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Re: Europa-List: Oshkosh by air - return by Avis UPDATE

Subject: Re: Europa-List: Oshkosh by air - return by Avis UPDATE
From: Thomas Scherer <thomas@scherer.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2006 12:02:42

Thank you for sharing your findings.

I have developped the practice of writing right onto the airplane (wing, 
cowling, windshield) with a felt pen and erase with acetone after completing 
the task.

be well,

<Thomas, N81EU>

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ralph Hallett" <n100rh@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 5:17 PM
Subject: Re: Europa-List: Oshkosh by air - return by Avis UPDATE


>
> Richard,
> Thanks for the follow up! Maybe, maybe you can keep me from doing the 
> same... ;)
>
> Ralph
>
>
> Richard Schultz wrote:
>>
>> For those keeping up with the story of the engine problem.
>>
>> I used my enclosed trailer to recover the aircraft from its temporary 
>> exile in Iowa and have returned it to Houston. I had hoped that the time 
>> apart would give the plane a chance to think about it attitude.
>>
>> I was off today and finally got around to pulling the cowls and going 
>> back through the engine fuel system one step at a time. The fuel filters, 
>> as before were clean. Testing the pumps showed the normal amount of 
>> unregulated fuel flow of about 5 gallons in 10 minutes. Looking at the 
>> carburetor system for how it works the mixture. I pulled each of the 
>> vacuum lines and checked them for holes and cracks. I also inspected the 
>> 3-way valve for any dirt or blockage. I pulled the airbox pressure sensor 
>> and checked that it was clean of dirt and open to the back. I then pulled 
>> the static port that plugs in through the firewall. I was surprised to 
>> feel it stick in the firewall as I pulled it out. Looking back through 
>> the hole I noticed a rubber tube end facing the inside of the hole?
>>
>> Not remembering adding a vent hose to the sensor end I opened the access 
>> panel to the firewall and removed the radios from the stack to get my 
>> hands inside the panel to see what I had done. I found the source of my 
>> problem attached to a 3 inch piece of tape clearly marked REMOVE BEFORE 
>> FLIGHT.
>>
>> I had left the cover over the end of the static port during sanding and 
>> painting and had made plans to remove it before installing the instrument 
>> panel. Guess what I forgot to do! UGH I left the rubber end cap on the 
>> static port. I guess the first 80 hours the engine was run in a lower and 
>> cooler environment then the last part of the Oshkosh trip. The added 
>> height and temp was enough the cause the fuel-air mixture to be too lean 
>> with the static port plugged.
>>
>> I will give the plane a good going over this weekend while I have it 
>> stripped down as I am at the 100 hour mark and want to check every thing 
>> but I plan to get a flight test in the early part of next week weather 
>> permitting.
>>
>> Lesson learned if you plan to do something later, ADD it to your annex E 
>> check list so you double check you got back to it. While this had a happy 
>> ending it could have been a lot more exciting if the power failure had 
>> been complete and at night.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *
>>
>>
>> *
>
>
> 



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