After
Re-did the zip ties, and stand-offs here.
December 19, 2016
I didn't notice it until today, that the vertical pod mount bolt was too short. There are no threads showing past the lock nut.
Took off the stiff water temp wire sleeve (under spark plug #2). Notice the Oil tank mounted to the engine. This will be removed.
Replaced the old red carb vent hoses; Replaced the "Y" fitting; Put on new air filters.
After
Spent 2 hours cleaning it up.
Velcro strips placed in rubbing/chafing areas.
Routed the new hose down this way. Notice no more small bottle coolant overflow container.
Pod shield with old white nylon string & duct tape to hold antenna wire.
The Gyro was a dirty mess from all of its traveling.
Now with new zip ties. Also, on the bottom right side you can see some
fiberglass work being done on the inside of the pod where there was a 3" long crack.
December 22, 2016
The instrument panel needs cleaning and re-labeling. Notice that the "Tiny Tach" Hobbs meter on the left side shows 141 total hours. This is the actual Hobbs reading for this Gyro. We figure that the Master switch was probably left on inadvertently thus running the right Hobbs meter until the battery drained. The Tiny Tach Hobbs only runs when the engine is running.
Before re-doing stand-off zip ties
Fixed bent rudder.
Put on a new Oil reservoir tank. Mounted it to a mast clamp that is also used to attach the seat belt straps. Oil tank all hooked up and ready to go.
Took off the Oil reservoir that was mounted on the engine head bolts causing coolant to leak. Loosened and re-torqued the head bolts.
Cleaned up the panel and put on new labels.
New label to measure the oil in the tank.
Picture of the same coolant hose going from the radiator to the engine... Next to the spark plug.
Replaced the right side nose gear stop bracket that was broken.
After
January 6, 2017
Replaced the old red coolant hose with a new one. All hoses got new clamps as well.
All of the old zip ties and stand-offs are now re-done. Added brake fluid and bled the air out of the right brake which had air in the line. Drained the old gas from the seat tank, and added 5 gallons of fresh gas mixed with 1 bottle of 2 stroke oil. Checked the E gearbox and found it had clear oil full up to the fill hole. Did a pre-flight inspection and all looked well. Started up the gyro with the electric start and it started right up. Warmed up the engine for about 10 minutes and did some taxi testing... In the snow. I was able to test the pre-rotator (without rotors) and all worked fine. The engine tach seemed to be working fine. The rotor tach seemed to be working fine. The water temp gauge got up to 125 degrees and seems to be fine. The EGT gauge went up to about 900 degrees, on one of the needles. Hobbs meter is running properly. So far, everything seems to be working properly.
To view the first taxi test, go to YouTube and enter "N395SC Taxi Test 12-20-16". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar4I2uX0oBA
Took off the battery holder. Need to buy a new battery.
N395SC is now officially ready to fly! The registration paperwork is in and we are official! Up until this point, we have only been able to do taxi testing. Mike Burton has agreed to take her up for a test flight on Monday, June 19!
Look how it shines!
January 16, 2017
Bottom of rudder got bent during transport from Oregon to Utah last year.
More new labels.
View from the inside of the fiberglass repair to fix the crack in the pod.
Replaced the coolant overflow hose
There were no washers here on both sides of these lower pod mounts either.
January 13, 2017
December 20, 2016
Today was Chapter 2 Gyro meeting at Pegasus Aviation in Nephi. We took N395SC outside, 30 degrees temperature, and started her up. Paul Plack did taxi testing and we did a static engine test. The engine did good until about 4500 RPM and then didn't do so well. We changed the main jets for 30 degrees, redid the test and she ran to 6100 RPM just fine. Then we cleaned and put on the Rotors and did a spin-up. Went to 160 RPM with no problems.
Replaced both sides with longer bolts and put on washers too.
And shines!
Sportcopter Vortex
N395SC
This is a Sport Copter Vortex with a Rotax Blue head 582 engine. It has an electric start (E Gear box), with 2 aux. fuel tanks which gives 5 more gallons of fuel to the already 9 gallon seat tank.
This Gyro was not in any shape or condition to fly, and was in need of much repair work. It just sat waiting for someone to invest time and money to fix her up.
When I had my engine out on December 5, 2016, I was out of a Gyro to fly. I figured that it would cost about $16K to get my Gyro back up in the air. This would not be happening anytime soon.
In order to continue Gyro flying, I got together with Paul Plack, formed a partnership and acquired this Gyro. Our plan is to fix up this Gyro and fly it until the end of 2018, when we will dissolve our partnership.
We have this Gyro at the Pegasus Aviation hanger at the Nephi airport, U14, where it will be its home base.
Broken and smashed rubber cable pulley.
After
Fiberglass repair to fix the crack in the pod.
January 28, 2017
Jim Gilchrist did the Annual Inspection today and everything passed except for the registration (but we knew that to begin with). Other than getting it registered, she is ready to fly!
This Hobbs meter reads 193.7 hrs., and is activated by the main power switch on the bottom left.
Took 395SC out for some more taxi testing and rotor spin ups. Everything went well. Just need to keep the engine running every now and then. It was a bit cold... 15 degrees!
Replaced with a new one.
Put on the new Coolant overflow tank back to back with the oil tank. Coolant tank all hooked up and ready to go.
After
December 16, 2016
The goal is to have this Gyro ready to fly by the end of January or early February of 2017.
June 16, 2017
After
Replaced the old red primer lines with new yellow ones.
Replaced a misfit main gear tube bolt with a shorter one.
Put in a new brass "T" fitting from the primer to the fuel line.
June 19, 2017
After
Before re-doing stand-off zip ties
Put on a fuel pump w/weep hole; and new fuel lines to the carbs from the fuel pump.
New battery installed.
Before re-doing stand-off zip ties
These bolts stuck out by nearly an inch. Replaced them with shorter ones & put on washers that weren't there.
January 14, 2017
January 9, 2017
Before re-doing stand-off zip ties
More new labels.
What an exciting day it turned out to be! At about 1130 this morning, Mike Burton took up N395SC for a test flight. It could have hardly been a better test flight! Though his flight only lasted less than 15 minutes, he deemed N395SC suitable for flying. He suggested a bit of right stick adjustment, but other than that, he gave it a clean bill of health. See the video of this test flight by going to the Home page and by clicking on Gyrocho 21 button.
After Mike flew N395SC, I took it up for a spin. I flew for half an hour, and realized that at wide open throttle, I could only get 6100 engine RPM. To remedy this, I landed and then took 1 degree of prop pitch out. On my second test flight, I was now getting the 6400 - 6500 RPM as specified by Rotax, the engine manufacturer. I flew for about an hour this time, getting used to the subtle nuances of the craft, and had a great time!
It feels so good to be up and flying again after a 6 month lay off.
Here is a ground view of Mike Burton test flying N395SC. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um-HXfDF5Xc