I got my turbo manifold welded up (thanks to a friend on the field), turbo and waste gate
installed and this last week I got the intercooler, BOV
and piping all plumbed together.
I also removed a big ol
' fan that I think was restricting radiator
air flow that was located on the "in" side of the radiator and replaced it with two smaller fans located on the "out" side to pull air through the radiator.
I pushed the plane out of the hangar, chocked her up, advanced the mixture to full right, gave it four spurts of prime and she cranked right up, dialed
the mixture to twelve o'clock
and it ran pretty darn smooth. WOW, is it QUIETER
!!!!
REALLY really
Quieter. Straight pipes out of the rotary was having the military jet jockey's coming by to see what the noise was <g>
All looked good...well, since the building Gawds
like to have fun at my expense after running for a few minutes I noticed a nice stream of coolant shooting up into the air. Sigh. I must have ding the radiator when I pulled out the
old fan.
Anyway, I did shut down and just to see what would happen, I started it up and shut down a few times. It started fine each time (this had been a problem in the past). No more primer needed and the mixture was just past twelve o'clock
. The leak
was not a real factor for these short runs.
Here is a link to it running at idle. Note no leak since the pressure had not risen yet. Please forgive the artifacts of the prop as this was taken on my phone. I am not as close to the prop as the artifacts make it appear. I will try to remember to
take my camera out once the new radiator is installed and get some shots of the install and plumbing and better running shots.
I did apply some power twice and got it up to 39 MP at just over 6000 rpm for several seconds. I was not able to test much due to the leak. I pushed her back in to the hangar and removed the bad radiator. I could have messed with getting the leak fixed,
but the reality is the PITA factor would have bugged me (find a shop, perhaps
have to find another shop<g>, have them repair and test, charge me, maybe got it right, maybe not....etc) so I just ordered a new one for $250 from Summit. It should be here
in a few days and delivered to my door.
I occupied myself the rest of the evening doing some clean up work that was much easier with the radiator removed. I also made a support bracket to help support the turbo so all the weight is not on the turbo/exhaust manifold.
Even though I am annoyed
at the radiator leak (can't blame anyone but myself), it was a great two days of progress overall. It was great to hear the plane run so much quieter and to have it start and RESTART all but effortlessly.
Also, I got my Dynon
Skyview
mostly installed. The AHARS
is a combination of the magnometer
and the pressure sensors so you have to mount the unit in a magnetically neutral
area AND run pressure lines to the unit. So, finding a good location in a canard is posing a challenge
. The Dynon
looks really kewl
though.
I am waiting for a buddy of mine to finish some of the more complex
wiring tying
my King 125's
, Transponder, audio panel and intercom. It is his line of work and allows him a break from his RV-7 with a Soob
build <g>
Anyway, so it goes.
All the best,
Chris Barber