Message-Id: <5.0.0.25.2.20001002213731.042ac830@olsusa.com>
Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 21:45:27 -0400
To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
From: Marvin Kaye <marvkaye@olsusa.com>
Subject: Flying the South Pacific
Reply-To: lancair.list@olsusa.com
Mime-Version: 1.0

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Posted for "Fred Moreno" <fmoreno@direcpc.com>:

Some of you know a bit about this story.  Here are the full details.

Fellow aviation enthusiast John Forker bought Chris Toms' non pressurized 
Lancair IV which was constructed in New Zealand and has been flying about 5 
years.  John contacted me at the suggestion of Gary Burns via the Internet 
to discuss a long range tank.  Turns out John is a neighbor living in Palo 
Alto, about 15 minutes away.  Together (and using ideas from others) we 
constructed a tank container in my shop, and John ordered a custom fuel 
bladder to fit within the container with about 75 gallons capacity bringing 
the total fuel on board to 185 gallons, the maximum allowable while staying 
within the center of gravity limits.  The tank was completed and shipped to 
New Zealand where it was installed by Chris.

A bit more than a week ago John arrived in New Zealand, did some flight 
testing and became familiar with the airplane.  The H.F. radio had 
interference problems arising from a LightSpeed CD ignition system 
installed in lieu of one magneto, but by turning off the ignition system he 
could establish H.F. communication.  Interviews with ferry pilots disclosed 
that most H.F. systems were of questionable value over the
ocean, and the common mode of communication was to use VHF to the airliners 
overhead.  It turns out that the airliner guys are bored and are happy to 
chat and relay reports.   (As an aside, a friend who formerly flew 
747-400's to Hong Kong confirmed that even their H.F. radios were 
problematical, and they relied primarily on satellite phones to their 
dispatchers who relayed messages.)

John launched to Pago Pago in American Samoa and flew at an economy cruise 
setting of 15 gallons per hour.  The trip was largely uneventful. Arriving 
in Pago Pago he found that the promised avgas was not available.  The local 
folks suggested flying 80 miles to Western Samoa to search for fuel which 
he did.  Turns out that there is one airplane in Western Samoa, an ancient 
172 owned by the governor.  John persuaded him to sell fuel from a Mobil 
tank trailer.  The trailer was modern with fuel filters and such, samples 
were clean, and the gas was green, so he topped off, and headed for Hawaii 
the following morning.

During the flight it became apparent that something was amiss.  Once 
leveled off, the fuel flow to maintain cylinder head temperatures were high 
(18 gallons per hour) and cylinder head temperatures were not stable.  John 
would adjust the settings, obtain steady state conditions, and then minutes 
later the cylinder head temperature would begin to climb.  He would richen 
the mixture, adjust the throttle, and keep fussing until he got a steady 
condition, and then after a few minutes conditions would change again.

 From the ground speed and fuel flow numbers, John concluded that he would 
not have reserves at Hawaii, and so turned a bit right and landed at 
Christmas Island, about half way to Hawaii.  The warm and friendly 
reception committee said that if he did so again in the future he would be 
arrested and jailed.  They apparently do not like surprises.

There is nothing at Christmas Island.  NOTHING, except a modest hotel 5 
miles from the airport (no transportation), no hangers, no tools no 
mechanics, no avgas, no Internet connections, no nothing.  Thus started a 
long series of satellite phone calls to figure out what to do.

My initial thought was that problems arose from fuel leaks since I had 
experienced a similar situation about a year ago in Derek Hine's Lancair IV 
which we traced to a cracked fitting on the fuel spider.  So we sent John 
out to the airport to inspect the fuel system and fuel injection 
atomization system for leaks or other problems.  Everything was OK.

Gathering more details from John and talking to Brent Regan, Monty Barrett 
and others, we concluded that it was probably a bad load of fuel.  And with 
only 87 octane motor fuel available, fuel would continue to be a 
problem.  Research showed that shipping avgas could only be done via ship, 
and the next ship arriving at Christmas Island would do so in November.  So 
that was out.  So I began researching octane enhancers and talking to 
engine builders, EAA, and STC holders about burning motor gas in the 
turbocharged Lycoming in John's airplane.  (It has 8.5 to 1 compression 
ratio pistons.)

While reading about octane, I read one article that noted when fuel of one 
octane is added to a fuel tank partially filled with fuel of another 
octane, the result does not mix well, but results in stratification and 
regions of differing octane in the tank.  This would be more pronounced 
with wing tanks that are flat and partitioned.  So it appears that the 
variable conditions John experienced were probably due to the octane of the 
fuel coming to engine varying over time as the tanks were emptied.  One 
hundred octane flowed initially, and then slugs of who knows what followed 
by some mixture, then more 100 octane.  This would also explain the 
progressive deterioration of performance John experienced as the trip 
proceeded.  John's initial take was that he should have returned to Samoa, 
but if he did so, he would have just obtained yet more bum gas unless we 
had figured out the problem earlier.

I found sources of octane enhancer, but it turns out that being flammable 
it can not be air shipped.  One manufacturer had dealers in New Zealand and 
Australia, but all shipments went via boat.  Later on I found one 
manufacturer with a product that could be air shipped, but I got the call 
back from them far too late.

So then the question was: could John safely fly with 87 octane motor 
gas?  Back to the phone and a day of discussions with various parties 
including Klaus Savier of LightSpeed to learn more about his electronic 
ignition system and its operation.  The general consensus that emerged was 
that a flight test was needed, but with low power and rich operation at 
lower altitudes, the engine should be OK.  However, an inspection was 
called for prior to flight.

Brent Regan made a list of tools for changing plugs and resetting the 
ignition timing, and I called John's friend in Maui who was part of the 
team working the problems.  He called a friend on Oahu who bought the tools 
and spark plugs, boxed them up, and got to the Aloha Airlines counter in 
time to get them on the once a week flight to Christmas Island.

Upon receiving the tools, John pulled the plugs, inspected pistons, and 
found them normal with no evidence of detonation damage.  Seems the low 
power settings and flying with one eye on the temperatures and one hand on 
the mixture and power controls prevented any damage.

John put motor gas in one tank, and then took off and climbed slowly to 
cruise altitude.  Normal take off power settings are 35 inches and 2700 
RPM.  At our suggestion he limited maximum manifold pressure to 22 inches 
which gives about 50-55% power.  The flight was uneventful, temperatures 
were normal, and after half an hour he landed and filled the plane with 
auto gas.

The following morning John took off for Hawaii, and upon landing in 
Honolulu reported that the auto fuel performed better than the stuff picked 
up in Samoa.  At reduced power and loaded to about 3600 pounds the take off 
roll was about 6000 feet, and the climb was anemic.  He still had to 
monitor temperatures and fiddle with mixture as the octane of the fuel 
varied over time.  We conclude that the stuff in Samoa must have been 
really bad if it was inferior to motor gas.  John flew low to avoid 
possible vapor lock problems with the auto fuel,and had to negotiate a line 
of monster thunderstorms.  The ferry pilots recommended that Pacific 
thunderstorms be avoided if possible, but are so large that they must 
sometimes be traversed by flying through as low as possible.  So after 
about 150 miles of weaving John flew through the line at 1000 feet in and 
out of cloud with heavy rain that lasted 45 minutes (if I recall correctly) 
but he got a smooth ride.  He had filed for Maui, but ATC told him to land 
at Honolulu for customs or pay a BIG fine.  So Honolulu it was for a flight 
of a bit over 7 hours.

At Honolulu John had the airplane carefully inspected including a 
compression check, and the mechanics gave it a clean bill of health.  He 
then went to Maui to stay with friends.  Sunday morning he left at 5 am 
with a full load of pure avgas (having drained out the dregs of the prior 
flight).  Switching to H.F. radio, he used the prior strategy to 
communicate.  However, ATC would not accept him with a noisy H.F. radio, 
and directed him to return to Hawaii which he did.  So after all the 
problems and travails earlier in the trip, the only thing that stopped him 
was an ATC bureaucrat.

John will leave the airplane in Hawaii since it will be safe there (that 
was not the case on Christmas Island), and return in a few weeks.  At that 
point he will ferry the plane to Honolulu, and have an avionics shop work 
on the H.F. radio installation.  It may require also shielding the CD 
ignition system or replacing it with a second magneto.  But for now John 
has to get back to his day job.

The moral of the story seems to be: if you want to fly around the world in 
a piston airplane, pick your landing spots very carefully, make absolutely 
sure that the promised fuel is really there, and bring lots of tools and 
spares and a gallon or two of octane enhancer as well.  And think about 
using a turbine engine or a diesel capable of using jet fuel, neither of 
which is an option for most of us today.

Fred Moreno

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Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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