Methusala

You'd probably be a bit disappointed with the performance of a Volksplane. I have one which I flew for 11 years from 1995. It's a VP-2 but quite heavy (built like the proverbial brick ****house). Strong and with a 2100cc VW flies alright - 60kts at 3200, 18l/hr. Climb is a bit gradual- 400fpm at 2500 field elevation. It was a good roomy single seater which 2 blokes (not over 70kg) could fly on a good day from about 1000ft elev. Great plank of a wing stall 32kt and powerful elevator and rudder but heavy and not too effective ailerons. It has an enclosed canopy but still looks about as pretty as a bitsa. Strong as hell and taught me a lot about flying - even thermalling. Picturebelow. Cheers, Don

Just for the record, I use Shell 91 ron unleaded in my 582 as Pud does. I think there is a tendency to wish to "spoil" our engines by using more expensive fuels and oils. The Rotax runs fine on standard unleaded and Castrol 2t. Castrol's sole business is lubrication and other associated fluids. It would not be in the interests of such a behemoth to sell anything but the best performing products, I believe. When I bought my X-Trail, I read a lot of what other owners said on chat blogs. I read that if one used the (more expensive) 98 fuel then the extra mileage would easily cover the difference in price. Guess what I found! Not a grain of truth in it. I know that a lot of people believe differently but this is my experience. Cheers, Don. PS. I recently bought a 582 that had run on the green slime. I know that it ran an oil injection system and when I pulled it apart at 350 hrs the oil had gummed up the ring lands to the extent of NO MOVEMENT in the rings! Not a pretty sight.

Thanks for your reply Nev. As you say, "never stop learning". I'm sure that Pud has no regrets in following your advice. Don

G'day Nev, As I say, I am mystified by the outcome. I have checked the timing, plugs mags and so forth. The setting up of the rotary valve is so straight forward as to be (almost) fool proof. The fuel is fresh and 91 ron as specified. When Pud started this thread I thought that surely the answer must rapidly evolve. I believe that the assembly of my engine was carried out carefully and correctly. However something is missing and hopefully in time it will become known. I am grateful for all contributions to this theme. I also thought that the rings should be well bedded after following the Rotax procedure. Just clutching at straws perhaps. Don

I am still baffled by the facts as they appear in both my case and in Pud's. We both have replaced an existing 582 of considerable hrs with a new (in my case re-newed with new seals, needle rollers, de-glazed barrels and rings) engine of the same basic specs. When equipped with carbs jetted identically, exhaust system identical as well as gearbox and prop, we get more heat (coolant temp) and less power (rpm). I have suggested perhaps it is simply the increased friction between the new rings and the cylinder wall. Yesterday I saw 6200 in cruise for the first time since running in some 4hrs ago. I saw a similar effect from my Aeropower conversion years ago. Exchanging radiators for the larger units can do no harm but the rest may settle down as the engine gathers hours. As long as CHT's and EGT's are within limits (I have a Grand Rapids engine information monitor with twin cht and egt's as well as coolant and tach) little harm should be done. Don

Yes Tex, this afternoon my friend and I flew and at 50kts and 5850rpm the egts showed 523 and 552. This is 30 odd degrees but the difference can be up to 50 deg. Also, the rev drop at 3000 is about 120 on one mag and 230 on the other! All very curious. I hope that this information can be of use. The previous engine was a grey head that had done 700 or more hrs although it had been top overhauled twice. I only changed engines because I thought the blue head would be a safer bet. I'm running out of ideas, maybe measure compression for difference between cylinders next. Don

Pud, my exhaust is turned up in the same way as yours and has been on both engines. I don't think this will affect performance. My egt's show a difference of about 50deg C even though both carbs are jetted identically. Cht's are around 85-90 on full power but coolant temp doesn't go above 70. I have slight leakage of exhaust at the face between barrels and manifold I will try sealing this afternoon. Again my little addition to the thread. Don

Well, today I washed a ton of junk from the inlet air filter expecting a great increase in performance from what I had imagined to be my air starved 582... disappointingly, no change! I also checked to make sure that both slides were acting in concert and to the fullest extent at WOT. Still no change. I still have the option of changing main jets for a size smaller. Have to order from Bert Flood. Other than that I'm running out of ideas. I really am surprised that you have 12deg pitch blocks and only get 6,200 Pud. Interesting thread and very timely for me. Don

Pud, reduction is 2.58:1 - no change to anything except the donk. I think it may be to do with friction between bores and rings. Like to know whether Maj Millard or Facthunter have any thoughts on this? BTW, fascinating that your prop is set at 12deg! Cheers, Don

G'day Pud, I've just replaced my grey head with a blue head that I re-built. The grey head used to get 6,500 on climb out with a 68" Brolga set at 16 deg pitch. I'm using a Grand Rapids engine monitor instrument with limits set at the factory. The red warning light would flash if revs exceeded 6500. The new engine with identical jetting gives 6100 on climb out. I have re checked the timing but still no increase. I wonder whether it is a case of the new rings being tight and friction being the cause. I replaced the radiators with the new tall ones and have no temp problems but it does run up to 75 or 80 on climb. The plugs look ok with a light brown oil film. Egts are on the low side at 520-550 (650 is max). so I may get a size smaller main jet to try. I tried moving the needle circlip to lean the mid range but it went too high. If it doesn't change I may try 15 deg pitch blocks if they are available. I removed the oil pump and run 50:1 premix with Castrol Activ 2t. Don't know whether this is helpful but my 2 bobs worth. Cheers,Don

Just discovered that the EIS instrument takes its info from the charge output rather than the dedicated tach wire. Now have tach readings from both mags. Perhaps one of the CDI boxes is a little sick. Will try substituting another box soon. At last some progress. Only myself to blame, of course! Don

G'day all, today I substituted the cockpit mounted kill switch for another grounded directly to the engine block. No change! I think that the next (unavoidable) step is to replace the stator. Luckily I have 2 engines so I can substitute parts as required. Still you know how complicated this becomes when the engine is mounted on the plane and the fairly demanding ignition timing must be done again in situ. Stand by for any developments and thanx for your suggestions. It will probably be something that I have overlooked but what are hobbies for but to keep us thinking? Regards, Don

I have now run the engine with the trigger wires swapped with no change to the situation. I checked the voltage running to each CDI unit from the alternator and they are the same. I will next check the grounding of the kill switches making sure that they give the best possible ground. Thanks Skyfox, I am also thinking that it most probably is an earthing issue. I will keep you posted. Don

Yes to that FT. I want to try swapping the trigger wires from one mag to the other in case one of the trigger sensors is FUBAR. I was really hoping that someone might recognise this from a similar instance. Compression and fuel appear ok and no nasty noises. Rotary valve timing definitely not the issue either.

I've just mounted my 582 on the Thruster and have a strange problem! With all electrical connections made it runs but when the left mag is grounded the tach reads zero and the egt's show lower (by about 100deg C on one side). Also it is sluggish to build revs above 4000 and peaks at about 5,700. The cht's and egt's are not high at full revs (cht 65-70 and egt 520-560). I have substituted a known working CDI on both sides and makes no difference. Will next swap trigger units to see if that transfers the problem to the other side mag. Any gurus out there wish to chuck their ideas into the ring? Don

This is a real eye opener to me! I wonder what happened to all of those aircraft? Surely they are not all gathering dust in the back of a shed? Just sayin'. Don

New "What personnel Methusala? You mean the Ops Manager and Assistant? Very little... very, very little." Thanks for your input Winsor68, but if it took half of the hours that these persons put in and if we suppose that each position costs the organisation $100,000 pa then the cost is not "very little" at all! I think that this is one area where costs could be levied on a commercial cost recovery basis. My other point regarding the costs of the very high production standard of what is really an in house publication has not attracted any comment so far. Don

G'day again, I am just wondering whether anyone has information on how much it costs the membership to have personnel travelling around the place checking on flying schools. I suspect the cost would be significant but don't have any access to information. I think that this is an appropriate question in light of the discussion. Don

I think that the elephant in the room here is the cost to revenue of the AUF...errr,sorry( I just hate the acronym) RAAus, involved in operations officers travelling around the countryside inspecting commercial training schools. By all means, if this is required, charge the costs (remember"user pays") directly to the schools. I also think that the quality and size of the magazine is a joke! Why not have a simple newsletter containing operational material and leave the entertainment/glamor media to some private entepreneur. Regards, Don

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-02/ultra-light-plane-crashes-into-lake/3755436

I installed them on my VP-2 and I think they, 1) Looked good!; 2) Did nothing for airspeed in cruise ; 3) added weight, and ; 4) caused problems on the ground.

It is almost impossible to mentally transport oneself into this situation with no experience of flying an airliner in these conditions. I reccomend to everyone Earnest Gann's classic novel "Fate is the Hunter". The premise of this book put very simply is that there are millions of ways to come unstuck in the air. His fascinating reminiscences of being a pioneering "line captain" are sprinkled with anecdotes of the untimely demise of many of his esteemed peers. Good reading and compliments of the season, Don

Snowy Mountains Authority maintained a virtual airline of 5 or 6 beavers in the 60's. It is sad that no one has written a book about this piece of aviation history. Don