Capillatus

I took the Thruster to visit some friends this past weekend, we had -20°C outside so it started to get quite cold after an hour in the air. One possible problem I noted during the flight was that the EGT was slightly high and the CHT was on the low side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg0AiHVjGFY

We got just over 30cm of snow last week, so this weekend my little TST got a pair of skis :)

It worked quite well but the tailwheel have a tendency to get stuck in the snow so I think I have to mount a small ski on the tail.

The winter has finally arrived! Today it was -10°C and sunny weather so I went for a local flight in the cold.

I found these two videos of Peter on liveleak when he tests his aircraft. He will probably upload a new youtube video of this test flight soon.

https://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=bb3c063fdbdf

https://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=f960c2a1a5e6

Do you know where it came from?Was it a part of the fuel hose?

 

It would pay to work it out as it may be the start of some deterioration somewhere in the fuel system.

I switched all the fuel hoses when I was looking for the problem so hopefully it should not happen again

Well, I was wrong to claim atmospheric conditions, but the principle still holds - the simplest cause is probably the real cause. I bet you danced a jig when you solved the problem.

The day before, I crossed Gulf of Bothnia twice when I visited some friends in Finland. It is approximately 50nm over open water and a total of 98nm between the fields. So I'm probably lucky that the piece of rubber didn't mess with me on that trip.

The problem was not due to carb ice.

The engine decided to die for me this weekend immediately after take-off, I still had about 200m of field in front of me so it was no problem to put down the Thruster safely. Once on the ground, the engine started on the first pull and idled smoothly, but as soon as I increased the throttle the engine died. I started to suspect fuel flow restriction so I opened the float bowls and the gasoline levels were very low. I switched on the electric fuel pump while the float bowls were removed and it was barely dripping any gasoline. So I changed the fuel hoses and the filter. The fuel flow now seemed to be in order, I started the engine and did some static tests. Everything looked good, but suddenly the engine stopped again. After some searching, I finally found the blockage, it was a loose piece of rubber inside the mechanical fuel pump.

Yes you can get carby ice in a two stroke..... I have had it! And with that due point spread, it is more than possible that was what you had.But if you are worried that it might have been something else, pull the exhaust manifold off and have a look at the pistons, rings and cylinders.

 

Kiwi

It has good compression and the pistons, rings and cylinders looked all good and the engine runs just fine, so it was probably carb ice

During climb out yesterday with my Thruster TST / Rotax 503 my RPM dropped and the engine began to run rough. I worked the throttle a bit and it was possible to run the engine at 5000RPM. I turned back to the field but shortly after I completed the turn, the power came back. So I decided to circle around the field until sunset and the engine ran without any problems during this time. The temperature was 12°C and the dew point was 11°C, so this made me believe it was carburetor icing. What do you guys think?

I was out on a short trip (1.5h) and on my way home, the wind had increased significantly and my GS was only 8 knots at 2000ft. And the nearest airport from my small private field now reported 29018G27KT 260V320. It also started to rain as I approached the field, but the thruster handled it just fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IKZGLz8WrY

I wonder if U-Ship will transport larger aircraft too?

Here is the uShip link to the shipping of my TST:

Transport THRUSTER MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT

The seller arranged the shipment through uShip, It did not cost much, and after a day the thruster was delivered to me.

That'sa great looking TST Capillatus

My TST with new wing skins from wingtech.com.au

The temperature is not a problem as long as you dress properly

But when I filmed this we had a temperature of -9°C on the ground and +3°C at 1000ft and this usually causes some icing on the wings during descent through the warmer and more humid air into the colder air. This is usually not a problem, but we have had a few icing accidents here in northern Sweden due to inversions during the winter.

It's still over half a meter of snow on my farm field and the weather forecasts predict even more snow and cold weather the coming weeks. So while I'm waiting for spring, here's a short video of a flight in my TST from January when we had very little snow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_iXWPJFyvg

Welcome, I can understand your enthusiasm, but imagine it's short flights only at this time of year.

Nope, not directly shorter flights in the winter. You can land on all the frozen lakes and rivers without any floats which allows you to meet up with your snowmobile buddies!

But we have a wide variety of temperatures throughout the year, down to -30°C in winter and up to +30°C in the summer. Every season has of course its pros and cons.

Flew one just (Thruster 2 place) like yours when it was almost new. in the mid 80's. Your density altitude would be improved by the low temps. . I've flow a drifter at just above zero. degrees C.. I don't know how you keep the cold out. That strip is a pretty rough surface, by the looks of it.. Nev

yep, that's not even a strip, it's just an old oat field that is not used anymore. However, I will fix the field during the summer

Welcome Capillatus!That looks a bit chilly for an open cockpit...

It was only -8°C, so I just used my snowmobile clothing.

G`Day ( Hi is OK, but G`Day or G`Day Mate, is the Ausi way )........Capillatus! ...The Thruster and the Austflight WB Drifter, were the first two Ultralights to be certified to allow twin seat instruction in Australia... I`ve had my Drifter since 1988 and it was originally one of the early trainers, owned by Austflight Aviation for their flying school.

 

Regards,

 

Frank.

Ahh, it's always fun to hear some history.

Hello Frank, I trained in Thrusters. Nice in the air, but I never could keep the damned things in line after touchdown. As a popular training aircraft, I suspect they were deliberately made that way. Tony Hayes used to tell me that if you can control a Thruster, you can fly anything...

Welcome Capillatus. Thanks for the video, a sight as alien to most Australians as the red desert would be to you.Cheers, Des

Normally we have at least 60-70 cm of snow, this time of year. But as seen in the video, we have barely 1cm so far this year.

Hey all,

I found this forum after I bought / imported my first ultralight a Thruster TST from 1987

Here is a short video from a test flight carried out today from my sloping 300m field:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx09dQ6-e_s