---------------------------------------------------------- Kolb-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Mon 04/30/18: 5 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 02:09 PM - Re: Balance Master (Richard Pike) 2. 02:22 PM - Re: Re: Balance Master (william sullivan) 3. 02:36 PM - Re: Re: Balance Master (George Helton) 4. 04:40 PM - Re: Balance Master (Richard Pike) 5. 06:29 PM - Re: Re: Balance Master (John Hauck) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 02:09:17 PM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: Re: Balance Master From: "Richard Pike" Got the Balance Master in the mail over the weekend, (Thank you Jack Hart!) installed it and test flew the Firefly yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vcfoOJJDpg (Climbs good for a 277, huh?) Here is the landing, just to show I don't always bounce them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulIJ_WHLMfY&feature=youtu.be Substantial improvement in the vibration level, but not in the way we expected. It is now smoother than previously at cruise rpm's, best around 5500, and the smoothness band has widened out a bit. It is now smooth down to 5000, but still vibrates a lot between 5000 and 4000, but not as much as before. In any event, it is much better at normal cruise, and a tad better in that rpm area where it stinks. The next thing we will be trying is to convert the 277 to dual ignition. Back in the 80's, I had a Maxair Hummer with a 277 on it, and the 277 has a charging coil that lays directly beneath the ignition source coil inside the magneto. The normal ignition relys on points, but years ago, small engines could replace the points and condenser with a small solid state device called an Atom. It is about the size of a postage stamp, and acts like an ignition points device. Got a friend with a machine shop to weld up a place on the hemispherical dome of the 277 head, which I then milled flat and tapped for a B8ES plug, added a small coil, and wired the whole mess up. Details are in the March 1990 EAA Experimenter magazine. Anyway, it worked great, and also - unlike the points ignition - the Atom has an advance and retard function. Which had the effect of causing the 277 to idle a lot smoother. And might also have an effect on the vibration level at lower power settings. But if not, it is still always nice to have dual ignition. So now I will be calling some of the snowmobile places up Nawth to see if I can find a 277 head to experiment on. But that will be a topic for a different thread. -------- Richard Pike Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops) Kingsport, TN 3TN0 Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing. Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=479734#479734 ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 02:22:41 PM PST US From: william sullivan Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Re: Balance Master Very nice, Richard. What is the stall speed on that? Try here for parts: http://alssnowmobile.com/ Bill Sullivan Tarboro, NC -------------------------------------------- On Mon, 4/30/18, Richard Pike wrote: Subject: Kolb-List: Re: Balance Master To: kolb-list@matronics.com Date: Monday, April 30, 2018, 5:09 PM Pike" Got the Balance Master in the mail over the weekend, (Thank you Jack Hart!) installed it and test flew the Firefly yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vcfoOJJDpg (Climbs good for a 277, huh?) Here is the landing, just to show I don't always bounce them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulIJ_WHLMfY&feature=youtu.be ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 02:36:42 PM PST US From: George Helton Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Re: Balance Master Richard, if you should decide that a little more power might be nice? I have a nice little Rotax 377 w/ 2:58 gearbox with approximately 80 total hours and a new 66X28 Tennessee propeller with 10 hours. I flew the engine for 50+ hours and the propeller for 10 last season. Lots of extras included. For sale. Email me if your interested. Its available actually to anyone on the Kolb list. Have a great day! George George Helton Firestar FS100, 2702 Hirth 14GDH gdhelton@gmail.com Do not archive. > On Apr 30, 2018, at 5:09 PM, Richard Pike wrote: > > > Got the Balance Master in the mail over the weekend, (Thank you Jack Hart!) installed it and test flew the Firefly yesterday. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?vcfoOJJDpg > (Climbs good for a 277, huh?) > Here is the landing, just to show I don't always bounce them: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulIJ_WHLMfY&feature=youtu.be > > Substantial improvement in the vibration level, but not in the way we expected. It is now smoother than previously at cruise rpm's, best around 5500, and the smoothness band has widened out a bit. It is now smooth down to 5000, but still vibrates a lot between 5000 and 4000, but not as much as before. In any event, it is much better at normal cruise, and a tad better in that rpm area where it stinks. The next thing we will be trying is to convert the 277 to dual ignition. > > Back in the 80's, I had a Maxair Hummer with a 277 on it, and the 277 has a charging coil that lays directly beneath the ignition source coil inside the magneto. The normal ignition relys on points, but years ago, small engines could replace the points and condenser with a small solid state device called an Atom. It is about the size of a postage stamp, and acts like an ignition points device. > > Got a friend with a machine shop to weld up a place on the hemispherical dome of the 277 head, which I then milled flat and tapped for a B8ES plug, added a small coil, and wired the whole mess up. Details are in the March 1990 EAA Experimenter magazine. > > Anyway, it worked great, and also - unlike the points ignition - the Atom has an advance and retard function. Which had the effect of causing the 277 to idle a lot smoother. And might also have an effect on the vibration level at lower power settings. But if not, it is still always nice to have dual ignition. > > So now I will be calling some of the snowmobile places up Nawth to see if I can find a 277 head to experiment on. But that will be a topic for a different thread. > > -------- > Richard Pike > Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops) > Kingsport, TN 3TN0 > > Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing. > > > > > Read this topic online here: > > http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=479734#479734 > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 04:40:56 PM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: Re: Balance Master From: "Richard Pike" Stall speed (indicated) is currently between 30-35 indicated. The airspeed indicator reads about 5 mph fast at 55, and needs to be calibrated, so the real answer is - I don't know. Using the FAA's data sheets, it meets 103 specs, so - yeah - it is pretty slow. We have a set of VG's from StolSpeed sitting on the work bench, but they have not yet been installed. Waiting for the weather to warm up, so that the adhesive will stick better. That should buy us another 4-7 mph, will report on that when we get to it. Thanks for the offer of the 377, it would probably be smoother, but we are currently barely legal as a Gen-U-Wine Part 103 legal U/L, a 377 would totally blow that out of the water. (I have no idea how the Kolb Factory makes legal weight with a 447, but that is none of my business...) Right now, aside from trying to get the vibration on power-off descent to diminish, we are very happy with the 277, it burns a bit less than 2 gph, and has great performance. Once we put dual ignition on it, we will like it even better. If we were to change it, we would probably go with one of the powered parachute engines, lose about 20 - 30 pounds of weight, and get WAY better fuel economy. Something that you have to experience to appreciate, is that lighter really is better. Once you fly a really light Kolb, there is something about it that is really unique. Reminds me of flying the Hummer back in the 80's. If the wind is blowing and it is likely to be trashy, drag out the MKIII, add a passenger, and that works really well. In trashy air, weight is your friend. But if it is early in the morning, or late in the afternoon, and it is glass smooth, drag out the Firefly, and go fly it. As Beauford used to say, it really is a "tissue plane." Still a tough-as-nails Kolb, and turbulence is not going to hurt it, but it floats and flits around. A very different experience, and once you learn to trust it, it is a good ride. -------- Richard Pike Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops) Kingsport, TN 3TN0 Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing. Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=479740#479740 ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 06:29:26 PM PST US From: "John Hauck" Subject: RE: Kolb-List: Re: Balance Master To me, a Firefly flies better in wind and turbulence than a FS. Looks like your airplane is more FS, with the FS wings, than Firefly. The Firefly fuselage has a lot of FS in it. Been a long time since I have flown a FF, but I still remember the winds at Lakeland and how well the FF handled them. Only time the wind bothered me in the FF was when we were encountering really stiff rollers of the trees just before touchdown. I did run out of aileron once. It got my attention when the stick hit the aileron stop, but I didn't crash. ;-) john h mkIII Titus, Alabama -----Original Message----- From: owner-kolb-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-kolb-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Richard Pike Sent: Monday, April 30, 2018 6:41 PM Subject: Kolb-List: Re: Balance Master Stall speed (indicated) is currently between 30-35 indicated. The airspeed indicator reads about 5 mph fast at 55, and needs to be calibrated, so the real answer is - I don't know. Using the FAA's data sheets, it meets 103 specs, so - yeah - it is pretty slow. We have a set of VG's from StolSpeed sitting on the work bench, but they have not yet been installed. Waiting for the weather to warm up, so that the adhesive will stick better. That should buy us another 4-7 mph, will report on that when we get to it. Thanks for the offer of the 377, it would probably be smoother, but we are currently barely legal as a Gen-U-Wine Part 103 legal U/L, a 377 would totally blow that out of the water. (I have no idea how the Kolb Factory makes legal weight with a 447, but that is none of my business...) Right now, aside from trying to get the vibration on power-off descent to diminish, we are very happy with the 277, it burns a bit less than 2 gph, and has great performance. Once we put dual ignition on it, we will like it even better. If we were to change it, we would probably go with one of the powered parachute engines, lose about 20 - 30 pounds of weight, and get WAY better fuel economy. Something that you have to experience to appreciate, is that lighter really is better. Once you fly a really light Kolb, there is something about it that is really unique. Reminds me of flying the Hummer back in the 80's. If the wind is blowing and it is likely to be trashy, drag out the MKIII, add a passenger, and that works really well. In trashy air, weight is your friend. But if it is early in the morning, or late in the afternoon, and it is glass smooth, drag out the Firefly, and go fly it. As Beauford used to say, it really is a "tissue plane." Still a tough-as-nails Kolb, and turbulence is not going to hurt it, but it floats and flits around. A very different experience, and once you learn to trust it, it is a good ride. -------- Richard Pike Kolb MKIII N420P (420ldPoops) Kingsport, TN 3TN0 Forgiving is tough, being forgiven is wonderful, and God's grace really is amazing. 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