ZU-DVE (and ZS-WUO) (and ZEE) Flight Log

[gertcoetzee]

Easter weekend. For the log and more pictures have a look at the website!

[gertcoetzee]

http://microlighters.co.za/viewtopic.ph ... 8&start=30

[gertcoetzee]

Been on an imprompto adventure with no internet access. More pictures and the story later...

[gertcoetzee]

16&17 April @ Aurora. Sorted my propblems out, now warped and in the air. DVE will soon get a brother.

DSCF1862.JPG (26.61 KiB) Viewed 1803 times

DSCF1882.JPG (30.99 KiB) Viewed 1801 times

DSCF1894.JPG (34.7 KiB) Viewed 1802 times

[tsotsi]

Gert, do you have Mr Dada's number for me?

[gertcoetzee]

Gert, do you have Mr Dada's number for me?

2774536657

figure that one out and win Z$9m

[gertcoetzee]

2 May 2008

I have bought a Windlass, which is ancient, but new. It has a 503, with less than 300 hours, the wings were altered and resailed 60 hours ago, and almost everything else was replaced as per schedule and logged since it was first registered in the early 90s. The NC prop has three hours, and she flies like a dream.

I did my conversion with Morne this week, and was amazed how powerfull the 503 (yes I know we are at 0ft) is. With the Aquilla I pull in the bar on take-off, and push it briskly out for the lift-off, but with the lightweight Windlass it seems as if I will have a launch rather than a take-off with that technique.

Instrumentation is basic, and I still have to figure out how I am going to attach my PDA/GPA (which is currently fubar). I will do this next week.

The only snag thus far is that the radio did not seem to charge, luckily I had a spare battery. With the help of CLUless' son Deon and Don they quicly tested and figured out that the battery is fine, the ZULU special is fine, and the coils gives out a shocking DC. The problem lies with the converter thingy,since the battery voltage was below 12, and remained so even when the engin was started. It is great to have some clever okes at the hangar. I barely remember which light switches does what in my house. I will replace the Amptronic thingy next week.

Had an hour today, see http://www.zu-dve.com for log.

[Morph]

Which radio Gert? Icom's do not charge via the power socket on the side of the radio if the radio is switched on

There is just not enough current to run the radio and charge. Really wierd I know, but that's how it is. However, if the battery is previously fully charged, then it seems to happily keep the charge.

[gertcoetzee]

Morph,

ICOM A5

Bear with me, as I said ilectricity not my forte. Eish

I have the Icom A5, and have now charged the battery (via transformer supplied), and with my multimeter (!) I get a 11V reading on the battery. However, my spare battery reads 8V after several hours of charging and shows the little battery icon on the screen. When pressing PTT on the latter, it goes off, but happily receives. From the specifications I note that Rx current drain is 70-500mA but Tx is 1.1-1.8A. How does this relate to the V reading (8 vs 11)?

The V reading on my trike's battery was <12, and connecting the radio to it gave the same response after a while - Rx fine but Tx switches off. So now I have charged the trike battery and it reads >12V so should maintain the radio? Until it goes flat - hence the need for a new converter (or is it called a rectifier?)?

As for the icom battery which does not charge to 12V - will it help if I allow it to run completely flat and then recharge?

iG

[Morph]

unfortunately the older battery technology batteries have a limited number of recharges. They progressivly get worse until they cannot hold the charge for longer than a few minutes. Zulu repacks these battery casings with new batteries.

If you charge your phone in the supplied cradle, you get a direct link onto the battery and this is the fastest method of charging. The power socket on the side of the radio limits the current to way below 500mA(there is an electrical circuit inside the radio doing this). This means it does not have enough trickle charge to maintain the transmit of over 1 Amp. If you transmit a lot the radio will discharge to a point that the radio will cut out every time you key the mike. Now this trickle charge could be enough to maintain a fully charged battery while the radio is on, or worst case at least, slows the rate of discharge on condition you don't transmit a lot. Obviously if you switched the radio off, but left it plugged into the plane with the power to the radio on, then the radio would slowly (not as fast as the cradle charger) recharge. This is how I managed it. I started with full batteries and ran them plugged in. However on a long flyaway I would recharge the radio once there, by leaving the power circuit to the radio on for a few hours. It's drawing a very low current so shouldn't deplete the plane battery too quickly.

Hope this helps. The alternative is to bypass the radio batteries completely and directly couple a cleaned 11V to the points inside the back of the radio where the batteries normally connect to. This then relies on the planes battery and the radio will switch off the moment the power is cut. This is not the ideal method, but my first two planes worked like this because I couldn't get replacement batteries for the radios. This method is also prone to lots of electrical noise induction from the engine etc. Here you would need a rectifier with smoothing filters to provide you this power. Again, zulu can supply this.

[gertcoetzee]

Hope this helps. The alternative is to bypass the radio batteries completely and directly couple a cleaned 11V to the points inside the back of the radio where the batteries normally connect to. This then relies on the planes battery and the radio will switch off the moment the power is cut. This is not the ideal method, but my first two planes worked like this because I couldn't get replacement batteries for the radios. This method is also prone to lots of electrical noise induction from the engine etc. Here you would need a rectifier with smoothing filters to provide you this power. Again, zulu can supply this.

Yes, on DVE I run the 12V directly onto the back of the radio, since that flimsy flug on the side broke time and time again. But when you do that with the battery still attached, things becomes very hot between your legs, if that is where the radio is situated.

I am running the battery flat at the moment, will then discarge, if still no more than 11V will send to ZULU if he can redo it. What is the cost of a replacement battery?

[gertcoetzee]

2008-05-17

Major achievement.

I have replaced the rectifier, replaced the battery, redid some wiring, installed a MGL Avionics E3 enjin monitor, installed an ON/OFF switch for the power to this, and the new power supply to the Icom and my iPAQ - all this in 10 hours. A feat for someone not at all technically minded.

Must say, this after I blew the previous magic box and my ipaq, and took 5 hours or more figuring out what I need.

ZS-WUO is now ready (although the CHT temps are a bit eratic - will try to swop the blue and brown little wires).

Did some circuit today, see http://www.zu-dve.com

[ZULU1]

Is the new "Power station" performing OK Gert ??

Happy chappy the Sharks won.. Zulu1 !!

[gertcoetzee]

24 May 2008

Sorted out the last of my wiring troubles - I had not connected the MGL Avionics CHT to earth, resulting in a lot of interference with the CHT reading.

My next question is -( see picture) the previous owner had the CHT probes fitted to the enjin block rather than directly to the cilinder heads, ie between the spark plugs and cilinder head. I put the probes between the plugs and CH and promptly damaged them when I replaced the plugs with my 10 thumbs. Now I have new probes, and put them on the enjin block as before (those bolts must be there for a reason), but of course the CHT reading is much less than expected. Is there some sort of "normal" temperature for the CHT probes placed here?

What is better for a 503 - reading the CHTs or EGTs?

Flew 40 minutes locally with WUO, ready for a longer flip tomorrow, weather permitting.

[Wargames]

Hi Gert,

Had a long search for the right picture. Here is an image of one of piston blocks on a 503. It is not 100% correct, but will give the idea.

You can see the fins which is used for cooling the motor on this one clearly. On your picture, they are hidden by the cover that give the engine the correct air flow for the cooling effect. This is why your CHT reading will be a lot less than it should be, is because the bolt is cooled by the air passing through the fins. The problem is that if something goes wrong, and your engine get hotter, more heat will be expelled by the cooling effect, and your cht will not realy give you the correct variation. I will have a look for an alternative position and let you know. The closer to the chamber, the better.

Regards,