An acceptable level of risk

There's risk in life. I've had more close calls driving on I-5 to/from work than I've had in airplanes. 

 

I've been working on the engine and fuel system, Rotax recommends a gascolator before the fuel pumps and I've bashed my way into a concussion banging my head trying to figure out a way to put one in the narrow confines of the SeaRey's fuel compartment. I've come up with a few ways to do it, but the hard part is maintaining and repairing it afterward. I'm sure there's a way, maybe, eventually, but after a year of working on it off and on I've decided that I'll accept the risk of not having a gascolator before the fuel pumps and stay with the standard SeaRey method of a fuel filter in the compartment, then a gascolator downstream on the root tube later on as others have done.

Installing is easy, but there will be a non-openable window where when she's flying, and I won't be able to get in this way, instead any access will be via the very narrow quarter circle behind the seat.

Earthrise

Godspeed, General Anders. You were the kind of person we all hoped people like you would be.  

Heritage Flight Museum

 

 

The best stories will never be told.  

Sun n' Fun 2024

 Time for the annual pilgramge, combined with a visit to the factory. err....... Jim's shop. An hour in-person is worth more than 10 phone calls.

I was back up in my old Air Boss tower position a couple times this year because Llafr had a schedule conflict. Good times.

 

Movie and a story (or three) night

Farewell to the Sun n' Fun Air Ops Shack

 It was old, it was tired. It leaked when it rained, baked us during the show, froze us in the morning, and we often wondered if it would fall apart just being moved from storage to the flightline. And the more beat up it got the more we loved it, like a great old pair of favorite sneakers your companion kept trying to sneak into the trashcan when you weren't looking. 

But for many years, The Shack was the home of our Air Ops crew at the Sun n' Fun Fly-in & Air Show, and you never knew who you'd run into inside. Here's a movie and a story of some of the good and bad times we went through. 

 As Jimmy once said: You had to be there.

Behind the Rope Line. A Day in the Life at Sun n' Fun Air Ops. 

I Wish I Was Doing That. A pilot/writer at the end of the Shuttle program.

Long story, but I ended up covering the final two Shuttle missions as a full-on journalist, and by being a polite pain in the arse I ended up in the group standing near the VASI for the final landing of the program. I was told to stay out of the way of the real journalists, which I was happy to do, I just could not believe I was there. Thank you, NASA PAO and the NASA Security team for allowing me on the bus. 

I was sweating bullets because my video camera would not focus, luckily it kicked in right at the last second. I kept looking up at the sky expecting to see the nav lights of Atlantis until I realized Duh... it doesn't have any. Kind of a bummer but understandable that NASA took the first landing opportunity in the pre-dawn, they just wanted to get it on the ground and over with, but it also robbed everyone of seeing that magnificent sight one final time.

If you listen closely you can hear the commentary and rush of air as Atlantis goes through the pre-flare, flare, and landing. 

 

 Yes, I sound a little... exuberant in the video. Do you blame me? 

 

I'm no Gordon Baxter, but it is fun to scratch the old writer's itch and get something out. Even better when it's published:  University of Rotax. One builder's lessons to learn before maintaining a Rotax 914.

Cool down

 First, many thanks to Bob Grantham and Derrick Aubuchon for their blogs, they've helped immensley.

Second, when it comes to the radiator DO NOT follow the LSX/LSA manuals. As usual, what I did is proprietary to Jim Ratte, so support your local SeaRey Specialist and throw some money for tech support Jim's way ya cheap bastards!

Occam's Razor. aka, learn from my mistakes.

 

I was having a bit of trouble getting the wires to stay in the rectifier plug last night, the connectors kept getting pushed out when I tried to insert the plug. I carefully opened the connectors up with a small screw driver, but didn't want to go too far and have too loose a connection. Good time to walk away for the night. 

 

I called Jim this morning and expressed my hate of fast-on/never-off connectors.

Jim: Did you put them in the correct way? Which side is the round part on?

Me: Yes, with the round side to the left.

Jim: Wrong. Look inside and you'll see the ridge the little tab hooks into.Turn them around call me back.

Got back to my hangar this afternoon, pulled them all out, (ok, they pretty much fell out), looked inside the connector with my borescope. Shit.

 

Reinstalled them, and *click*. Perfect fit, and the plug went in on the first try.

 

sigh.... 

 

Me: You were right. 

Jim: Ask me how I know.

 

This is how they should look. Flat part left, round part right. 

 

 Better to find out now than force something and have it fail later because it was improperly installed.

Up and Down

 Up: Harbor Freight motorcycle jacks lift her up to swing the gear.

 

 Down: Road trip to the Mothership (Lockwood Aviation in Sebring, FL) for refresher training on the Rotax engine.  Read about it here: University of Rotax. One builder's lessons to learn before maintaining a Rotax 914.

Medusa uncombed

 We're working on her, but all the wiring is proprietary to Jim Ratte, the SeaRey Specialist, so I can't show you how or what we've been doing, sorry. 

If you don't run your engine within 12 months of delivery the warranty is void, but can be extended if certain procedures are followed. The wood 2x4 gives me leverage to do the prescribed procedure. 

 

From high to low....

 Long time ago I put some Keelguard on her, turned out they had a bad batch and it started peeling off. Good news was that they sent me a replacement Keelguard for free, bad news was that I had to get rid of it all. 

Tried it by had with a plastic scraper for a while, but quickly tired of it.

They also recommend a fancy spray to remove the glue, or MEK, or acetone. I used one can of the $23 fancy spray, then used acetone. The fancy spray said it was "extremly flammable", and one whiff told me I needed to use it outside. Should have saved my money, the acetone took the glue right off. Waited for a couple hot days so the glue would be softer, then went at it. Even with a face shield and safety glasses I did get a bit of the fancy spray in my eye once, glad there was a hose nearby to give it a good long flushing out. I can see clearly now, the crud is gone....

Then it was time to reapply the new strip.

The compound curve at the front tip gave me trouble on the first one, so I vacuum bagged this one for a few hours.

Hanging it up...

 It's time.

 

 For once, weighing more than the engine came in handy. Gotta work on that, though. 

Another day of playing "How long can you hold your breath?"

About 30 minutes later...

Do SeaReys dream of blue skies and what's out there? OspRey does. 

 

You never forget your first...

It's been..... almost 50 years. I was a kid dreaming of the sky. I can't believe she'd just appear one day on the ramp at my airport. 

 

Hello, old friend. You're as beautiful as I remember. 

 

 

Fueling around

Starting to work on the engine, I quickly discovered the muffler needed a diverter welded on it. A call to Jim, and it was on the way for a Florida vacation. 

That made me tackle something I've been avoiding. It's been over 10 years since I swung the gear and the wheel bearings needed to be greased. The Bellingham hangar had an overhead winch that could lift the entire airplane, there's no way I can rig one up in the new hangar so I finally had to break down and buy some Harbor jacks. BUT, it turns out the gear legs have changed, and the LSX legs are higher than the Classic legs. Even at full extension I needed almost 6" of additional blocks, and OspRey never felt safe when she was jacked up. Good excuse to break down, spend some money, and buy the bigger motorcycle/ATV jacks. She's solid as a rock on them, I can even *carefully* rock her back and forth if I need to apply a bit of effort.

And another miserable job to do. The keelguard I bought was delaminating, turns out they had a bad batch way back when. Good news is they gave me a new roll, bad news is I have to peel it and all the residual glue off. Groan....

 Next came the fuel system. PA uses a filter only, but I wanted a gascolator in my system. As much as I wanted to keep it SeaRey standard, the PA location/system just wasn't going to work for me. 

Luckily, my old friend Ken Berger built a beautiful fuel system so I took his basic design and updated it for OspRey. 

 

 

I also replaced the fuel sump hose. It was 11 years old and rubber should be replaced every 10, so while I had everything apart it was a good time. Getting the old hose off and the new one on was a 3 day process, when I worked my arm down into the sump area I KNEW it was going to hurt but it had to be done, and on the third day I felt the right shoulder go *pop*. I was supposed to start a 6 day trip the next day but that was out of the question. It sucks getting old.

 

Just before I left for this trip the muffler came. Beautiful work.

 

 Miss you, Ken. 

 

 

 

 

 

Medusa

 I'm told all these wires will go somewhere. The question is Where, and How? . 

 

 

Vehicle powered

 New wiring harnesses all hooked up. Still a lot to do, and I know there are problems yet to find, but we're rolling. 

More progress

First, MANY Thanks to The SeaRey Specialist Jim Ratte for standing by all day long while I did this, despite all the preparation it was an all day evolution while unexpected problems cropped up, like not being able to get the engine hoist over or around the shipping crate.   

Rotax, you are GO for docking

We have soft dock. A combination of flop sweat and holding my breath. Don't ask how much money is being held by that crane.

Hard dock.

And a table made from some scrap pieces of the crate and other wood underneath, just in case, so I can sleep at night or while on the road and not worry about the goddamn thing falling over while I'm gone. 

 Panel is labeled, finished, and remounted for final wiring.