I got my shipment of the new brush (actually I ordered 3 in case of future failures) from New Zealand.  3 days door-to-door.  Not bad.

The assembly before starting.  I had already desoldered and removed the wire from the center pad.

Now, this step threw me off...  The instructions for replacing the brushes say to curl the lead 3 times around a small screwdriver.  That seemed so specific that I assumed that was an essential part of the finished assembly.  So, I threaded the lead up the channel and through the hole and soldered it with that curl in place.  Turns out that's not how it's supposed to be.  The instructions actually say, in the next step, to pull it taut.  But, my brain kind of skipped that because of the previous instructions to curl it.  After it was already soldered in and partially assembled, it dawned on me that that had to be wrong (because the brush was easily falling out).  So, I desoldered it again and did it without the curling.  Now it looked like the other 2 brushes.  I've asked Airmaster support why that instruction is there, but haven't heard back yet (they wanted feedback on the instructions).

This photo was taken when the curl was still there...

Soldered in place.

Assembled and ready to be put back on top of the sliprings.  You have to compress the brushes into the assembly nearly all the way to get it on top of the sliprings and attached to the gearbox.  Tricky maneuver...

On my last couple of flights, I saw a failure indication on the Airmaster prop controller.  3 Flashing red lights, which means there's an open circuit to the prop.  It was intermittent, but I grounded the plane until it was figured out.

First I checked the sliprings behind the gearbox on which the triple carbon brushes ride.  They seemed fairly smudgy so I cleaned them gently with a Scotchbrite pad.  Nope, that didn't make a difference.

Then I looked behind the panel on both sides to look for any loose wires and didn't find anything (I was also searching for loose grounds that might be related to the audio static).

Since nothing turned up it was time to take a look at the brush assembly since I've heard of others having issues with those.

As soon as I loosened the assembly and angled it up.... The center one just fell out.  A broken wire, which apparently others have seen.  Time to get a replacement (actually ordering 3 for future failures...) shipped ASAP from New Zealand.

A photo I took at 6B6 this past week right before an EAA Chapter meeting.

A bit earlier than the previous photo.

Before a recent night flight.  Flying into 6B6 at night is intense... A tiny runway barely lit surrounded by pitch blackness, which includes tall trees and hills.  Good thing I have insanely bright landing and taxi lights that illuminate the trees a bit before I get to them.

Those tiny small lights you see - that's what outlines the runway.

Been flying Sadie lately and also trying to figure out the static I'm hearing when the co-pilot's side mic jack is plugged in (which it usually is).  Pull it out and the static goes away.  Hmm..

It's in an awkward spot, but I could feel that the connections were solid to the co-pilot's mic jack.  I did notice though that one of the wires was pressing against one of the spring contacts (coupling causing static?).  I managed to push it away using a dentist's pick, so we'll see if that helps.

On our (Ellen and I) way up to Laconia, NH.  Here we're passing Manchester, NH.

Ellen and I.

Approaching the airport, which is right next to beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee.

On final to Rwy 26 (Ellen took the picture).

Marina near the airport.

Short final!

On our way back to 6B6.

Short final to Rwy 21.

Happy wife on our return.

Random question:  How would I lubricate this without getting lube on the jamnut?  Just wrap it with painter's tape?  Am I overthinking it?  I don't want that jamnut to get loose if it gets all lubed up...

Haven't posted in a while, but it's been fun flying Sadie.  I don't know if I posted about the solution to the low RPM, but it was a stuck turbo.  Apparently, it was shut down without a cool-down on a hot day and sometimes the turbo can get stuck.  The only solution was to pull the cowling, remove the air filter and spin the turbo by hand to un-stick it.  That worked!

The last thing I was dealing with was erratic engine sensors, which turned out to be another loose ground on a "CHT" sensor.  The more recent 914 engines measure coolant temp, not CHT.  There are two, but they're measuring the same thing, so the factory only uses one.  So, I simply turned off the one with the loose ground in the G3X and clipped that ground.  With that done, all is well.

Other than that I've been checking the eyebolts in regards to the recent service notice and so far they've all been the correct types.  Whew....  I really didn't want to have to change those and so far, so good.

The right type!

Type 1.  Good!

Flight yesterday to Hyannis on Cape Cod.

115 kts TAS seems to be my typical cruise speed.

Boston in the distance.

I got a response from one of the experts on rotax-owner.com.  Here's our exchange:

Here's the EGT/MAP trace I'm referring to in my last post.  Is my sensor measuring the wrong thing?  I don't recall ever seeing anything below ambient.  Ugh.

Well, the engine and plane were perfectly fine on flights this past Sunday and Monday, but then this happened on Tuesday...  Barely starts and even if advancing the throttle it won't get above about 780 RPM.

It looks like it's drawing only from the battery and never from either of the alternators.  That's not sustainable, right?

Thoughts?

Lots of flying the past few days.  3 flights: An instrument training flight to New Bedford Regional, a flight to Martha's Vineyard's Katama Airfield, and a local sightseeing flight to a popular mountain for hiking, Mt. Monadnock.

Me and Mike Emery on our way to Martha's Vineyard.

Smooth flight, even under the clouds.

Autopilot on and enjoying the scenery.

Heading out over the water to the Vineyard.

We'll be there in just a few minutes...

Lots of tiny boats in the harbor.

Short final into one of the three grass runways at Katama (1B2).  Pretty rough, so I'm not sure I'd fly in there again.  There's another airport on the island with smoother runways. 😊

Ellen and I doing some local sightseeing.

Me 😎

Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire, which we've hiked several times over the years.

Sadie back in the nest.