Al,

I contacted Scott at Sky Smith Insurance.  Here’s his contact info.  He is familiar with Tracy’s products and it seemed to “grease the skids” when I told him that I used Tracy’s EC-2, EM-2, RD-2C, etc.  But keep in mind that he’s only the agent, he will be shopping your package with various underwriters.  They may require you to jump through some additional hoops before they will write the policy.

 

Aviation Insurance, Boat Insurance, Custom Car Insurance and more.

SkySmith Insurance Agency
518 SW 3rd Street Suite B,  Ankeny, IA 50021
Phone: 515-289-1439  w Fax: 515-964-0431
Email: sales@skysmith.com
Web site:http://www.skysmith.com
Copyright 2005, Scott Sky Smith.

Mark

 

 

Mark;

 

Since I am about to start talking to insurance folks to get ‘in-motion’ coverage – who have you been talking to?

 

Thanks,

 

Al

 

Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Progress Report

 

Tim,

Last summer I was making plans to move my project out to the Lockhart airport.  The airport management wouldn’t let me move in until I could show proof of insurance.  When getting insurance, I was told that I would have to have a Lancair inspection.  I questioned that and stated that nothing had been said about a Lancair final inspection any time prior to now.  They ended up dropping that requirement in lieu of a written engine test plan.  They may insist on it for the more recent kits.  It would surely be worth checking into when choosing a project.  The insurance agent was very familiar with Tracy’s products and the fact that I am using RWS products was a definite plus in obtaining insurance.

 

BTW, the ES is the “slow” model of fast planes from Lancair.

 

Mark

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Mark R Steitle

To: Rotary motors in aircraft

Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 9:23 AM

Subject: [FlyRotary] Progress Report

 

Its been a while since I posted anything on Fly Rotary, so I though I would post a progress report on my 20B Lancair ES.  This report will pale by comparison to Buly’s first flight report.  But here it is anyway.

 

Well, after many hours of pain and suffering, I finally got the cowl installation finished.  There are some minor “finish-up” items, but for the most part, it is done, except for some micro and primer.  Wahoo!!!  Now on to more enjoyable stuff.

 

After getting the cowl install done I felt that I really needed some fun.  Last time I ran the engine was before Christmas ‘05.  So, I decided to roll the ES out of the hangar and run it a little yesterday.  After looking over the engine compartment for loose items I set the parking brake and chocked the wheels just to be sure.   Before I could even get settled in the cockpit a small crowd had formed.  It seems like that’s going to be the norm for a while yet. 

 

Oops #1… a few weeks back I had unplugged the lead to the starter solenoid so I wouldn’t accidentally trigger the starter while working on installing the cowl fasteners.  As luck would have it, I had neglected to plug the connector back into the starter solenoid.  When I hit the start switch all I got was “click, click”.   Then I remembered disconnecting the starter solenoid lead.  Phil plugged it back in and we were good for engine start. 

 

Oops #2… The next thing I did was flood the engine to the point that there was fuel running out of the exhaust.  It formed about a 1’ dia. puddle on the pavement.  With temps in the 90’s, I guess I didn’t really need to use the “Cold Start” feature.  That plus a few hits on the primer/program button had it flooded royally.  A short wait for the puddle to dry followed by cranking with the fuel pumps off and throttle open got it cleared out.  Ready to try it again, Mains ON, ignition ON, “COLD START” OFF, pumps ON, and coils ON.  Hit START… And this time she started right up.  Turn on ALT FLD for MAIN and AUX alternators, both are charging.  After warming up the engine and with all readings in the green, and an OK from my observer Phil standing off to the side (next to the fire extinguisher), I ran it up to 2500, then 3000, 3500, 4000, and 4400.  It felt strong and like it wanted to keep revving faster and faster.  A little tweaking with the mixture knob made a huge difference in smoothness.  Its really obvious when the mixture is set right by how silky smooth the 20B gets.  Its like having an electric motor under the cowl.  Too cool!

 

It was at that point that Phil yelled that things were blowing around inside the hangar and stuff was dancing around on the shelves.  I had wanted to go to 5k, but decided to call it quits for the day and so I shut her down.  I still need to do the finer tuning with the new auto-tune feature, but I was pretty happy with how strong it ran.  The crowd, with their windblown faces, dispersed and Phil and I rolled the ES back into the hangar.  Next weekend it will be back to working on the last 10%. 

 

Keep building…

Mark