Greg wrote:

 

 

Y'know, not meaning to offend anyone, but I am trying to mate a 400 hp 20B

to a 250 knot+ Lancair, and after hearing how successful some of these

installations have been, I am getting a little nervous.  Are these

firing/grounding/running problems common?  What am I missing here?  How

about some straight answers from some people in the know?  My life depends

on this stuff.  Although my budget isn't unlimited, I am willing to spend

what is necessary to guarantee that at least I can get on the ground if

something goes wrong, but what do I buy????   I could sure use some input

from Tracy, and guys like Tom Parkes, etc. (who won't return a query), about

what they are experiencing with this genesis of rotary installations.  I

just want to get to 18,000 feet, cut back to 70%, and relax. 

 

Don’t forget we’re talking “experimental” here, and with an alternative engine that part is likely more experimental than the airframe kit.  There are lots of opportunities to do something wrong.  Would you relax behind a turbocharged Continental 550?  Things can go wrong there as well.

 

I now have 80 hours on my Velocity 20B installation, and happy with it.  I was one of the first to use Tracy’s EC2 for the 3-rotor, and there was de-bugging to do.  I had electrical noise issues with both the EM2 and the EC2, the EM2 issues were fairly simple, and Tracy came up with the solution.  The EC2 never failed me, but I had on-going problems with corruption of settings.  That was noise related, and fortunately with help from my electronics whiz son we eventually resolved the problem, and found a couple of bugs that Tracy hadn’t come to yet – things which he has fixed in the design.

 

Electrical noise issues are very installation dependant, and are likely worse in a composite airframe; especially one with the panel in front and the engine in the rear requiring long wire runs.  The issue I had seemed unique to my installation and my circuit design. Overall, the EC2 features are well suited to aircraft operation, and the unit is a major bargain.  

 

Each installation has differences, and going alternative engine means having the tenacity to resolve each of the teething problems as they come along.

 

FWIW.

 

Al