Ready for final assembly

[PapuaPilot]

Thanks for the input Bruce. My cylinder drain is working fine. Something is wrong with the left mag timing, which might explain the kickback. There isn't any sound of the impulse coupling either so I think it is a problem with the mag or drive gear. I will pull off the mag tomorrow and hopefully see what is up.

Once I get the engine running I will do the fuel injection SB. I am very familiar with it, as it is part of the teaching I do with TSIO-520 engines with with the students I train. I just haven't done it on an IO-240.

[skbenson]

Where did you end up installing the battery? I've got an O-235 upfront and moved my battery fwd behind the seat after seeing post of a battery coming loose in the tail. Your plane looks great! Regards.

[PapuaPilot]

My battery is in the tail. I saw the post about the battery coming loose and added some extra clamps and made sure they were all thick steel ones, not aluminum.

[PapuaPilot]

Oops, I didn't follow up in this thread about my engine not starting. I must have written about it in Ross' thread.

I found out my left mag has a retard breaker, not an impulse coupling. Some how this totally slipped by and I assumed the mag had an impulse coupling. This means mine requires a Slick Start shower of sparks for the engine to start. I considered just getting one till I saw it cost over $800, yikes. So I decided to upgrade and change that mag out for electronic ignition. I settled on the E-Mag and ordered it about a week ago. Unfortunately the E-Mag is on backorder and I don't even know if I will have it by Christmas.

I got my Special Airworthiness Certificate about a month ago, so I'm ready to fly other than the magneto. The weather here hasn't been very good for doing the first flight anyways.

I'm trying to be patient . . .

[PapuaPilot]

It's been a long time since I updated this thread. I did my first engine run on Tuesday! The picture isn't great, but that's all I have.

Now for the rest of the story. I ordered an E-Mag back in November and the it was on back order through the holidays. I didn't get the magneto until mid January.

Last Saturday I tried to start the engine for the first time and was unsuccessful. The screen on my G3X went blank and the ignition wasn't firing at all. I was pretty sure that my essential bus wasn't getting enough voltage during the start. To fix it I am temporarily using a small 12 volt sealed battery to power the essential bus during the start and it WORKS! I need to make it a permanent installation.

On Tuesday I did a 12 minute run and everything appeared to be working and indicating fine. I just chocked and ran it in place. There were only two small problems. The ammeter was reading backwards; that was a 10 minute fix to reverse the wires at the shunt. The second thing was a small fuel leak at the fuel filter, which I have repaired. There was a manufacturing defect, a little dent in the face where it seals. I took out the defect by refacing it on some crocus cloth.

Yesterday I did the second run with the goal of taxiing. Again, no problems. The braking, steering and breaking the tail wheel loose all worked great. I also conditioned the brakes.

Today I am planning on doing a third run to calibrate the magnetometer and check the fuel pressures on the fuel injection system. If everything is OK there is probably going to be a first flight on Saturday. Woo Hoo!

[Av8r3400]

Awesome, Phil. Congratulations!

[tjfelles]

So cool, Phil!

[airlina]

Allright Phil, another IO-240 soon to be in the flock so to speak. Getting close to a flight you will never forget, Bruce N199CL

[rosslr]

Great news Phil! I've been watching daily and looking forward to the report -the next one will be even better ... and more fun for you! I hope it is more than 'just another plane' for you Phil - it must be different working with them every day than it is for us for who it is just a hobby.

all the best

ross

[PapuaPilot]

Thanks for all the nice comments. Ross, this definitely is not just another plane. When you build one yourself it is very different than any other aircraft you have flown. I am sure all of you understand this.

I did another run up after work and got a few more things done. The big one was the compass calibration. It was so easy on the G3X. The PFD no longer says "Magnetometer Not Calibrated".

I had a very interesting experience today. While I was doing the run up the weather was sunny and clear. I was taxiing back to my hanger right around sunset and it looked like a rain shower was coming in. The AWOS was calling it mist but there wasn't any moisture on my windscreen. It was really odd. Next thing I knew the airport was fogged in. After I pushed my plane in I checked AWOS again and it was reporting 1/4 mile and ceiling 200'. This happened in less than 5 minutes. The temperature and dew point were the same. I can't believe how quick this happened, going from VFR to low IFR in minutes!

It looks like tomorrow will be the big day. I just have a few more things to check, install a few panels and it will be ready to go. The weather report is looking good too.