Without Bad Luck I wouldn't have any Luck at all

[lperagallo]

OK,

so Duralite gets me the battery back so I decide I should finish the rebuild on the turbine. All I need to do is put the tail on, mount blades, check linkages and test.

I put the battery back in and decided that I'd test the start sequence and make sure things work. First thing I find is that I reversed the plugs on the Gas solenoid and Kero solenoid. Easy mistake, the markings on teh FADEC are hard to understand. Try again. This time the gas valve opens and I see gas shooting out the front. Gosh, bad festo fitting. Now I have to take the nose off the turbine and replace the festo. To do this I had to take apart a bunch of the wiring and electronics to get to it. I get it taken apart, check the fitting and sure enough it is leaking. I put on an new one and put it all back together.

Try again. I hear the solenoid cycling but no "pop". Next check is the glow plug. I take it out and test, works fine. Then I check the valve again. It works, gas is coming out. I decide to blow through the line. Oh Boy, can't do it. Need to take the nose off AGAIN:bomb: Check the fitting, it's clear. Try to blow out line, No Go. So I decide to take a small needle and push it through. I was able to get it in a bit but then it stopped. I pushed it in and out a few times and took it out. Since I don't know what it looks like on the other end I wasn't going to force anything. I tried to blow through it again and it's clear:YeaBaby:

Put it all back together AGAIN! Try it again. It starts right up. I immediately shut it down and try again. No luck, data port says bad glow. I take it out and its toast, so I put in a new one. You have to tease out two coils with a needle to get it to work. I take out three. Try again. Works!, Try again, Bad Glow plug on the data port:bomb:

Take out another glow plug, tease out TWO coils and put it back in. Success:banana

So I've gotten it all back together. I'll give it a try tomorrow where I can fire it up completely. It's going to be windy, so I might just test it on the ground. OH, I know, I'll have JC hold it over his head and I can run it up and check the tracking. That way I won't have to worry about crashing!:hug:

Let's hope I've used up all my bad luck,
Lou

[rkeith2]

Lou -

If you are using the OS 8 and teased out a couple winding, make sure they are NOT touching anywhere and possibly reduce the glow power a bit

[lperagallo]

Ron,

Yeah, that was my problem. I am using OS type F plug. It's made for four strokes and I use them in my Saito 72. I had three loops out and they were touching. It is getting hard for me to see those tiny coils, even with a magnifying glass. I think I am all set, but just in case I bought two Fox Miracle plugs. They are for four strokes and I think they will work fine also.

I did get out this morning and did test run ups, but the wind was gusting over 25mph so I decided not to temp the gods. I ran it up to full head speed at zero pitch and everything seemed smooth, so tomorrow is supposed to be better. I'll wait. I did get a few Gasser flights in. Boy, what speed I got down wind. It was like a rocket.

I still wonder what plugged the propane line. Do you know what the line does from the front of the engine. Does it just go straight back or does it curve. The needle worked, but I'm concerned about what might have gotten in there. Have you ever had that line clog?

Lou

[JC]

Sorry I didn't get there in time to hold it over my head. ;) Maybe tomorrow.
If you picked up those glow plugs today, I'll pick out the coils for you tomorrow. My eyes are going, but they're not gone yet. :thumbup:

Maybe I'll get to fly tomorrow if we don't have 25mph winds.

You forgot to tell them about the problem with your collective being reversed on the gasser. I mean Raptor... or both.

Lou, I looked it up, and you ARE done with bad luck this year. :cheers

[lperagallo]

Well with 30MHP winds I was a chicken and didn't lift off the turbine:o I did start it up a couple of times and spool it up to mid stick. Looks like things are OK for now. I wanted to make sure that fuel would get to the engine after all the armor I've added to the fuel lines.

I did fly the Gasser. Every time I turned down wind some guy shot it out of a cannon. The speed was FAST:WOW Had to then put the nose in a scary attitude to bring it back. Only flew about ten minutes as it felt like I was there for a half hour. Really had to pay attention to collective to keep it anywhere near at the same altitude. It was good practice, but I'm not that stupid. I wanted to fly another day with all the same parts:thumbup:

Sunday should be good, winds down to 5 to 10. Will report how well it goes. I'll also have to get pictures of the Oven Mitt, OH yeah it's a turbine. I'm surprised JC didn't make any comments after seeing the changes.

Lou

[JC]

I'm surprised JC didn't make any comments after seeing the changes.

Lou:o I forgot.
The black fiberglass sleeving on those fuel lines look much better than I envisioned. And the "oven mitt" part on the bottom... nice idea. And it's black also so it's hidden nicely. I think that will give you quite a bit of protection from fire burning that direction. Now if a tank line pulls off and fuel sprays into it and soaks it and burns, you'll have a big wick. :DOH But if that happens, you'll have bigger problems anyway.

And besides, with service like that from Duralite... :thumbup: (I was shocked to hear they sent that pack back at n/c) you won't need that oven mitt anyway.

I'm ready to see that thing fly again.