bbbair

Hi Guys;
Well what an event today was...
The day started off OK, the S Chip started up quite nicely this was the 10 - 11 flight and I am getting excited because the breakin time is almost up! Now I can start leaning the engine out and getting some 'REAL' power out of that engine!!

The reality was that I had two acceptable flights with the power being aveage to lacklustre...
Recently I have noted that I cannot idle the plane below 1/2 throttle and the top end is lacking in performance.[]

Soooo, with the wind starting to pick up I throw caution to the wind and fire the Chip up for a third flight of the day. I am 3 minutes into this flight and I notice a complete lack of power... the engine is running but NOT responding to the throttle... I Gained a little altitude and started to get in position for a landing - just as the engine quit! [X(]

Well... I do know how to dead stick in so there were no real problems on landing - but it was a good thing that I had some altitude ...

Upon inspection of the Chip - I noticed that I had NO COMPRESSION AT ALL!

After removing the Valve cover, I found that the Exhaust Valve was not fully closing - the Valve Spring was not closing the valve... This then lead to the removal of the valve spring assembly and piston head. All to discover that the Valve Spring had Broken in half. [:'(]

I was fortunate to be at the LHS during this final disassembly - a quick check of his inventory provided us with a replacement spring - some fancy mechanical work to rebuild the engine and Everything is looking good! Final cost - Some minor expenses in parts, 2 hrs of work and 4 hrs of frustration - a cheap day's entertainment!

(This is WHY I support my LHS!! )

Tomorrow (Sunday) we will see how (if) it works! This could well be the reason that this engine has had such poor performance - Now I can retune the engine and see just what we can do with SOME REAL POWER!!!

Details to follow.

Has Anyone else had a spring break like this??

Cheers

(Engine in question; OS 91 FS Surpass - 6 years old - first runup was this Spring)

Mr. Canadian

It's always the little things that get you and drive you nuts. I once had a spad that was having metal to metal contact and causing the elevator to lock up about 1 minute into the flight- 6 props later and I finally figure it out. Did you go to Dale for the part, I remember him from about 4 years ago when he helped me into RC and you guys sure do have a nice field out there in belleville, I hope it's still running good.

bbbair

Mr C,

Yes, Dale was in prime form on that fix! It's amazing what we can repair on his desk, his time and talent are free - all he charged me for was the spring it self!

The BoQA field is alive and well with out worst concern being a new tall crop being planted in the field nearby - this could make life difficult if anyone looses a plane over there.

The OS fired up nicely this morning, no excessive smoking on the ground, good power in the sky and much more reliable in an idle.

Now that the engine is broken in and repaired too... I can start tweeking the engine for some 'real power'.