Waiex-B 0022

[Bryan Cotton]

I actually painted my C140 steel parts with that epoxy primer and a brush. So definitely easy to retouch if needed.

[WaiexB22]

I worked on this some of the Christmas break but unusually cold weather slowed my progress some. I got a few days of good enough weather to get the engine mount painted and mounted. I needed a few small shims to get the prop flange perfectly where I wanted. Despite my fixturing efforts there must have been some warping during the finish welding. Due to the proximity of my exhaust header to a few spots on the munt I elected to use high temp rattle can paint and it turned out ok. It isn't super durable, but it works and its easy to touch up. Overall I am happy with the results.

The exhaust header is mounted and I am getting started on the muffler. The header has EGT ports on each cylinder and there is an O2 bung at a swivel on the collector. The collector is spring attached. I plan to modify a street bike muffler that will fit in the cowl. I am going to include a port for smoke upstream of the muffler, downstream of the O2 sensor.

I plan to run dual radiators, one on each side. I plan to duct the radiators from the factory cowl openings, across the radiators, and out the factory side outlets. I am strongly considering operable cowl doors at the radiator outlet in an attempt to recover some of the drag through the Meredith effect. I purchased two heat exchangers that I though were going to work as my radiators, but I am having some custom made. They will be further forward than in this picture, but here is a general idea of where I am putting them:

[Bryan Cotton]

Wow, that looks awesome. Can't wait to see it fly someday.

[WaiexB22]

Thanks Bryan! I'm ready to join you in some flying! Watching you and Adam flying yours is keeping me motivated. I am doing most of the work these days, but this is a project between my dad and myself. I have two little kids at home I'm hoping will show some interest. My daughter is 6 and could care less right now. My son is 3 months and my fingers are crossed.

[WaiexB22]

I am searching for a propeller. I considered an airmaster constant speed, but have written it off due to weight, complexity, cost, and the large spinner. I am hesitant to install a fixed pitch prop because there is a good chance I will have to have it reworked and/or replaced as a result of flight testing. I am leaning towards a ground adjustable prop, at least until I can get enough data to spec a good fixed pitch. I really like the look of the small diameter spinner that the sensenich has, but they have yet to answer one of my many requests for info.

I ordered a prop extension from warp drive and I am impressed with their products and customer service. I talked to them and Casey at their booth at Oshkosh last year. Casey has one on a rotax and he was happy with it. My prop speeds are actually a little slower than the rotax, but not by much. I am strongly considering their prop, but it has a large hub to hold the blades.

Warp-Drive-Propellers_Complete_3-Blade-HPL.jpg (33.31 KiB) Viewed 3375 times

I would prefer to run the sonex billet spinner, so that I do not need to modify the cowl for a large spinner (and I have it). I could do the cowl work, but I don't like the look and I do not want to bring the cowl slope up. it may not be a valid concern, but I am concerned about raising the nose of the cowl at the spinner for visibility.

Has anyone run the sonex billet spinner on the hub of a ground adjustable prop like the warp drive? Does anybody have any other words of wisdom before I order something?

[Scott Todd]

Awesome job! Keep the pictures coming :)

I always thought a Sonex with the Aeromomentum 130 would be a great combo. Your scratch project is even cooler!

[Murray Parr]

I am running an E-Prop with the 100hp rotax. Early flight tests are encouraging and it is super light weight. The price isn't bad either. The spinner is a bit larger than the scull cap and I will eventually have to modify the cowl but for now I am putting up with it looking a bit odd. I can't really compare it to the Sensenich 2 blade wood composite (The earlier one that Sonex used to sell) because it was way over pitched and even after trimming it to suit it still didn't have much thrust happening. Probably just wasn't the right prop for this combination.

I am still playing with the pitch setting for the E-Prop but my last flight test I could feel a noticeable amount of thrust increase. Hoping to test a new pitch setting today and will report performance numbers after that.

[WaiexB22]

Thanks Scott!

Murray - Thanks for the promising feedback. I looked at e-props some as well. Were you able to flight test? Do you have any photos of your current setup?

[Murray Parr]

Robert,

I am hoping to run a test flight with it next week, weather hasn't cooperated here lately, too much gusty wind for accurate data collection.

The first test was done not at the desired pitch setting but for numbers the following was found. at 33.3* pitch 3 blade 160CM.
Density altitude for takeoff 4200'

Static RPM 5630
From start of takeoff roll, I took 7 seconds to feed in full throttle, by that time I was doing 30 KTS IAS and RPM was down to 5573 MAP was 27.1 Hg
5 seconds later 42KTS and 5526 RPM MAP was 27.1
6 seconds later 50 KTS and 5475 RPM MAP still 27.1 Airborne now
3 seconds later 61 KTS and 5380 RPM MAP 27.1 VSI plus 550
76 KTS has RPM at 5250 MAP 27.1
87 KTS has RPM at 5186 MAP 26.9
100 KTS has RPM at 5141 MAP 25.3
110 KTS has RPM at 5221 MAP 25.0
120 KTS has RPM at 5240 MAP 23.5
125 KTS has RPM at 5400 MAP 23.5
130 KTS has RPM at 5452 MAP 23.2
Density altitude was now 8200' and not able to maintain above 125 KTS IAS without slight decent.

Climb performance shown between 800' and 1000' VSI all the way up to this density altitude.

As you can see, at no point does the RPM go above static and gets slower as you increase airspeed up to 100 KTS IAS. Above that it starts to unload again but still close to 200 RPM below static. I adjusted the pitch again to increase the LFWOT to 5550 which should be ideal and will run more testing once ideal RPM is achieved.
Here are some pictures of the prop but no top cowl on. I will get better pics next time out there.

Eprop1.jpg (178.15 KiB) Viewed 3248 times

Eprop2.jpg (194.08 KiB) Viewed 3248 times

Eprop3.jpg (231.77 KiB) Viewed 3248 times

[WaiexB22]

Thanks Murray! This is very helpful. The roatx propeller is not too far off from mine in terms of RPM.

That is excellent data. I see what you mean about the spinner. Keep us updated. I am very interested in your testing.