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Zenith CruZer & Sonex Logs
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Date: 10-21-2011
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Number of Hours: 1.50
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Manual Reference: aerovee
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Brief Description: First Engine Start!
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Well, today was the day. First engine start.
Positioned the plane in the runup area after clearing the area of FOD and checking for any loose chips of cement etc. that might nick the prop. Chained the tailwheel to the basketball goal.
Support staff included my wife and #1 son doing videographer duties. #2 son who helped with engine internals and hanging the engine manned the fire extinguisher. In fairness, I will state that #1 son also helped with a lot of the engine assy & installation. My neighbor/CFI/RV12 builder, also came down for moral support.
We first cranked the engine with no fuel or ignition to build oil pressure. Next, added fuel and ignition. Fuel pressure is by gravity, and I only had 2 gals in the tank. Since there is no fuel bowl on the AeroCarb, fuel will just run out of the carb air filter and onto the ground once the mixture and fuel shutoff are opened. IOW, once I opened the valves, I didn't wait around, and started cranking. After a few revolutions, it fired right up!
Prior to start, aside from setting the mixture and throttle cables in position, I had made NO adjustments to the carb. Once started, it ran rough at idle, as quite a few of the AeroVee's do. Once I leaned it out a bit, it smoothed right out. Oil pressure was 45 lbs at 1124 RPM, raising to 55 lbs at 3000 RPM.
It took quite awhile to get the oil temp to come up, but it slowly got to 100 deg F. The OAT was 82 degrees. We started and stopped the engine a few times, including attaining a max static RPM of 3142 RPM. CHT's started to exceed 400 in these cases, so we richened it back up and reduced power into the mid-2000's, and they immediately dropped.
All sensors checked out; one small fuel leak on the gascolator drain valve. Very, very pleasing milestone.
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Tied to the basketball goal
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Monitoring temps
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Welll-deserved adult beverages with sons & neighbor
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