X-Virus-Scanned: clean according to Sophos on Logan.com Return-Path: Received: from wa-out-1112.google.com ([209.85.146.178] verified) by logan.com (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 5.2.12) with ESMTP id 3529843 for flyrotary@lancaironline.net; Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:41:26 -0500 Received-SPF: pass receiver=logan.com; client-ip=209.85.146.178; envelope-from=fluffysheap@gmail.com Received: by wa-out-1112.google.com with SMTP id v33so207331wah.3 for ; Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:40:49 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type; bh=eLoJp7PY7u3KjroO/E3ept4XcETNB8iMVAGT/ZGPmZw=; b=mHO695/81uWgAPvgrEWy9Jqh/bu6jqJtR6TSP9nKhKrTiBaWbdXRksuXVppylRSYO3 KQdGWAiUlKQjst4C6pnf01GzsZI2TGS2gtDTgwpa9PIjzWpK+QGYUOQkNZjM54vLukgh OId4Is0P2nlRPzzLAFBclWjdcKW2hKH9U8GR4= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type; b=X2uWE5mvDeh4cucdkbzrFVkl6wD5stvjY3RfS0OLJmkyDhRvK1nUPvD5NQF+NR8vZ0 YHYXiJm89/gP5k+k3rSGDbQAyK3GkdHKWcUT8M7DMUmDKo/cxKERqssTS2jlLuyHlXge X1Ds+J+CetuUKfBilcD1R4EHV7htqsWVmhN88= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.114.195.19 with SMTP id s19mr1318201waf.10.1236321649705; Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:40:49 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 22:40:49 -0800 Message-ID: Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy - From: William Wilson To: Rotary motors in aircraft Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=001485f9a4b8c25fcb04646d90be --001485f9a4b8c25fcb04646d90be Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable The fireman on the scene reported no evidence of fuel, but if the tanks wer= e not full and also not breached in the accident, it's quite possible he just wasn't able to see it down in the tanks... he may not have even looked, jus= t assumed if there was no leak there was no fuel. Or it could be a transcription error, where the fireman said "no evidence of fuel leaking" and it got recorded as "no evidence of fuel or fuel leak" In most cases in aviation (where experience is almost all with piston engines) if the engine simply stops running abruptly without period of roug= h running first, fuel exhaustion is by far the most common cause. So there might have been some pre-disposition to expect fuel exhaustion. I don't think fuel supply had anything to do with it. Probably. On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 6:08 PM, Charlie England wr= ote: > > > Was there no chance that 'no evidence of fuel in the tanks' could have be= en > a factor? > > Charlie > > Ed Anderson wrote: > >> >> That is what the NTSB report also concluded, Bobby, failure of the >> ignition switch. >> >> All of my crucial switches (EC2, ignition, fuel pump) are wired to a 20 >> amp circuit breaker I call my =93Live Man Switch=94. The circuit breaker= is >> normally OPEN so all switches work normally. Should the engine stop runn= ing >> due to a mechanical failure of a switch, pushing in the CB will route po= wer >> to all crucial circuits. I spent $$ on sealed, heavy duty industrial tog= gle >> switches back in the early 90s =96 they cost over $30.00 each back then.= But >> realizing that anything mechanical (or electrical) can fail, I decided t= o >> wire up my =93Live Man Switch=94. >> >> I used it once during a take off I aborted after getting airborne due to >> the engine surging =96 turned out that it was nothing electrical, so it = did >> not remedy the problem, but I was pleased I had remembered it and had >> punched it shut. >> >> This was when I was using a HALTECH EFI =96 the problem was you had to t= une >> it with a lap top and you couldn=92t tune the Fuel map on the ground bey= ond >> your static rpm. Well, I did the fuel map up to my static of 5200 (when = I >> was using the 2.17:1 gear box) and the extrapolated the fuel map pass th= at >> point (obviously inappropriately). As soon as I lifted off the ground, t= he >> engine started a wild surge between approx 5500 and 3000 rpm. I punched = my >> life man switch (which did nothing) and then decided to put it back down= on >> the 2200 ft strip doing approx 75 mph. Touched down 300 ft from the end = and >> pushed the brake peddles through the floor. Thought I had made the wrong >> decision (and probably did) as the end of the runway approached like and >> express train. But ended up about 12 ft off the end of the runway trying= to >> get my heart restarted =96 no damaged to anything other than my nerves, >> lifespan and seat cushion. >> >> In hindsight, with a bit more experience I would have recognized the =93= lean >> surge=94 =96 first time I had encountered it in the rotary and then I wo= uld have >> realized the solution would have been to reach over and turned the manua= l >> mixture control knob to full rich. But with only about 1-2 seconds to ma= ke a >> decision =96 I went with my pre-made decision that I would rather go off= the >> far end of the runway at 20-30 mph than get airborne and then have to se= t it >> down in a less desirable situation. A few days later the HALTECH failed = with >> the injectors full open and I had gasoline running out the tail pipes be= fore >> I could get the pumps shut off. Ordered Tracy=92s EC2 and have flown wit= h >> confidence ever since. >> >> But, back to the design issues =96 I try not to have any unnecessary sin= gle >> points of failure, but I think we all realize there is risk in our endea= vor >> and should plan accordingly. >> >> Ed >> >> Ed Anderson >> >> Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered >> >> Matthews, NC >> >> eanderson@carolina.rr.com >> >> http://www.andersonee.com >> >> http://www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html >> >> http://www.flyrotary.com/ >> >> http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494BW < >> http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm> >> >> http://www.rotaryaviation.com/Rotorhead%20Truth.htm >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> *From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] >> *On Behalf Of *Bobby J. Hughes >> *Sent:* Thursday, March 05, 2009 6:44 PM >> *To:* Rotary motors in aircraft >> *Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy - >> >> I spoke with Powersport after the crash. Jim had installed a key switch >> that was also his power master switch. I believe the key switch failed. >> >> Bobby >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> *From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] >> *On Behalf Of *Ed Anderson >> *Sent:* Thursday, March 05, 2009 4:33 PM >> *To:* Rotary motors in aircraft >> *Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy - >> >> Thanks for the additional info on Jim=92s crash, Bill. I was not aware t= hat >> he had broken his arm. >> >> Hummm, do you recall exactly what failed in his system? =96 I=92m intere= sted >> as I fly with a single battery. I initially flew with 2 but after 8 year= s of >> never using the second one but to help crank on a cold morning I took it >> out. I am waiting on one of those super duper very tiny batteries that B= ill >> Dube is developing =96 but, have to wait until the price comes down a bi= t >> {:>). >> >> Ed Anderson >> >> Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered >> >> Matthews, NC >> >> eanderson@carolina.rr.com >> >> http://www.andersonee.com >> >> http://www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html >> >> http://www.flyrotary.com/ >> >> http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494BW < >> http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm> >> >> http://www.rotaryaviation.com/Rotorhead%20Truth.htm >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> *From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] >> *On Behalf Of *wrjjrs@aol.com >> *Sent:* Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:37 AM >> *To:* Rotary motors in aircraft >> *Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy - >> >> Ed, >> Jim Clark's crash in one of the PowerSport powered RV-8s was not caused = by >> an engine failure. His problem was a single battery electrical system wh= ich >> failed. Jim did break his arm in the crash but wasn't hurt otherwise. Th= e >> plane was supposed to be rebuildable. I was very saddened by the Vans te= st >> BTW because they didn't let the rotarys fly an optimum flight plan but m= ade >> them do exactly what the Lycs did. The post Everett Hatch Powersport EMS= was >> also far from optimum. The Dave Lenard N4AVY flight in Dan Checcoways 10= 0 >> mile race shows that the rotary is very comparable in cost and fuel >> consumption. >> Bill Jepson >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Ed Anderson >> To: Rotary motors in aircraft >> Sent: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 5:47 am >> Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy - >> >> Yes, Mike, I read that article about the comparison as well. This was >> clearly a case of two guys who had more money than knowledge of the rota= ry. >> One eventually had an engine failure which damaged fortunately only the >> aircraft =96 never did hear the cause. So I personally did not get any >> indication reading the results that either of the pilots really understo= od >> how to get the best out of their rotary. But, yes, the powersport engine >> certainly looked nice =96 but at $30K it should {:>). >> >> =3D0 A >> >> One the other hand, I personally saw Tracy Crook win the Sun & Fun 100 a= ir >> race on two occasions before they decided to stop the air races because = of >> the embarrassment of his junk yard engine (yes, this was before his Rene= sis >> installation) beating lycomings that in some cases had $10,000 of additi= onal >> prep. >> >> Here Tracy was in a rather dirty airframe (compared to some of the >> racers), with automotive muffler hanging in the slip stream and a fixed >> pitch wooden prop winning the air races. Didn=92t hear anything about it= in >> any of the aviation publications did you? =96 too embarrassing to all th= ose >> Lycoming owners. So they decided to cancel the air races to preclude fur= ther >> embarrassment =96 Yeah! I know they claimed it was due to insurance >> consideration, Yeah! Right! {:>) >> >> Ed >> >> Ed Anderson >> >> Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered >> >> Matthews, NC >> >> eanderson@carolina.rr.com >> >> http://www.andersonee.com >> >> http://www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html >> >> http://www.flyrotary.com/ >> >> http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494BW < >> http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm> >> >> http://www.rotaryaviation.com/Rotorhead%20Truth.htm >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> *From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net> flyrotary@lancaironline.net?>] *On Behalf Of *Mike Wills >> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 04, 2009 10:50 PM >> *To:* Rotary m otors in aircraft >> *Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy - >> >> There was an article in the May 2006 issue of Sport Aviation. Two RV-8s >> powered by Powersport Rotaries compared to two of Van's factory demo RV-= 8s. >> Time to climb and speeds were pretty comparable. The rotary powered >> airplanes were a little heavier. Fuel consumption for a 160 mile out and >> return flight the rotaries burned 12.9 and 11.5 gallons while the Lyc >> powered RVs burned 8.9 and 9.5 gallons. Cruise portion of the flight was >> rotaries 7.85 and 7.1, Lycs 5.05 and 5.45. >> >> My guess is that if the pilots could have aggressively leaned the number= s >> would be closer but the rotaries were equipped with Powersport's FADEC. = No >> idea what it does with mixture. >> >> Anyway its articles like this that perpetuate the ideas about rotaries >> being gas hogs. Until we generate some numbers to contradict, this is go= ing >> to be the perception. If you guys generate the numbers I'll volunteer to >> write the magazine article! >> >> I should also mention that the Powersport RVs looked WAYYYY cooler than >> the Lyc powered RVs! >> >> Mike Wills >> >> RV-4 N144MW >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> >> *From:* Al Gietzen >> >> *To:* Rotary motors in aircraft >> >> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:27 AM >> >> *Subject:* [FlyRotary] Fuel economy - >> >> Mark wrote: >> >> Most are just plain scared to run their engines lean of peak where >> they are able to get close to the "advertised" bsfc. >> >> That seems to be the rule. I chatted yesterday with a hangar >> neighbor with his beautiful Lancair Legacy with Continental 550. >> Does he run lean of peak? =93Eh-h, well, I tried it, but it sounded >> different, and I hear the valves don=92t last as long; so I run it >> rich of peak. It=92s a few more dollars, but cheap insurance=94 >> >> Alcohol and possible vapor lock are the only issues I know of, and >> with a properly designed EFI fuel system, vapor lock isn't an >> issue. As long as they don't start blending alcohol in the fuel in >> my neck of the woods, I'll keep burning mogas and pocketing the >> difference. >> >> I did the ethanol test on my auto fuel yesterday. Within the >> accuracy of the test,=3D2 0the fuel had between 4 and 6% ethanol =96 >> consistent with what Mike said regarding CA fuels. So I got out my >> light and little my mirror and stiff wire with a sharp end; and >> inspected my fiberglass/EZpoxy fuel tanks. No sign of any >> softening of the surfaces; no sign of anything happening. Nothing >> in the fuel filter. So far, so good. >> >> So I=92ll keep runnin=92 with auto fuel =96 certainly when near my ho= me >> base. Saves close to $15 for every hour of flying =96 including the >> 6 =96 8 cents/ga for the 2-cycle oil (SuperTech 2-stroke oil, >> $10.97/ga at Walmart, mix =BE oz per ga.). >> >> You stated, "But really the biggest motivation was to do something >> a little different." As for that statement... I couldn't agree >> more, but how do you quantify something like that? >> >> I like to put it differently: "But really the biggest >> motivation was to do something a little better." >> >> Al G >> >> > > > -- > Homepage: http://www.flyrotary.com/ > Archive and UnSub: > http://mail.lancaironline.net:81/lists/flyrotary/List.html > --001485f9a4b8c25fcb04646d90be Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable The fireman on the scene reported no evidence of fuel, but if the tanks wer= e not full and also not breached in the accident, it's quite possible h= e just wasn't able to see it down in the tanks... he may not have even = looked, just assumed if there was no leak there was no fuel.=A0 Or it could= be a transcription error, where the fireman said "no evidence of fuel= leaking" and it got recorded as "no evidence of fuel or fuel lea= k"

In most cases in aviation (where experience is almost all with piston e= ngines) if the engine simply stops running abruptly without period of rough= running first, fuel exhaustion is by far the most common cause.=A0 So ther= e might have been some pre-disposition to expect fuel exhaustion.

I don't think fuel supply had anything to do with it.=A0 Probably.<= br>
On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 6:08 PM, Charlie E= ngland <cee= ngland@bellsouth.net> wrote:


Was there no chance that 'no evidence of fuel in the tanks' could h= ave been a factor?

Charlie

Ed Anderson wrote:

That is what the NTSB report also concluded, Bobby, failure of the ignition= switch.

All of my crucial switches (EC2, ignition, fuel pump) are wired to a 20 amp= circuit breaker I call my =93Live Man Switch=94. The circuit breaker is no= rmally OPEN so all switches work normally. Should the engine stop running d= ue to a mechanical failure of a switch, pushing in the CB will route power = to all crucial circuits. I spent $$ on sealed, heavy duty industrial toggle= switches back in the early 90s =96 they cost over $30.00 each back then. B= ut realizing that anything mechanical (or electrical) can fail, I decided t= o wire up my =93Live Man Switch=94.

I used it once during a take off I aborted after getting airborne due to th= e engine surging =96 turned out that it was nothing electrical, so it did n= ot remedy the problem, but I was pleased I had remembered it and had punche= d it shut.

This was when I was using a HALTECH EFI =96 the problem was you had to tune= it with a lap top and you couldn=92t tune the Fuel map on the ground beyon= d your static rpm. Well, I did the fuel map up to my static of 5200 (when I= was using the 2.17:1 gear box) and the extrapolated the fuel map pass that= point (obviously inappropriately). As soon as I lifted off the ground, the= engine started a wild surge between approx 5500 and 3000 rpm. I punched my= life man switch (which did nothing) and then decided to put it back down o= n the 2200 ft strip doing approx 75 mph. Touched down 300 ft from the end a= nd pushed the brake peddles through the floor. Thought I had made the wrong= decision (and probably did) as the end of the runway approached like and e= xpress train. But ended up about 12 ft off the end of the runway trying to = get my heart restarted =96 no damaged to anything other than my nerves, lif= espan and seat cushion.

In hindsight, with a bit more experience I would have recognized the =93lea= n surge=94 =96 first time I had encountered it in the rotary and then I wou= ld have realized the solution would have been to reach over and turned the = manual mixture control knob to full rich. But with only about 1-2 seconds t= o make a decision =96 I went with my pre-made decision that I would rather = go off the far end of the runway at 20-30 mph than get airborne and then ha= ve to set it down in a less desirable situation. A few days later the HALTE= CH failed with the injectors full open and I had gasoline running out the t= ail pipes before I could get the pumps shut off. Ordered Tracy=92s EC2 and = have flown with confidence ever since.

But, back to the design issues =96 I try not to have any unnecessary single= points of failure, but I think we all realize there is risk in our endeavo= r and should plan accordingly.

Ed

Ed Anderson

Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered

Matthews, NC

eanderson@ca= rolina.rr.com

http://www.anderson= ee.com

http://= www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html

http://www.flyrotar= y.com/

http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494B= W <http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm><= div class=3D"im">

http://www.rotaryaviation.com/Rotorhead%20Truth.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] *On Behalf= Of *Bobby J. Hughes
*Sent:* Thursday, March 05, 2009 6:44 PM
*To:* Rotary motors in aircraft
*Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy -

I spoke with Powersport after the crash. Jim had installed a key switch tha= t was also his power master switch. I believe the key switch failed.

Bobby

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] *On Behalf= Of *Ed Anderson
*Sent:* Thursday, March 05, 2009 4:33 PM
*To:* Rotary motors in aircraft
*Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy -

Thanks for the additional info on Jim=92s crash, Bill. I was not aware that= he had broken his arm.

Hummm, do you recall exactly what failed in his system? =96 I=92m intereste= d as I fly with a single battery. I initially flew with 2 but after 8 years= of never using the second one but to help crank on a cold morning I took i= t out. I am waiting on one of those super duper very tiny batteries that Bi= ll Dube is developing =96 but, have to wait until the price comes down a bi= t {:>).

Ed Anderson

Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered

Matthews, NC

eanderson@ca= rolina.rr.com

http://www.anderson= ee.com

http://= www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html

http://www.flyrotar= y.com/

http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494B= W <http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm><= div class=3D"im">

http://www.rotaryaviation.com/Rotorhead%20Truth.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] *On Behalf= Of *wrjjrs@aol.com=
*Sent:* Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:37 AM
*To:* Rotary motors in aircraft
*Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy -

Ed,
Jim Clark's crash in one of the PowerSport powered RV-8s was not caused= by an engine failure. His problem was a single battery electrical system w= hich failed. Jim did break his arm in the crash but wasn't hurt otherwi= se. The plane was supposed to be rebuildable. I was very saddened by the Va= ns test BTW because they didn't let the rotarys fly an optimum flight p= lan but made them do exactly what the Lycs did. The post Everett Hatch Powe= rsport EMS was also far from optimum. The Dave Lenard N4AVY flight in Dan C= heccoways 100 mile race shows that the rotary is very comparable in cost an= d fuel consumption.
Bill Jepson


-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Anderson <eanderson@carolina.rr.com>
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 5:47 am
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy -

Yes, Mike, I read that article about the comparison as well. This was clear= ly a case of two guys who had more money than knowledge of the rotary. One = eventually had an engine failure which damaged fortunately only the aircraf= t =96 never did hear the cause. So I personally did not get any indication = reading the results that either of the pilots really understood how to get = the best out of their rotary. But, yes, the powersport engine certainly loo= ked nice =96 but at $30K it should {:>).

=3D0 A

One the other hand, I personally saw Tracy Crook win the Sun & Fun 100 = air race on two occasions before they decided to stop the air races because= of the embarrassment of his junk yard engine (yes, this was before his Ren= esis installation) beating lycomings that in some cases had $10,000 of addi= tional prep.

Here Tracy was in a rather dirty airframe (compared to some of the racers),= with automotive muffler hanging in the slip stream and a fixed pitch woode= n prop winning the air races. Didn=92t hear anything about it in any of the= aviation publications did you? =96 too embarrassing to all those Lycoming = owners. So they decided to cancel the air races to preclude further embarra= ssment =96 Yeah! I know they claimed it was due to insurance consideration,= Yeah! Right! {:>)

Ed

Ed Anderson

Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered

Matthews, NC

eander= son@carolina.rr.com <mailto:eanderson@carolina.rr.com>

http://www.anderson= ee.com <htt= p://www.andersonee.com/>


http://= www.dmack.net/mazda/index.html

http://www.flyrotar= y.com/

http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494B= W <http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm><= div class=3D"im">

http://www.rotaryaviation.com/Rotorhead%20Truth.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net <mailto:= flyrotary@= lancaironline.net?>] *On Behalf Of *Mike Wills

*Sent:* Wednesday, March 04, 2009 10:50 PM
*To:* Rotary m otors in aircraft
*Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: Fuel economy -

There was an article in the May 2006 issue of Sport Aviation. Two RV-8s pow= ered by Powersport Rotaries compared to two of Van's factory demo RV-8s= . Time to climb and speeds were pretty comparable. The rotary powered airpl= anes were a little heavier. Fuel consumption for a 160 mile out and return = flight the rotaries burned 12.9 and 11.5 gallons while the Lyc powered RVs = burned 8.9 and 9.5 gallons. Cruise portion of the flight was rotaries 7.85 = and 7.1, Lycs 5.05 and 5.45.

My guess is that if the pilots could have aggressively leaned the numbers w= ould be closer but the rotaries were equipped with Powersport's FADEC. = No idea what it does with mixture.

Anyway its articles like this that perpetuate the ideas about rotaries bein= g gas hogs. Until we generate some numbers to contradict, this is going to = be the perception. If you guys generate the numbers I'll volunteer to w= rite the magazine article!

I should also mention that the Powersport RVs looked WAYYYY cooler than the= Lyc powered RVs!

Mike Wills

RV-4 N144MW

=A0 =A0----- Original Message -----

=A0 =A0*From:* Al Gietzen <mailto:ALVentures@cox.net>

=A0 =A0*To:* Rotary motors in aircraft <mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net>= ;

=A0 =A0*Sent:* Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:27 AM

=A0 =A0*Subject:* [FlyRotary] Fuel economy -

=A0 =A0Mark wrote:

=A0 =A0Most are just plain scared to run their engines lean of peak where<= br> =A0 =A0they are able to get close to the "advertised" bsfc.

=A0 =A0That seems to be the rule. I chatted yesterday with a hangar
=A0 =A0neighbor with his beautiful Lancair Legacy with Continental 550. =A0 =A0Does he run lean of peak? =93Eh-h, well, I tried it, but it sounded=
=A0 =A0different, and I hear the valves don=92t last as long; so I run it<= br> =A0 =A0rich of peak. It=92s a few more dollars, but cheap insurance=94

=A0 =A0Alcohol and possible vapor lock are the only issues I know of, and<= br> =A0 =A0with a properly designed EFI fuel system, vapor lock isn't an =A0 =A0issue. As long as they don't start blending alcohol in the fuel= in
=A0 =A0my neck of the woods, I'll keep burning mogas and pocketing the=
=A0 =A0difference.

=A0 =A0I did the ethanol test on my auto fuel yesterday. Within the
=A0 =A0accuracy of the test,=3D2 0the fuel had between 4 and 6% ethanol = =96
=A0 =A0consistent with what Mike said regarding CA fuels. So I got out my<= br> =A0 =A0light and little my mirror and stiff wire with a sharp end; and
=A0 =A0inspected my fiberglass/EZpoxy fuel tanks. No sign of any
=A0 =A0softening of the surfaces; no sign of anything happening. Nothing =A0 =A0in the fuel filter. So far, so good.

=A0 =A0So I=92ll keep runnin=92 with auto fuel =96 certainly when near my = home
=A0 =A0base. Saves close to $15 for every hour of flying =96 including the=
=A0 =A06 =96 8 cents/ga for the 2-cycle oil (SuperTech 2-stroke oil,
=A0 =A0$10.97/ga at Walmart, mix =BE oz per ga.).

=A0 =A0You stated, "But really the biggest motivation was to do somet= hing
=A0 =A0a little different." As for that statement... I couldn't a= gree
=A0 =A0more, but how do you quantify something like that?

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0I like to put it differently: "But really the = biggest
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0motivation was to do something a little better.&quo= t;

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Al G




--
Homepage: =A0http:/= /www.flyrotary.com/
Archive and UnSub: =A0 http://mail.lancaironline.net:81/lists= /flyrotary/List.html

--001485f9a4b8c25fcb04646d90be--