paco ritter

My Feedback: (51)

Thanks, MFIGHT43. Was not aware Mike had it on his website. So far, the DJ85 has proven to be an excellent choice. I have never owned a single this large so I don't really know how it compares to others. It pulls my almost 22 lb plane with authority, no lack of power at all. I am sure it sacrifices some power with the 3 blade prop, but since the plane is probably overpowered anyway, a slight loss doesn't seem to make a difference. Besides, I love the look of the three blade prop on the plane also. I haven't gotten the knack of easy starting down yet. This is also my first plane to have a servo operated choke. With the carb exiting to the rear and actually behind the firewall, it was not feasible to try to use a manually operated choke. My patience runs a bit less than way back when, so if it does not fire up in a reasonable length of time, I put my hand held electric starter on it and away we go!!! Never failed to start with that rig!!! Engine purrs like a kitten, runs really good and seems to have ample power. I had to shorten the muffler (as you know, the cowl is short on a Solution). To keep from cutting into the firewall and losing the integrity of that, I elected to take off about a half inch of the muffler, then weld the end back on to it. Once again, this could actually have caused some power loss, but I can't really see that I need any more power. With a rear carb, this allowed me to get the entire engine under the cowl without butchering it up too much. I actually bought a new cowl from Fiberglass Specialties, but after cutting it out, it was so close to the cowl that came on the plane when I bought it, I elected to just slightly modify the old cowl and use it. The correct mounts were already in place, so I painted it and used it. Only major change is 3 bolts holding the cowl to the firewall instead of 4. The fourth one is behind the muffler, no way to get a bolt in that slot. So far it has not been an issue, 3 bolts hole the cowl plenty good. I have more pics at home, I'll attach them later. I have not been able to fly now for a few weeks for one reason or the other. I hope to get back in the groove this weekend and get some stick time. I still have trimming and fine tuning to do on the Weeks. It's gonna be a good plane, I can tell that already....PACO