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Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 20:34:01 -0700
From: Bob White <rlwhite@comcast.net>
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Non-Flight Report
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The list seems kind of quiet, so I will report on my non-flight status
to date.  After installing the Warp Drive 3 blade prop the weather
turned bad with very cold temps and 20-30 mph winds.  I did take the
time to put in a TrueTrak ADI which now gives me an artificial horizon
and track info.  When first looking at them, I thought they also had a
heading gyro, but it turns out the heading info is provided by a GPS
signal.  So it's actually track info and I have to depend on a GPS
signal to have it.  Work was slow because my dedication was somewhat
weak working in a hanger at 20 to 30 F.  I still need to get an
electric gyro for heading.  Anyone have any suggestions?

This week the weather has been great.  Especially Tuesday and this
afternoon.  So why wasn't I adding flight time?  Well as it turns out,
the lower cowling, which used to take me over 1/2 hour to install
wouldn't fit at all with the 3 blade prop!  I was faced with pulling
the prop off every time I wanted to remove or install the lower cowl.
Monday I had finished up the wiring on the ADI and spent a couple of
hours trying to decide what to do with the cowl.  Finally I got out
the Harbor Freight high speed air cutter and whacked off both sides of
the lower cowling.  Now my two piece cowl is a 4 piece cowl.  I've
spent the last two days semi-permanently attaching the center section,
which has the cooling plenum and air seals, to the plane and building
a screw attachment between the center and both sides.  All done now.  If
the weather holds for one more day, I may get some flight time in
tomorrow.  I'm really anxious to find out how the Warp Drive prop is
going to work out.  I'm glad appearance is a secondary consideration on
this project.

The only upside to all this is that this change is about what I am
going to have to do when I rebuild the cooling system.  Now I've taken
the first step and will only have to build the new cooling system to
replace the center section of the lower cowl.

Bob W.  (Hoping for good weather tomorrow.) 

-- 
N93BD - Rotary Powered BD-4 - http://www.bob-white.com
First Flight:  11/23/2006 7:50AM - 1.7 Hours Total Time
Cables for your rotary installation - http://www.roblinphoto.com/shop/