First Flight

[fastj22]

Hi John,

I don't really know what the issue was with Jan's Waiex. The exact details were never disclosed. The market response to the "Viking Sport" doesn't appear to have been overwhelming and I guess he moved on. My guess is the aircraft was out of CG. He had the batteries in the engine compartment, while my calculations showed the need to put them in the tail cone.

The 130 might work on a Sonex, but with the more vertical orientation of the engine I expect the cowling to be kind of "Fugly".

I'm glad I flew yesterday as the rain storms have already moved in. Forecast is for sunny weather next weekend so I hope to fly again.

Have fun with the turbo Civic! I bet that is a sporty ride!

I hope to meet you at Oshkosh!
Don

I'm glad you got the conversion done and like my brakes. I know it was a long time coming. Really glad you didn't notice any out of trim issues. It should be a great cross country machine now. I remember when Jan hung that early 110 on his waiex and was posting on the old forum on trim problems. He even tried trim tabs on the ruddervaders and moving the aft spar to adjust incidence. Shortly after that he converted it to the Viking Sport which changed the thrust line significantly. One thing you can say about him is he is industrious.

Gary Motley has a 130 on his Zenith 750 Cruiser and just got it running. I hope to see him in the air soon with it.

[Waiex 49]

Hi Ihab,

The Viking engine has a muffler and is reasonably quiet. I watched the video of the 130. It has a pretty good muffler but I think the hand held video camera doesn't really pick up all the sounds as it should.

If you want to see my engine run videos go to YouTube and search for "N49YX". My friend took cell phone videos of my takeoff and landing. I hope to get these posted to YouTube in the next week or so.

My Viking 110 is, in my opinion, fairly quiet but still has a nice sound. I don't think it is as loud as the AeroVee engine with straight pipes and no muffler.

The Rio Linda Sonex fly in is scheduled for May 20th. I plan on being there. If you can make it to the show please stop by my plane and say hi.

Don

[ihab]

Thanks Don! I'll definitely try and make it in May! And thanks for the video reference. In your videos it's possible to compare the engine sound to the sound of wind and voices when it's not running. You're right -- nice sound but still relatively quiet.

ihab

[rizzz]

Great Stuff Don!
It's been a long road for you that started with an engine upgrade (if that's no enough on its own) but ended up being a lot more it seems, anyway you got there in the end and you seem to be very pleased.

My attitude towards Jan & the Viking has changed somewhat over the years. We all know his history and in the beginning of the Viking project he seemed to be going down the exact same road he had been before. However, that did not continue and he seems to now do a good job at keeping a balance between supporting existing customers whilst developing new products.
Many Vikings are flying now and so far the reliability of the engine is proving to be outstanding. This can only be good for the entire industry.

Anyway, keep us informed on your adventures with your awesome Waiex

[Corby202]

Listening to a conversation at a flyin on the weekend between my friend who has a Jabiru powered Zenith 601 and another Zenith owner who has a Viking engine installed. The Viking owner although happy with his engine mentioned he has had to replace some rubber blocks, presumably in the gearbox twice. The main point he was making and I thought I would pass on here was the fact when these blocks first let go he almost panicked because of the noise it was making while he was cruising along, he realised the engine was still running ok and producing power and made it to an airfield with no problems. The second time his wife was on board but again he knew what to expect. I do not know if this is a common problem or if there are different gear boxes but as I said I am just passing this on.

[Waiex 49]

Hi Michael,

Thank you for the kind words regarding my project. The scope of the project greatly expanded from just being a re-engine project. Took longer and cost more than I thought it would but I am happy with the results. It should be a good plane for my purpose of recreational day-vfr cross country flights.

By the way, I have followed your postings and I am a big fan of your project. Your choice of engine is pretty smart, you kept the airframe light, and your instrument panel is clean and well laid out.

My dealings with Jan and Viking have been pretty good. The radiator and spinner were on back order but I got them before I actually needed them. I've read all the stuff about the Suburu engine and some painful experiences of those customers. None of that sounds good. I took a risk on the Honda Fit converted engine and Viking. I am a big fan of Honda engines and felt this was going to be a good engine for me. So far things are going pretty well. If things go bad I'll report on it.

Don

[Waiex 49]

Hi Phil,

Yes, there were a few reported cases of the rubber couplers breaking on Viking 110 engines. These are the couplers that connect the flywheel drive pins with the gearbox drive pins. As I recall, the cause of these failures was said to be incorrect alignment of the engine cranckshaft and the lower gear of the gearbox.

You are correct, there were a few variations in flywheel, coupler and gearbox design over the production run of the 110 engine. My engine was delivered in December 2012 and is what I would call a "second generation" 110 engine.

Viking came out with an upgrade to the 110 flywheel, coupler, and gearbox drive pins. I installed this upgrade late last year. Part of this upgrade is a specially made centering / pilot gizmo that seats into the end of the crankshaft. This device ensures the correct alignment of the gearbox and engine. This should prevent the failure of the drive couplers.

I feel for the guy who had his couplers fail. That would most likely make a scary clanking horrible sound that would make you think the end is near. Word from Viking is that even if all three couplers failed, the flywheel drive pins lock against the gearbox drive pins and the engine will continue to drive the gearbox.

So far so good with my Viking. I will report it all, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Don

http://www.mykitlog.com/donbowen

[SP1]

Congrats Don! I've made plans to go to Rio Linda for the Sonex fly in and am looking forward to seeing your airplane.

[Waiex 49]

For those who might be interested in my Viking Waiex Phase 1 testing:

The winds, weather and my schedule all worked out and I was able to take my Viking Waiex up for test flight #2.

Saturday was a no go as we had a 11 kt direct crosswind. Too much for me on a Phase 1 test flight. Sunday it calmed down a litle and we had a 7 kt quartering crosswind and I decided to give it a go. Still early in the Phase 1 program, so I stayed in the pattern and did some full stop and touch and go landings.

I have to say, during my 4 year rebuild / reengine program I had forgotten how nicely the Waiex flies. It really is a gas flying this plane, even if I just stayed in the pattern for half an hour.

As much as I like flying the Waiex, what is really nice is having more horsepower and more thrust. The airframe really takes well to the added power. I was climbing at 80 and still getting over 1,000 fpm initial climb. I was having to throttle back after leveling off as it will easily accelerate through 140 on downwind. Never had this kind of fun with my AeroVee.

The airplane is flying nice on a neutral trim setting. I have not detected any nose or tail heavy issues. I think I got it right with mounting the batteries in the tail to offset the heavier engine.

The Viking engine is running very well. It starts easily and runs strong. All temps and pressures in the green. After the flight I removed the cowlings and no oil or coolant leaks were detected.

I have the Viking "high performance" exhaust and people tell me it sounds really nice from the ground. They say it sounds powerful but not too noisy.

The Sonex disc brakes are nice! As much as I have bad-mouthed the kit, the brakes actually work very well. They are starting to "wear in" a little bit and their braking power has increased. It is very nice to have good brakes, and I really enjoy having differential systems with the toe brake pedals.

All flights so far have been run on Chevron Supreme 91 octane gasoline. The Viking runs well on 100 LL avgas, but some kind of additive such as Alcor, Decalin or Marvel Mystery Oil will be used to keep the lead from sticking to the top end.

Our weather is getting bad again so I probably won't fly again until next weekend.

Don

[jowens]

Congratulations,Don! Great to hear the upgrades are working well and the Viking is running strong. I'm hoping for my first Viking test run in the next three weeks.

Jim