Another NEW Savannah XL on its way

[eightyknots]

If you mean "wait" as in time before delivery then Reg usually has them in stock so should be about 3-4 days by expess post bag.If you mean "weight" as in how much extra does it weigh, I'd reckon about 25 grams, if that.

Haha Rick, you caught me out. The second 'wait' was definitely meant to have been 'weight'. Our friend R/A has already answered my question: 80 g.

 

It will be worth the extra weight and the extra wait

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Last saturday the weather has finally been sort of kind enough for me to fly the girlfriend up to my farm and land for the first time. I am working on the new cowl mold so I can get a new lower cowl made for the new exhaust system but the Sav is back in its original configuration and still flying really well.

 

I took off around 8.15am and got up the farm around 10 am. Cloud was low and quite a few rain showers on the way up so mostly flew around 1800 to 2000 ft sometimes a bit lower so had a bit of scud running to do. Once I got to the farm I did quite a few laps to get the lay of the land and sort out my direction and height that I would come in at. My place is around 400 ft ASL. One I landed the cattle were down near the airstrip and my mate who is living up there kept thenm off the strip and after I landed herded them up past the hangar. Had some smoko and chatted with them as well as Teckair and Sarah then it was time to fly back. The trip back was a bit more convoluted with much more scud running and I did go though a few light showers...the girlfriend does leak so will see what I can do about that soon also the wind came up just north of Gympie and quite a bit of heavy thermal activity as well. All was good and it was such a enjoyable trip. Now its done and I have a feel for the strips now there will be many more trips regularly up there.

 

I have done a quick video from inside the cockpit with the GoPro for the landing. Sarah took some video from beside the strip as I landed and also the takeoff from the strip with the goPro

 

 

 

[eightyknots]

Last saturday the weather has finally been sort of kind enough for me to fly the girlfriend up to my farm and land for the first time. I am working on the new cowl mold so I can get a new lower cowl made for the new exhaust system but the Sav is back in its original configuration and still flying really well.I took off around 8.15am and got up the farm around 10 am. Cloud was low and quite a few rain showers on the way up so mostly flew around 1800 to 2000 ft sometimes a bit lower so had a bit of scud running to do. Once I got to the farm I did quite a few laps to get the lay of the land and sort out my direction and height that I would come in at. My place is around 400 ft ASL. One I landed the cattle were down near the airstrip and my mate who is living up there kept thenm off the strip and after I landed herded them up past the hangar. Had some smoko and chatted with them as well as Teckair and Sarah then it was time to fly back. The trip back was a bit more convoluted with much more scud running and I did go though a few light showers...the girlfriend does leak so will see what I can do about that soon also the wind came up just north of Gympie and quite a bit of heavy thermal activity as well. All was good and it was such a enjoyable trip. Now its done and I have a feel for the strips now there will be many more trips regularly up there.

I have done a quick video from inside the cockpit with the GoPro for the landing. Sarah took some video from beside the strip as I landed and also the takeoff from the strip with the goPro

 

Very nice. Your instrument panel has really morphed since I last saw it.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Hi Hank

 

Yes I am super pleased with the new panel I made. It is such a joy to fly with. I am lucky though the MGL stuff has gone up quite a bit in price now but I got mine for very reasonable pricing. The next aircraft I build I will probably use the new MGL IEfis Lite...they are very nice

 

 

[JimG]

Flying my little Tyro to your farm is still on my list , just need some time.

 

Hey, the dual stick controls look great , your arm and legs seem to be comfortably unimpeded.

 

cheers

 

JimG

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Yes Jim The girlfriend is such a joy to fly now...it was before but now so much better. The dash is fantastic and the comfort while flying is also fantastic. The backside and hip doesnt get sore anymore after an hour of flying. Just got to finish my new intercom design so I can have a bluetooth for my phone that works and other radios that I can use all at the same time. The Zulu headsets are great to use but the bluetooth doesnt work very well it is hit and miss. I am incorporating Roger's bluetooth design into my intercom and we know how well that works

 

 

[rankamateur]

The Zulu headsets are great to use but the bluetooth doesnt work very well it is hit and miss.

I don't think this is a universal problem. I have never heard of it before so some of the must work flawlessly.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

When on the ground it works great but when flying it stops when the mute opens on the radio. It cuts in and out. Maybe its too noisey in the cabin or something. I havent done a lot of testing with them but certainly when flying there is a issue. I might try the other set of Zulu I have in the plane..maybe its that headset that I normally use. But I am building a intercom that will allow me to connect other radios like ham radios similar to the UHF cb when in the plane

 

 

[rankamateur]

Isn't that caused by the radio priority in the Xcom?

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

No the bluetooth within the headset has no access to that setting it is purely done on what audio is coming out of the radio/intercom in the Xcom and appearing at the headset. For some reason as soon as the mute opens for any reason including the sidetone from the microphone input from the headset (cabin noise). The mic seems to be more sensitive on my headset when bluetooth is enabled which then seems to affect the sidetone input. I have chased down a bluetooth module that will be integrated into my intercom I am making https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12574 I have a couple of these already and they have some nice switching capabilities and audio tailoring filters. This way I can have it enabled on any different radio input and switch it independantly

 

I have to do more testing yet on why this happens. Either way I want to build this separate intercom to allow the multiple radio/audio inputs. It been a long project as I havent had much time here to allocate to it but this year I am going to get it done. I own the Raptor intercom stuff now and have for a while and am using the nice parts of that circuitry to incorporate into my additions

 

There is a model jet turbine meeting being held at Goondiwindi airport this year I think it is in May so be prepared for a visitor Steve

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

May 6th,7th and 8th is the Goondiwindi Model jet event

 

 

[rankamateur]

Remember if you keep adding stuff eventually it won't leave the ground...

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

intercom doesnt weigh much neither does a HH or small ham rig that does all the bands...maybe a 2 KG all up. With all the weight I have lost I can afford it :)

 

 

[rankamateur]

With all the weight I have lost I can afford it :)

That's the spirit. Leonie says the same, with all the weight I have lost she can afford it!

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I hope she doesnt look at the forum or you might receive a special gift...or a rolling pin around the head. It will be great once all this legal and trustee crap is finalized hopefully mid year. Denice will come flying with me all the time then. She is looking forward to it especially now we can takeoff with 3 full tanks and a bit of baggage

 

 

[IBob]

Hi Mark. Five years since your build and there is no more kit info than you seem to have had on fuel tank setup.

 

I see online records and conversations about aux fuel pumps for moving fuel to inboard tanks, but that doesn't seem to be how it's now done.

 

I see pics of fuel taps on factory builds which look to be inboard tanks always on, outboard tanks selectable on/off. I would have thought the effect of would be to fairly quickly equalise the tank levels in one wing. I see no sight glasses for the outer tanks.

 

You seem to have decided on individual taps for all 4 tanks. I tend to ask and listen as widely as I can, then make my own decisions. So I will be posting on this elsewhere too.

 

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the options here, and what you have found works best for you in the Land of the Longrange Tank.

 

Thank you.

 

Bob

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

HI Bob

 

I debated for quite a while on what I was going to do with the fuel system and I asked many questions and surely annoyed a lot of people with those questions. Most stayed with the std system but I decided to put 4 individual switches on each tank as I wanted full control of all tanks. Not 2 running together and infact I am glad I did. I kept the original fuel cap breathers with the small tubes going through the wing. I had a insect get into one and it blocked that tank from working luckily it didnt block 2 tanks from working only the one. I have since changed the breathers to the top in tubes all is revealed in this thread not too far back for that.

 

I also connected my fuel sump differently. I only have one intlet feeding the tanks into it the other inlet in the top of the sump is used exclusively as a breather this stops vapour locks giving you false low fuel readings.

 

The fuel does not equalise very fast at all between the tanks. Most times I only fill the centre 2 tanks I fill the RHS outer when going to my farm or Inglewood etc which is around 100 to 130nm from home this gives me plenty of reserve. To fly to my farm and back is a total of 250NM I use both inner tanks pretty much completely this leaves me a full tank incase I get bad headwinds or some other diversion required. To fill all 4 tanks I would be doing one hell of a long flight as consistantly in cruise I get about 15 to 15.5 litres per hr and with over 100 litres on board with 3 tanks thats over 6 hrs duration at a pinch still with the 8 litres in the sump which is say 25mins extra.

 

Those fuel pumps in wings seem to be the S model...Dennis in Sweden can help you there as my kit was not like that. I did have the electric pump fail at about 70 hrs but they are common and easily replaced. I have put a filter inline though between the sump and that pump a metal enclosed throw away type...which reminds me I need to replace it......DANNY I need a new filter please

 

Mark

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Ok well a post on the plane hasnt been one for a while..... Had some drama a week ago. I was going to head off to the Murgon breaky and Gayndah airport opening and while taxiing down to Runway 12 the longest taxi from my hangar the oil pressure alarm came up on my MGL Xtreme. The oil pressure was bouncing from 45 psi down to 20 and regularly. So I went back to the hangar and scrubbed the flying for the day. Pulled all the cowls off and inspected everything. Could find anything...did some more running and still the same. I suspected a crook sender unit as Danny Leach just had the same with his Sav. His had done about 100 hrs he has the resistive older type and the resitor had worn through but mine is the later honeywell 4-20ma type..the expensive electronic bugger. They do fail but usually at a longer time....the experts tell me its because of the engine vibration but you would think 170 hrs isn't very long and my prop is nicely balanced so not hardly any vibrations. I decided to take a leaf out of Danny's book.....he comes up with some great ideas

 

I decided to go back to the resistive type..they are cheap also not so damn accurate as the honeywell moves around a bit as it is very sensitive as you would expect the resistive types not so much. So what has been done is Danny chased up parts from Racecom a teflon steel braided cable and really nive AN flange fittings it was really easy to make up. A 1/8 NTP fitting into the block where the old sender was then a right angle to bring the hose up to the top and then another flange fitting to a 1/8 NTP then a adapter to 1/8 NTP for the male female thing. The lot is now tied up the top near my fuel hoses for the new fuel splitter I made which also holds my fuel pressure gauge. I will get some pics later this week and post them as I have some small finishing work to do on it but I started the engine and it all works well.

 

Also some info to lock away in the noggin...there are now 2 types of threads for oil pressure fittings. older engines older than at least 2011 like mine are 1/8 NTP and they will have the resistive type sender or the honeywell sensor like was in my engine. The later engines are now a 10 x 1 metric thread but these are easily seen because the sensor is now a Kellor brand. So if you have a Kellor you have the metric thread.

 

In this process of fixing the oil pressure I found that my ICP muffler had split which is a common problem on the pax side. They are not reinforced like on the pilot side and this explains the change of noise in my engine that Eric up at my farm told me about. I thought it was just a misaligned muffler after having it off after making the Rotax muffler setup but it wasn't. I know Steve Donald's muffler failed at 80 hrs with the same issue although mine was caught earlier than his as his actually broke out. I got some stainless steel sheet and Dan the Man cut and made some reinforcing plates and tig welded them on for me so we fitted that today hence I could run up the engine testing the oil pressure and the muffler. So it was a successful day today just need to do some tidying up and weather permitting go flying next friday

 

Mark

 

 

 

[IBob]

Hi Mark, thank you for your detailed reply on your fuel tanks setup. There has been a fair bit of discussion over here with Fallowdeer (Peter), and I am leaning towards the 4 valve arrangement with all valves clearly in sight, as you have.

 

I think that is a better arrangement than aux fuel pumps in the wings, which is nice in some ways but also more to maintain and more to go wrong.

 

I am big on the correlation between simplicity and reliability...I have a background in industrial automation, and we get good results by taking the oldschool step of actually removing as much as we can and simplifying the rest, rather than putting more in (as is currently fashionable).

 

The only thing I was considering adding was a second (backup) level sensor in the sump tank, so that I could confidently drain a wing tank in flight.

 

Do you find yourself draining down until the level light comes on?

 

A comment re your recent oil pressure sensor experiences: I have no experience of aero engine sensors, but we use 4-20mA senders a great deal in ammonia and freon refrigeration systems, also hot and warm water systems, general tank level sensing and hydraulic systems.

 

The technology is the same (I think), the heart of the thing being a resistance bonded to a diaphragm, the resistance changing as the diaphragm flexes.

 

Our experience with these is that we have a small but distinct failure rate within the first hundred hours or so of operation; the sensors that do not fail within that time then tend to last for many years.

 

I normally 'oversize' them by a factor of about 3 to avoid physical damage to the diaphragm (hydraulicing, we call it). That is, I try to ascertain the max pressure the sensor will be subjected to, then multiply that by 3 when specifying the sensor span. (Obviously this is more critical in none-compressible mediums). This also assumes that whatever is reading the sensor has sufficient resolution to give good results with a 4-10mA sized signal.

 

The other thing that kills them, in my experience, is contamination from outside the device, or quite simply poor weather protection. So we pay particular attention to weather seals and the like around the connector system.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bob

 

 

[eightyknots]

Hi Mark, thank you for your detailed reply on your fuel tanks setup. There has been a fair bit of discussion over here with Fallowdeer (Peter), and I am leaning towards the 4 valve arrangement with all valves clearly in sight, as you have.I think that is a better arrangement than aux fuel pumps in the wings, which is nice in some ways but also more to maintain and more to go wrong.

I am big on the correlation between simplicity and reliability...I have a background in industrial automation, and we get good results by taking the oldschool step of actually removing as much as we can and simplifying the rest, rather than putting more in (as is currently fashionable).

 

The only thing I was considering adding was a second (backup) level sensor in the sump tank, so that I could confidently drain a wing tank in flight.

 

Do you find yourself draining down until the level light comes on?

 

A comment re your recent oil pressure sensor experiences: I have no experience of aero engine sensors, but we use 4-20mA senders a great deal in ammonia and freon refrigeration systems, also hot and warm water systems, general tank level sensing and hydraulic systems.

 

The technology is the same (I think), the heart of the thing being a resistance bonded to a diaphragm, the resistance changing as the diaphragm flexes.

 

Our experience with these is that we have a small but distinct failure rate within the first hundred hours or so of operation; the sensors that do not fail within that time then tend to last for many years.

 

I normally 'oversize' them by a factor of about 3 to avoid physical damage to the diaphragm (hydraulicing, we call it). That is, I try to ascertain the max pressure the sensor will be subjected to, then multiply that by 3 when specifying the sensor span. (Obviously this is more critical in none-compressible mediums). This also assumes that whatever is reading the sensor has sufficient resolution to give good results with a 4-10mA sized signal.

 

The other thing that kills them, in my experience, is contamination from outside the device, or quite simply poor weather protection. So we pay particular attention to weather seals and the like around the connector system.

 

Thanks again.

 

Bob

That is good feedback Bob.

 

However, I still wonder that after more than a century of aircraft operations that someone still has not come up with a consistently reliable sensor.

 

 

[IBob]

That is good feedback Bob.However, I still wonder that after more than a century of aircraft operations that someone still has not come up with a consistently reliable sensor.

It depends on what you want to pay: we have Philips master pressure transducers still operating perfectly in a 30+year old ammonia plants, but they would have been pretty expensive at the time.

 

There are transducers or sensors for measuring all manner of things, and I think the breakthrough comes when we finally develop truly solid state devices (and they become affordable). You will notice that the device I described is still mechanical at heart, in that we are measuring the physical deflection of a diaphragm under pressure.

 

I should add that it may be that Mark's transducer uses some other principle: as I said, I know nothing about aviation transducers (yet!)

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I dont think the honeywell is aviation specific at all its just a 4-20 ma pressure sensor. I wouldnt be bothered putting in a second level sensor you just need to check its operation occasionally thats all. Remember I do have 4 sight gauges though so can see when I have no fuel

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Ok put the cowls back on this morning so took some pics. You van see the elbow now coming out of the block and the pipe up to the new sender. The earth for the sender is a clamp which is easy todo and the earth is ok if you spread the wire out like shown under the clamp. The fuel splitter I made up to replace the crappy one supplied. Its just from all available fittings I got from the local hose/fittings place. I used telflon tape but it seems to have broken down over time with the fuel so I have put stag in the front 2 where it was very very slowly weeping from so that should sealit. The other reason as well for the new splitter is for my fuel pressure sender for the MGL you can see connected. Just make sure the port going back to the tank you solder up the nipple and then drill a 0.3 or 0.4 mm hole through it for the feedback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IBob]

Hi Mark, you've certainly done a neat job of packing it in there.

 

I was thinking about this pressure transducer issue; as I've written elsewhere, I have a fair bit to do with them in industrial settings.

 

Carrying that thought forward, I was considering what the differences would be (between a refrig engineroom and an aero engine) and two occur to me.

 

The first is ambient conditions: engineroom transducers are typically in a warm dry envoronment.

 

The second is changes in atmospheric pressure:

 

since these are 'gauge' and not absolute transducers, the outer side of the diaphram (and probably part of the circuitry) has to be exposed to the outside air pressure. That is, the unit cannot be hermetically sealed, and will 'breath out' when the aircraft climbs, and breath in again when the aircraft descends. This seems like a very minor issue, but in my experience enclosures that breathe can build up moisture. And I do know that exposure to significant moisture is a significant cause of failure in our industrial transducers.

 

I'm not sure where that thought goes, beyond mounting the transducer in a place where it is sheltered from moisture and contamination.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

The consensis about the failures is the vibration from the engine. Danny Leach opened his broken one up and you can see where the resistor wire had worn through where the wiper was on it. I think he posted some pictures on the forum somewhere