Thomas Parkes wrote:

Lancair ES N44AZ:  First Flights

First weight off the wheels flight:  18 Feb 2003.

    Three days short of six years since picking up the kit at Redmond, OR.
Lifted off and flew 3000 feet down the runway at 10 Ft + or -.  Wanted to
see coolant temp at end of flight.  Began flight at 180 degrees F, ended at
182 degrees.  Engine running good, returned to hanger to check things over.

Flight #2: 19 Feb.

    Climbed to 700 feet at 30 inches MAP.  Red light on GRT EIS flashed to
warn of 1750 degree TIT.  Interesting but OK.  Coolant temp 217, warm but
also OK.  Oops.  Coolant pressure reads Zero!  Not good, especially with
coolant at 217 degrees.  Is it real or spurious?  Don't know, but its
definitely time to get on the ground and find out.  Flight ended with one
brief trip around the pattern.  All temps decreased rapidly as power was
reduced.  Airplane flew great!

    Question for cooling system engineers.  I've set my EIS to warn of
coolant temperatures above 220 degrees, but I don't believe I've seen any
data on the actual boiling temperature of 50/50 water/gycol coolant

under 13

lbs pressure.  What would be a realistic red-line to use?

Tom Parkes
20B with Garrett TE-06

Congratulations Tom. Only turbo three rotor  20B flying at the moment.
Good work. That sounds pretty close to red line with a 13 psi pressure
cap. I recommend a higher pressure cap. Say 20 or 25 psi.

Cold pressure check the cooling system to see what is going on with
the pressure gage.

Was the engine smooth? :)

Paul Lamar

Tom,
Congratulations are in order!!!  What a rush!  What EIS did you use?  I,
for one, am anxious to hear more.
Mark S.
Austin, TX
Lancair ES -20B

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