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lcottrell
Joined: 29 May 2006
Posts: 1494
Location: Jordan Valley, Or
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 Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:53 pm Post subject: HKS flight |
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I finally got every thing lined up correctly and was able to fly my Firestar II with the HKS. It has been a struggle for me, as I would much rather fly than build or tinker. I have persevered however and things are finally going better.
My first flight was last Tuesday, and I had made a trip to Jordan Valley to the Shell Station to get some 91 Octane fuel. It of course has ethanol in it. I had probably bought it the week before, and due to grounding problems that I of course created myself, didn't get ready to fly until Tuesday. It started right up and every thing seemed to be going well. I warmed up the engine oil to 122 degrees and began my take off roll. It sounded good and I was getting plenty of climb so I kept it over the runway climbing all the time. While on the ground there was little wind, but it was blowing about 12 MPH in a nice crosswind to the runway. I flew for about 10 minutes and checked my stall speed numbers and there was no change in my stall break. When I advanced the throttle it hesitated and did not want to rev up. I did nurse it back to a usable rpm and circled for an immediate landing. On the ground it was progressively worse the longer I taxied. After a bit, I checked the gascolator and found that the fuel in there was about the color of coffee. I kept draining it and the best it would do was cloudy, so I drained the tank and put some fuel that I found in Boise that did not have ethanol in it. I checked the float bowls and found nothing in them. It still would not accelerate over 3100 rpm's. I had been talking to Jerry at Green Sky and he said that he still thought it was fuel related. I cut out the fuel filter and mainlined the fuel and it again ran like a champ. I went out and checked the weather and the wind had come up again, so I postponed flying. Yesterday the weather finally moderated a bit, but I felt like crap so I declined to fly. Today it was cold again in the morning (21 degrees) so I went into the hanger and did a little maintenance and built a few shelves. Finally at about 3:30 the wind quit so I rolled it out and tried it again. The plane is the same as it was when I was running the 503 on it, so I was interested to see what the difference would be. There was a bit of wind up high so I flew a triangle course and ended up with 73 MPH average at 5800 RPM's That is about 6 MPH faster than I could do at a cruise with the 503. I could exceed VNE at WOT ,which at the setting that I had the prop, of 6100 RPM's. The stall remained the same at 30 MPH indicated. My climb was 550 feet per minute which is about 200 fpm better than I could do with the 503. Just for grins I shut the engine off and found that at 50 to 55 MPH indicated I could make a 180 turn in 80 feet. I believe that I can do better with a 40 MPH speed. It required 5 touch and goes before I got one that was suitable. (Last flight was a challenger in early Oct)
In an hour and 12 minutes flying between 5400 and 5800 RPM's I burned just a bit more than 3 gallons. The engine even at full throttle is very quiet compared to any Rotax.
I have looked for the new Sta bill that they are making for ethanol gas, but have not been able to find it yet. I will not be using any ethanol gas if there is any way around it. The crap plugged my fuel filter in nothing flat, and I could not reason out why it changed all at once.
I also gave my new Chilli Vest a test flight as well, and I am very pleased with its performance also. My wrists got a bit cool where my gloves ended but that is all.
Larry, 440.7 hours Firestar II
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John Hauck
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)
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| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:17 pm Post subject: HKS flight |
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Hi Larry:
Congratulations!
Sounds like it is going to do ok. Maybe I will get a chance to fly an HKS FS when I visit in May.
Glad the Chilli Vest worked. Sure cut down on the amount of clothes I had to wear in cold country. Made getting in and out of the mkIII a lot easier.
Be aware that low level tight turns at slow speeds will bite you in the ass.
Your buddy,
john h
mkIII
[quote]
I also gave my new Chilli Vest a test flight as well, and I am very pleased with its performance also. My wrists got a bit cool where my gloves ended but that is all.
Larry, 440.7 hours Firestar II
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John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama |
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lcottrell
Joined: 29 May 2006
Posts: 1494
Location: Jordan Valley, Or
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| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:50 pm Post subject: HKS flight |
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[quote] ---
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John Hauck
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)
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Dave Bigelow
Joined: 29 Jan 2006
Posts: 103
Location: Kamuela, Hawaii
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| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:26 pm Post subject: Re: HKS flight |
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Congratulations on a successful conversion, Larry. I really like my HKS Firestar. The HKS TBO was recently raised to 1,000 hours. When you consider that, plus the lower fuel consumption, the HKS is actually cheaper over the long haul than the Rotax 503.
We have the ethanol problem here in Hawaii too. The legislature passed a "shotgun" law that all gas (other than avgas) sold in the State must have 10% ethanol. About six months after the change, complaints that engines were being ruined started rolling in. It was particularly bad in the marine industry. The alcohol ate up the resin in fiberglass fuel tanks over time, and glass particles ended up in fuel filters, carbs, injection units, and engines.
They eventually allowed gas without ethanol to be sold at marinas. The oil companies supply the marinas with 91 octane autogas without the ethanol, which results in gas of 89 octane. The 10% ethanol will normally raise the octane of 89 octane pure gas to 91 octane E10.
I've been running my HKS with 3 gallons of 89 octane E0 mixed with 1 gallon of 100/130 avgas. Seems to work well, and I've had no lead issues so far. I do change the oil every 50 hours.
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Dave Bigelow
Kamuela, Hawaii
FS2, HKS 700E |
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