John: "By the way, my overhauled (last year) air speed indicator displays 5 mph after starting (not rolling) since installed. In addition, in the air, the indicator is about 20 mph high. "
Me: John. This happened to me too. I had a long talk with the folks that repair airspeed meters. They stated that even though TSO'd most instruments don't last very long. The non-TSO'd instruments might be even better since they can be manufactured with new materials and processes. I am having my third airspeed instrument now ready for replacement. Seems like every 3 years I need a new one, regardless of flying time. Hartmut ----- Original Message ----- From: John Craparo To: TECH-FORUM Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 3:29 AM Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Overhauled Engine and 0-200 Crank... I wanted to mention a few things. First, I apologize for not showing my face at Oshkosh. I arrived on Monday and left Sunday morning. I offer no excuse for not stopping over to say hello. I did fly up in a Beech Sundowner at a speedy 110 kts : ) The trip from Georgetown, TX to Fon du Lac, WI and back gave me all sorts of confidence about making the trip in the Ercoupe next year. Once again I stayed at Marian College which offers nice dorm rooms and breakfast each morning starting at 6 am. Speaking of the Ercoupe, as I mentioned some time back I decided to have the engine overhauled earlier than TBO as the maintenance records were less than stellar when I purchased the airplane. I sent the engine off to AeroMark in Florida. It took about 8 weeks from the time it was shipped until it was returned. I ended up having the 0-200 crank installed. As some may recall, when I did the first restoration on the airplane, about 2.5 years ago, I had good engine compression, but could only achieve about a 300 fpm ROC. I switched to a new climb that increased it by 50 fpm on a cool day (cool in this part of TX is about 80 degrees F). Well, after a carburetor overhaul problem (jetted incorrectly), I got to go test fly it today... With an OAT of 105 degrees F today, I got a climb out of a solid 700 fpm at 2400 rpm! At 2000 AGL performance dropped to about 500 fpm, but still very nice from my perspective. I did not fly above 3000 AGL today as I was looking for other sqawks. By the way, my overhauled (last year) air speed indicator displays 5 mph after starting (not rolling) since installed. In addition, in the air, the indicator is about 20 mph high. This was the case before overhaul of the instrument. Seems all is right with pitot and static lines. Wondering if anyone has ideas about this. I fly by attitude and use a GPS, but would like to make this work right if possible. This was an expensive way to get a better climb rate, but I am happy with the results. Thanks for all the suggestions and technical advice offered by the group... John PS - Part of my time at Oshkosh was spent with Joe Kittinger and his wife Sherry, both with whom I relish time with. I wrote an article about him in the August issue of Sport Aviation. At 80, he flew with the Aeroshell team during a demonstration flight at Oshkosh. He still has the right stuff... by the way, there were errors in the article around Joe's combat experience and his age. That was a mixup between me and the editors at SA (who happen to be top notch by the way). All to be corrected next month.
