gbranzell

So I'm new to gasoline engines (last 6 months or so) and here is my take on this engine.

Please ignore the thumbs down on the link page. Hare lip on my part!

This post is meant mostly for new gas users like me.

1. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bad ass smooth and reliable.Way better than glow stuff waaaaaaaaaay better. And I did not get a"good one" it was always good I just needed to learn it's quirks GRAAAAAADUALLY. Slow down here newbies!!
2. I did not love it at first!!
3. I did fly high so I could deal with any issues early on and you should too! I had about 10 dead sticks early on. These were the "Dreaded DA50 inverted dead stick" Now I realize it was all related to break-in, needle setting and proper cooling. Not bad fuel delivery or plumbing,carburetor defects,in cowl air pressure etc, just break-in and needle setup. If you fly around like gramps (me) and listen to the engine and just break her in you are not likely to have any dead-sticks!
4. If you're crashing airframes with a new engine flying prop hangers at 10ft.........well, like Sir Charles Barkley sez, "ya- a knuka head!"
5. I'm a glider pilot too, so dead sticks are sorta intuitive. My plane glides as good as any of my gliders!
6. Get your engine compartment cool whatever that means to your airframe mine was easy (I have a Pilot RC 29% SBach sweeeeeet!)
7. Get the engine running good and don't do any inverted flight, 3d, or weirdness until you get 4 or more gallons of gas through it. It will get stupid smooth (with your needle tweaks if need be as you go) after it has eaten that grocery count
8. Get it running with good transition on the ground then fly around in circles till you get the gallons through it. In the air it will run different especially before it's broke in. Listen to it,it will talk to you and tell you what it wants! This is not your weed eater that stays in one position and air/ground speed all the time
9. All of a sudden it just idles like crazy good and starts on 5th flip
10. After the break in oil and going to the Redline oil it needed a little needle tweaking and it is a Swiss watch now
11. Activate an idle down for landings. That may need adjusting on the ground whenever you make a new needle adjustment. Check it....... you don't want it killing the engine in flight. Mine will now idle so low and slow it's nutzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
12. With the idle down you will have a higher rpm setting for general flying that won't die doing inverted or goofy stuff, and a low idle that will let you land it like a pro.....nice n slow

PDF

Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. I'm looking to get into gas myself, and looking for advice.
Pat

gbranzell

PDF not sure what your experience is but if you are a solid intermediate or better pilot, the Pilot Sbach is an amazing floaty easy to fly and land aircraft. I can do some sloppy 3D and such, but this airframe makes it easier and prop-hangs super easy! I would replace it in a heartbeat! Deadsticks are no big deal if you have some altitude, but do like I said before and you won't. Break it in!!!!!! My most recent aerobatic planes leading up to this one and I still have both are the E-Flite 60e Beast and the Aeroworks 60-90 Extra 260. Both are electric. I like the Beast a lot but the Bach's just better at slow speed finesse. Let me know if you have questions as you move forward. I could send you pics and explanations of the cooling mods I did and they're easy. I put a Futaba temp sensor on my engine and it peaks out during a summer flight no higher than 190's. Spends most of it's time in the 170's. I do fly in the morning though

gbranzell

PDF during my quest to get this plane flying I like you read all the advice on these pages. Many of them described the very problems I was having but suggested all kinds of engine malfunction/design issues and such as being the culprit. It was not,and I chose not to buy into it. I have read where guys have replaced carbs (mostly DLE) on new engines that have miraculously cured the engines inability to run reliably. They then proceeded to dismantle the "defective" carb only to find the problem was............... there was none! I think they got lucky with the new carb and the initial settings that they failed to find on the first carb or were just to impatient. I am a luthier (guitar maker) and have been since 1978. I can do guitars in my sleep and they are very precise pieces of equipment. The nonsense I have read on forums about how to fix guitar problems can be endless and nauseating! I can't speak to any other engine brand but if you get a DA it will be good to go, just be patient and find it's sweet spot. I would be happy to personally help talk you through your move to gas if you like, just let me know. All those Gremlins I slayed are fresh and hanging on the walls of my mind to reference................

gbranzell

One thing I found with the DA 50 and might be pertinent to other brands is the breather line. It is a little loop of fuel line behind the carb to the case that will give you fits if attention is not paid. When I was getting my new engine setup and after several runs it started wanting a richer setting all of a sudden. I found this breather line was too long from the factory and the cylinder cooling fins had melted through the piece of tygon line. I replaced it and adjusted it's length so it would not touch the fins, leaned the setting back out and it fixed the problem. I did not put any clamps or ties on it at that time and it ran great until yesterday. It did not melt through but was loose-ish on the fittings. Replaced the breather line again but this time put clamps on it. Fixed again!! If your engine gets hard to start or all of a sudden starts acting weird this will probably be the cause. Easy fix but put a clamp or tie on it and replace it every year at least and you will be good.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

If you use a piece of line from this supplier, you will never have to worry about it again. The line you speak of is the pulse line to the fuel pump. This line is great for that, is stiff as a pulse line should be, and will last forever.

https://www.cps-parts.com/catalog/ap...?clickkey=4478

AV8TOR

gbranzell

I'll check it out THANKS!!

dasquirrelisme

My Feedback: (81)

How do you hook the ignition up? Not sure what goes where.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...ns_ver_2.0.pdf

gbranzell

Wow not sure what you are using and I would defer to the manufacturer for that question as I have no idea of you on-board gear

gbranzell

OK so my DA50 started acting up several days back (Hard to restart and ran I guess leaner) and I knew exactly what the problem was. I had mentioned in an earlier post that the "pulse line had melted through because it was touching one of the cylinder cooling fins. That was from the factory so check yours and shorten if it touches the fins. That was easy to SEE.

This time when it started acting up the first replaced line was intact but I had put the new piece of line on without any zip ties behind the nipples. There wasn't one from the factory before so I figured good to go. Well I found it this time to be very loose and it was leaking air I'm sure.

I had not mentioned this before because at that point I had not realized a problem. So while in there fixing the pulse line I decided to install my super duper handy dandy Quickfire filter balancer and really get things bad ass. That required moving about 10'' of fuel line into the engine compartment plus a rather large fuel filter that holds a quantity of fuel that gets heated up nicely I'm sure

Took it out two different days after that. First start-up on both days only took 5 flips and she ran great. Landed and refueled and could not get her restarted both days went home. Arghhhhhhhh It used to run great. What the heck changed!!! Well I sez to my self "self all that extra horse **** and fuel line that is now occuring in the engine compartment is what changed" SHE WAS VAPOR LOCKING

I pulled all that crap out put all the fuel line and simple Hanger 9 filter (only 2''of the line from the tank is going through the fire wall to the carb) inside the cockpit like it was before. Hot damn fires and runs like she did before....perfect. No more vapor lock and fires on 5th flip run after run. I'm a so hapeh lifes not crapeh!!! YAY

It doesn't matter if you have a DA, BLT, DLE, ADHD, OU812,

Get the damn fuel lines (all of it!) out from under the cowl, keep it in the cockpit and fly..............

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

When I converted my Stihl 62cc chain saw engine, I had to make a special intake manifold adapter out of aluminum. I then used a phenolic spacer to isolate the carb, but the carb screws still screwed right into the aluminum adapter. I had all kinds of running and tuning problems. So I made another phenolic adapter that had the carb screws thread into it instead of into the aluminum adapter. Then it worked perfectly. The carb mounting screws were transmitting enough heat to the carb to cause the problems.

AV8TOR

gbranzell

Wow nice sleuth job there! Keep it cool keep it runnin!!

gbranzell

How do you change the thumb down to thumb up on the main gas page where I posted this originally?

gbranzell

Got me some will put it in next time the cowl is off

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

Get the DA-60 and the pulse line is not an issue. The extra power is nice also :-)

david

gbranzell

Yeah 10-4 that. I got the 50cc figured out and it should no longer be an issue. That said I have a custom ordered Pilot RC 28% Decathlon from Chief and that one is getting the DA60. I ordered the combo. Will be here in Sept

jharkin

My Feedback: (2)

I'mglad to hear that you are having fun with that engine. It is beautifully made and a phenomenal engine when its running right.

However I must take exception with your belief that 6 months of gas experience proves wrong the many many people with years of time on these who had problems.

My 50 is going on 8 years old now, and I have never been able to solve the inverted issue. I know how to tune a gasser, high needle is set just on the rich dropoff threshold of peak RPM, low needle tuned by the zip method until the idle transition was perfectly snappy and smooth on the ground, slight 4 stroke burble at mid stick in the air. I have my idle down at 1600rpm and flight idle at 1900.

If you fly upright, chop throttle till the burble position and flip inverted it will lean out and clear. Does this with 99.99999% consistency. Any move that requires going to idle inverted and then throttling up like an inverted falt spin or top entry outside loop, WILL cause a deadstick. Wait till you stop flying it "like a grandpa" and sooner or later you will see it.

Its well known that the stock DA carb doesn't have enough range on the high needle to go rich. Swapping to a different carb (forget the model #) fixes this and partially relieves the above problem but wont eliminate it. Ive hand mine back to DA, all they do is tune it dripping rich and claim that s normal. Ive given my plane to a guy with 20 years of gas experience who flew in the XFC to tune and test, he deadsticked it also.

the problem most likely has something to do with t reed block and the orientation of the pulse line, early revisions of the engine (pre-2005) had the carb 180 degrees from the way it is now and would go over rich (not lean) inverted. Its a shame it was never solved 100%.

Fly that plane harder... you WILL deadstick sooner or later in an inverted move.

Having said that I might still buy another DA, at least one of their twins... Beautiful engines and Ive never seen a twin with issues at any event Ive been too.

gbranzell

Hi jharkin Thanks for the note!

I have not flown it like the proud grandpa I am for about the last 5 gallons. I 3-D the hell out of it and it likes it now!

I guess my point was most all the things I read about were not the problem regarding inverted dead stick on "my" engine.. The only things accurate in "my" case was break it in and tune!

My engine is newer and I am aware of issues years ago so who knows there on yours

With regard to 6 months experience I do have a 15 year old level 1 certification (carb,gearcase) from Johnson Evinrude for 2 cycle outboard engine repair.

Does that count....................... at all?

Gonna guess I've seen a whole bunch more 2 cycles that you, but yeah sorta different critters for sure. But..I get it

I am 57 years old and grew up on 2 cycle everything, and vapor lock is very recognizable. I'm gonna guess it can also cause things to be wonky if she runs and flies but still can't breath right

That said behavior between the two applications (air vs water) will be different and that is where I am a newbie

Yeah I have put this plane through it trying to get the engine to die inverted now, and it just won't....... now.

I did activate an idle down to land on so I can keep a higher idle for normal flight.

My experience is just that, and as it is, it's very valid. I worked through and solved the problems on "my" rig. Do engines have gremlins.....hell yeah they can but "mine" did not. It needed tweaking and break-in.

Not sure if your have fuel line rigged in your cowl with that 50. If so try getting "all" of it out and see if that helps. Who knows if these engines can "run" fine right on the edge of vapor lock but as such die when inverted at that stage?????????????? Worth trying???

You "may" need to tweak needles after you move fuel lines. I did just a hair

Quote("Fly that plane harder... you WILL deadstick sooner or later in an inverted move") Have flown for many consecutive minutes on high idle.............just keeps going??????????

Please advise!

MX240

My Feedback: (4)

I had a dead stick with my FW 190 and DA50.
Took that big round cowl off and the carb was hanging by the pulse line.
Two broken carb bolts.
It seems DA is using a aluminum red anodized soft bolts.
If yours are red.....replace with steel.
Replaces with good steel bolts.
What the heck??
Jim