tecnamdave Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Just had my first splutter after takeoff today stick forward and landed straight ahead made it down ok We had just finished replacing all the fuel lines in the Tecnam including emptying both tanks and replacing the fuel. checked out for any leaks and loose fittings all ok next turned on electric fuel pump every thing ok next fired up the trusty Rotax ran it for a couple of minutes all ok then proceeded to put the cowlings and final cleanup and DI befor taking it out for a check flight Approximately 5 or six minutes for warm up while taxing out all the pre take off checks including mags. check all ok lined up on the runway every thing running smoothly like all ways, lift of at 40 knots flaps up climbing at 65 knots then a splutter. after landing could not find any faults. Question is could it have been air in the fuel lines ? can any one give some input with the same experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryon Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Dave, I cant help you with the fuel problem, but congratulations on getting the bird down safe Cheers Bryon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecnamdave Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 Dave,I cant help you with the fuel problem, but congratulations on getting the bird down safe Cheers Bryon Hi Bryon Well we checked every thing out again this time holding the breaks on and running engine at full revs for app 2 minutes then the same again this time with electric fuel pump on as well. did not miss a beat so lined up and climbed out at around 300 feet the engine started to run rough with loss of power once again stick forward throttle off almost through the boundary fence this time. Another near death experience very day is a good day. some days are better than others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cherk Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Hi BryonWell we checked every thing out again this time holding the breaks on and running engine at full revs for app 2 minutes then the same again this time with electric fuel pump on as well. did not miss a beat so lined up and climbed out at around 300 feet the engine started to run rough with loss of power once again stick forward throttle off almost through the boundary fence this time. Another near death experience very day is a good day. some days are better than others Dave, You could try tying the tail down....nose high......in climb-out attitude to see if its to do with venting,suction or float levels.................just a thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnm Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Just been thru replacing all hoses on a Tecnam Bravo - with a L2 - L2 the brains - me the monkey Obvious question ???????? ............... where the 2 tank lines meet at a 'T' the fuel line then forward is a larger internal and external diameter - same for you Tdave ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryon Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Hi BryonWell we checked every thing out again this time holding the breaks on and running engine at full revs for app 2 minutes then the same again this time with electric fuel pump on as well. did not miss a beat so lined up and climbed out at around 300 feet the engine started to run rough with loss of power once again stick forward throttle off almost through the boundary fence this time. Another near death experience very day is a good day. some days are better than others Dave, Once is bad enough, but to have it happen twice..................I bet your pucker wont relax for at least a week Go and buy yourself a Tatts ticket I would definately be looking at trying to reproduce the problem ...on the ground.... The suggestion of tying the tail down sounds like it could be the go for me after you have checked all the lines for low points, humps or slight kinks. Even a slight constriction could do it. Anyway, congratulations on another good save Cheers Bryon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyhi Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Does the Tecnam have a return (bypass) fuel line back to the tank (with or without a tap)? I experienced this once in my Z at 500'. Had the return line turned off. Turned it on & all was good again. I've never turned the bypass off since. My situation was different in that I had just landed & shut the engine down for 5 minutes before starting it & taking off again. I deduced that it was vapour lock due to heat rise under the cowl at shutdown.Cheers Dexter My Tecnam has a restrictor in the tee where the return line to the tank tees off the main fuel line from the pump to the carbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecnamdave Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 My Tecnam has a restrictor in the tee where the return line to the tank tees off the main fuel line from the pump to the carbs. Yes mine also has a restrictor in the tee for the return working ok We have just checked out both mech.fuel pump and the electric fuel pump both working ok, as separate units, and in tandem we have also ran a couple of ltrs of fuel thou the system to make sure no air left in the fuel lines we are about to test engine then test fly Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andys@coffs Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 Yes mine also has a restrictor in the tee for the return working okWe have just checked out both mech.fuel pump and the electric fuel pump both working ok, as separate units, and in tandem we have also ran a couple of ltrs of fuel thou the system to make sure no air left in the fuel lines we are about to test engine then test fly Cheers Dave Dave Assuming it does it again, can you switch off (engine, punps and feedltaps) at that time and land straight ahead agin, you can then check out the bowl for too much or too little fuel...At least you then know which of thre 2 is the issue. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecnamdave Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 DaveAssuming it does it again, can you switch off (engine, punps and feedltaps) at that time and land straight ahead agin, you can then check out the bowl for too much or too little fuel...At least you then know which of thre 2 is the issue. Andy we have sussed out what we think is the problem, do not think it to be a fuel problem after all, will confirm an Wednesday after we finish all the maintenance issues Thanks for every ones input all the same Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecnamdave Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 I believe we have sussed out the problem just ran out of daylight today, so did not get to test fly the Tecnam. Me being a nervous pilot, who only fly's on very fine calm days, and having a bit of vibration on climb out at app 200ft with a bit of panic thrown in who immediately throttled of and pushed the stick forward and landing straight ahead thinking i had a fuel problem. putting it down to maybe air in the fuel lines, only to do the same again the next day after bleeding the fuel lines to make sure all would be ok and finding the vibration even more extreme. as i lift the flaps at about 2 to 300 ft and making that decision to land straight ahead once again as trained to do in the event of efato or any other event that would effect the the safety of self or the plane we have come to the conclusion that it was the Tyre that i changed the other day causing one of the landing wheels to become out of balance and not doing its chronic boogie until well into lift off. this has now been rectified Doh Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tecnamdave Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 Thank you and every one else for there concern My Mechanic Len checked out the plane this morning upon taking it for a test flight found the same problem, with a bit of vibration and definite lose of power. So back to the hangar and a thorough check of all the fuel system, we found the problem. The fuel line star that's a 4 way section that distributes the fuel to both carburettors and to the fuel pressure gauge had been inadvertently put back the wrong way, with restricted supply to one of the carburettors, instead of to the fuel pressure gauge Once again a lesson learnt one cannot afford to not pay full attention to the smallest of parts This little 4 way piece of junction pipe has a restriction that can be easily overlooked at the best of times Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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