-----. How's it coming Tom?

Looks like it was pretty close to first flight last March.

Paul Lamar

Thomas Parkes wrote:

.PROGRESS REPORT:  Tom Parkes Mazda 20BT powered Lancair ES: N44AZ.

 Funny you should ask, Paul.  I also thought I was close to flying last
springâ??then several of those famous unanticipated â??learning experiencesâ??
intervened.  The good news is that N44AZ finally received its official FAA
inspection on 22 January 2003.  I spent the following week reassembling the
plane and rechecking all critical systems.  Then I managed to contract an
upper respiratory infection.  Barring any additional problems, first flight
will be more a question of when this pilotâ??s readiness rather than the plane
â??s (knock on fiberglass) ï?S.

 You and others may recall the problem we encountered last May, with engine
oil blowing past my Garrett TE-06 turbo oil seals and into the
exhaust/intake manifolds.  You were right at the time, as much as I didnâ??t
want the delay, I simply had to bite the bullet and do some experimenting
with variable sized in-line restrictors.  Thanks to Ernesto, I re-read Corky
Bell p. 42 (which Iâ??d underlined, but then forgotten).  I ended up with an
.065 restrictor which gave me 38-40 psi immediately downstream.  Checking
with Main Turbo in Visalia, I learned that the minimum oil pressure to the
turbo at max power is 30 psi, and 10 psi at idle.  OK so far, but my
scavange pump was still causing problems.

I pulled the oil pan and welded an AN-10 flange near its top, enabling the
turbo oil to gravity drain directly to the panâ??by passing the stock front
housing oil port and eliminating the troublesome fail prone electric
scavange pump.  This reduced my oil pan capacity from 10 to 8 quarts,
enabling oil to enter above the pan oil level.  That should still be OK.

 The new system works great.  During July and August I did some taxi tests,
including high speed taxi to lift-off speed (65-70 Kts).  During one of
these runs I managed to once again bathe the ramp in oil when the oil supply
line to my Ross PSRU sprang a leak at the gearbox oil feed nipple.  Thatâ??s
when I discovered a straight machine threaded nipple had been used instead
of NPT tapped thread.  So much for trusting the quality control of others.
The correct nipple cost less than $2.00 at Napa.

 During taxi tests conducted above 80 degrees F my coolant temperatures were
not stabilizing below 210 degrees, so I improved the engine baffling during
September and October, finally achieving engine run times exceeding 45
minutesâ??which included two max power runs at 32â?? MAP.  The big question
remains for first flight: will it handle prolonged max power climbs at 120
Kts?  Tune in for next installment.

Tom Parkes
N44AZ

Hey thanks for the update. Good luck. Here are a few pictures of Tom's
Lancair ES with the three rotor turbo as of last spring.

Paul Lamar
 
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