REFLECTOR: Franklin Paranoia?

[Barber Law Firm]

MessageYeah, I too must have missed the post and the web page update ;-)
Congrats.

All the best,

Chris

Christopher Barber

Attorney and Counselor at Law



"Serving the needs of Senior Texans"

Barber Law Firm
10827 Tower Bridge St.

Houston, Texas 77075-5032
281-464-LAWS (5297)


CBarber at TexasAttorney.net
www.TexasAttorney.net





  -----Original Message-----
  From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]On
Behalf Of Andy Millin
  Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 10:52 PM
  To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
  Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Franklin Paranoia?


  Hiroo,

  Did I miss a post.  You're flying!!! Congratulations!!!!

  Please post a picture!!!

  Andy
    -----Original Message-----
    From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Hiroo Umeno
    Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 1:46 AM
    To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
    Subject: REFLECTOR: Franklin Paranoia?


    Between the last weekend and today, so far, N21HV has about 7 hours
flight time.  In these hours, I have come to a few "headscratchers" I wanted
to get the forum's opinions on concerning the operation of the Franklin
engine.

    1.  Difficulty starting in the morning.  It seems to me that compared to
the Lycomings I have flown in the past, my plane is much harder to start
cold.  Steven Murphree gave me a few tips in doing this but I am not quite
doing it right.  The procedure I use is the following.
      a.. Mixture - Rich
      b.. Mags - Both
      c.. Boost pump - On
      d.. Throttle - Pump 2 strokes, then open 1/4"
      e.. Starter - Crank
    Well, this morning, I just about ran the battery dead before I finally
got it started.  I suppose I need a bit more practice.  I would appreciate
any tips you may have.

    2.  In flight, sometimes, it feels like the engine "skips a beat"
sometime.  As far as the parameters go (RPMs, temps, pressures, etc) it does
not seem to indicate any issues but it does not have the "well oiled sewing
machine" feel I would like from an airplane engine.  The engine is fresh
overhaul and literally has the same number of hours as the airframe (7
hours).  Is this something I should expect from a fresh engine?  This also
seems to happen on ground ops as well.  One of my to-do is to pull the plugs
and check for signs of fouling.

    3.  When I am flying with the speed brake down (approaches), the
carburator temp goes up fairly rapidly.  I have seen temps as high as 128
degrees and above (that is where the instrument "pegs").  Is this to be
expected?  I am thinking that when Carb-Heat is ON, it picks up hot air
around exhaust that is probably much hotter but still, thought of carb fire
does scare me a bit.

    4.  The engine "weeps" oil from the main seal aft of crank shaft in
front of the prop.  It is not a significant amout (the engine holds oil
fairly well) but after an hour or so of flight, we see some blackish
splatter marks on the cowl surrounding the area and a small amount of
blackish oil smear near the seal.  The breather is not blocked as we get a
lot of splatter from there (greasy props!) so I don't think the case is
over-pressured.

    I am new to the plane and the powerplant so perhaps I am more paranoid
than I should be but I spend much of today's flight watching the engine
monitor looking for first signs of trouble staying low and close to the
airport.

    Hiroo
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