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Hi, I purchased a skylark engine of the type you describe around 1982 to fit into a Mitchell wing U-2. It was constructed in Melbourne I believe from mainly Victa parts. It performed okay until after five hours The Crankshaft developed a crack in the weld which bonded the crank pin to the crank web. No damage to the aircraft however I then ordered and fitted at Konig three cylinder engine which gave excellent service. If I remember correctly this engine was advertised in Airsport magazine so if you could locate some old ones that may be of help. If my memory springs to light with any more information I will post it.

Bluesky, I have recently worked on a FOXBAT fitted with the fuel injection engine which suffered from symptoms similar the ones you describe. In this aircraft as the rpm passed approximately 4400 to 4700 Lane A & B voltage would start to drop -perhaps down to nine volts and RPM could not be increased until emergency battery power was switched into the circuit . Does your lane voltage do the same?. Also what fuel pressure are you reading? Check & clean your filter very thoroughly. M61A1 posts on fuel quality are also worth investigating. what type of aircraft is your engine fitted to? Our voltage problem was solved by the replacement of the fuse box/regulator which was diagnosed from the downloaded data obtained by the aircraft agent.

Robert. Yes I have balanced the carburettors fairly accurately. actually my engine idles very well and fairly smoothly, but vibrates more in the 2000 to 3500 rpm range. When I get the time and the inclination I may fit an exhaust gas sensor and attempt to tune the carburettors individually for a better result. In the meantime it is very satisfactory and I am enjoying flying my little machine greatly.

I have been using an HKS engine for the last 10 months in my own design single seat high wing tractor aircraft . It now has approximately 60 hours on the clock and is proving very satisfactory indeed. Gearbox ratio is 2.58 to one and the prop is a Brolga 68 inch three blade.The engine starts extremely well however there is more vibration and resonance than would be experienced with a Rotax 582 or 503. This however is less noticeable at higher RPM and it is very smooth at fast cruise ...5600 to 5800 rpm. There are quite a few low resonance RPM ranges as you change the throttle setting making it easy to select a good cruise RPM for any desired speed. Fuel consumption is excellent and in my aircraft at 60 kn it uses six and a half litres per hour and 9 1/2 at 80 kn. Almost no oil consumption. it is an engine that I have confidence in! I estimate the aircraft performs 10 to 15% better than it would with a 503.

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Designer builder I know John Duigan well and I actually carried out the initial test flight on his aircraft. it is the early model Savannah fitted with leading-edge slats. John flew this configuration for nearly 300 hours including a trip to Ayres rock with no problems. Two or three hours flying time before his accident he removed the slats and fitted vortex generators. As I understand it the flight of the accident was the first one with a passenger after the vortex generators were fitted. John's airstrip is on a fair slope and the day of the accident he was taking off uphill with the aircraft well laden. Previously I have observed another savannah similarly configured but with only one person aboard drop a wing on take off and personally I believe removing the slats and fittings vortex generators without re-profiling the leading edge is not a good idea. This may not have been the main cause of John's accident though as conditions were moderately turbulent that day with wind of up to 30 kn however I believe it may be a contributing factor. This is only my personal opinion. I have also flown the VG late model Savannah with correctly shaped leading edge and find them a very well behaved machine. Incidentally, John is 81 years old and built the Savannah in the last two to three years. He is already planning a new one for the future!!.

Only just read your query re flying characteristics of Sabre.I have flown one for approximately 40 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. My flying experience covers probably 25 to 30 types of aircraft and I would rate the Sabre in the top three . the controls are well harmonised with excellent feel and fairly low stick forces. Short field landings and takeoffs can be performed with confidence however because the main wheels are set well rearward it is probably necessary to reach 35 to 40 kn before rotation begins. You can however initiate rotation earlier with a rapid fore and aft elevator movement to create a bouncing action.visibility is excellent and cockpit space very adequate.