I just had a couple of rewarding days in Hilversum, Holland. Bart & Henk
and Nico had asked me to go and look over their new Europas, both 914
powered Bart's mono and Nico's tri gear. Rob Zeelenberg ( he with the 5th
floor flat in Amsterdam ) also wanted his looked at although he had not
been able to resist it's charms and flew it before my arrival. He had the
classic wide grin.
Anyway, he and I went up in PH-POP, (Pop is his charming lady ) to show me
round the area, (I tend to get lost) and checked the stalls. Pretty normal,
innocuous clean, the Europa moderate wing drop dirty. Stall strips normally
reduce this wing drop tendency. A very nice light, tidy 912 Europa mono.
This gave me confidence to fly Bart's immaculate 914 mono. Very nice, and
no problems except a bunged up Purolator fuel filter. No problems with the
stalls or other parameters. The 914 is a very nice engine
Nico's tri gear also flew nicely but overheated on the ground using quite a
lot of power to taxi on the soft grass. It cooled well in the air. Again we
managed to block a fuel filter more than once. This time black dust
probably from the fuel pipe.
I consider a fuel pressure gauge almost essential, a quick check before
take off roll is reassuring. ( EGT too but that's another story )
I must reiterate Andy Draper's instruction to wash out the fuel tank
several times before going flying. This means a complete fill to wash dust
electro statically stuck to tyhe roof of the tank. A part blocked filter
will not deliver enough fuel for full power and may stop the engine.
Climbing away after take off is not the best time to be messing about
looking for pump switches, tank selectors or landing spots. The blockage
may or may not be visible through the glass of the Purolator filter. I know
of one case (not a Europa and 2 stroke) where the filter was blocked by
clear jelly. I suspect this might have been the "virus" that fishermen talk
about. ( More likely a bacterium or fungus. )
Graham
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