From: Tracy Crook <tracy@rotaryaviation.com>
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Ut-Oh...
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Date: Sunday, March 14, 2010, 10:39 AM
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
#yiv1287739025 #avg_ls_inline_popup
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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.


 
-- David Leonard

Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net
http://RotaryRoster.net



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 On Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 5:31 PM,
Dave <david.staten@gmail.com>
wrote:


Bill Monroe wrote:


Dave’s going to have an interesting story to tell…

http://www.cbs8.com/global/story.asp?s=12136229



Glad he landed safe..

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