Would You Fly Over the Sierra with Aerovee

[fastj22]

Sounds like the biggest problem would be unanticipated downdrafts. Can these be predicted by keeping an eye on weather forecasts or can they occur in any weather? If you flew the Sonex as high as it could fly would it be able to overcome these downdrafts? Sorry about the naive questions but I am not a pilot, just looking into a Sonex. I would fly the I80 corridor and there is an airport in Truckee and Blue Canyon. If I had engine failure would I be able to make these airports if I was flying at 12,000 feet?

Whether you choose a Sonex, some other experimental or another single engine certified plane, the issues are the same.

Here's a recent example. The pilot was seeking guidance from the local FBO on how to best cross the mountains. Decided to follow the I70 corridor instead of the standard flying pass 20 miles the north and 1500 ft lower. Density altitude and poor planning killed him and his passengers. His plane was more than capable to make that trip.

http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviat ... pgsize=100

A mountain wave downdraft can take you from 12,000ft to tree level faster than your plane can climb out of it. I don't go near them if the winds aloft are above 40 knots.

And 12,000ft is not going to give you much safety room for an engine out. Airports over the mountains are far and between.

There are some great books on mountain flying and the issues that flat landers don't typically face. One is Mountain Flying by Sparky Imeson.
http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Flying-R ... rky+imeson

[Fastcapy]

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[Pickleman]

John9q, I have flown an underpowered Cessna 140 all over the Sierras, Tahoe, Truckee, Carson, Susanville, Chester, Cedarville, Alturas, and the like. The 140 is....shall we say, performance Challenged, especially at the summer density altitudes found in these high and hot areas. Although some down drafts have been startling, to say the least, take comfort in the fact that as the down draft gets closer to the ground, it peters out and beging to flow sideways! The Sonex will out perform the 140 in every aspect. The only thing I have to worry about flying these hills is gross weight and density altitude. When it is pushing a hundred degrees, you have to KNOW, NOT GUESS the performance capabilities of your aircraft. I keep a density altitude chart with me, and don't fly two up when hot and high in the 140.

[rizzz]

...
Trust me, I tried everything. I even had the guy who built pretty much every factory Aerovee help me. He came out and we still couldn't get it running right until the different carb.

As for showing them the malfunctioning carb, no need, they have enough of them in a drawer. But, thats all I am going to say.
...

That is scary, almost unbelievable they would continue to sell the thing as-is given this implies they are aware of, and accept its issues.
If this wasn't "experimental aviation", such a fact could bring down the company because of criminal negligence if ever a fatality can be traced back to a bad running AeroCarb.

That said, I have an AeroCarb and I am very aware many people struggle to get it running right.
However, I also know there are many, many, many more who don't have issues with it and they are usually much less vocal (busy flying probably).
I personally still like the simplicity of the setup and no other carb beats the AeroCarb on that, so I am going to try my AeroCarb and see how it goes.
But, I'm not going to put tens of hours into it though, what you save in simplicity in setup is lost in many hours fiddling with the thing trying to get it to run right.
If I can't get it to run right following the instructions within a reasonable time frame, I'll get a Rotec and turn the AeroCarb into an ashtray or something.

[Sonex1517]

I feel obliged to point out that there are many satisfied AeroInjector and AeroCarb owners.

I would also add one person posting in this thread admits to having a past relationship with the factory. This makes some question their ability to be objective.

I'd add we should stick to the topic or split the post.

Blue skies
Robbie

[39cubcoupe]

120lbs of water and food in the right seat.... Maybe. :-)