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Hi Paul;
Real glad to hear you
made it through without anything worse than what looks like a fair bit of tire
wear! You may have had some luck, but I've found that the harder I work, the
luckier I get, so I think you must have done more than a few things right to get
it stopped where you did.
You sound pretty bummed
out right now and I certainly don't blame you, however you need to remember that
what were doing isn't simple and shouldn't be taken lightly. I tend to keep my
posts nice and polite (hey, I'm Canadian, were all polite heh,), but I must
agree with Leon's not-so-polite post. The Microtech is a powerful tool and in
some ways I wish I had one (don't worry Tracy, I'm happy with the EC2 too :-),
but it needs to be tuned right before you consider flying again. But make sure
you've identified the problem first, as it may not even be the Microtech.
Your description of your
fuel pump location concerns me. I found that my pumps got way too hot in that
same location until I shielded them and installed a blast tube. I had vapour
lock problems as well, however they were compounded by a header tank.
Considering that you already had elevated temps before flight, I would consider
this as suspect.
But regardless of what
you find, you need to immobilize that plane and run it at full power for 3-5
minutes not just once but several times, preferably with an experienced rotary
mechanic on hand. Unfortunately this may not be that easy as you need to find a
mechanic that is willing to accept and understand the differences between cars
and airplanes. Not to mention that if he needs/wants to get close to the
engine while it's running, he's got to stand next to a meat dicer with a very
strong wind trying to pull him in (now that's a big strike against them
backwards planes... I cringe just thinking about it).
I can understand your
desire to go back to something simpler, but remember that there are big
advantages to using advancements in technology. You just need to understand them
a little better. It hasn't been that long since your first flight, and when you
consider how long you must have spent building the airplane, it's fair to expect
a little extra time to tune an experimental engine as well.
Hang in there a little longer and be patient
and focused! Soon it will be all worth it. We're all rooting for ya! 
Todd Bartrim
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