Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
Jack and others,While the new Slick magnetos are compact and light inweight, the Eisemann AM 4 (unshielded) magnetos arestill pretty good in this respect. The Eisemann LA 4 is theshielded version and is bigger and heavier. Both are ex-cellent mags, but some parts can be a bit difficult to find.The heaviest mags (for the Continental) that I have used are the Bendix-Scintilla SF4 "box mags". They are big and heavy; but are extremely reliable. Unfortunately, theyare direct drive only and don't have impulse couplings.Like the Eisemann, some parts are difficult to find.The Bendix S4 magneto is moderately compact comparedto the SF4 and quite a bit lighter in weight. There are a lotof these around but they are subject to several airworthinessdirectives. If your engine has been out of service for yearsand has these mags, the AD situation needs to be checkedout. Reliability and safety depend on AD compliance. Re-placement parts are available, but they are expensive. It issometimes less expensive to trade them in on new Slicks---which I have done---than trying to bring them "up to snuff".Nevertheless, the S4 is a high quality item and can have ei-ther direct or impulse drive. It is a shielded magneto.The Case magneto was original equipment on many post-war lightplanes powered by the A 65 Continental. I flew be-hind them for lots of hours and never had much trouble withthem. They are unshielded and, as such, were often repla-ced by shielded units. They can have either direct or impulse drive. I don't know what the parts situation is like today, butsome parts were the same as those used on tractors mags.Typically, only the left magneto (when viewed from the rearof the A 65 engine) will have the impulse drive and it firesthe lower spark plugs of each cylinder. Start on the left magonly because the impulse coupling will retard the ignition tim-ing to about TDC and provide a strong spark at that point. Without the impulse drive, the ignition advance is 30 degreesBTC, guaranteeing "kickback"---especially with a hot engine.As an experienced "armstrong" starter, I highly recommend the impulse magneto drive. Less timid (and stronger) soulscan whip a metal propeller through compression so that the inertia of the prop overcomes kickback with only direct drivemags installed. With the lighter wooden propeller, this tech-nique becomes much less effective and most Pietenpols will,I think, have wooden propellers.Summing up, the Slick magneto is currently in production andthe rest are becoming, or are, antiques. Nevertheless, if one has a set of these old mags and a source of parts, they canstill give good service. The cost of refurbishing an old magnetohas to be balanced against buying a new Slick magneto, andsometimes this will be the only way to go.Graham Hansen (Pietenpol CF-AUN)________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "Doc Mosher"
Doc,I will be there all week. I would volunteer to be one of those helping makea presentation. I agree with you that there is going to be a lot of talentaround SnF to share their knowledge. I have attended several of Bill'spresentations. Basically he gives an intro of the Piet and then he justanswers questions. The questions are usually easy from people who are notbuilding but are interested.Ted BrousseauNaples, FL1 GN-1; 1/2 Pietenpol----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Christian Bobka"
-----Original Message-----Jack and others,While the new Slick magnetos are compact and light inweight, the Eisemann AM 4 (unshielded) magnetos arestill pretty good in this respect. The Eisemann LA 4 is theshielded version and is bigger and heavier. Both are ex-cellent mags, but some parts can be a bit difficult to find ...Graham Hansen (Pietenpol CF-AUN)Graham,Excellent advice, as usual. The Eisemann's I have are the unshielded AM-4'sand they still weigh over eleven pounds for the pair. I'd hate to see aheavier magneto.Due to the lack of shielding and the fact that the airspace where I fly isabout to become Class B, I'll probably have to replace them with Slicks. Ijust hope the Slick Magnetos that fit an A65 come complete with the drivegears. Those gears are EXPENSIVE - they cost nearly as much as the mags.I had Eisemann AM-4's on the J-3 Cub I had several years ago (late 1970's)and even then parts were hard to find for them.Jack________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
No, Jack, the drive gears are in addition.Chris - still tracking down the rest of the story on the crankcase camrepair-----Original Message-----

Original Posted By: "Graham Hansen"
Graham, or anyone, a question about the 'Eisemann (unshielded) magnetos'.I just bought a Flybaby with an A-65 with those mags. You can see the wirethru theinsulation. (something to fly while building the Piet)1. How bad is the noise if using a heldheld radio that's not connected toanything?2. If bad, can it be shielded? Can just the wires and plug be shielded ordoes the case need it too? I haven't flown it yet and don't know if there's anynoise yet.Thanks guys, timing couldn't be better.George AllenHarrisburg, PAGeorgeA(at)PAonline.com(Peitenpol builder)----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Doc Mosher"
Ditto Doc!As usual, thanks for stepping up and going that extra mile for us Piet'rs.I'll be glad to look after your notebooks and/or photos at the wood shop.We can un-officially, in lieu of a better one, let the wood shop be "PietCentral" this year if you guys want to. We can definitly plan a lunch,dinner, or even cookout in the campground..I'd be interested in who's coming to sun n fun. Maybe a roll call is inorder?Doc, if you want, e-mail me off list to discuss the forum - I have an ideaor two..Bert (who hopes the group had a great easter weekend - he did)bconoly(at)earthlink.netbconoly(at)wrsie.com----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Richard Navratril"
George Allen and Jack Phillips (and others),TO GEORGE: I have managed to use a handheld radio in severalaircraft without shielded ignition, but had to turn up the squelchquite a bit to eliminate the noise. This, in turn, affected my recep-tion. When I went from unshielded to the shielded Slick systemin my Wag-A-Bond, I couldn't believe the difference it made. I cannow hear people at least 100 miles away. Before the change the range was only about 35 - 40 miles. Some folks have good results with the unshielded system and the only way to find out is to try your handheld with it. You may be lucky.I can't comment on adding shielding to an unshielded system, al-though some people have done it. I have never tried it because it seemed like a lot of trouble.TO JACK: Chris is right. Generally the gears have to be obtained separately when you get a new set of mags. I had to use the gears from my old Bendix S4's when I traded them in on new Slicks for the C 85 -12 in my Pietenpol about three years ago. BUT I bought a pair of Slicks and harness for my Wag-A-Bond's A-65 about 7 years ago and they both had impulse couplings AND gears supplied! (I dealt with Mattituck in New York who used to ad-vertise these kits in SPORT AVIATION and elsewhere.)[ I JUST NOW CHECKED WITH MY FRIEND WHO BOUGHT ASLICK KIT FOR AN A-65 FROM MATTITUCK 3 OR 4 YEARS AGOAND HIS ALSO CAME COMPLETE WITH GEARS AND IMPULSE COUPLINGS!]So it seems that Slicks for the A-65 - 8 had gears supplied and Slicks for the C85 - 12 did not. Phone Mattituck to see if this deal throughUnison (the manufacturer) is still in force. Their phone number was: 1-888-655-7278Graham Hansen (in Alberta, Canada, where winter won't let go.)________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Thanks again, Graham.I'll call Mattituck. I have earlier e-mailed Unison directly to ask if themags for an A65-8 came with the gears or not, and I never got a responsefrom them. There are a bewildering number of kits available, includingexchange kits where you send in your old mags for new Slicks, so I'mthoroughly confused at this point. If I can replace the Eisemanns withSlicks for under a thousand bucks, I'll do it. Otherwise, I'll just rebuildthe Eisemanns and use them until Raleigh goes to Class B.Jack -----Original Message-----

Original Posted By: Bert Conoly
I will be at Sun-n-Fun, arriving this coming Friday. I will probably leaveon monday, so if there is a cookout or something, please have it on saturdayor sunday.----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
My Slick kit came without gears as the old gears fit and worked. But thiswas on a 150 Franklin. I think that if your gears in an A-65 are bad, Slickhas reasonably priced replacements. The man to write to is Harry Fentonharry(at)unisonindustries.comCy Galley - Bellanca Champion ClubNewsletter Editor & EAA TCwww.bellanca-championclub.comWe also support Aeroncas----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Kip & Beth Gardner