| 3-March-2002 | Picked engine up from shipping company and unpacked. Thought whimsically about idea of jet-assist pickup truck. |
| 5-March-2002 | Ignitor, main fuel solenoid and Hobbs check out OK. |
| 6-March-2002 | Trouble in Paradise. Tried to crank the starter and got nothing. Removed starter from engine and discovered the + stud on the starter has been twisted by someone and the field braid wire is completely torn off. Armature looks OK. Contacted Avon Aero to see if they have a replacement starter case. Tested EGT thermocouple and gauge using a butane grill lighter; gauge responds (100C) but could not get thermocouple very hot using lighter. Will try propane torch soon. |
| 7-March-2002 | After a few hours work, I was able to reattach the starter's field braid to the + stud with a lot of heat and solder. Reattched the starter and put the juice to it and it spun the engine! The tachometer appears good and indicated 10% RPM on the gauge. The oil pressure switch closed too! Now on to the fuel system...better get the thing out of my basement. |
| 15-March-2002 | Lights...Camera...Starter...Ignition...Fuel...Combustion! After becoming more intimate with the innards of the fuel controller than I cared to, my turbine ran for the first time today! Turns out there were some things crudded up in the controller and a problem with the fuel inlet line. The first spin up after fixing the controller resulted in combustion and acceleration up to 44% and then flameout; this was repeatable. Bleeding a miniscule amount of air from the fuel controller's large hex plug facing the gearbox took care of the problem. acceleration from 50% to 100% is rapid and dramatic. Be prepared for this the first time you start yours. Roger Marmion had warned me about this and I kept his warning in mind on my first start, however it still scared the HOLY CRAP out of me. When she shot past 60%RPM headed for the stratosphere (so I thought) I hit the fuel shutoff switch and my feet didn't touch ground until I was in the next county. It took several minutes for me to get up the nerve to start it again and let it accelerate to wherever it was going to go. I finally did and it went right to 102% and stayed. Today's vital statistics: 210C EGT, 28psi oil press, 0.5hr runtime, 1 gal Jet-A consumption Add to TODO list: figure out some way to make use of an 8000 rpm PTO. |
