View Full Version : 50 hours plus
heliman53
06-30-2007, 11:18 PM
With todays flying session I passed 50 hours on the Wren MW54 in my Vario Acrobat! Still going strong, gotta love those turbine engines. Craig B
Congratulations, Craig. Are you still on the original bearings on the first stage?
Sara Parish
Wren Turbines
heliman53
07-01-2007, 01:54 PM
Sara, Hi, thanks and yes still on original bearings. Engine sound has not changed at all, I have been running with a max rpm of 137,000 since the beginning. I will be ordering bearings soon so when the time comes I will have them. Craig B
You should be fine for a while yet - at 137,000 we would expect the bearings to last to 70 hours plus, providing you are not flying in a dry and dusty area.
You can certainly order bearings, but it is not easy to change the back one and the rotor assembly will need re-balancing. If you need a bearing change, one option for people who have built the first stage from a kit is to disassemble the engine and send us the rotor assembly. We will change the back bearing and rebalance the shaft and turbine, then send it back with a new bearing for the front of the shaft - you can replace that yourself.
Sara Parish
Wren Turbines
heliman53
07-01-2007, 11:43 PM
That is what I had in mind, this engine has not seen any dusty conditions. I am really looking forward to the release of the MW44 two stage got a model picked out to do a conversion. Any idea what the TBO might be on the new engine, I know it will need to be returned complete for service. Craig B