Hangar Flying

I was practicing a simulated engine out with an instructor and was shocked that had the engine actually quit, I would have come up short!  This really shocked me (I have a lot of glider time, and never came close to landing short).  But, the winds were more than I had judged, and the windmilling prop had more of an effect than I expected.


It can be very helpful to practice these things before you need them.

My most humble suggestions:
1. Practice it a lot in Flight Simulator first.
2. Practice up high first.
3. If you have a field with 2 runways at about 90 degrees to each other, you can always abandon the procedure and land on the other runway if you are going to come up short.
4. Use the rule of a touch down point 1/3 down the runway.

Here are the specs:

Patented in-line design – provides ventilation for engine compartments, galleys, bilges, and heads. Mounting feet allow vertical or horizontal installation in confined spaces. Install with #10 fasteners. Individual carton includes 2 tie straps. All are CE certified. 16-gauge tinned and caulked copper wire leads with optional MP1 molded rubber connectors. New improved 3" design includes:

    * 145 CFM Open Flow
    * 100 CFM In System Flow
    * 2.7 Amps
    * 3" hose (I.D.)
    * Nickel-plated motor can for corrosion resistance
    * Stiffening ribs to reduce housing distortion
    * Motor cap to seal wires and motor for water resistance

Max Dimensions: 5.5L x 5.063W x 3.625H

I have a Sigtronics intercom, and was wondering if anyone had ever tied a cell phone jack into one of the passenger headset plug sets.

It would be convenient to be able to plug your cell phone into the headset to be able to make a quick call in flight, while still monitoring communications.

Is this as simple as it seems, or are there impedence matching problems?

I'd highly recommend you go through the local EZ group or David Orr http://www.canardfinder.com/

IMHO:
If you LOVE building, then buy an orphaned project.

If you want to fly, but a completed and proven plan, recommended by David or experienced EZ builders/flyers.

And if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

If I had to do it over again, I'd have bought a flying Vari or an 0-235 Long and put a 0-320 on it, and spent my building time going over the plane nose to spinner, fixing and upgrading.

OK, I've come to the decision to put the electric fuel pump on the firewall.

It would be SO much easier to mount it under the pilot seat.

But my concern is that even a pin hole leak in the fuel line inside the cockpit with the electric boost pump running would dump a lot of fuel in the cockpit before I could shut it off.

This is not only a fire hazard, but 100LL is very noxious even in tiny quantities in the enclosed cockpit space.

So, it will be a struggle, and I REALLY didn't want to do it, but I think it's best to keep everything front of the firewall gravity feed.  Once I figure out this puzzle, I'll be glad to furnish pics to anyone who is interested.

Thanks for all the input.  I'm glad I considered all options before coming to this conclusion.

I had a friend comment that I should not put the fuel filter and pump forward of the firewall.  He's a bit of a Rutan purist, and believes a rigid line between the fuel valve and firewall is lighter, and less prone to chaff than a flexible line.

He also thinks pressurizing the line fwd of the firewall, and adding the associated couplings to put the filter and pump ahead, is asking for trouble.

I want to maximize safety.  I also see real advantages of placing the pump and filter fwd of the firewall.

I know this is my decision and responsibility, ultimately, but would appreciate your opinion:

Stick to the plans, or move it forward?

Yikes, I really wanted to put the fuel filter and pump in the hell hole, but it is a hard place to work, to get the flow right (pump below gascolator, no arched loops).  It may also crowd out the oil heat system we wanted to stick back there.

I'm now thinking about putting the filter and pump under the pilot seat, and change out the rigid aluminum fuel line from the pump to the firewall with flexible line from the fuel switch, to the filter, to the fuel pump, to the gascolator.

This puts the pump very low so it will gravity prime.  It would be a lot easier to inspect, service the filter or replace the pump if needed.  I would also not have to guess if the fuel pump is on!

I don't like the idea of more fuel connections under my legs, but all my components are very good quality, the mounts are solid, and I'll inspect often.  Any fuel leak would be bad, but at least I'd know about this one and be able to shut off the fuel, whereas a leak aft of the firewall may be harder to detect.

It is very challending and frustrating sometimes working on these planes.  Everything is such a tight fit.  But I know I'm in the home stretch and that the effort will be worth it.  I'm still hoping for a December 2006 first flight.

BTW: Mounting the solenoid valve right to the gascolator works awesome.  I'll probably open up the mount holes in the gascolator to the next larger size (there is plenty of aluminum there to spare) since I'm attaching the fuel flow and solenoid valve direct to the gascolator body.

I'm sorry if my headline for this topic was offensive.  Perhaps I should have stated it a different way.  I was just frustrated because I really appreciate this site and all the porn and pharmacy posting seemed to be destroying it.

I can hardly believe how much better things have gotten.

Thanks for the aggressive actions you have taken.