First engine start - N826RC
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:19 am
This is a cross post from the other site, but I figured I would put this out here for those that don't frequently visit there.
Well, today was another one of those huge milestone days. Took a little time off of work to wrap up some loose ends and to double (ok, who's kidding -- triple) check all of the fuel, vent, and oil lines. I called some local RV guys and said the big event would take place at 6:30 PM CST. Chad Jensen came right on time and served as a critical extra set of eyes to ensure everything was secured and isolated from vibration.
Time to pull the plane out of the hangar and call for the fuel truck. I requested 4 gallons (2 per side) for the first run.
MILESTONE #1: Fuel tanks don't leak. Totally sweet.
I tied down the tail to the tow hitch of our SUV, and hopped in the plane. I hit the switch to test the fuel pump -- ran fine but no pressure building up.
TIP #1: Fuel pumps work A LOT better when the fuel valve is in the on position. I had a checklist in the AFS, but in my excitement, I forgot to pull it up.
Ok, so I got the pump working properly with PLENTY of pressure built up. Time to start this thing. Clear prop, mixture full rich, prop full forward, throttle cracked open, mag/electronic ignition on, hit the starter......
Low and behold, the thing started on the THIRD blade! Bart @ Aerosport, you are AWESOME!. First seconds, it ran a bit rough and died with a BIG backfire (with comment in the video from my wife ). Hit the starter again and it fired right back up and settled into a smooth idle.
I let it warm up a bit and then jumped up to 1700 rpms. All engine sensors worked perfectly (another set of MAJOR kudos to Rob Hickman @ AFS). A bit of a run up here and then it was time to jump up to 1800 and cycle the prop. Took a time or two to get the oil flowing, but it eventually cycled just fine. SWEET.
I took it back to idle, but realized I forgot to do a ignition check while it was at 1700 rpm. Raised the RPMs back up and I only got about 40 rpm drop when I turned off my mag, and about 100 rpms dropped when I turned off the electronic ignition (more kudos to Lightspeed Engineering).
Back to idle for shutdown -- smooth idle and an non-event shutdown with the purge valve (more kudos to Airflow Performance).
What a day! Extra special thanks to my wife, Christine, for shooting video of the event. Also, thanks a million to local RV builders Chad Jensen and Terry Wendling. These guys manned the fire extinguishers and checked for leaks. You guys ROCK!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXVDUsh0txY
Well, today was another one of those huge milestone days. Took a little time off of work to wrap up some loose ends and to double (ok, who's kidding -- triple) check all of the fuel, vent, and oil lines. I called some local RV guys and said the big event would take place at 6:30 PM CST. Chad Jensen came right on time and served as a critical extra set of eyes to ensure everything was secured and isolated from vibration.
Time to pull the plane out of the hangar and call for the fuel truck. I requested 4 gallons (2 per side) for the first run.
MILESTONE #1: Fuel tanks don't leak. Totally sweet.
I tied down the tail to the tow hitch of our SUV, and hopped in the plane. I hit the switch to test the fuel pump -- ran fine but no pressure building up.
TIP #1: Fuel pumps work A LOT better when the fuel valve is in the on position. I had a checklist in the AFS, but in my excitement, I forgot to pull it up.
Ok, so I got the pump working properly with PLENTY of pressure built up. Time to start this thing. Clear prop, mixture full rich, prop full forward, throttle cracked open, mag/electronic ignition on, hit the starter......
Low and behold, the thing started on the THIRD blade! Bart @ Aerosport, you are AWESOME!. First seconds, it ran a bit rough and died with a BIG backfire (with comment in the video from my wife ). Hit the starter again and it fired right back up and settled into a smooth idle.
I let it warm up a bit and then jumped up to 1700 rpms. All engine sensors worked perfectly (another set of MAJOR kudos to Rob Hickman @ AFS). A bit of a run up here and then it was time to jump up to 1800 and cycle the prop. Took a time or two to get the oil flowing, but it eventually cycled just fine. SWEET.
I took it back to idle, but realized I forgot to do a ignition check while it was at 1700 rpm. Raised the RPMs back up and I only got about 40 rpm drop when I turned off my mag, and about 100 rpms dropped when I turned off the electronic ignition (more kudos to Lightspeed Engineering).
Back to idle for shutdown -- smooth idle and an non-event shutdown with the purge valve (more kudos to Airflow Performance).
What a day! Extra special thanks to my wife, Christine, for shooting video of the event. Also, thanks a million to local RV builders Chad Jensen and Terry Wendling. These guys manned the fire extinguishers and checked for leaks. You guys ROCK!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXVDUsh0txY
CJ
