-------------- Original message from "Todd Bartrim" <haywire@telus.net>: --------------

Hi Paul;

    Real glad to hear you made it through without anything worse than what looks like a fair bit of tire wear! You may have had some luck, but I've found that the harder I work, the luckier I get, so I think you must have done more than a few things right to get it stopped where you did.

    You sound pretty bummed out right now and I certainly don't blame you, however you need to remember that what were doing isn't simple and shouldn't be taken lightly. I tend to keep my posts nice and polite (hey, I'm Canadian, were all polite heh,), but I must agree with Leon's not-so-polite post. The Microtech is a powerful tool and in some ways I wish I had one (don't worry Tracy, I'm happy with the EC2 too :-), but it needs to be tuned right before you consider flying again. But make sure you've identified the problem first, as it may not even be the Microtech.

    Your description of your fuel pump location concerns me. I found that my pumps got way too hot in that same location until I shielded them and installed a blast tube. I had vapour lock problems as well, however they were compounded by a header tank. Considering that you already had elevated temps before flight, I would consider this as suspect.

    But regardless of what you find, you need to immobilize that plane and run it at full power for 3-5 minutes not just once but several times, preferably with an experienced rotary mechanic on hand. Unfortunately this may not be that easy as you need to find a mechanic that is willing to accept and understand the differences between cars and airplanes. Not to mention that if he needs/wants to get close to the engine while it's running, he's got to stand next to a meat dicer with a very strong wind trying to pull him in (now that's a big strike against them backwards planes... I cringe just thinking about it).

    I can understand your desire to go back to something simpler, but remember that there are big advantages to using advancements in technology. You just need to understand them a little better. It hasn't been that long since your first flight, and when you consider how long you must have spent building the airplane, it's fair to expect a little extra time to tune an experimental engine as well.

 

Hang in there a little longer and be patient and focused! Soon it will be all worth it. We're all rooting for ya!

 

Todd Bartrim