My First Engine Out In My Soob

[dragonflyerthom]

It has been a few day since I have been able to fly(Oct 12). The morning was beautiful. Little to no wind, blue skys, and the time had just change back an hour. I took off then headed to toward the north. I flew to the airport at Arkadelphia. As I announced that I was going to go over mid field then I heard that there were 4 black hawk mil helis on approach. I decided to fly parallel to the runway and watch them land to a hover then take off to the Southwest. I decided to fly back to Gurdon at 1000 ft.

About 5 miles out from Gurdon everything went quiet. I quickly flipped up the aux fuel pump. The restart went great. The engine smoothed and I flew the last 5 miles with out further incidence.

After church I checked the main fuel pump and found where the ground had come loose. I fixed this and flew this afternoon. No further problem.

This loose ground can be attributed to checking all my connection when I do my walk around. So be careful and don't pull too hard.

 

[Resasi]

Aaaaah, those hours and hours of uneventful flight, punctuated by those electrifying few seconds when one lives a lifetime in the time it took to flick a switch.

Nice conclusion Thom

 

[Timchick]

Thom,
Quick thinking. Way to go. Glad your emergency procedures were successful.

 

[cgmg]

Thom,

Glad it was a non-event for you!

How much altitude did you lose during the restart?

 

[Friendly]

Thom,
Glad you did not have to make an unscheduled landing.

 

[John Stahl]

Thom you had me scard there for a moment
John

 

[CLS447]

Steve Osborn has the auto pump switchover system. You would have never been the wiser.

Is that good or bad ?

Oh ......That was way too easy, Thom !

 

[dragonflyerthom]

Thanks Guys.

It was a fill my pants event almost. I had thought about having a system that is automatic but then I wouldn't have known there was a problem. I fly with one pump for just this reason.

One thing that surprised me was the amount of drag from the stopped engine. I have practiced engine outs with between 2000-2500 RPM on the tach. It wasn't quite the same. I had to get off the rudder immediately. Once again the nose dropped so fast I was pulling back on the cyclic with my right hand and starting with my left. I lost about 100 feet before it restarted then another 100 as I brought the engine back to cruise rpm.

I definitely know what "When it gets quite " means. Business picks up for sure. Thanks to Ron Menzie for all that training. The brain goes a 100 but the training kicks in.

John S

I was scared for a minute also.

 

[StanFoster]

Way to go Thom. Nothing like an actual test...and you passed!:yo:


Ever since I inadvertantly shut my fuel pump off at 100 ft.....I came up with that automatic aux. pump switchover system that turns on the aux pump as soon as the fuel pressure drops. Even my quick dying fuel injection on the 2.5 would light back up if the main fuel pump were shut off. Plus...I had an override switch should the pilot want both pumps on for take off or landing...or any other time. It sure was a nice piece of mind knowing there was an electronic hand ready to turn on the aux pump without thinking.


Stan

 

[TJMay]

Way to go, Thom, Glad you had enough altitude to try a re-start.

My engine out was not fuel puimp related but I'd be interested in the auto switch-over system. Could you point me to the thread or post something about it here?

Tommy

 

[Mike Schallmann]

I also have two pumps on my Soob --but I fly with both of them on -- originally mine had an "armstrong" starter so a restart wasnt in the cards.

I have a procedure to check the pumps --I start the engine on one pump and let it warm up --I switch to the second pump for the taxi out and then put both pumps on for the flight --this way I know if the pumps are working.

 

[dragonflyerthom]

Way to go, Thom, Glad you had enough altitude to try a re-start.

My engine out was not fuel puimp related but I'd be interested in the auto switch-over system. Could you point me to the thread or post something about it here?

Tommy

Hi Tommy

Stan Foster is the one to get this back up auto system.

 

[CLS447]

Do you guys all run fuel pressure guages?

Which brand & how much$ ??

 

[Harry_S.]

Your Thread Title Scared Me!!!

Your Thread Title Scared Me!!!

Good on ya Thom. Cool reaction.

I have dual pumps, each has its own breaker switch. Both on for TO and switch one off after climbout.

Before start I check the Batt. meter and Fuel pressure. I start up on one pump and run thru my after start instr. check. Pump #1 OFF and see pressure drop...Pump #2 ON and see pressure up...#2 OFF, press. drop...#1 ON, press. up...both pumps ON...ready to taxi.

Again Thom; Good on ya.


Cheers

 

[cgmg]

Thom,

I have the auto switch system Stan used, but can't find my wiring diagram. One thing you do want to do is hook up an indicator light for the spare pump. That way you'll know if the aux pump has kicked in. When I do my fuel pump check prior to takeoff, the green light comes on when I switch to aux.

 

[dragonflyerthom]

Hey I have had some time to sleep on this. It would be nice to have some kind of back up in the future. This was it would be a non event. I'm sure there are others here that would love for you to find and post it. Thanks for this Mark. By the way does it work on a low fuel pressure system. I think mine is 4 or 5 lbs.

How have you and Mark been? Your Guys been flying much?

Thanks Harry S. When I think that I almost didn't get that second fuel pump. Whew!!!!!

 

[Brent_Brown]

Stan or Mark I need that pump switchover system. Can one of you post how it is done?
Thanks

 

[Steve Osborne]

Good save Thom.

In the photo above the fuel pressure gauge is the pump control. There are 3 lights and a toggle switch.

The left green light comes on with keyed power letting you know the primary pump is on. The amber light in the center comes on when the back up pump is armed with the toggle switch. If the primary pump fails for any reason the back up pump will automatically turn on and the right side green lights indicating there is a problem. I test the system by pulling pump 1 circuit breaker and for emergency landing I pull pump 1 & 2 circuit breakers. This will work with low & high pressure systems all you need is a different pressure switch.

 

[cgmg]

Thom,

Stan's setup was for fuel-injection, but like Steve says, you'll need a different pressure switch for low pressure.

I'll keep looking for the diagram. I'm going to be at the hangar today, and if I can trace the wiring, I'll do that. But no promises, most of what I need to see is buried in wiring looms. Bugging your buddy Stan for the diagram would be the best bet.

Mark Knight has been flying about every other day, he said. Of course, that's pretty easy when your hangar is 50 feet from your house, and you work third shift!

I'm flying as often as I can, which is about once every 7-10 days now. Early fall is tough for me, I spend a good chunk of time almost daily blowing leaves off my yard. Living in the woods is a great life, except for about a month this time of year!

I actually flew twice last Saturday, once for my BFR, and once for pleasure again. That's the first double-bagger since I sold my Air Command!

 

[mgoroff]

Attached is a page of the schematics I drew up for my SH. I changed quite a bit of the wiring from the kit and so wanted to document the way I built it.

At the bottom left is the automatic fuel pump backup circuit. The fuel pressure switch I used is a 15psi normally closed Hobbs brand switch, but it comes in many different pressures. The relay is a good quality unit easily obtained online. The second pump will kick in when the fuel pressure falls below the switch pressure and the relay will latch and keep the pump on until you turn off the switch breaker. The low pressure indicator light will remain on as long as the backup pump is on. The system works very well.

If you have a carburated engine, you can likely just run both pumps at the same time for redundancy. In my FI engine, running both pumps at the same time exceeds the capacity of the fuel return line and the engine will run too rich.

Marc