still don't have have all the plumping fittings that I need.
It seems like I always have the wrong ones. I recently sat down and ordered everything I thought I'd need. I used a couple of sources, Summit Racing and Ebay. When everything arrived I found a major screw-up. I ordered -6 fittings, instead of -4. Rats! You ever try and return anything through Ebay?
Yesterday, I found that even the different brands aren't always compatible. I had accumulated Earls's fittings, Summit Racing's own brand and Aeroquip. I find that the Earl's fittings don't like the Aeroquip braided hose. From here on out I will try to use the Aeroquip, but man, they are proud of their stuff! Expensive!
The fuel system is a closed loop. Here is the path:
From the header tank
through the shutoff valve
through the 40 micron gascolator
through the fuel pump
through the 10 micron filter
through the left firewall
past five fuel injectors
returned through the right firewall
through the fuel pressure regulator and
back into the header tank.
There are probably 30 joints where fuel can leak, this part is a challenge.
Speaking of fuel injection, through a rotary engine news group, I came across a link on rolling your own fuel injection controller, from Paul Lamar. While it may look promising, it apparently hasn't been built yet. There is also some information about Klaus Savier's fuel injection system.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Throttle connections
It's kind of hard to see in these photos (click on'em to see them bigger) , but more progress is happening. A new throttle cable is installed and attached to a sideways mounted, Jenvey racing throttle body. Each intake tube gets a fuel injector and the throttle body has a fifth one for an emergency get-home device.
The end of the throttle cable housing has to be securely secured, which was yet another problem for this installation. I wound up embedding a couple of Clickbond studs on the side of the carbon fiber oil sump and attached a bracket to hold the throttle. The photos aren't the greatest, but I'll get more when things move on a little.
You can see the fittings for the fuel injectors, along with the obligatory duct tape. Since the fuel will be pressurized at 42 psi, it's imperative that nothing leaks - so I'm spending a lot of time cogitating on the matter and searching for fuel proof duct tape.
Photo of the right side of the oil sump, showing the attached throttle and sump support brackets.
The goal is to fire up the engine started by the end of the month on January 2009.
The end of the throttle cable housing has to be securely secured, which was yet another problem for this installation. I wound up embedding a couple of Clickbond studs on the side of the carbon fiber oil sump and attached a bracket to hold the throttle. The photos aren't the greatest, but I'll get more when things move on a little.
You can see the fittings for the fuel injectors, along with the obligatory duct tape. Since the fuel will be pressurized at 42 psi, it's imperative that nothing leaks - so I'm spending a lot of time cogitating on the matter and searching for fuel proof duct tape.
Photo of the right side of the oil sump, showing the attached throttle and sump support brackets.
The goal is to fire up the engine started by the end of the month on January 2009.
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