My AGM 17ah battery died a few days ago (or so I thought).  I purchased a new one but the starter was still acting up.  Pulling the cowling revealed that the nose of the starter had broken off.  This is not the first time.  To get this model of starter to work, I have to grind some material off of the cast housing in which the starter "shaft" has it's front bearing.  When I get a really strong kickback during starting, this can happen. So, a trip to the local Autozone, 30 minutes at the grinder, and I am back in business. One of these days I should do some looking to see if there is a better starter and/or mounting method. Of course, in my infinite wisdom, I left the old, "failed" battery at the battery shop where I purchased the new one so I have no way to check it to see if it really was bad (which I don't think it was now).

After putting regular DOT 5 automotive brake fluid in my brake system a few months ago, my master cylinder has been leaking.  Not terribly surprising considering what the DOT 5 fluid does to the seals.  So, today was rebuild day.  The Airheart master cylinders are really simple to rebuild so that was a quick job using the rebuild kit provided by Airheart.

After about 50 hours, the original exhaust that I built finally cracked.  It was a cantilever setup with a mild steel pipe welded to the stock exhaust manifold.  I knew this wouldn't last and wasn't proud of it - that's why you won't find many pictures of it here on the site.  I was out flying a few evenings back and the plane started sounding louder than normal.  Anything different is always reason enough for me to get back on the ground, so I did.  The pipe was still firmly attached but was cracked about two-thirds of the way around.  I've been playing with better designs for awhile so pretty much knew what I wanted.  I now have the stock Subaru exhaust manifold with a 4" long, 1.75" I.D. flex joint welded to it which then has mild steel exhaust welded to that and drops down and out.  Ok, obviously NOT what I wanted - that would be a super light Iconel system, not mild steel....   I flew it today and all is working great.  The flex joint allows alot of movement and I hope will allow the system to last for a...

I've been able to get a fair amount of flight time in during the first part of the year.  I am still VERY pleased with the RWS EC2 EFI controller.  This unit has worked flawlessly since installation (about 45 hours of flight time) - never a hickup.  I absolutely love the tuneability that it provides. 

A number of condition inspection changes have had positive results.  The radiator duct sealing efforts have really reduced the amount of heat/exhaust/CO2 that enters the cockpit which, of course, makes me feel much better.  I still have a new exhaust system in the works that should help more but that is a ways out.  The Rulon bushings have really "tightened up" the control system.  I would not suggest that it is perfect but definately much better. Finally, moving the CG aft has helped with approach/landing speed and made landings much easier.

I've spent the last few weeks performing my annual condition inspection. Most everything looked good and no problems were found but I did make a number of 'repairs'.  

I replaced the per-plans aileron and elevator bushings with Rulon bushings. The per-plans bushings were quite worn. The Rulon is a very hard plastic material and completely eliminated all slop from the controls.  In fact, I am amazed at how smooth the controls are now!  I also found that my elevator mid-span pivot pins were slightly loose.  I messed with this forever until finally figuring out that a VERY thin wall socket is required to get onto the lock nut inside the elevator torque tube.

I took the opportunity to remark all of my guages and controls.  Over the years, much of the original green/yellow/red arcs had become seriously worn. I was also missing a number of placards (trim control, fuel capacity, etc...) so also took care of those.

I had the radiator out and found that it was covered in a thin layer of muck.  I think...

I am getting some carbon monoxide in the cockpit due to the cooling scoop/ducts.  I have tried sealing better sealing the ducts in the tail without a lot of success.  What I really need to do is remove the radiator and ducts and make a few modifications but that just doesn't excite me right now.  So, instead, I have added a couple of new air outlets to the fuselage.  One is in the aft tailcone (where the air is coming from) the other is over the main wing/map pocket.

Living at an airpark has got to be one of the greatest gifts for a pilot.  The ability to walk out to the hangar/plane and work for however much time is available (even just 5 minutes spurts) has allowed me to accomplish more tasks than I ever dreamed possible.  Lately, I've installed a new canopy lift strut, XM radio, modified the elevator pushrods, built & tested a new exhaust system, and so - progress is great!

Elevator push rods: I have the two-pushrod design with a turnbuckle in the left side for roll control.  Trimming caused an extreme amount of the turnbuckle threads to be exposed. Enough that I was afraid of loosing strength.  So, I shorted the right side pushrod slightly which allowed be to turn the turnbuckle "in" (fewer exposed threads) and resulted in me feeling much better about the setup.

XM Radio: I have a RoadyXT that I use in my vehicle.  I purchased a new power cable and antenna with a short wire.  The radio mount is mounted to the panel and the power and antenna stay in the airplane. ...

I am finally making some flying progress.  The EC2 EFI controller is working fantastically, the airplane is flying nicely, and the weather has been gorgeous.  For the last several weeks, I've been flying more days than not. What a great feeling!! I've reverted back to my three-bladed Warp Drive propeller at a pitch setting of 13 degrees. I discovered that some of my previous problems have been due to flying with too much pitch on the prop (too few rpm).  I am now turning 3300-3400 on the takeoff roll, about 3500 in climb, and 3800 at cruise.  This results in MUCH better performance.  However; it is quite clear to me that an in-flight adjustable prop is the only good answer.  Until I strike it rich, I will live with adequate climb and adequate cruise but neither being great. With the mixture adjustablity of the EC2, I found that my early flights with it resulted in high coolant temperatures.  High being close to 220 degrees.  I have never had this problem with the current cooling system and it took a while to...

I recieved the EC2 controller from Real World Solutions in yesterday's mail so went right to work getting it hooked up.  While waiting for the unit I had completed all the re-wiring and system changes so installation of the EC2 was pretty easy.  The Soob fired right up this afternoon and ran nicely considering that no tuning work has been performed on the EC2.  Quite a lot to do over the next week or two before flying.  Lots of tuning work and just ground running to gain confidence and get used to the new control panel.

After the head and camshaft changes, I started having wide-open throttle problems.  It seems that the stock EFI system could not accomodate the changes.  So, I ordered an EC2 system from Tracy Crook at Real World Solutions.  While waiting for the unit to arrive, I have rewired the system to accomodate the new unit and waiting....