IBob

Other considerations: Some of the earlier Rotax 912s were prone to crankcase fretting. The later 912s have a good functional ignition retard for starting. The older ones do not, which can result in poor starting and eventual sprag clutch damage.* While the 912 has proven itself as a very robust engine if installed and run as per the manufacturers instructions, parts and and repairs can be very expensive: so much so that relatively few are rebuilt. * Key to avoiding this is starting technique together with a good battery and wiring arrangement that turns the engine over rapidly for starting. The standard Savannah arrangement (and various other aircraft) use the aircraft hull for the 0V battery return. However, most builders here install a good sized 0V cable from battery to engine to ensure good starting power. Some of the older Savannahs also had the battery mounted near the tail, in which case it is doubly important to ensure optimal battery cables of a suitable size.

Oskar, to answer your question regarding the engine: whether you would be required to do a total overhaul depends on local legislation, so ask your local microlight club, they will know the answer to that one. Apart from that, I think the reason you are not getting a lot of response here is that it is impossible to know the quality and value of an aircraft from a distance. So it may be a hangar queen, beautifully built and maintained, or it may be an absolute dog, poorly built and maintained. And the only way to tell the difference is to have someone knowledgeable look at it: ideally someone familiar with riveted aluminium skinned aircraft of this sort. This is absolutely not like buying car: aircraft are very lightly built, and microlights especially so. The aluminium skin has lap joints, which are potential areas of corrosion as they can trap moisture and contamination. And you will certainly not be able to 'see' such corrosion without close and careful inspection. Also be aware that the Savannah comes in kit or factory built form, and kit builds may vary greatly in quality, depending on the abilities of the builder. So, what do I think? I think it could be a nice aircraft if it is well built and is in good condition. Though I would be very wary about the floats, and as Nev said if it has been anywhere near salt water I would not consider it: the water will have got into the skin laps, and there will be corrosion there that cannot be fixed. And this may be a problem even on fresh water. I think it could also be a poorly built or maintained aircraft, in which case the cost of bringing it back to good condition could be many times what it is worth. As Nev said: get a good independent check. Always.

But certainly reminiscent of them good ol' days when, to add to the excitement, the pilot wasn't allowed to see where he was actually going. Or where he'd been: just where he might have been if he was travelling parallel to his actual current path.............(

Whatever floats your boat, Kyle. I would comment that the 912 ULS as fitted in the Savannah and with an appropriately pitched prop runs very nicely and does not suffer any high or marginal temperature problems: quite the opposite in our temperate climate, where we blank off part of the oil radiator for a good part of the year in order to see recommended oil temperatures. The Savannah kit includes a wiring harness and steam gauges that pick up the 2 head coolant temperatures (or CHTs in older engines) plus oil temp and pressure, which are fitted standard to the 912.

I made my own skin extensions, as I wanted them to turn in like the 701, rather than be an inboard extension of the leading edge shape which I think also intrudes some on the field of vision. I count myself as a reasonably competent pattern maker, but it turned out to be quite a mission, and while i am happy enough with the result, it is certainly not perfect. If it is any consolation, this is a challenging area on most high winged aircraft. And on the Savannah, since the windscreen is not predrilled, the shape there will vary some from build to build, so you will quite probably need to trim to get a good fit. For the roof panel, the manual says to fit it on top, but I copied another local builder and fitted it under the wing skins, using those fastening strips to secure it underneath rather than on top. You have to trim a bit off the sides to get it under there. I think it does a much neater job, if potentially a bit less weatherproof. I can't recall if I put silicone sealer in there.

There is a vertical component: my Sav S manual says 0 to 2 deg down, with reference to the upper rear fuselage surface. I believe they set the engine mounts up at the factory in a jig: they arrive with packing washers in place.

Kyle, I have a Savannah S, but have also enjoyed quite a few flights in Pete's (fallowdeer) VG, which has the original bed mount. And I can't say I noticed any particular difference in smoothness. Be aware also that on XL and the S, for which the ring mount was introduced, the firewall sits at a slightly different angle than the VG. So there would likely be some packing involved. Marty_d may be able to comment on that, as he has fitted a ring mount on his 701 build.

I recall seeing grainy b & w footage of an aircraft of similar configuration. It was taxiing in a really nasty short choppy sea, bucking wildly. And the engine fell out, first rising as though to fall back on the fuselage, then mercifully dropping down forward.......

FYI Marty, 2 possible shortcomings of the receiver tank alarm system: 1. In the kits it comes with an incandescent bulb indicator. We swap that for a flashing red LED, which we also mount on the LH side of the panel (where the standard indicator is on the RH side). 2. Unless you have a way to valve off the main tanks, you have no easy way of testing the level switch, which is a simple magnetically operated reed switch and can fail. We put in a 4 valve system for the 4 tanks, following Mark Kyle's early example, and this does allow easy routine testing of the entire alarm circuit.

Surely, in light singles and microlights, a small receiver tank with level switch in the top is an excellent innovation? In the Zenith 701 and and the Savannah this is a 6L tank, kept flooded by the main tanks. At cruise with a 912, the low level alarm comes on 150secs after the main tank/s stop delivering, leaving the pilot with approx 20minutes of fuel to sort out the problem or find a suitable landing spot. It seems to me this addresses all sorts of scenarios, including momentary unporting, which have brought other aircraft down.

Facthutnter, if BC0979 is referring to the standard Savannah park brake, it is simply a pair of ganged shutoff valves in circuit between the pedals and the wheels: the pilot closes the valves while standing on the brakes. In the Savannah, these valves are situated just under the LH end of the instrument panel. So the brake lines go up from pedals to valves, then back down to the wheels. However, this will not result in fluid flowing back down to the pedals, unless an air leak at the valves allows air in there to replace the falling fluid. And you are right, such a brake should not be relied on for any extended period. But it does allow time for the pilot to find a rock or chocks as required.

BC0979 nope, no problem with the park brake draining down. It could only do that if there is a leak up at the park brake letting air in to replace the the fluid as it drained down.

PS: If you register your build with ICP, you get access to Maintenance Manual updates etc I reccomend it.

BC0979 I just printed out the 06/23 version of the Savannah S Maintenance Manual....which has grown from just 16 pages in 2014 to 132 pages in this latest version. It includes a section on the brakes including bleeding that states the oil level should not be higher than half of the (upper) tank level, or approx 20mm down from the top. Onetrack, unless there have been changes (I have yet to read all of this new manual) ICP specifically call for mineral based oil.......and that is what is in my S.

I did not fill my cylinders to the very top. This is also the reservoir for each brake, and I assumed there should be an air gap. I have not had an leakage there since new.

Those are great looking seats, Marty!

Hi Bryan, I have no detailed pics. The J struts mount as you describe: The upper bracket is riveted to the underside of the wing as shown Ch2 Pages 34 & 35. The lower bracket is wrapped round the wingstrut and riveted under the trailing edge of that. In my manual this is shown Ch 26 Pages 6 & 7. You do have to work out just where on the wingstrut: I fastened the upper bracket, the position of this is clear from the manual. I then had to trim the Jstrut to fit between wing and strut: I trimmed the top, cutting it off at an angle to match the wing underside. As I recall I did this initial trimming with a hacksaw, as it required a lot of material to be removed. With this done I lodged the J strut top at the wing fastening and used a square on the strut while moving the Jstrut bottom, to establish where it should fall (as the Jstrut needs to be perpendicular to the wing strut). With that position marked, I was able to wrap, drill and rivet the lower bracket to the wing strut. And with the two brackets in place, I was then able to make final adjustments to the trimming of the Jstrut, and drill it for fastening. For fastening I just used the rivnuts, with star washers as per the manual. I assume the thinking is that it requires very little force to hold the strut from bowing while it is in a straight condition. And that explains the light fastenings used. Other notes: As mentioned, a lot of the upper Jstrut had to be removed to make it fit. The bottom of the Jstrut is already cut to a curve, but this does not match the shape of the Wingstrut very well. You may want to remove a little of the front of the curve. With both brackets in place and while lodging the Jstrut for final fitting/drilling, I found I was at risk of pushing the wingstrut out of straight. To reduce the risk of this I worked the Jstrut shape to be a looser fit on the brackets, and also ran a stringline up the length of the Wingstrut. The bottom bracket is SS, so not at risk of corrosion. However, since my struts are painted white, I ran white heatshrink onto it to neaten the appearance. I hope this helps. It is a fitting job, rather than just straight assembly. But not difficult. It's just the manual..................(

Something similar happened with colleague's aircraft. I believe the braided Rotax loom was pinched between the engine and the ringmount, resulting in a short and the intermittent loss of one ignition system.

Yep, same problem if the C of G is too far forward: once the main wheels are down, the elevator won't keep the nose up as the aircraft slows. I have this with my Savannah, which I often fly solo and quite light: I recently added 10kG of (removable) ballast in the baggage area and it is now a completely different aircraft to land. The main difference I notice in liftoff is more rudder to hold her straight during initial acceleration, presumably as the nosewheel is effectively lighter.

Here's another one (in NZ): https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/aircraft/aircraft/listing/4417353949?bof=cc5AdFfN

With quad nosewheel mod???????

I used a small cheap greenhouse pump sprayer with neoprene tube attached, but most of them leak at the screwon top, so test if buying. However, I like the idea of the pump oilcan above much better: the pumped up sprayer delivers the fluid at an uncertain rate, and needs to be shut off real quick at the end of the fill.

Then there's this:

Considering that we are required to have ADS-B in controlled airspace, where it will be used to verify position etc and ensure separation, it would surely need to be quite accurate BurnieM do you have any insight as to how accurate it is near ground level? Is it less accurate there?