ORIGINAL: tele1974
I flew my EF Extra 78'' at my first IMAC contest this weekend and took a second place. Real happy about that. The Syssa ran great all day. Started with one or two flips on each of the 6 rounds. I ran a 18x6 Xoar prop and had to run it hard to get over the top into the wind. At the end of the day on Saturday I noticed that their was oil or grease on the hub and between the hub and crank case. Did I blow the front bearing? That might explain why it was struggling on up lines if it is responsible for holding the crank case pressure. I haven't checked the rpm's, I haven't even unpacked yet.
Hey that's great!!
Last year I had a similar problem with the front bearing. Todd replaced it with a new, fully sealed bearing and between the balance of last year's running and this year's so far, I've logged more than 100 runs (around 1500 minutes) running time on the engine with no front bearing issues. Earlier this Spring Todd replaced the main bearing with a similar fully sealed bearing which helped "pack" the case a bit. That move plus moving to 100% Avgas and leaning the engine for Avgas running, has helped everywhere practical. The engine transitions better and has a better top end. Still get a jump at around 3K rpm but it is minor.
Today's running could have been a little leaner still since it was 92F and 60% RH at my field. Finished the second gallon of Avgas. No going back to pump gas for me