Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:17 pm
We'll be doing a Young Eagles Fly Day also this Saturday. I won't be flying any Young Eagles though, unless there's a plane that needs a pilot. The U-11 is down for it's annual. Stop by if you can Ryan!
Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:08 pm
bluehawk15 wrote:
If all goes well, the following Saturday, 19 SEP 09, we will do a fly-over of the town of Windcrest (surrounded by San Antonio) about 10am, then press south to Alice for the CAF's Third Coast Squadron's fly-in.
Hey.., Windcrest!!.., that is where I grew up!!!
Is this a tribute to J Jones?
Fingers and other appendages crossed!!!
Go get em!!!
Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:16 pm
In my humble opinion, EVERY time the Rose gets in the air, it's a tribute to Jack!
This mission is to open the parade, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the town's charter. Dick Cole will be the parade marshal.
This mission is to open the parade, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the town's charter. Dick Cole will be the parade marshal.
Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:21 pm
ahhh. way cool!
Best of luck! We can not wait.., even if I never get a chance to see her up here in NYC.., just knowing she is up and running keeps me warm!!
Cheers!
Best of luck! We can not wait.., even if I never get a chance to see her up here in NYC.., just knowing she is up and running keeps me warm!!
Cheers!
Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:35 pm
The Third Coast Wing Fly-in would get more business if they didn't keep it secret! First I've heard of it, and I have got out of the bunker a few times this week.
Wed Sep 09, 2009 8:48 am
Apparently not a real big event, but some nice folks. We hope they can find a couple of B-25 parts they used to have so we can bring them back with us.
Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:07 pm
OK. I spent the day today at the shop watching the testing of the carburetor from the Rose's left engine. It tested very well on the flow bench, then we took it over to the air bench. It failed miserably there. We re-checked it a couple of times to be sure the bench was working and everything was set up correctly with the same results each time. There is a BIG air leak in it somewhere. After a lot of checking and inspecting, we eliminated cracked castings, bad gaskets, loose fittings and are forced to conclude that the problem is deep inside the carb. They suspect the largest of the 5 diaphragms has ruptured. It will take them a couple of days to completely overhaul the unit so we hope to have it running again about the middle of next week.
In the meantime, we should finish up the work on the Rose, other than the carb, Friday. More news will be posted soon as I have it.
Thanks!
In the meantime, we should finish up the work on the Rose, other than the carb, Friday. More news will be posted soon as I have it.
Thanks!
Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:34 pm
As much as we have wanted to do the first flight on a Saturday so that any squadron members who wanted to be there, could, the plan now is to fly it one day this week, once the carb issue is fixed. That will allow the crew training flights to Windcrest and the 3rd Coast Squadron fly-in to happen on the 19th. Still crossing eyes, legs, fingers, and toes!
Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:58 pm
Finally, some good news! The problem with the carb was found almost immediately upon starting to tear it down. It was fixed and tested out beautifully on both the flow and air benches. The best part is that I have it in my car and will begin to install it on the Rose first thing Saturday morning. We hope to be test running it about lunchtime. Wish us luck!
Thanks!
Thanks!
????
Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:16 pm
Ya'll don't need luck you're doing too good a job!
Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:00 pm
Installing the rubber air duct to the top of the card is so much fun for fat findgered people like me. Wade's Marie did the back ones as her hands were the smallest.....
Good luck and stay dry,
Lynn
Good luck and stay dry,
Lynn
Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:38 pm
Ray Clausen said:
So Ray, any chance of enlightening us techies as to what was actually wrong with the carby?
Many thanks,
MA
Finally, some good news! The problem with the carb was found almost immediately upon starting to tear it down. It was fixed and tested out beautifully on both the flow and air benches.
So Ray, any chance of enlightening us techies as to what was actually wrong with the carby?
Many thanks,
MA
Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:32 pm
Well, we caught a break today as the repaired carburetor seems to work beautifully. We didn't do another high power test today, just a run to see if the carb would keep running. We got a smooth idle at about 700 RPM for a few minutes before we shut her down. Convinced that the carb is working again, we pushed the Rose into the hangar and installed the doghouse.
The problem that caused the carb to stop functioning was in the boost venturi tree. Each of the four venturi tubes you see when you look down into the carb from the top has three O-rings in it. Some of the O-rings in the two inside tubes had failed and LOTS of air was blowing freely out of the bottom of each tube. The pressure inside the carb and outside was the same and it got "confused" and stopped metering fuel or air.
The second problem was that the boost venturi tree that was on the tree was not the one that should have been there. It went on another model of carb that worked quite differently. Joe, the sharp-eyed carb guy at Aero Accessories noticed a bleed jet that wasn't where he expected it to be, so he checked the part numbers and found it to be the wrong part. Luckily for us, he had one of the correct parts on hand. He tested the correct tree and found no leaks, installed it on the carb and went to the test benches. The numbers on both the flow bench and the air bench were right on the money!
This carb had been running on the engine that was just replaced and I'm told that it never really performed as well as they would have liked at cruise power. Having the wrong tree would explain that. I can't guess why the O-rings failed when they did, we were slowly taxiing along when the engine seemed to starve for gas and died. That was the symptom. We could keep the engine running on the primer but it would starve out 10 or 15 seconds after we quit priming it. We did a couple of tests to verify fuel supply and pressure to the carb and we got fuel on the ground when we went to full rich, cracked the throttle, and ran the boost pump.
That's about it. We're relieved to have her running again and will perform another high power test Monday. We have some paperwork issues to clear up and we'll be ready to fly soon. I'll get out a "heads up" when we decide when to do that.
Thanks!
The problem that caused the carb to stop functioning was in the boost venturi tree. Each of the four venturi tubes you see when you look down into the carb from the top has three O-rings in it. Some of the O-rings in the two inside tubes had failed and LOTS of air was blowing freely out of the bottom of each tube. The pressure inside the carb and outside was the same and it got "confused" and stopped metering fuel or air.
The second problem was that the boost venturi tree that was on the tree was not the one that should have been there. It went on another model of carb that worked quite differently. Joe, the sharp-eyed carb guy at Aero Accessories noticed a bleed jet that wasn't where he expected it to be, so he checked the part numbers and found it to be the wrong part. Luckily for us, he had one of the correct parts on hand. He tested the correct tree and found no leaks, installed it on the carb and went to the test benches. The numbers on both the flow bench and the air bench were right on the money!
This carb had been running on the engine that was just replaced and I'm told that it never really performed as well as they would have liked at cruise power. Having the wrong tree would explain that. I can't guess why the O-rings failed when they did, we were slowly taxiing along when the engine seemed to starve for gas and died. That was the symptom. We could keep the engine running on the primer but it would starve out 10 or 15 seconds after we quit priming it. We did a couple of tests to verify fuel supply and pressure to the carb and we got fuel on the ground when we went to full rich, cracked the throttle, and ran the boost pump.
That's about it. We're relieved to have her running again and will perform another high power test Monday. We have some paperwork issues to clear up and we'll be ready to fly soon. I'll get out a "heads up" when we decide when to do that.
Thanks!
Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:29 pm
It's my understanding that the left carb malfunctioned again! The carb that was last flying has been sent out for overhaul now. Hopefully it won't take too long, but I hear it could be up to a week for the complete overhaul. I'm sure Ray will post an update soon.
Tue Sep 15, 2009 3:45 pm
bluehawk15 wrote:It's my understanding that the left carb malfunctioned again! The carb that was last flying has been sent out for overhaul now. Hopefully it won't take too long, but I hear it could be up to a week for the complete overhaul. I'm sure Ray will post an update soon.
Here's hoping y'all can get her up in the air soon! If not, let me know and I'll see if there's anything we can do to help the good folks in Windcrest.
Ryan