I have been flying the engine it a Gere Sport all summer. Last weekend I went to an event and the first day, it ran like normal and I was having a blast. Well, until the solder job on the muffler failed. So I removed the muffler, went to a local club members home and we reworked the solder/weld joint and supported it with a JB Weld like product from the commercial world.

The next day dawned a bit colder, but I was in the air again and noticed the throttle acting real funny. I landed and checked things out, refueled, and went back up. Everyone was astounded at the fact that the throttle was cycling between idle and wide open all the time, so after a short flight, I decided it was time to disprove all the naysayers and do some touch and goes. On the second approach, the engine quit so I landed.

On further investigation it was noted that the throttle servo was acting like a windshield wiper when the engine was at full throttle. If the engine was not running, it was as solid as a rock. We changed the servo, the hook up, the receiver, the transmitter in an attempt at correcting the problem. Each time a change was implemented, I restarted the engine and went to full throttle. Each and every time the throttle servo (which did get moved further back in the aircraft) windshield wipered.

It seems that the SPE 40 has a fairly large air gap between the magnet and the pickup, so I called C&H and he wants me to send him the engine because he thinks he has parts to fix it. Estimated costs are between $125 and $150, probably plus shipping which really is fair given that the SPE 26 part is around $28 and the single ignition systems about $78.

Right now I have 3 or 4 engines that need to be shipped somewhere to get fixed so adding this to the 'fix it' list is a real bummer.

Does anyone have an unused SPE ignition module?

Is this engine worth fixing or should I search for a replacement?



Thanks.