Sport Pilot Talk

I was shooting this photo:

I was slipping for a period of time to keep the wingtip out of the photos and I emptied my right tank and ran out of gas. I did have 5 gallons in the other wing so power came back quickly.

That's a beautiful picture! That engine stoppage must have been scary. Glad it restarted, and that you made it back safely.

Even happier it had a starter? Did you have the altitude to dive into a restart?


Dan

The more hours on my engine (2,055 and counting), the more I think about that in those situations...

eyeflygps wrote:I'm glad it started back up OK, but isn't a total of 5 gallons getting too low especially for such a hostile environment?? And for those who want to point out that 5 gallons is over an hour, I know that. Very nice picture, anyway.

Good point but not in this case. It was the end of the flight and I was ~7 miles from the field and above 12,000'.

914Driver wrote:Even happier it had a starter? Did you have the altitude to dive into a restart?


Dan

I was above 12,000' Altitude to spare.

drseti wrote:That's a beautiful picture! That engine stoppage must have been scary. Glad it restarted, and that you made it back safely.

It didn't even scare my passenger. As it got quiet he looked up at the sight tube on his side and saw it was dry and knew it was a fuel issue. We were using such a dramatic slip that you were very aware of it.

A non event happening in a dramatic spot.

CharlieTango wrote:I was slipping for a period of time to keep the wingtip out of the photos and I emptied my right tank and ran out of gas. I did have 5 gallons in the other wing so power came back quickly.

So did you actually empty the right tank? Or was the fuel unported from your aggressive slip?

914Driver wrote:Even happier it had a starter? Did you have the altitude to dive into a restart?


Dan

I was under the impression that due to the gearing of the ROTAX 912, diving would not get the propeller windmilling for a restart.

True or false?

designrs wrote:

CharlieTango wrote:I was slipping for a period of time to keep the wingtip out of the photos and I emptied my right tank and ran out of gas. I did have 5 gallons in the other wing so power came back quickly.

So did you actually empty the right tank? Or was the fuel unported from your aggressive slip?

Yes right tank empty left tank unported. I don't see how you could run out of gas with fuel on board unless you emptied one tank.

FastEddieB wrote:

914Driver wrote:Even happier it had a starter? Did you have the altitude to dive into a restart?


Dan

I was under the impression that due to the gearing of the ROTAX 912, diving would not get the propeller windmilling for a restart.

True or false?

Dunno. The symptoms were 100% power loss and silence but the prop was turning. I instinctively removed the slip and lowered the nose 30* as it happened. I never got much below 90kts IAS so maybe it would have stopped if I got slower.

I didn't even think about regaining power instead I turned for the airport and began setting up for a dead stick and the power returned with coordinated gliding.

FastEddieB wrote:

914Driver wrote:Even happier it had a starter? Did you have the altitude to dive into a restart?


Dan

I was under the impression that due to the gearing of the ROTAX 912, diving would not get the propeller windmilling for a restart.

True or false?

Not long ago on the CT site Roger made mention that that with enough speed the Rotax will start rotating. I don't remember the thread.
Personally I have not tried in with a Rotax powered airplane. I do know that a couple of the Taylorcrafts I used to fly took 120-125mph to get the prop turning again.

3Dreaming wrote: Not long ago on the CT site Roger made mention that that with enough speed the Rotax will start rotating. I don't remember the thread.
Personally I have not tried in with a Rotax powered airplane. I do know that a couple of the Taylorcrafts I used to fly took 120-125mph to get the prop turning again.

Gosh, if my engine stopped and the starter didn't have enough juice to restart, I don't know if I'd want to do a dive to Vne to *maybe* get a restart. Seems like that altitude would be better used finding a good landing spot for a dead stick. If you found a very close spot and had plenty of excess altitude, it might be worth a try though.

The high compression plus the gearbox drag is just a bear to get through to get the prop turning; it's even relatively hard to do by hand.

MrMorden wrote:

3Dreaming wrote: Not long ago on the CT site Roger made mention that that with enough speed the Rotax will start rotating. I don't remember the thread.
Personally I have not tried in with a Rotax powered airplane. I do know that a couple of the Taylorcrafts I used to fly took 120-125mph to get the prop turning again.

Gosh, if my engine stopped and the starter didn't have enough juice to restart, I don't know if I'd want to do a dive to Vne to *maybe* get a restart. Seems like that altitude would be better used finding a good landing spot for a dead stick. If you found a very close spot and had plenty of excess altitude, it might be worth a try though.

The high compression plus the gearbox drag is just a bear to get through to get the prop turning; it's even relatively hard to do by hand.

Andy, I was right over the airport. I had climbed up to 5 or 6000 before shutting the engine down. I circled around playing in the lift on clear fall afternoon. When I was 2000 AGL I put the nose down to restart, knowing if it didn't I still had 1000 feet to set up for landing.

Wow - good that you kept calm and the restart was uneventful. That would have raised serious pucker factor for me. (Heck, the seat fabric would probably still be pinched after I left the aircraft!)

I ditto the other post - Beautiful photo! Minarets / Crystal Crag?