-------------- Original message from "DaveLeonard" <daveleonard@cox.net>: --------------
Tracy, you should take most of the credit, with much credit also going to Ed and everyone else on the list, flying or not. It's hard to believe how well things have gone for a roll-your-own instillation. Well, it is only partially roll-your-own considering all the available off the shelf components such as the RV kit, 13B engines, the EC2, and the RD1-B.
I say the following not to tout my own accomplishment, but to illustrate what you have done for rotary aviation. I have never built anything of significance in my life. I am not an engineer or mechanic, but a physician. Before this project the most I ever did was change my own oil. As part of this project, and almost exclusively from the info I gleaned on this list, I have a flying airplane. I built the engine and engine mount myself, and designed and build the cooling system - because of what I learned here. It has flown great from day one! I have made no significant changes to any system except temporarily removing the turbocharger (which only took 2 hrs.). After 8 months of flying I now have 110 hrs and the confidence to fly 500 miles into Baja or into IMC conditions. While improvements are always being planned, none are really needed. And its been that way since right out of the gate.
Thanks Tracy, Ed, and everyone else - keep up the good work!
Dave Leonard
> Tracy and me both! I think part of it was we didn't know for certain
> whether things would work as expected as they were not modeled after any
> flying rotaries - whole cloth so to speak. Using something that you know
> has been shown to work can lessen the angst level for sure.
[Ed]
Why do you guys think there are so many people following in your footsteps?
Thanks for clearing (most of) the minefield!
John (25 hrs and relaxing a bit more each flight)
Can't take full credit for the success of the rotary but I still feel a rush every time I see (or hear about) someone else's rotary taking to the air. Keep'em coming guys!
Tracy (Testing EC2 auto programming mode today)