Hi Steve,

I haven't put it to the test yet, but I actually
have 3 switches.  One
for the master relay, one to connect the main
battery to the critical
bus, and one to connect the aux battery to the
critical bus.  Also by
closing both critical bus switches, I can supply
cranking power from
both batteries.  I'm using two PC680's.

I'm sure glad you had a successful landing, and it
wasn't off field.

Bob W.


On Sat, 3 Dec 2005 07:35:26 -0800 (PST)
Steve Brooks <prvt_pilot@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi Al,
> You make an excellent point on the single failure
> point.  I've been trying to come up with a way to
> eliminate the problem, but outside of going to 2
> switches, I'm not sure how to do it. Even with 2
> switches the one for the engine is still a single
> failure point for the engine.  > > The emergency checklist is also a good idea.  I'm
> going to check today, I think that I already have
one
> with my preflight checklist.  A placard for engine
out
> is probably better though, rather than trying to
find
> a paper copy during an emergency.
> > Steve
> > --- Al Gietzen <ALVentures@cox.net> wrote:
> > > What a relief the find that the power came back
on;
> > and that you landed
> > without mishap. My adrenalin level was going up
when
> > I got to the part of
> > your story where you were heading for the
highway.
> > > >  > > > > I see two important lessons in your experience;
> > > > Redundancy in the system isn't much good if
there is
> > still a single point
> > failure.
> > > > Have an emergency checklist that is well
memorized,
> > but kept handy.
> > > >  > > > > Glad everything is OK,
> > > >  > > > > Al
> > > >  > > > >  > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Rotary motors in aircraft
> > [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On
> > Behalf Of Steve Brooks
> > Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 6:29 AM
> > To: Rotary motors in aircraft
> > Subject: [FlyRotary] Intersting flight
> > > >  > > > > I made it down to South Carolina, to among other
> > > > things, fly the Cozy.  It had been 2 months to
the
> > day
> > > > since I had been down, so the remaining 8 hours
of
> > the
> > > > 40 test hours have been slow to come off.
> > > >  > > > > On Thursday I washed about 30 lbs of dust off of
the
> > > > plane (open T hanger) and checked everything
out.  I
> > > > did a high speed run down the runway, but didn't
> > have
> > > > time to get in a flight.
> > > >  > > > > Yesterday I went to the airport after it warmed
up a
> > > > few degrees, and took off.  The engine was
running
> > > > very strong in the cooler air (54 degrees).  I
had
> > > > planned to do about a 30 minute flight ad land,
just
> > > > to check everything out, and was was doing turns
and
> > > > just cruising around about 6-7 miles from the
> > airport
> > > > at about 2900 MSL (2300 AGL).  While flying
straight
> > > > and level, I felt a sudden miss in engine.  When
I
> > > > check the I/P, I also noticed that the digital
> > gauges,
> > > > fuel and oil, had rebooted.  I immediately
started a
> > > > turn toward the airport.
> > > >  > > > > About 15 seconds later, I lost total electric. The
> > > > I/P went dead, and so did the engine.  This
isn't
> > > > good, I thought.  Actually, it was more like, OH
> > SH**.
> > > >  I took a look at the airport, and I was too far
to
> > > > make it there, so I looked around, and a 4 lane
> > > > highway, which has light traffic appeared to be
my
> > > > best option.  I had just started turning toward
that
> > > > highway, when the electric power came back, and
the
> > > > engine picked back up.
> > > >  > > > > I immediately started a climb, and headed toward
the
> > > > airport again.  I already knew that there was a
> > plane
> > > > in the pattern doing touch and goes (unicom
field),
> > so
> > > > I called the airport and advised the other
aircraft
> > > > that I had a serious issue, and needed to make a
> > > > straight in landing.
> > > >  > > > > It didn't lose power again, on the trip back to
the
> > > > airport, but that 6-7 miles seemed to take
forever. > > I
> > > > stayed on the high side on altitude, for obvious