reyn3545

Whether you want to or not, you'll have to cut out a pretty big section on the bottom of the cowl to be able to get the cowl over the muffler tubes, then get the front of it over the prop shaft. Its all good, though.. like you mentioned, the airflow is good, and it doesn't show.

As for the radial engine dummy, I cut out one "slice", just as displayed in the instructions.

Update on the "dead stick"...

I didn't even look at the motor.. I was mad about the dead stick (third on this motor over about 2 years) and took the soft landing as a gift from above... I put an ad on this website and sold the engine in less than a day... engine, muffler, standoffs, 2 props.. all for $500.

Then, I was taking the motor off the plane to ship it and found the problem (feeling pretty stupid at the moment).. I didn't secure the fuel tube to the motor box properly, and it allowed the tube to come in contact with the hot muffler. It completely melted through the fuel line, choking off the engine.

Anyway, to make a long story short, some guy in Phoenix is getting a great motor for a great price, and I'll be upgrading to a 3W 55CS as soon as Cactus Aviation gets them in. They are supposed to have about 20% more horsepower than the DA-50, so it should really make a difference. Not that the DA wasn't a good motor for the plane.

Anyway, even after a near-death experience followed up by a near-stupid reaction, I still love this plane... can't wait to get it in the air again.

By the way... I had mentioned earlier that I was going to try the Vess 23A prop. I used it for a couple of flights, including the last one.. all in all, I think I liked the NX 23x8 better. The 23A did get the plane up faster, and it would probably help it pull out of a hover, but there was a noticable drop in overall speed. I expected to give up some, but it was more than I expected. Stay with a 23x8.