Knighty

100 - 120hp Hi The standard EA81 are around the 80 hp mark at full throttle so to get 100 - 120 out of the block is not going to be as cheap as you like to think. Major head modifications is the main thing to look at as the engine has some breathing difficulties stock standard. One of the Gyro fellas I knocked around with years ago imported a rally engine which had twin carbs and head modifications, I was told it produced around the even 100 at full throttle and it sat comfortably on 5400rpm all bloody day without concern. Go and google you heart out as I did and its amazing the amount of information out there and engine mods for the suby to convert it to aviation. I have a Ram EA81 in my Aeropup which the outlay cost blew right out of budget so a lesson was learnt there I can tell you! Wont do that one again in a hurry. PM me if you want and I may be able to recover some of the info from my files in regards to the EA81 etc. Cheers Knighty

I have started and run a 582 without a prop just to check the timing at idle with a strobe light. I had a funny feeling about getting too close to a 72 inch 3 blade mincer muncher and dicer. No problems occured however the idle was way too high and the motor was very twitchy on throttle responses. Probably not a good idea to run the engine without a prop unless you really have to? If you start your engine on idle as you normally would if you're using choke expect it to idle at around 3500, thats the only advice and info I can give you, I hope it helps. Knighty

Hi guys Have a look at this link. http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/ajc/swf/blueangels/blueangels.swf

Hi Bill I understood your problem but didnt really explain myself by the looks of things. I am not aware of that magic screw in the radio to turn down (apart from the normal volume/squelch switches) that you mentioned however if you need that quick fix have you a volume switch on the side of your headsets? Get your Pax to adjust it in flight when the radio is blasting (I am sure I am preaching to the converted here as it was possibly the first thing you did anyway! The problem with that is that you loose your intercom volume as well.). A trimpot is an adjustable resistor which is exactly the same as your volume switch on the headsets and possibly fairly close to the resistance in ohm's you are looking for anyway if you go with the suggestion I made earlier. If you dont really know what a trimpot is (underpinning knowledge in electrical mumbo jumbo, I am not having a dig at you as I was once there myself!!) can I please suggest you contact Rod from Aerial Pursuits at Aerial Pursuits - Sports Aviation Specialists! and let him know your problem & what you want to do about it; if he cant help you out here in Oz nobody can. Raptor design has assisted me with advice and parts and has been a tower of knowledge, they are my first contact if in doubt or trouble. Also you may need to look into that live mike with the Pax when you transmit, sometimes the Pax will say just about anything at the worst time when you need to have that one on one with the radio! Also this can transmit more background noise and may make it harder for other aircraft/groundcrew to understand your transmission. I hope I helped this time around. Good luck Knighty

Radio glitches Hi I have had similar problems in the past with a couple of planes so I learnt about avionics as I went along. I have designed and fitted an interface to my VHF/UHF radio after a few grey hairs and head scratching (Xcom 760 VHF coupled with a Uniden 40 channel UHF all with music input and mobile phone Flightcom). May I suggest you have an mike isolation switch when you need to transmit if you do not want the pax to join in coupled with a 200ohm trimpot that can be accessable on the radio out (speaker) wire going into your headset (or the Pax if you are happy with the volume!). Anyhow thats how I would do it, there are some professional radio people out there who may disagree, bring it on so we can ALL LEARN! Bloody radios can be a nightmare to tweak and get right. I would rather walk 50 miles with an outlanding to town rather than pulling out the multimeter and soldering iron Ha Ha!!! Slip me a PM if you are still in trouble, I am happy to assist as I wish someone was out there at the time to guide me with the complexities of radios. Good luck. Knighty

Hi all Its been a long time since I posted anything so here goes. I had a report from a rec pilot mate who lives opposite the airfield on the river and said he heard a couple af aircraft in circuit just on dark and then an almight thump with silence following! Also got the report that a plane was cleared from the runway, placed into a hanger, covered and crimescene taped? I also heard that the pilot walked away with a couple of scratches which is good news. Can anyone forward any information or confirm either way? Knighty

Hi The floats do become saturated with fuel and loose their boyancy as I have found out first hand and the only solution is to replace the units. The floats are worth nearly as much as the darn carbies unfortunately. What happened to me is that the motor run fine on warmup and cruise but when I came in on the glide approach it become very rich and if a go around was necessary the 582 would cough and splutter until she cleared, not much good if the strip was marginal! Best of luck with fixing your problem. Knighty

unregistered plane Well if I was flying an unregistered plane (not saying that I ever have mind you!!!) and it was an elcheapo rag and tube and it was damaged and I could walk or run away from it I think I would make that very same dash. Hat off to the pilot who managed to make contact with the officials however he should have made the contact ASAP before us tax payers footed the bill for the choppers, planes, boats etc. At least no one was hurt (not reported) and I am sure there is a lesson learnt by the pilot and anyone else thinking about flying over something you cant land on safely. mud flats aint my idea of a safe emergency landing strip. Cheers Knighty

rotary valve plate Just going off memory, the rotary place can be rotated 180 degrees to get the timing closer to the mark, have you tried this??? I am thinking that you may have accidently spun the plate around as this is easy to do when you're busy worrying about the bigger picture. Cheers Knighty

Trailer wows Hi I have a semi finished project under way for my Aeropup (which also when folded is roughly on the 2.4mtr mark). My trailer was purpose made for transporting insulation batts and was 6.5 long and 2.4 wide and fully enclosed. I have lengthened the trailer to 7.2 metres and removed the roof to make my temporary hanger while I am finishing off the project (cant see myself flying the plane due to fuel prices holding us to randsom, I would rather spend my surplus on the family!) The real problem is registration and keeping the trailer under the 2.5 wide limit HOWEVER I was told by the RTA I can register the trailer 3 metre maximum and would need to have flags displayed, wide load signs and a yellow flashing light with restrictions only to transport during daylight hours, hardly bloody worth it!!!! Not mentioning any names but I have seen this done. Build the trailer to max of 2.5 wide, get it registered then acrow jack the sides out so that you have more clearance with the wings. You would have to be pretty unlucky for the transport mob to pull you over and run a tape measure over your gear, an extra 100-150mm makes all the difference between having damaged and scuffed leading edges. Another option would to have the sides on hinges to swing out from the trailer when loading then swing in pin down and lock. I think building the plane is the easy part! Another thing that you have got to take into consideration is the empty weight, over 750kgs (I think) you will need independant braking system and yearly rego checks if in NSW, same for boggie or tri axles. I hope this post has been some assistance. Cheers Knighty

Another comment if I may please. I have experienced the same on a 582 with the rear pot slightly warmer at about 75 degree's F cruise @ 5,800rpm according to the EGT. I managed to adjust this by float / fuel bowl adjustment still in accordance with manufacturers recommendation on carby fuel level. I think Rotax says that if there is more than 25-50? F degrees differnce then one must look into the problem immediately. As for my twin V roadbike engine the rear carb jets are a size larger allowing a richer burn to aid cooling unlike the Harley engine running a single carby. As for the timing on Maynard's beast and the piston melting if it was the timing then both pistons would/should be effected due to the CDI system firing continuously every 180 degrees of engine revolution. As for carby icing on only one carby I doubt, maybe a small bit of crap in the main jet or temporary fuel restriction on that pot going unnoticed for a minute os so at 6000rpm on climb out, especially when in a busy circuit???. I am sure I am guilty of not constantly watching the guages when aviating and especially after takeoff dodging power lines and trees (just using this for an example and to contextualise the subject at hand). Looking forward to hearing the actual cause of that melted crown!!! Knighty