Ed, wake up :) there was PART2:

My trip to Oshkosh, summer of 2006 - Part 2

I happened to land in a great little town - Hyannis, Nebraska,  population
287 (maybe including pets!) and not close to anywhere. But I hadn't  been on
the ground more than a few minutes before a rancher named Dean drove  up and
asked if he could help. He suddenly became my liaison and repair
coordinator. Even though it was Sunday he got a hold of a guy (Gary  the Vet)
who had one of the 3 hangars on this little airfield and I was able  to work
on my plane inside the hangar out of the blistering sun. He also  provided me
with the one size of metric wrench that I hadn't brought with me so I  could
get what remained of the exhaust manifold off the engine!

I was also given the name and home phone numbers of the hotel owners  and a
couple of people who worked there because the hotel isn't open on  Sundays
and I'd have to get someone to come and let me in and give me a room.  It was
an OK little hotel - the only real issue was that it sits about 150ft  from a
very busy railroad line and because this little town has a street that
crosses the tracks the trains have to blow their monstrous horn whenever
they come through. You guessed it, the hotel is right about the spot  where
the train lets off it's huge blast!  So, at 1AM, 2AM, 3AM, 4AM... I  jumped
out of bed and dove for cover only to remember that we weren't at war  - it
was only a train.

My new rancher friend also gave me the name and number of a local  welder and
again, even though it was Sunday, he returned my call within a couple of
hours and came out and got my exhaust system and took it away and  welded it
all up in about an hour. He also welded up all the spider cracks that
emanated from each of the two the main breaks in the exhaust - an  excellent,
excellent welding job!

While the welder was welding up my exhaust I cut, pried, and ripped the
melted wiring apart. My first thought was to cut out all the exposed  wires
and splice in some new wire that actually had insulation. However,  everyone
I talked to in town said they didn't think there was any wire close  to the
size I needed in the town. There was a "Rancher Supply" store -  plenty of
barbed wire - no wire for electronics for sure. I'd have to go 60  miles to
the closest "big city" (population 9000) to find what I needed. But I  also
needed a soldering iron and shrink tube. So, after pondering my  options, I
decided that since the wires themselves were intact - all I needed as  some
insulation to keep them from shorting on themselves or the engine. So I
carefully wrapped each one of the 12 or so wires in electrical tape and
high-temp silicone rubber tape (which I had brought along just in case).

I reassembled everything by about 8:30 or 9PM Sunday night and ran the
engine for a half-hour at different settings - especially full throttle.
Everything seemed OK so it was time for some scrumptious dinner from the
same place I where I enjoyed a fabulous lunch - the BP gas station  mini-mart
next to the hotel (did I mention it was the only thing open).

Now I was ready to fly out the next morning - which direction?  Oshkosh or
home? Given that this is the second time I have had cracks in the  exhaust it
was a no-brainer. This exhaust system is apparently only good for  between
20-30 hours of use before some part of it fails. So home to Seattle  it is.

But here's my main concern (aside from the exhaust system) - my  engine and
prop combination aren't the most efficient.  I was full of fuel when I
departed Cheyenne and because of the altitude at Cheyenne (6200ft) and
temperature it took about 6000 feet of runway to break ground - and  then I
climbed VERY slowly. So, I've burned about 12 gallons getting to  Hyannis and
I'm now a little lower at 3700ft and on a runway that is 3975ft  long.  There
is a hill maybe 100ft high off of one end that has a cemetery on it  (local
joke about pilots saving the grave diggers time by planting  themselves). Off
the other end is a pasture and then some more rolling hills.  The  previous
day the prevailing wind (maybe 10-15kts) was coming from the cemetery
direction - not good.

I did some calculations, based on prior performance, and estimated  that I
should be able to lift off somewhere in the 3000 foot range - as long  as the
altitude remained the same (for non-aviators: when it's hot the altitude
that the plane "sees" is higher because the air is less dense - i.e.  takes
more runway to take-off). So a very early morning departure was  planned when
it was cool - also hoping that the wind at 6AM would be calm and I could
head for the pasture and not the cemetery - if you know what I  mean ;-)  I
had to wait until 6AM too because the hotel doesn't open until 6AM  and when
I "checked-in" they essentially just gave me two keys (one for the  outside
door and one for the room). I had to pay them before I left -  couldn't skip
town without paying!

I made the long drive (about 3 blocks!) to the airport in the pickup  truck
that was loaned to me by the hanger owner. At 6:10AM I pushed the  plane out
and did a pre-flight to make sure field mice hadn't taken up  residence where
they shouldn't. I called the FAA Flight Service Station on my cell  phone to
file a flight plan from Hyannis, Nebraska to Casper, Wyoming (about 285
miles) with a route that happened to go over several larger airports  along
the way!  As I hung up with FSS an older, gentleman rancher pulled up  in his
pickup and got out for a chat. It turns out he was the guy who  originally
built the airport 40 years before. An interesting guy! I thanked him  for his
foresight in placing an airport exactly where I needed one and then  asked
him to go the end of the runway and get ready to call in the cavalry  if I
got hung up on the barbed wire at the other end.  He assured me he  would and
we said good-bye.

At 6:30AM I started the engine up and took the plane to the edge of the
grass on the end of the paved runway and ran the engine up and leaned  it for
best power. Then it was off the brakes and on to counting runway  lights -
was that 5 or 6 or 7 - I can't count lights at a time like this! (for
non-aviators: runway lights are typically spaced at 200ft and  counting them
can tell you how far you've gone and how much runway is left). By about
mid-field I was up to 54kts and accelerating - only 16kts more and I can
lift off. Sure enough, with about 700-800 feet left I came off the  runway
and began a slow climb. A gentle left turn so I didn't skim the hills  on the
other side of the pasture and I was on course to Casper, Wyoming.

The flight home was as uneventful as the flight had been coming out -  well
up until Hyannis, Nebraska that is. There were 5-10kt headwinds most  of the
way so it wasn't quite as quick a trip - plus I kept the engine  running rich
so the exhaust was cooler - so I didn't have the same power setting  as the
trip out.

Stats:  Miles traveled out - 1340, average speed 184MPH (with two  landings)
Miles back - 1295, average speed 175MPH (with two landings)

Now it's off to design a different exhaust system - using different
material! Oh, and back to work! Since I'm not at Oshkosh what else is  there
to do!

Joe Hull
Cozy Mk-IV N31CZ (65 hrs - Rotary 13B NA)
Redmond (Seattle), Washington








On Jul 26, 2006, at 7:51 AM, Ed Anderson wrote:

Boy, Joe.  Sure glad you paid attention to those "disturbances of  the force" and landed safely before the situation "developed".  You  develop a sense of when the engine is running right and even small  differences in sound, tone, engine instruments is enough to get  your attention - as it did yours.  Good decision!!!

Sounds like the weight of the muffler  and vibration (caused by  your encounter with air turbulence)  was too much for the header  pipes.  It also makes a case for keeping (when possible) critical  items like fuel lines and ignition lines as far away from the  exhaust system as possible.

I must admit,  I feel for you.  I thought that southwest Louisiana  was a rotary no-mans land, but Wyoming has got to be a bit worst.   Local shop should be able to cut and weld you a workable exhaust  using the remains of yours as a pattern. You don't really have to  have a muffler to get home. There should be a spark plug wire set  from a local auto store that  can be made to work.  Hope you are  able to get on your way quickly.

Ed

Ed Anderson
Rv-6A N494BW Rotary Powered
Matthews, NC
eanderson@carolina.rr.com
http://members.cox.net/rogersda/rotary/configs.htm#N494BW



----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Hull" <joeh@pilgrimtech.com>
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 12:05 AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Joe Hull's OSH Trip - Part 1

My trip to Oshkosh, summer of 2006.

On Saturday, July 22 at about 8:30AM, I took off from Arlington,  Washington,
where my Cozy airplane is hangared - ultimate destination OSHKOSH.  I stopped
in Bozeman, Montana for fuel and then went south to Cheyenne,  Wyoming to see
my two sister's. Aside from getting the snot beat out of me by  turbulence
over the mountains of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, the  trip was
great. The plane performed as well as expected.

The next morning I fueled up and took off about 8:45AM heading  east toward
Mecca - Oh no, I mean Oshkosh.

The plane flew great, just like the day before, and the air was  calm and
smooth unlike the day before! Then, about an hour or so out of  Cheyenne -
about 160 miles - I suddenly felt a small change in the vibration  of the
airplane - there was "a disturbance in the force" ;-)  I didn't  really know
there was anything wrong - but the plane was vibrating just a little
differently than it had for the previous 8 hours of flight. All the
instruments said everything was normal - oil and water temps were  OK, oil
pressure OK, airspeed the same - just that "disturbance in the  force" that
said something might be amiss.

I changed power settings and the engine responded fine but I did  notice that
when I slowed down I thought I started to smell something - ever  so faint.
Now for you non-Cozy airplane people, you have to remember - my  engine is in
the rear of the airplane - so I can't see it let alone smell it.  So my first
thought was FIRE!!! Not a good thing for "plastic airplanes"! I  did a quick
90 degree turn and looked back at my track to see if there was a  trail of
smoke. No smoke - whew! But I really shouldn't be smelling anything -
however faint that smell might be.

So I decided to get on the ground and take a look around. There  was a little
airport directly ahead about 5 miles and since it was the closest  thing
within 60 miles that had a runway even close to long enough, that  was the
place to go. I landed and walked around the airplane and nothing  was loose
and everything I could see through the openings in the engine  cowling looked
OK. So I hopped back in and started the engine - it ran really  rough. I
throttled up and it was missing a lot and then sputtered and  died.  Now I
was convinced - there was definitely something wrong.

I pulled out my meager set of tools that I had brought along -  just in case
- and started to take the cowling off. Even before I could do that  I noticed
some blistering on the cowling - and one big burned spot. These  weren't
there when I walked around a few minutes ago. So I removed the  cowl and
voila - the whole exhaust system had cracked off the engine!

There are two short runners that come out of the engine and attach  to a
large collection tube. Both runners were complete cracked off of the
collection tube. It had blown the collection tube out an inch or  so from the
engine and it was only being held in place by some safety wire I  had around
it and the braces to the heat shield that surrounded it. The hot  exhaust
coming straight out of the rotors burned through the heat shield I  had
around the large collection tube and fried all the ignition wires  above the
exhaust area where the fuel injectors are located. It just melted  them
together so they were all shorting one another.

Needless to say, I'm glad I decided to land at an airport, however  small and
remote, instead of being forced to find a country road or cow  pasture.

-- Continued in Joe Hull's OSH Trip - Part 2-

Joe Hull
Cozy Mk-IV N31CZ (65 hrs - Rotary 13B NA)
Redmond (Seattle), Washington


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