Misc. stuff over the last week.

I need a better blade to cut the filter out of the housing...  The box cutter knife I have just wasn't.... umm, cutting it. ;-)  I'll try an Xacto blade next.  I did get the oil analysis report back and it looks fine.  They/we won't really know about any issues until the next analysis to look for trends.  They said some metals were slightly elevated since it's a new engine.

I've been wanting to tweak the aiming of the taxi/landing lights, so I got to that last night.  Not much range to adjust, unfortunately.  I did manage to point the taxi lights a bit lower than the landing lights.  I keep both on when landing at night.

Enjoying the fall colors....

One more. ;-)

 My first attempt at video editing.  Not terrible for a complete newbie at it.  Flight was this past Sunday.

Sadie was due for an oil change, so I got that done.  Not too bad.

I like to work from checklists, so I made a super detailed one for doing the oil change:

• Remove upper cowl
• Warm up the engine to operating temperature (120F) (remove keys after that!)
• Detach air intake from NACA duct
• Remove lower cowl
• Burp engine
• Put on gloves (there's lead in that oil!)
• Remove oil tank drain plug (using 17mm and 19mm wrenches (the 19 is used to hold the tank nut so you're not twisting the tank))
• Drain oil - Take a sample from mid-stream of oil draining for oil analysis (I use Blackstone Labs)
• Reinstall drain valve with new crush washer to 25Nm (18.5 ft-lb)
• Prepare new filter by spreading clean oil on the contact surface
• Remove oil filter, protecting components underneath with paper towels/towel since oil will leak
• Put on new filter until fully touching
• 3/4 more turn
• If inspecting magnetic plug:
• Remove safety wire
• Use 16 mm socket to loosen (may need long-armed wrench) (Use paper towels underneath for dripping oil)
• No whiskers longer than 3mm in length
• Should feel like a fine metallic paste
• Clean plug and re-install to 25Nm (18.5 ft-lb) (I found that coming from above to torque worked best)
• Safety wire
• Remove dipstick (so you’re not covering it in oil)
• Add 2.5 L Aeroshell Oil Sport Plus 4 
• Turn prop 20+ times (very tiring!)
• Put lower cowl on
• Reattach air intake to NACA duct
• Run engine to operating temp making sure oil pressure immediately rises (remove keys after this!)
• Check for leaks
• Burp engine
• Check level before adding the final .5 L (Should be in the upper half of the min/max range (max if you're going on a long flight))
• Put upper cowl on
• Note Engine Time & Total Time in Engine Logbook
• Cut open oil filter to inspect

Is that detailed enough? 😁

Dirty oil out...

Paper towels to keep the dripping oil away from the other parts

New filter ready with a coating of clean oil

Magnetic Plug coming out.  Oil comes out when taking that out, so more paper towels are in place.

Relieved to see very little accumulation on the plug.  They say to rub some between your fingers to check for any chips/shards, so I did that and it was just pasty as they say it should be.

Plug cleaned and safety-wired back in place.

2.5L in (will fill after a run and burp of the engine) and the air intake back in place.

My beautiful airport at twilight.

A random picture taken over the weekend at Walden Pond in Concord, MA.

Another fun nighttime instrument flying lesson.  Beautiful night, even though I missed most of it because I was under the hood. 😎

Started my instrument training last night (my first time flying at night in Sadie too).  Fun!

I contacted the factory about the 108% TCU setting at the 100% throttle position and this was their response (I added some notes):

1. Set the throttle lever on the quadrant to the 100% stop, then adjust the throttle cable on the left carb from 108% down to 100% (as read from the TCU software in Monitor mode).
2. Next, you will have to balance the right-hand carb the same at the left (using the usual Rotax carb balancing procedure).
3. With the throttle set up correctly, the TPS will provide the correct reading to the TCU. If there is slack in the TCU cable it can be adjusted but avoid excessive tension.

I asked them if I can defer fixing this as long as I keep the MAP below Rotax specified max values and they said yes (as expected).  So, I'll keep it below 40" for the takeoff sequence (5-minute max) and below 35" continuous otherwise.

It's clear that this is yet another thing that was not done in Oklahoma...

I contacted the factory about the 115% = 41.5" and they said I just needed to do a TCU calibration.

So, I got and installed the TLR4.6a software and the right cable (as all described on Jim's blog) to connect to the TCU and went to the hangar tonight after watching this video on Rotax-Owner.com...

My setup...

The TLR software is ancient 32b DOS software, so it's a little bit of work to get it all working on a modern 64b laptop running Win10.  The DOS window doesn't scale, so bring a magnifying glass...

Powered up all the electronics and started the software.  The first thing I did was the monitor function to see what the current settings are (Press M).  This is at Idle throttle.  3.7% is out of spec.  Should be no more than 3%. 

This is Throttle @ 100%.  Out of spec.

Throttle @ 115%.  IN spec...  Though this is my problem area....

This is after I ran the calibration (Press T).  Throttle @ Idle = 0%.  Good.

Throttle @ 100%...  The same as before.. Out of spec.  Hmm..

Throttle @ 115%...  The same as before.

Another pic of the 100% position.  Should be within +/-3 of 100.  Nope...

Now what?