Before I first started the engine on G-MLSY I thought it would be a good idea to have a fire extinguisher on hand inside the cabin just in case. So I picked a small one up from a local Lidl store and mounted it in the luggage area behind the passenger. I really didn’t think much more about it but in November 2019 I saw an article in the LAA magazine that alerted me of the issues of discharging a normal domestic powder unit in an aircraft cabin or under an engine cowl. That got me thinking about the amount of damage it would cause, regardless of whether it extinguished the fire or not and I knew I had to replace it with a ‘non destructive’ unit.
I decided to buy the type mentioned in the article. It cost £178 which includes postage. The company operates from Rochester Airport so you can pick one up from them and save the postage. It arrived a few days later by courier. You can purchase them from http://www.avi-ex.co.uk
This was the Lidl extinguisher that has now been replaced by the Clean Agent unit. I might just keep it in the car now.The new clean agent extinguisher. The extinguisher needs to be easily accessible so I decided to mount it in the luggage compartment, behind the passenger, against the front wall. This will allow me to lean over and remove it from its mount very quickly. The front wall is fibreglass so needs to be strengthened. A length of 1.5mm aluminium angle should provide sufficient strength.Mounting just requires a couple of 5mm screws and Nyloc nuts through the front wall with the strengthening plate on back to spread the load. The unit weighs 1.5Kg which is .5kg more than the extinguisher is replaces so won’t affect the W&B.
Dynon screens have the ability to display traffic if a suitable receiver is connected. Having looked at the receivers with the ability to output a suitable data stream Pilotaware’s Rosetta device looked to be the best bet. It receives ADSB, Flarm (via the OGN and P3i), Mode S/3D (via 360Radar, A & C transponders and of course other PilotAware equipped aircraft.
It’s a Raspberry Pi so the USB ports can be configured to output a data stream that contains the information that the device has received. So having researched what can be done I decided to carry out a permanent installation with an aviation grade installation kit with aerials mounted on the underside of the aircraft.
One of the first challenges was to work out where to put the Rosetta unit. If I had of thought of installing the unit earlier then I could have included it whilst building the aircraft… hindsight is a wonderful thing! Luckily I had space on the rear of the firewall which would work well. The Rosetta case has a number of attachment points including a photographic screw mount. I had a spare camera mount screw which happened to be just the right length so I use that to mount the unit. The cable ties are used to keep the power cable in position.Angling the unit down slightly allowed me to run the aerial coax cables from the unit and down the starboard side of the aircraft behind the interior trim to where I plan to put the aerials. I powered the unit from the Pilots Skyview screen USB so as soon as I power the Skyview it powers the Rosetta unit. It’s a neat solution.With a permanent installation the Rosetta GPS module normally enclosed within the case is removed and replaced with a GPS mouse on a long lead that plugs into the same USB port. The mouse can be run to a suitable point for the best reception. As I had already mounted the Dynon GPS250 unit on a platform just under the glare shield I decided to place the GPS mouse alongside. Another option is to use the Dynon GPS output and feed it into the Rosetta unit but I decided that I would use the Rosetta GPS as it removes the Dynon GPS as a single point of failure. Although the only option was to mount the aerials on the bottom of the aircraft I carefully considered where to place the two aerials to reduce any possible interference from the Transponder aerial. I decided to mount the ‘receive’ aerial on the starboard side adjacent to the main gear diagonally as far as practical from the transponder aerial. The ‘P3i’ aerial was mounted inline but in front of the Transponder aerial. This should reduce any interference and maximise the effectiveness of the PilotAware transmission. I used a USB to RS232 adapter lead plugged into USB port 3 which was configured to Flarm Traffic at an 115200 baud rate. I used port 4 of the Skyview configured for Flarm at the same baud rate and made up a D9 connector with data pins 2&3 reversed to interface with the adapter lead. As I’ve used the Skyview screen to power the Rosetta unit I didn’t need to connect a separate earth. Quite useful…Once installed it was time to test the unit. Switching the Skyview on powers the Rosetta unit which then transmits a WiFi network. Connecting an iPhone to the WiFI and pointing the browser to 192.168.1.1 displays a configuration screen. Once the config is set a ‘Traffic’ button on the webpage displays what the unit is receiving. As you can see it receives a lot of traffic. This list is not filtered so shows traffic at all levels.Another button on the webpage is labelled ‘Radar’ and displays this screen. The onscreen buttons allows you to change the altitude and range of the contacts displayed. This screen is set to the maximum. It shows the contacts, height, climb or descent and track. The colour of the diamonds depict the ‘threat’ of the contact. These screens are interesting but the data is much more useful when you feed it into an app like SkyDemon, EasyVFR or display it on the Skyview panels. This is how the traffic is displayed on the Skyview map. Again the data is unfiltered so shows traffic that would be of no use or threat to me so I’ll filter those out some point in the future. The Skyview shows the altitude, whether climb or descending and track of the traffic. Aircraft over 10,000 ft have a ‘+99’ label.Synthetic vision really ups the game with traffic showing as targets in front of you. Any that are a threat will be coloured appropriately and audible warnings given via the headset.
All in all I’m really pleased with the installation and it was well worth the time invested especially as Maypole’s runway is still out of action due to water logging so used the time productively.
The systems I have installed can lure you into keeping your head down and eyes in the cockpit, however it is essential to keep your head up and carry out an effective look out as not all aircraft have conspicuity systems onboard. These systems help you avoid conflict but must be used in conjunction with the No. 1 system, your eyes!
Rotax issue Service Bulletins alerting owners of known issues or defects that need addressing. The first was to replace the carbruettor floats that have been found to be soaking up fuel and sinking. This could cause rough running or even engine failure. I changed these before the first flight to ensure my test pilot wasn’t at risk.
The latest one applies to my engine and relates to a circlip that holds the jet needle in place. The reason stated was ‘Due to deviations in the manufacturing process a partial fracture of the circlip may occur. This fracture might lead to a crack/ total fracture of the circlip which in consequence may lead to a malfunction of the carburettor. Possible effects might be rough engine running or an unusual engine operating behaviour.’ The replacement needed to be done within 25 hours of the notice issue date but in any event no later than 31st July 2020. Replacement circlips and the ‘O’ rings were supplied under warranty from CFS
As the engine is just coming up to 25 hours and with Maypole’s runway waterlogged it was an ideal time to carry out the change.
The circlips…and ‘O’ rings supplied under warranty.The first thing to do is to remove the carburettor tops which requires the choke spring and …throttle and choke cables to be removed.The two screws retaining the top are removed…which allows the top, spring and ……the slide to be removed.The needle retaining screw is removed next but Loctite has been applied to the thread so it’s quite tight to remove. Luckily it unscrewed without too much force.Once the retaining screw is removed the needle can be withdrawn the circlip removed and replaced making sure to note which of the 4 grooves it was located in first!The ‘O’ ring that stops the needle moving in situ is recessed in the retaining screw and is also replaced.The needle is reinserted and Loctite 243 is applied to the retaining screw.The carburettor can now be reassembled…and the choke and retaining springs reattached. The last thing to be done is to reconnect the throttle and choke cables.The carburettor reassembled.
Overall the process was very straightforward. The first carb took 45 minutes to do but the second was much quicker at 30 minutes. The engine logbook has been updated and the engine will be test run to check for correct operation before the next flight.
Let’s hope there’s not too many more of these mandatory service bulletins affecting my engine!
Following the build of my Bristell NG5 Kit No. 382 Registration G-MLSY
G-MLSY 