Status Brantel #72823

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:20 am

Spike wrote:Most excellent! Have you given that first ride yet?

Not yet

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:45 am

ooh, ooh. pick me, pick me

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:33 am

Brantel wrote:
cjensen wrote:Awesome Brian!! You blew threw it quicker than I thought ya would!
Is that good or bad????

That's GREAT!!

aparchment · Post by **aparchment** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:50 pm

Way to go Brian! That's more good news. Now you can enjoy the flying rather than always having a mission.

svanarts · Post by **svanarts** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:09 pm

It's hard to stop building.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:37 am

Brian...got any pics of how you fixed your left rear baffle crack? I removed my cowl last night at 20.0 hours...mine is cracked.

Figured it would be...

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:23 pm

Not readily available. Out of town till the weekend....

I drilled it all apart. Put new parts where the cracked ones were, added a .125 angle to the corner and added a steel brace from a center case half bolt to the aft baffle.

Will take some pics as soon as I take the cowl off next time.

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:16 am

A week or so ago I ordered a P-mag to replace my right traditional mag. I am a gaget geek so I just had to try one:

Finished up the P-Mag install today. It took a few more hours than advertised...

Making new plug harnesses - slow but not hard, follow their directions on the lube and it goes OK
Adding power switch-wire-fuse to panel - hate under the panel work!!! Hate drilling new holes in the panel!!! Hate digging shavings out of the carpet!!!
Reworking p-lead switches - I used toggle switches, had to remove the starter block on the right mag switch and remove the tach wire from the right p-lead
Running tach wire thru firewall - upside down under the panel feet hanging over seats!
Running power wire they firewall - upside down under the panel feet hanging over seats!
Splicing into MAP line - required trip to autoparts store for "T"
Drilling firewall for MAP line - Did not want to mess with the braided line fwd of firewall so I decided to make the connection inside where the tubing is and after the restrictor to make it smooth for the P-mag.
Removing right mag harness - mostly painless
Reworking left mag harness to only fire bottom plugs - somewhat painfull, had to cut all the ties and mounts lose and rework
Remove old top plugs - old plugs look like they were buring as good as I could ask for. Nice and clean and good color. Good sign the engine is running good.
Anneal plug gaskets - The auto plug adapters were advertised to come with new gaskets but they did not so I had to reuse the old ones. No big deal, easy to anneal them.
Remove drive gear from mag - Requires a couple small strap wrenches and a gear puller. The mag shaft does not have a dimple in the end so we used the original nut to hold the puller shaft. Popped off with a bang!
Add drive gear to P-mag - Easy as pie but takes a couple times to get the cotter pin hole to align.
Stab in the P-mag - Plenty of room between the P-mag and the battery box.
Makeup wiring connections to P-Mag. Used lots of heat strink and ferrules. Took my time to ensure no issues down the road.
Time P-mag. Super easy! Set TDC, blow into the MAP tube twice and you are done!
Add new plug wires - Had to drill out the plug wire shields, come up with new bracing locations, add zip ties to prevent them from touching each other and causing inductive coupling missfires.
Gap plugs - I used the cheap NGK BR8ES plugs @ .0325", was going to use Iridium but could not find them locally??
Test ignition - Big fat long duration starting sparks!!! Sounds like buzzing RF arcs during start mode!
Install plugs - Used anti-seez and torqued the plugs not the adaptors. Installed the adaptors on the plugs first.
Test run!!!

Started pouring rain before I could test fly but the ground test runs went perfectly.

Test run report:

First start with a cold motor was withing 2 blades.
P-mag can self power itself down to 800rpm.
Second start with warm motor was 1 blade.
Third start was instant to 1 blade. Pretty much starts like a late model car.

Mag checks @ 1700 rpm reveal:

P-mag off, regular mag on = 40rpm drop
regular mag on, P-mag off = 10rpm drop

Prior to the P-mag swap, I would get 40 rpm drops on both mags.

At 800 rpm idle, I get what I would call weird results. At this low RPM, if I turn off the regular mag, I get a large drop in RPM. If I turn off the P-mag, hardly any drop. At idle speeds, I see the opposite of what I see at runnup RPM. Maybe some of you smart guys can explain this to me??

With both traditional mag and P-mag on, I can idle ultra smooth down to 625 rpm. That is against the stop so it may even go lower, iduno??

The only thing that makes me a little concerned on this install is the auto plug harnesses. I have complete faith in the connection to the plugs since they really snap onto the plugs but the connection to the P-mag coil housing is not as robust. I can see one of them working lose... Anyone ever had this happen?

Post by **bullojm1** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:42 am

Brian,

I think you will really like the PMAG. I have an EMAG/Slick mag combo on mine and I really like the combination. The engine starts quickly and runs very smooth leaned back. I don't know if I am comfortable going with two E/PMag's just yet. I like the idea of the slick acting as an electrically independent sparking device! Plus I don't think I gain a whole lot of benefit from the extra EMAG.

Can't wait to hear how your first PMAG flight goes!

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 8:11 am

All of you guys and your sump heaters pushed me over the edge to finally install mine that I have had sitting on the shelf for 4 years.

A couple weeks ago I finally installed it and gave the epoxy it came with a week to cure properly before using it. I started out only using it when I was there just to make sure it was not going to burn down my airplane and hangar. It seems to really get hot locally but I guess that is the point.

Anyway fast forward to this past weekend...After I installed and tested my P-Mag, I left the heater on and went back over to the airport and checked on it last night. It has been running for 4 days and all is well.

I did not have a blanket on the cowl but I did plug the front inlets with two T shirts.

OAT = 32Â°F
Oil Temp = 78Â°F (sensor only, no turning the prop, no flow, up top in the normal sensor location)
Carb Temp = 88Â°F
CHT = 69-72Â°F
EGT = 58-62Â°F

The built in thermostat on the heater is fixed at 160Â°F max I think so the carb temp probe which is really close to the heater seems to prove that that is working OK.

Last night I folded an old sleeping bag and placed it on top of the cowl. This should really help.

I know that some have said that these heaters can cause condensation and problems when used long term but I cannot see how when I can get the entire area inside of the cowl up to these temps. Our average cold temps are not that low so we are lucky in that regard. I imagine that somewhere that has much lower average temps might see a problem but I do not think here in East TN it will be a problem. The other thing is that I bet the ones that do have problems are not flown many times per month like my plane is so that could allow condensation to build up in there.

I plan to check it again after a few days of cold snowy weather and see how it is doing with the blanket on there....for now I plan to leave it on 24x7!

The reason I want to leave it on is because it is a 40 minute drive to the airport and I rarely have much notice before I go flying. I don't have money to spend right now on a cellular activated switch so that option is out.

Here is the heater that I installed:

http://www.mcfarlane-aviation.com/Produ ... goryID=128

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:25 pm

Two test flights today with my new P-mag.

This thing worked exactly as advertised....

First flight was with the "A curve" select jumper installed because I wanted to see what this ignition advance stuff was going to do to my CHT's before going for the full "B curve".

"A Curve" went just fine. First start this morning was instant. Pretty cool since the OAT at that time was 32Â°F and the low last night in my unheated and uninsulated hangar was 15Â°F. I do have a sump heater though and it was running last night.

CHT's were fine and the engine ran noticably smoother. Hard climb on TO, climb to 5500 and tested the leaning ability. I can now lean way past peak with no stumbles whatsoever. Remember I have a CARB!!! The engine just starts to slow down, no stumbling!!! EGT's went down on average, not much change in CHT.

Idle can get down to scary low speeds with this thing!

Second flight I pulled the jumper and flew with the "B Curve".

This flight went just as well. I did a climb all the way to 8500ft this time and ran the test runs at WOT. CHT's may be a little higher than before average but not too bad. EGT's dropped around 100Â°F average. At best power mixture @ 8500ft DA, I could get around 2650rpm max on my FP prop. Leaning still worked just as good as the "A Curve". I do not think the airplane is any faster but it sure feels meaner. You can actually feel the way the ignition advance makes the engine hit harder.

Idles so slow it is scary!!! Almost sounds like it has quit!

So far I am a happy camper!!

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:26 pm

Good report Brian. I've got some work to do to get to your stage.

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:25 am

Here I will update pics of my paint project as it progresses...

Painter is Bobby Potts of Tuscaloosa Interiors in Tuscaloosa Alabama. He is a well known airplane painter of the South East. He has over 30 years experience painting airplanes of all types and has painted many many many RV's.

https://picasaweb.google.com/brantel998 ... directlink

Here is the scheme, colors will be Metalic Red, A shade of Metalic Gold that leans to the darker side, and an Off White.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:38 am

Lookin ugly Brian!!

That'll all change tho...

Thanks for the update on it, this has gotta be exciting!

Post by **Spike** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:25 am

I love watching paint transformations, its always so exciting. Its like watching a bird hatch out of the nest!

Spike

Bob Barrett · Post by **Bob Barrett** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 3:18 pm

My painter made my airplane look good. People who saw it druing construction hardly believe it is the same airplane. I have painted several repairable cars we have had but my wonderful wife insisted tha I hire the bodyshop we use to paint the airplane! She was absloutely right!

Some of you guys are good painter but that is not my forte.

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:41 pm

Wing paint is on:

Aileron paint is on:

White is on the fuse and the lower cowl:

Can't wait to see the Metalic Red go on!!!

hydroguy2 · Post by **hydroguy2** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:30 am

mmmm....shiny!

you're right the red is going to really set it off.

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Mon Jul 25, 2011 6:07 pm

Almost as good as going to Osh. Last week's progress...

He ain't the fastest around but it sure looks so far like he knows what he is doing!

I can hardly wait to see this thing complete and out in the Sun!!!

TomNativeNewYorker · Post by **TomNativeNewYorker** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 2:51 am

That looks real nice!

RivetBangers.com

Status Brantel #72823

Sweet!

Electronic Ignition Upgrade!!!!

Sump heater!!!! Yeah baby!!!

Paint Status