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Thanks David,
Both you and Jon are aviators and I knew you guys understood the score on this stuff. It's mostly the non-flyers that think that every conceivable failure / error mode can and must be eliminated. Try yes, but it will never be 100%. I'm too embarassed to say how many times I've inadvertantly turned off my fuel pump switch. Must move it soon.
BTW, I think it is a tribute to the community of experimental builders and pilots that so many power out landings end as gracefully as the ones that have been discussed on this list. Don't know the official stats but my impression is that only a small fraction of typical GA power out incidents end this well.
Tracy Crook
On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 11:04 AM, David Leonard <wdleonard@gmail.com> wrote:
Tracy,
I definately do not consider this a short coming of the EC2. Though, I do think that I will cut down the switch to help prevent a recurrence. Though I don't think I will ever neglect to check that if something should happen in the future... I wonder what else is lurking out there.
On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 7:10 AM, Tracy Crook <tracy@rotaryaviation.com> wrote:
I know Dave or Jon wouldn't phrase it this way but I've already received a number of messages from others about these two recent in-flight power failures due to EC2 issues.
Jon's was due to a loose mounting nut inside the EC2 that shorted the main power input filter to ground and burned open both foils from the 2 power input pins. How lucky was that.
Anyway, at the risk of sounding defensive, I thought I'd share my response to one of them that suggested changing the EC2 case to an external mount of some sort. I'm sure there are scores of messages on the way urging me to place switch guards on the cold start switch : )
REPLY
Hello ----------
I'm aware of the failure and have the unit here for repair.
Like a thousand other critical details in building an aircraft, it is not possible to explicitly spell out all of them. The precise method and hardware used to accomplish it are not part of the EC2 or the instructions. The first paragraph of the installation guide does say the following:
"Needless to say, the quality of installation is just as important as the quality of the hardware itself. It is not practical to include a course on proper electrical wiring practices in these installation instructions, but it is imperative that proper wiring techniques be employed during the installation of the EC2."
It was my thought that avoiding the presence of loose metal objects inside an electrical device that your life depends on fell into the category of "needless to say".
Nevertheless, a cautionary note might well be worth adding. As also stated in the first paragraph of the instructions,
" I want your project to succeed and your life to be a long and happy one. "
All the best,
Tracy Crook, RWS
On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 2:34 AM, David Leonard <wdleonard@gmail.com> wrote:
Boy, word sure gets around these days..
short answer... inadvertently hit cold start switch while messing with GPS and flying at 1000' AGL.. not enough time to troubleshoot... had to fly plane and find a place to land.
Both happy and appalled when the I realized the problem 2 minutes after the commotion stopped. The tower must have been plain appalled when I took off again later this afternoon.
--
David Leonard
Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net
http://RotaryRoster.net
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