Since a picture is worth a thousand words then I hope this video update saves me some typing.

In my previous blog entry I wrote about my engine woes.  I sent the photos to Rolando Santiago at Six Chuter who took a look and informed me the piston was toast.  He and Doug Maas consulted with J-Bird Engines (the engine manufacturer).  J-Bird asked for the engine to be sent to them so they could take a look.  To their credit, the guys as Six Chuter paid the cost to ship the engine back!  Once the engine arrived, the guys at J-Bird knew exactly what happened.

You see, there are exactly two belts on this engine.  Both of them are fan belts… more or less.  One belt is on the rear of the engine and connects the crankshaft to the propeller.  It reduces the RPM of the propeller because the prop isn’t designed to turn at 6500 RPM.  The other fan belt turns an actual cooling fan at the front of the engine.  Now there are sections in the engine manual that describe tightening these belts.  I dutifully checked the belt tension on the prop, but missed the huge page in the manual saying how important it is to adjust the tension on the fan belt!

When J-Bird dug into the engine the first thing they noticed was how loose the fanbelt was on the cooling fan.  And yep, the front piston was in the worst shape.  Problem found.  The engine was overheating due to poor cooling.  Totally my fault.  But here is where the AMAZING customer service part of the story comes in.  I was told the engine would be rebuilt at NO COST to me whatsoever.

Now, gentle reader, I don’t know how much you know about aircraft companies but Six Chuter is an anomaly in aviation.  Most aircraft companies would have said “Uh, user error, you need to pay the cost to fix your engine.”  Six Chuter did not do this because they believe in their products.  They stand behind their products and the components that go into their products.  Six Chuter is run by people of integrity and truly believe they are held accountable to God for everything they do on this earth and it shows.  I cannot say enough about this company.

So back to the engine.  They are going to rebuilt it from the crankshaft up and it should hopefully be shipped back to me next week.  I’ll post more updates on the re-install and next steps on the engine when I get it back.

I’ve been doing lots of tweaks and testing of my engine on the ground but haven’t flown it much.  I changed that this past Friday and Saturday mornings.  Friday morning I flew with the 10 degree prop blocks.  These set the propeller pitch to 10 degrees.  I found that throttle response was good but because of the fine pitch of the prop climb rate was reduced and I found myself at almost 6000 RPM just to maintain level flight.  That only gave me a couple of hundred RPM more to climb with.  Not a good feeling.  Also the engine cylinder head temperatures were running too high at 400 degrees.  Even worse feeling.  However throttle response and smoothness were much improved as was exhaust gas temperature.

Friday night after work I put the 11 degree prop blocks in.  I test flew these Saturday morning.  In all honesty I didn’t notice much difference in the way of climb performance but CHT was lower which was good and EGT was also lower which is very good.  I did notice a little ‘bogging down’ of the throttle in one particular RPM range but it wasn’t too bad.

For next week’s test flight have have moved the carburetor jet needle to the number 2 position.  This will make it run slightly leaner which may cause EGT to rise.  I’ll have to watch that.

Because there are so many parameters to change it’s all started getting mixed up in my head.  To that end I’ve started a spreadsheet to track and measure all my changes.  I should have done this in the beginning.  I’ll put the link below in case anyone is interested.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X_E330q6iU6X_8-54gjdI0Xuz_Gk5UPr6Od_Bf1Eomk/edit?usp=sharing

I’m also going to take a page from one of the blogs I follow.  He always leaves a song linked to the end of his blog.  I like the idea.  So cruise on into your Sunday evening with the smooth sounds of Tom Middleton…

Here’s just a quick video with a status update on my P3 Lite Powered Parachute from Six Chuter.  Still enjoying this little beast.  Have worked out a couple bugs and have just one more to go.  Great little machine!

After a REALLY hectic week at work it was great to unwind out at New Jerusalem flying with my buddy Joey.  He’s actually the one that suggested I try PPC rather than PPG.  Joey was already set up and ready to go by the time I got out there.  The air was calm and cool.  Joey launched and I finished getting my PPC ready to go.  I bucked in, fired up my engine and 100 feet later I was climbing into the air.

We flew out over the river but it got a little bumpy that direction.   We were probably hitting a little wind shear since the wind was starting to slowly pick up.  I turned south and my ground speed went from 17 MPH to 42 MPH.  I messed around checking my throttle response (I had adjusted the carb earlier in the week).

I flew back to the airport and could see that the wind was picking up.  At this stage in my PPC flying I elected to go ahead and land and call it a day.  After packing up I ran into a group of balloonists.  As luck would have it they had been taking pictures of Joey and I.  So I will leave with with some of the pictures they took.

 

I took a flight this morning to test out the fuel flow meter I installed.  I ran into a couple of issues though.  The fuel flow meter requires +12V and ground to operate.  I tapped into the 12V connection to my starter switch and the ground connection on my kill switch.  However, this would not allow the engine to run.  It grounded out the kill switch line so the motor would not start.  I’ll have to find a different ground connection.

The second issue I ran into is when I am running at cruise RPM, and then would advance the throttle, the engine would hesitate and then rev up to the desired RPMs.  I think this may have something to do with the fuel sensor.  I’m going to disconnect it for  the next flight and see if the engine runs any better.

The last item is my kill switch.  Sometimes it doesn’t kill the engine after landing.  I’m going to replace that switch and see how it goes.

Other than that it was a wonderful Sunday morning flight!

I decided to try to beat the heat this morning by getting an early morning flight in.  I hitched up the trailer to the truck the night before and had everything ready for an early morning departure.  At 04:30 I crawled out of bed and by 04:45 I was on the road.  It was already 79 degrees F.

I rolled into New Jerusalem Airport at about 05:20 and began setting up.  I first noticed the gnats when I got out to unlock the gate.  There was a huge swarm just hanging out where I needed to open my door.  I got past them and through the gate.  I got to the north end of the field and started setting up.  More gnats!  Yikes!  I started warming up my engine and walked around and stood in the wind created by the propeller to keep them off me.

I drove my PPC to the spot that seemed the best situated and laid out my chute.  The weather was PERFECT.

I advanced the throttle and plowed through the gnats into the warm sky.  Climbing out I was free of the gnats and was treated to buttery-smooth air.  As I climbed out I saw a truck at the far end of the field.  I actually saw it before I took off but I thought it was the local farmer checking his pumps like he does every morning.  As I flew down the runway I could see it was a powered paraglider.  As I got closer I could see it was a friend of mine, Jeff Erck, a super-nice fellow flyer and fellow believer in Christ.

He was just laying his wing out and getting ready to go.  By the time I turned he had already taken off and tucked in just behind and to one side of me.  I only had my air band radio so I wasn’t able to talk to him so I just flew off over the river and he followed.

I was somewhat worried that my engine temps would be high but as I cruised along they stayed right where I wanted them.  After surveying the river for a bit time began to catch up with me.  I turned back toward the airport and flew a few approaches.

I committed to landing on the last approach and then got a hair-brained idea…  “Why don’t I just roll off onto the dirt in between the runway and taxiway so my chute doesn’t drag on the pavement?”  The dirt will be far gentler to the chute; this is true.   So after I made a less-than-stellar landing I let my eager craft roll into the dirt and the parachute gently drifted to the ground… And disturbed no less than 800,529 gnats.  All of whom came to visit me personally.  Many of them also gave me “love bites.”  They were very affectionate, all trying to get in my eyes, my nose, my ears, and my mouth!

It took over 30 minutes to put my chute away (should only take 15 minutes tops if I’m being slow and careful).  All the swatting must have looked very comical to Jeff who flew by several times.  I finally got the chute carefully folded and put back in it’s stowage bag and then fired up the PPC and drove as fast as I could back to the trailer!

All in all it was the most wonderful flight I’ve had yet, gnats gnot withstanding.  I will end this entry with a short video I recorded on my phone while I was flying over the river.

Not much to report in this update.  Just took some time yesterday to go flying before the rain started.   This is a rare June rain storm for us.  Storm is a relative word, it just means that it clouded over and some rain fell.  Not exactly a storm.

At any rate the flying conditions were perfect at New Jerusalem but somewhat chilly.  I flew around for about 30 minutes before I got cold enough I wanted to land and warm up.   It was a nice, shore pre-work flight.   Here are a few photos I took as I was cruising above the farmland and river.