REFLECTOR: Alternative Engines

[Dennis Martin]

She flies! Guess I should announce that my Rocky Mountain V-6 CHEVelocity
took to the skies with John Abraham at the stick. She flew beautifully
horizontal as high as 9,000 MSL and approached 200 MPH with coolant temps at
200 F. Oil temps averaged 240 F with all new, very tight race engine
components. John said she jumps off the runway, and that's what I was
looking for - I'm living at 4,500 MSL. As for my view on the certified vs.
auto conversion, Kurt's post pretty much sums up my position. And, like
Kurt's Chevy, mine sounds like a pack of Harleys. A close friend who worked
on the engine conversion told me he would come down to the airport "later."
He said, "I heard the growl from 5 miles away and had to get down there."

Barbara with Costello Insurance insisted that I have John Abraham do the
initial test flights. He made four flights (including a crow hop) and put 2
hours on my engine. The bonus was that I got an exhaustive factory check-out
from nose to prop. I was impressed how John really dug in and got his hands
dirty. Among other things, the rigging needed his scrutiny. He helped me
fine tune all control surfaces to near perfection. It felt like being at the
factory for a couple of days, but I didn't have to fly there. Well worth the
expense.

Paint bubbled on the left side of the cowl and a couple of aluminum exhaust
brackets broke. New steel brackets already in place. I'll prime the left
cowl today and tweak a couple of other things. Then off to Sebastian for the
required 5 hours of flight training. Yeehaw!!

Happy contrails,
Dennis



On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 6:26 PM, Chris Barber <cbarber at texasattorney.net>wrote:

> With today's first flight using an alternative engine and then another
> chiming in that he too is using an alternative engine, I was wondering how
> prevalent alternative engines are in the Velocity community. I have always
> assumed Lyc and Connie's were so well established that I was pretty much the
> only one using an alternative. I know Al Getzen, like me is using a
> rotary....uh, but Al is actually flying.  I guess I have always figured
> everyone but me has the money to just cut a check for a new certified fire
> breather.
>
> I guess my head is so far in the alt eng community it seems more are
> attempting.....and with better product and the blessing of the Internet,
> succeeding.
>
> Just curious
>
> Chris Barber
> Houston
> Velo SE
> Rotary 13b 2 rotor turbo
> Dynon Skyview EFIS/monitor
> RWS PSRU & electronics
>
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-- 
All the best,
Dennis
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