Hello Netter's, Well, it seems as though the saga continues with my little KR. While flying last week I noticed a slight vibration I hadn't noticed before. Nothing major, and it was a bit bumpy out so I didn't think too much about it. I checked everything out well under the cowling and airframe before our usual Saturday morning flight for breakfast with Richard Shirley and Rich Siefert. Run up had a slight abnormality, but again, nothing major. The prop was just refinished and balanced so I thought maybe the balance was off. The static balance, however, came out near perfect. Take of and climb out seemed to be normal.
We flew to Flabob for breakfast and decided to fly to the coast afterwards. Rich Siefert had to get back for a meeting so it was just R. Shirley and I. Great visibility made the flight up the coast awesome. Catalina Island was incredible off in the distance. We made a few high speed passes over my house where we came in from opposite sides, crossed and made a 3+ "G" pull out. Talk about YEEEEHAAAWWWWWW!!!!! After making a strafing run of the RC planes over the old Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, we headed back to Corona. There were a lot of planes in the pattern and some just seemed to have no clue as to what they were doing. Richard and I had to make a go around. As I added power to climb, I noticed the vibration was much worse. I made it around just fine and finished with a greaser landing. When I cleared the active and started for my hangar, The shaking felt like I was taxiing over one of those old washboards. I knew it wasn't going to be good. The was hoping the prop repair didn't hold. As it turns out, the prop is fine and instead, it seems I have a broken crank.... AAAUGGHHHH!!!! Richard confirmed it. It looks as though this will be my last 2 hour flight for awhile. Instead of spending another $1000.00 on this engine, which has continued to be problematic, I think it is time to finish the Corvair and get it installed. I wanted to wait for a bit but now I have no choice. I stopped back at Richard's hangar on the way out. He went to put his plane away and we noticed a lot of oil coming out from the front of the cowling. It turns out his case cracked. There is a 1.5" crack near an oil galley on the front of the engine. Now Richard is down for a new engine as well. There has been discussion for awhile about getting rid of the VW and installing an 0200, corvair, or even a Jabiru 120 horse on his plane. Can you imagine his little racer with 120HP??? The jury is still out about his choice but this years Gathering may have a 250 MPH speed demon arriving from California. Steve Glover KR-2 N902G AJO, Ca <[email protected]> Steve Glover KR-2 N902G AJO, Ca <[email protected]>
