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Message-ID: <5cf132c0812070635ica9667bw1bbada5449fc6c55@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2008 08:35:03 -0600
From: "Mark Steitle" <msteitle@gmail.com>
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] TX Rotary Velocity update
In-Reply-To: <list-3340060@logan.com>
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References: <list-3340060@logan.com>

Chris,

Way to go!  It sure is nice to hear the purr (roar) of the rotary
after many months/years of hard work.  Keep it up... actually flying
behind a rotary is even better.

The folks at LaGrange, TX have a monthly BBQ fly-in, and yesterday was
the weekend.  It was a brisk morning, but clear and calm.  As is the
custom, a bunch of us flew down from Lockhart to eat some good BBQ and
talk airplanes.  I was alone in my Lancair ES, just enjoying the
smooth, clear, calm air.

On the return flight, I was cruising along at 175 TAS (mph) and
4500MSL and decided to see what she would do.  Normally I cruise along
at 4800-5000rpm, but with the M/T electric prop, I have the option of
selecting engine rpm by changing the prop pitch.  So, I cranked the
pitch to where the 3-rotor was purring along at 6000rpm and waited for
things to settle down.  After re-trimming a number of times to keep it
at 4500msl, the speed gradually increased from 195TAS, to 196, 197,
198, ... and finally settled in at 203TAS (per EM-2).  That was too
cool.  I had selected the ES for its (advertised) cruise speed of
200mph, so this confirmed it that the rotary is putting out the power
to match their numbers.  Higher altitudes and with the ram-air open,
I'm confident that it will match Lancair's "advertised" top speed.
What a great day it was!

Keep building Chris, your day will come.

Mark S.
Lancair ES/20B

On 12/7/08, Christopher Barber <CBarber@texasattorney.net> wrote:
> As y'all likely remember I had to redo my strakes following finding my
> Jeffco fuel tank sealant had failed a few months ago. A few days ago I
> applied some micro on my hopefully now repaired strakes. I still have to
> smooth and pretty up the micro, but to get away from the fiberglass work for
> a bit I decided to add fuel to my new strake tanks and calibrate my newly
> installed Atkinson fuel gages.
>
> I had about 25 gallons that I added one gallon at a time, 1/2 gallon to each
> side. The Velocity has a center sump tank that the two strake tanks dump
> into. So I added fuel to each side in approximately equal amounts to allow
> everything to equalize better. I filled the sump tank first and it took just
> under five gallons. Nothing seemed to leak confirming my air pressure test
> with balloons a while back.
>
> Ok, here is the good part. On a wild hair I turned power on to the plane to
> see if the rotary engine would turn over after sitting dormant for the last
> few months with only an occasional hand rotation of the prop. Not only did
> it turn over, it started. Wahoo. I shut it down right away as I was not in a
> position to play.....uh, ummm, work on it. But I was tickled it started
> almost immediately. After having to redo my strakes, this was a nice little
> experience for me.
>
> I am off work tomorrow and I hope to get out to the hangar to clean it up
> after a lot of fiberglass work. Maybe I will "play" with the engine a bit
> too. <g>
>
> All the best,
>
> Chris
> Houston
>
>
> Cross posted on CanardZone.com & Reflector