re: header tank vent Larry, I read your email re: the header tank vent and can share this experience with you. A month or so ago, I posted a note on the net about the trouble I was having with the engine cutting out as soon as I leveled out on my first 3 flights. I thought about applying for a glider rating since I had 3 dead stick landings logged. The consensus from the netters and William Wynne was that venting the header tank was most likely the problem, since it seemed to be associated with a change in the AOA. I have a KR2 with an 1835cc GPVW and an Ellison carb(TBI). Two 4 gallon wing tanks are fed through an electric fuel pump into the 12 gallon header tank. The header tank vent was a brass elbow stuck through the gas cap. The wing tanks, which were empty, are vented separately. I had installed a fuel pressure gauge, so I know the main elec. fuel pump was functioning. I took out the brass elbow and substituted a 6" aluminum tube with a 90 degree bend pointing toward the prop. I was also advised by the local IA's to put a #40 drill hole behind the bend to prevent overpressurization. The 4th flight went very well. Evidently the area immediately above the fuel cap becomes a low pressure area when the plane leveled out and the speed increased. The small vent was in the low pressure area. One small problem, in the flush of success I forgot to pull the carb heat on and (60 degree damp Houston day) lost power on midfinal, resulting in deadstick landing #4. The Ellison is very susceptible to carb ice. Since then I have had 7 successful flights and power-on-landings and the problem appears to be corrected. I'll still put a couple more hours above the local airport before I venture farther afield. There's a big red placard now on the instrument panel: B(boost)M(mixture)C(carb heat). Sometimes I don't learn as easy as other folks.
Good luck, Don Don Sprague KR2 N118DS donspra...@houston.rr.com
