Larry Gerhig, Phil Bolenbaugh, Mike Benevelli Vic and I drove down together. We met at Morris at 5 am, as previously agreed, and we left a couple of minutes after 5. Poor Phil Duff arrived at Morris a few minutes after we had taken off and he had to drive down separately.
I drove my RV (no, not THAT kind of RV Mick...) so the guys could ride in luxury. Mike Benevelli provided donuts and coffee for the trip. We stopped for breakfast about 40 miles from Springfield, and finally arrived at the Fairgrounds at 8:30 am.
There were some nice displays of Trikes and Powered Parachutes. A number of vendors, the EAA, and several agencies had booths. There were approximately 425 people in attendance.
My favorite speaker was Mr. Lockwood, who gave a presentation on Rotax engines. Here are some tips that I found useful for my 447. Because that's the motor that I have in my plane, I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention to the information provided about the other engine sizes. But, this should still be helpful:
* 87 octane is
OK for the 447.
* 5 years is the maximum time before TBO. This is due to the risk of
corrosion on bearings, and is independent of the
"hours" criteria.
* The carburetor can very easily be assembled incorrectly. The white
springcup must go on top of the needle clip and o-ring, with the
needle
going in first.
* Set the idle to 2,200 rpm at a minimum.
* Never allow the mixture to be so lean that the EGT reads above
1200 degrees!
* Rotax does not recommend paper fuel filers.
* Clean, oil and perform maintenance on the air filter(s) every 100 hours.
* Don't use fuel with more than 5% Ethanol.
Missing from the photo above is Roger Kellogg, and perhaps others).
The Wolf RV left Springfield at 4 pm. We stopped for dinner on the way home and returned to Morris at about 8 pm. A great time was had by all!
Where to now?: