| About a monthly since last hovering i again had a chance to for a quick tour. | |||
| I became a father at 22nd of January this year and naturally since that everything has been about taking care of the newborn. Since she is 3 weeks old now it was time to take her to meet some of her relatives - and i could sneak out hovering while in the neighborhood... | |||
| After cold temperature gave in we've had temperatures more above 0C (32F) than below it. And the water level has been really high considering the time of the year 40-60cm (1½-2ft). Craft started just fine and i was easily on my way since there wasn't any step from ashore to the river. Did a short test operation first to see that everything is working and long lasting humid season hasn't done the trick in electrical system. Since everything worked like a charm we headed the bay. | |||
| Weather was really slippery for hovering, if it just can be. All the snow had melted and since there wasn't a freezing temperature there was a even layer of water everywhere. | |||
| Noticed few fishermen out there, but since the weather wasn't too sunny, actually drizzling occasionally that was pretty much what we expected. And long lasting warm season had already started to taken it's toll concerning ice: we could see holes larger and smaller in size. | |||
| We could also test the new moto-cross masks that i had bought for winter hovering and why not for hovering in general. They proved to be worth the money invested since they keep the wind away from face even when operating standing head above windshield. I recommend ! | |||
| But as we were turning back engine suddenly died. Luckily we weren't going fast but it's always a abrupt stop if engine dies at speed of any kind. We were about 1½km (less than 1mile) from hoverport, but due to changed ice situation i felt little bit uneasy about it. | |||
| First idea was that maybe we've run out of fuel although
gauge showed 1/4 of 110liters (28gallon). Fuel filter seemed to be full,
but to be sure i removed the fuel return line and turned on the pump -
we had fuel.
Then we checked wiring in the engine bay - no visibly loose connections. Removed the spark lead from distributor cap and placed it close the engine block and my father-in-law engaged the starter - we had a good spark. Tried to pour a petrol straight into carburetor and start - nothing. Running out of options here. We decided to check the spark plugs - nothing special that i can think of. Black color as it should be with unleaded fuel. I did clean them with a rag and tapped the gap a little bit smaller. Put them back in and tried again. Engine started to run weakly. I had a full throttle and it idled about 1200rpm according to tach. I pumped the throttle lever few times and slowly engine started to follow the changes. Soon it ran like nothing had ever been wrong with it. I don't think it was the spark plugs, but going to buy a new set and another set as spares to carry in the craft all the time. |
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| This troubleshooting took about ½ an hour and after
we got the craft back on cushion i headed straight to the hoverport. I
did test drive it some on the river close to hoverport (since i knew there
was plenty of ice incase i had to leave there for "some" reason).
But there was absolutely nothing suspicious in the craft, so i drove it to the hoverport and left it there. |
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| Just approx. 5km (3miles) today and totally little bit over an hour of operation time (including non operational troubleshooting). Two on board most of the time, excluding of course test drives before and after actual hovering. | |||