The tear down and apex seal replacement job on my 20B turned out to
be a 6 day ordeal instead of a quick 2 hour job but it's done and I
can get back to finishing the RV-8 again. Most of the problems
were caused by inexperience (haven't had to tear down a rotary in over 12
years) and the fact that this was not a standard 20B but a mongrel built
out of mostly 13B parts. I went ahead and replaced the
stock coolant O-rings with TES parts while replacing
the Hurley apex seals.
Did a careful weighing of parts to see exactly how much more the 20B
weighs compared to the 2nd gen 13B. Difference is 70 lbs,
about 3 pounds more than I previously thought. This represents a 22%
gain in installed weight compared to a 50% increase in power. Not a bad
trade.
Got up early this AM and launched for OSH but my PDA based GPS went dead
11 minutes after take-off. Futzed with it for a while but no joy.
Returned to Shady Bend and found that the battery cover had popped loose and
it shuts down when that happens : ( Put it back on but then
found that it will pop off at the slightest touch. Taped it shut and all
seems well so will try again tomorrow morning. Have to leave early to
get in before field closes for airshow.
Tracy (packing old GPS in plane for
backup)