How robust are Mosquitoes?

[WaspAir]

I live in a Lycoming world, where heads come off at maybe 1200 hours. I hate to think what my hours flying/hours wrenching ratio would look like with 50 hour intervals for such tasks.

 

[DavePA11]

Bryan - Do you have any photos of what the pistons look like after 50 hours before you decarbon them? I’d be interested in seeing what happens under normal operation. Thanks

 

[bryancobb]

I am sorry but didn't collect pictures. I have decarbon'd my 503 many times, and only my 582 once. The first time I did the used 503 it was above 200 hours and it took considerable time and effort. The rings were not stuck but sludge was plentiful. I have no idea what kind of oil the previous owner used. The crown of the pistons were black but not much buildup. The combustion chamber was black with wet-looking buildup several thou' thick.
Underside of the crown was a baked on dark brown buildup that was dense and heavy and probably affected the balance of things. I used a dental excavator to slowly remove buildup everywhere except ring grooves, rings, and any surface that slides up and down the cylinder wall. The contact edge of the rings were not touched at all. The sides of them were hard to clean and I wore a 10x loop and DID NOT use sandpaper. As I said I used a shoestring with polishing compound to clean the grooves. The first time took almost 2 days. Then the 50 hour cleanings took almost 1/2 day. That includes everything from previous flight (dirty) to first flight (clean). I always used the same rings and pistons. The pistons and rings got replaced once when the wear limits were exceeded. On that occasion I did the Rotax break-in procedure like the engine was new. If you are a wrench-head already, you will know this but ALWAYS catalog parts at disassembly and put them back exactly as removed and in the same orientation.

 

[Barney Bahle]

Don't want to hijack the thread but to answer the question I don't know much of anything about the Safari 500. Safari doesn't have an open forum that I am aware of so it's hard to find info on them unless you're an owner. They do have pricing listed on their site so I imagine it's available now, but way out of my price range.

 

[Storeyaviation]

The piston issue on the MZ202 is not related to decarboning the rings, it has more to do with the ring pin coming out and scoring up the ring, piston and cylinder wall and seizing up.
To reply to original question, for what it is worth, I just finished my 50hr inspection on my XET. I have not had to do anything except for the prescribed maintenance oil changes, fuel filter changes and greasing.

 

[Bryce]

I don't have an Air but own a 285. Mosquitos are relatively low maintenance. I just finished performing my 100 hr./Annual inspection (102 actual hours). Part of it I did at the Factory Fly-In at the end of March just to take advantage of their expertise. They are fun aircraft and I get to keep it in my garage which saves hangar fees.

I am wondering how your machine performs at your altitude, I live in Cedar City Utah with a msl of about 5,500 and mountains around at around 10,000 ft. Do you know of anyone around here who has one? Does the xet do better at higher elevations?

 

[Maro]

I am new on Rotary Wing Forum.
Is there a forum about the Hiller Rotorcycle ?
How can I start a forum topic ?

 

[bryancobb]

I am new on Rotary Wing Forum.
Is there a forum about the Hiller Rotorcycle ?
How can I start a forum topic ?

The ARMY AVIATION MUSEUM at FT Rucker has one on display. There's several pages on the internet, including several YouTube vids of it being moved by hand on it's handtruck, unfolded and configured for flight, and flown away.

 

[Maro]

Bryan,

How can I open / make a topic about the Rtorcycle ?

 

[Vance]

Bryan,

How can I open / make a topic about the Rtorcycle ?

Welcome to the Rotary Wing Forum Maro!

Click on the tab forums, then kit makers and manufactures, then Helicopters, then title your thread, then post.

You could also go to the tab for the Rotorcraft History Chanel if you feel it is more appropriate.

 

[bryancobb]

The piston issue on the MZ202 is not related to decarboning the rings, it has more to do with the ring pin coming out and scoring up the ring, piston and cylinder wall and seizing up.
To reply to original question, for what it is worth, I just finished my 50hr inspection on my XET. I have not had to do anything except for the prescribed maintenance oil changes, fuel filter changes and greasing.

Dave, have you done this update before? Is there a video on how to do it? Does it require replacement pistons?
Thanks in advance, Bryan

 

[Barney Bahle]

It's the little pin in the piston that keeps the ring from spinning. I guess only an issue in the Mosquito but for whatever reason it works itself loose. So every 50 hours the MZ202 gets new pistons and rings. I did mine before I ever started it, basic 2-stroke so really no big deal.

 

[bryancobb]

It's the little pin in the piston that keeps the ring from spinning. I guess only an issue in the Mosquito but for whatever reason it works itself loose. So every 50 hours the MZ202 gets new pistons and rings. I did mine before I ever started it, basic 2-stroke so really no big deal.

So not a permanent fix? You just do it at 50 hr intervals and it doesn't work loose?

 

[WaspAir]

Well golly, you could get almost 25 hours out of a Junkers Jumo 004B, with 2000 pounds of thrust. Much progress in 80 years ?

 

[Barney Bahle]

So not a permanent fix? You just do it at 50 hr intervals and it doesn't work loose?

That is correct. I imagine it is one of the many reasons CFX is currently developing their own engine.

 

[Barney Bahle]

Well golly, you could get almost 25 hours out of a Junkers Jumo 004B, with 2000 pounds of thrust. Much progress in 80 years ?

Lets be fair now. This engine is powering a 103 legal ultralight helicopter, not an R22 at a flight school. It's a toy. I bet most of these don't get flown 50 hours a year. In my case, in the 3 years I had the Rotorway I only had time to put 60 hours on it. So with the Mosquito, every couple years I need to remove about 20 bolts and 2 circlips to install new pistons. It's really not a big deal.

 

[bryancobb]

Lets be fair now. This engine is powering a 103 legal ultralight helicopter, not an R22 at a flight school. It's a toy. I bet most of these don't get flown 50 hours a year. In my case, in the 3 years I had the Rotorway I only had time to put 60 hours on it. So with the Mosquito, every couple years I need to remove about 20 bolts and 2 circlips to install new pistons. It's really not a big deal.

If the MZ-202 is similar to the Rotax 503 in complexity, It takes 30 minutes to take it out. Thirty minutes to install 2 new pistons. Thirty minutes to reassemble it. And 30 minutes to put it back in. One hour is needed for break-in. A half day and you are god for another year. Taking your jugs off really keeps your thumb on the pulse of how lean or rich you've been and how accurate your instrumentation is. My Rotax pistons were almost 3x the cost of my Lycoming IO-360 ones.