Hello guys. I hope everyone is enjoying their memorial day. It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm back. Cut me some slack I've been building and flying, lol. I'm an A&P mechanic and I've been busy on Blackhawks and Seahawks while taking some college classes in hopes to become a manager so that one day I have money to build my own flying field so I can host my own fun flys for you all to come too. LOL
Anyway, I got the Airwild Extra 260 out on Sat for the first time this spring and went to the field with my dad. I'm on the start of my 3rd gallon. I flew three awesome flights. It's running slightly rich and ran great. On the fourth flight about a min in I was circling back around and I had a deadstick right at the beginning of the strip, whew! It was windy too, about 20mph winds. She kept her speed pretty well and came in for a nice 3 point. This is my first deadstick with her. Gassers shouldn't do this so I was a bit worried. I started it back up, ran it up so I could check it and than took off. All was good until I pulled vertical and got a bad sputter. Too scary on a windy day so I leveled out and went to circle back in when it sputterd again. Than I landed and it died while idling.
Back in the pits, it'd only start if I'd choke it and than it'd run off from choke for 3 sec. I did get it to run a few times at idle and than it'd die while throttling up. I messed with it for about an hr. I check the needles, they were clean. Checked the diaphragm and it looked okay. My fiance showed up to see me fly, she loves to see me fly and supports me knowing that even though this hobby is expensive it is still fun. Is she a keeper guys? She complains when I don't take her to the field.
So she's there and this wonderful DA50 won't run!!! Oh, so I go home and couldn't even get it to fire after 3 min of flipping. I went to bed that night with a sore right shoulder.
Sun. I checked the line in the tank, the carb lines, and the filters. Everything was good. My ignition battery was good and all wires were in tact. I suspected it was a fuel delivery issue because it seemed to run great while idling the 3 sec. that it would run. So I pulled the engine off and tore the carb apart. Don't fret DA staff, I have rebuilt Lycoming engines and carbs. The needles again were fine, the diaphragm okay, reeds were good, pulse inlet good, and the pump okay. The internal needle was moving freely. I lightly blew out all the ports. The spark plug was taken out and yes you could tell it was running rich. I could see with the muffler and plug out that the piston was very clean and shiny. I also noticed a roller bearing on the crankpin. GOOD JOB DA!!! NICE BEARINGS!!! I'm not sure if a bearing on the crank is common on gassers. This is my second gasser. First was a US 41cc that ran great once the thing would start. I like the bearing because I had a Magnum 91 4 stroke that I sheared the pin on pulling vertical with my GP G202. This engine did have several gallons through it, but I think it was weak. The G202 was went into the corn field below it and is now repaired and resting until it gets a new engine.
So everything looked fine and I put it back together. I did clean the loctite off from the needles and did not use any on the carb bolts and screws because I thought perhaps some loctite had gotten in the ports. I tightened the carb so it was snug, I did notice that it wasn't quite as tight as I'd prefer when I first removed it.
Now everything back together and the needles set to the factory starting points, I took it out in the backyard to start it. Two good flips on choke and I got a pop. WOW, that's good seem so the carb was all dry! Unchoked, one flip and she's purring nice and steady. Seemed to idle better than it was yesterday, very steady. It now transitioned good, it still is lagging very slightly. I leaned both needles by an 1/8th after running it, but I still want it a little rich. After not having it transition at all on Sat, I'm very happy with a slight lag after idling a bit rich for a few min and than gunning it. Whew, I am going to the field today to fly. I hope I've gotten it fixed.
I have no idea what was causing the problem other than a little bit of dirt in the carb or perhaps it had a very slight leak from the carb not being tight. It was definatly a carb issue if you ask me because it ran great at idle for 3 sec so I don't see the ignition being a problem as it was a good idle. I've got a filter in my fuel can and a filter on the plane. I'm thinking about adding another filter on my can. I also don't run it in dirt, just grass. So who knows, I'm not sure if it was the loctite, not getting all the fuel out of it last fall, or I got dirt in it. The carb seemed spotless so I really think it was a bit loose and had a leak. I didn't see or hear any leaks before I removed the carb so who knows.
I just hope it keeps on ticking and doesn't give me anymore grief. I'm getting ready to tune it after this gallon is gone. I'm switching to Mobil 1 or amsoil on my 5th gallon. I'm going to run 50:1 for a bit. I've never tried 100:1. Is that enough oil? Must be. Where do you guys buy your spark plugs? I'm running the stock DA50 muffler from DA, man that thing sounds deep at idle. She's a bit loud!
Does anyone know the torque specs for the spark plug and the carb bolts? My plug is snug and the carb bolts are tight. When I first removed the plug, it was super tight from the factory. So tight I had a hard time hanging on to the plane while removing it. That's too tight!
TTYL guys and let me know about those torque specs if anyone knows. I hope I saved myself from paying to have it sent back and than being out of service for a week or so.
~Pete