The Sky Surfer

Our deal is 500' from people or buildings (cattle and horses, too). Don't forget, though, I am only going 38mph during those Quicksilver movies. I don't fly that low in the RANS because it cruises at 80. Big difference.

You are probably talking about 4 stroke engines. But... I was solid with "Pennzoil for Air Cooled Engines" for a couple of decades in my Ultralight 2 Strokes. Then it disappeared from the shelves so I went to Havoline 2 stroke. Then that got rare so I switched to Amsoil Interceptor 2 Stroke. It is BY FAR the best of all. It is a little more expensive but I buy it by the case. I could hear/feel the difference from my 503 the first time I used it.

I appreciate the thumbs up! I have loads of movies and also a lot of trips on Sky Surfing - The Flite Blog™. I think the 670 is a good engine. Did Rotax Rick make it for you? Ron has overhauled my 503 twice and it never skips a beat. I am a Rotax Rick fan. I had also bought a 670 from him for a T-Bird II project but ended up selling that and buying my RANS S-12. I'm sure it would have run like a top. If you are ever out this way be sure to let me know. My Wife and I live on an airfield. I have Buddies stop by all the time.

Thanks, IBob! If you want to see what I do with my Quicksilver, you might like it even more. Check one of these out: https://www.fitzvideo.com/Pages/POVs.htm "The Harper Run" was the first with 6 cams and has the most hits but later I added 2 more cams.

Oh, yeah. I bought a large roll of "Super Soundproofing 1" Black" from Aircraft Spruce about a month ago. It will be installed as soon as I get the engine running again. On my last flight I took a dB meter along with me to get some baseline readings to compare with after I install the sound stuff. I'll let you guys know what I discover.

Thanks for the discussion Bob and Dan Tonner. In the fall, (around here that's September thru the middle of November) I was informed by a well known Rotax Guy named Ronnie Smith of South Mississippi Light Aircraft that the old 912UL I have had that stator. He said "It WILL fail" and proceeded to explain it pretty much like Dan just did. I changed if for a new one and it was one of the hardest jobs I have ever done because I stubbornly made the switch w/o taking the engine off the plane. I attached a photo of the bridge I constructed over the wing so I could get up there to the rear of the engine. Prior to finding out about the stator issue I was in the process of installing two new IgniTech CDI's so the bridge made that easier but overall (in retro) taking the whole thing off might have been less time overall. It's hard to say. Nonetheless, everything - CDI's and Stator worked great. In the next month I flew about 30 hours w/o any negative issues. The engine seemed to be a little smoother also. Then, right before Christmas I was climbing after buzzing a nearby airfield and the engine seemed a little rough. I brought it back to the field having to hold 5500 to get it as smooth as possible. I landed and the engine quit. With a lot of messing around between the enrichment (choke) and the throttle I was able to get enough power to bring it up to my hangar. Our children brought their families over for Christmas and were here for an aggregate of about 3 weeks and during that time I didn't trouble shoot. After everybody went home I got out there and spent a lot of time going through the entire fuel system, a lot of the electrical system and finally checked compression. Like always, I wish I had troubleshot in the opposite direction because I had ZERO compression in #4 and tested it to be a problem with the intake valve. Yesterday I got all four heads and cylinders off and I'm sending them to LEAF (Leading Edge Air Foils) in Wisconsin. Brett Lawton and his guys are going to clean them up. I will also be doing some other Updates that have yet to be completed. This will bring my TBO to 1200 hours from the 600 hours it was when I bought it. Y'know. You can pay for it now or pay for it later. I got this plane in Texas for about $15,000 and the engine had only ~150 hours on it. The problem is that it was pushed out of the factory on 27 May 1991. Wiser heads will tell you just because an engine has low time doesn't necessarily result in a good deal. They are right! I'll be back in the air ASAP! Blue Skies & Tailwinds!™ Brian FitzGerald - The Sky Surfer PS: Yes. The S-12 is a blast and fits my style to a "T". I threw the other picture in below to show it parked where I stopped on one of my Sky Safaris - a place called "Little Sahara" in Oklahoma. My thing is to fly between 500' and 1,000' AGL over The Great Plains. I can see stuff on the ground better, wave at folks and pretty much land wherever I might have to... The only thing wrong with the "12" is the incredible noise my 75" PowerFin puts out. It is hurting my hearing on 5 hour round trips even while wearing 33dB ear plugs and LightSpeed ANR's. I'm still investigating but I'm going 3 blade with a smaller diameter. I'm thinking about an E-Prop Excalibre 3 from France or a Whirlwind from America.

Yes, Mike and FactHunter, I have been to the RANS factory a couple of times. Most recently I flew to their annual open house. But, actually I bought my S-12 used from a guy down in Texas and then brought it back with the wings off in a big panel truck. It had 4 previous owners before me and needed a lot of work. I like it a lot but I made the mistake of putting a 75" two blade PowerFin on it and it is way, way to loud. So, I have been interested in the discussion regarding the French E-Prop. I'm trying to decide between a Whirlwind 3 Blade or an E-Prop 3 Blade. From examining the aircraft and engine logbooks I see that this plane was originally powered by a 582 and then the current 912UL replaced it. I have over 200 hours since I got it but about a month ago it became rough on a flight and I hurriedly returned to base. After much trouble shooting I have discovered a hung intake valve on #4. So, yesterday I took off all the heads and the cylinders and am sending them to LEAF (Leading Edge Air Foils) in Wisconsin so they can go over them and send 'em back. Brett Lawson is really good and experienced and I'd much rather them work on my heads on a job they have done a thousand times than me fool around on it for the first time. I'm also going to be doing some other stuff. This is a 1991 912UL with only 300 hours but none of the Service Upgrades were done on it so I'm going to do that stuff so it will be ready for Spring flying.

I am looking forward to seeing what’s goin’ on in this Blog. I am Brian FitzGerald of Rose Hill, Kansas. Most of my flying has been in my Quicksilver MXL but about three years ago I bought a 20+ year old RANS S-12. It took me about a year to get it airworthy but in the last two years I have over 200 hours in it. I like to make documentary movies and have quite a few on my website. Some are about Ultralights, some on Classic/Vintage Aircraft. I also have shot about seven POV’s that put you in the MXL with me for some “Low Level, Cross Country, Prairie Adventures” across the Great Plains of Kansas and Oklahoma. I also have written a goodly number of photo-journalistic travelogues in “Sky Surfing - The Flite Blog”. If you are interested in any of this stuff, go to: fitzvideo.com A lot of the links will take you to YouTube but if you want to see more of my movies it is best to return to my website as YT is designed to “randomize” what you see and I can’t vouch for other people’s stuff. Blue Skies & Tailwinds! Brian FitzGerald - The Sky Surfer