RE: Great Planes Tiporare – Thirteen Year Build
I’ve been waiting for the weather to cool down some so I could start the Tiporare engine and make sure everything works good before dragging it out to the field. It is not fun working on new aircraft outside in the hot and humid Atlanta summer. Today I tied it down to a table and did the first start up. I used soft towels wrapped around the rope to keep from chaffing the paint. OS recommends breaking in the engine with the same prop that you intend to fly and I’m using an APC 12/10W.
The engine fired right off and I followed the OS instructions on the run in. After about five minutes of running it was operating very well at full RPM and idle. Everything went great until the tank was almost empty and I idled it back to kill it and the prop and spinner flew off. Thankfully I was not in front of the prop. Stuff flew allover the place including the crankshaft key! I found all the parts but the prop was broken in half. I’m amazed that I found the key. Now I need to order some new props.
This is the second prop I’ve had come loose in the last four days. The one last Sunday came off in the air and needless to say it was lost forever. I guess I need do a better job of cinching down the prop nuts.