Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Phillips, Jack"
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureHello Guys, Shad Bell here, what an adventure this past weekend was! It was dissapointingto say the least but what a story. My dad Gary and I headed up for Brodheadon friday morning at 9:30 am from central OH. Fuel stops atevanwertthento WarsawIN. The only set back untill then was low level scud clouds and an unsceduledfuel stop at Lima OH to wait for clearing skys. I was driving the truckat this point, over to Warsaw for my turn to fly. I get in all fueled up at Warsawand fly over to "Valpo" IN with no problems. I wait for Dad at Valpo andhe bring a couple quarts of oil to keep in the airplane since we have the corvairand run 15w40. So I take off again excited but cautious about the windat Joliet airport in IL. The WX briefer called for 8-12 ktsout of the NE. Wellalong I go headed for Joliet and it starts raining lightly, no big deal it'sonly 8 miles to joliet. HOLY s- - -! I look down and see corn blowing overso hard it looks like waves of water. With out hesitating I punched in awos for joliet and the winds were 26kts gusting to 36kts at 020 deg, almost directly accross joliets runway. I remember passing asmall airport to my east with 2 runways and one of them was halfway in to thewind, so I turned around and realized my ground speed at my 2000 ft alt was closeto 30mph. I got to the airport and got her down with no scrapes tears orbruises and the airplane handled it relitivly good. After pretty much flyingthe piet ( stalls at 34 indicated) to the ramp in blowing light rain I went insideto see if this seemingly abandon airport had weather radar. The airportwas Howell / New Lenox airport, and the attendant told me he was leaving to gohome shortly but I could put the piet in a T hanger untill the weather cleared.He also let me do something unheard of these days, He gave me the key tothe fuel pump and let me pay for how much gas i thought I would need and trustedme not to take more than I paid for. He then told me the sad news of how his airport would be bull-dozed in 10 days for housingdevelopments. After waiting for 3 hrs I accepted I would not make Brodheadon friday I called dad, who was fighting Chicago traffic at 6pm, and said itwas no-go and I would like a ride and some food, bed etc etc. He found theairport which is way off the beaten path and we stayed in joliet at the holidayinn. On saturday the sky was clear and the winds light so we went back earlyand got the piet ready for the 3-4 hrs of flying on up to Brodhead. I was flyingand after taking off the engine rpm dropped about 300 rpm, and I rememberedthat corvairs are very prone to carb ice so I pulled out the carb heat andit raised about 200 rpm so I figured It was OK. I circled the field 3 times tomake sure she was going to run and then headed west the 15 miles to joliet.I passed joliet about 2 miles south west of the field and the engine startedloosing power badly. At 2400rpm it would just barly hold alt. I turned back to joliet airport and made a scary approach tojoliet, with nothing below me but hi-ways, houses and industry. I made the airportwithout complete power loss and called dad who was only 30 mins away, andtold him we need to do some work on the engine. We ended up checking the sedimentbowl, it was clean. The carborateor was the next susspect so we took itoff , took it apart and cleaned it on the tailgate of his pickup truck (withpeople looking at us like we were crazy). We found just a little bit of verryfine sediment in the fuel bowl cleaned the bowl and blew out the jets. Aftergetting the carb installed we test ran tied down at full power for 10-12 min.It ran fine and made the full 3300-3400 rpm. Dad test flew around Joliet for20-30 min and no problems. We fueled up and I was still flying so I went offto the north to Dekalb IL for fuel. The engine was running great and it wasa very great flight. Took o fuel at dekalb and headed north to Poplar Grove airport for one last fuel stop before Brodhead. I went in to pay for my fuel and chaked the radar and saw the pop up storms aroundthe Brodhead area, This was about 5pm on sat. I only had 35 miles to goso I taxied out and took off and right after passing the end of the runway onclimb out the engine started acting up again, so I circled and landed and calleddad. He was near Beloit WI getting the hotel room. He headed down, we ranit and we could duplicate the problem on the ground so we made the decission totruck her home. By this time we are very stressed out 500 miles from home andnow we have to find a way to get her home without dammaging her. This is wherean uncommonly generous man, Steve Thomas, the owner of Poplar Grove airportlet us pull the airplane into his hanger and start pulling the wings. He thenoffered us use of his 24ft flatbed trailer to haul the piet home. This wasVERY appreciated as we had no idea how or what we were going to do with this ordeal. So while the porkchop dinner was being servedwe were pulling dad's pretty little airplane apart to be shipped home on theback of dad's truck. I guess in hind sight it could have been much much worse.I, my father, and lastly the airplane all live to fly another day. We alsofoud out that esspecially in our chosen hobby of airplanes and aviation thereare generous and out-going people. So to all you fellow Pietenpol enthisiasts: like the Cubs fans say, "There is always next year". Fly safe Shad Bell ---------------------------------See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. Check it out.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By:
Subject: RE: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureGood story Shad, and glad it all worked out safely for you. Having hada partial power failure induced forced landing in mine, I know thefeeling of sphincter-clinch that grabs hold of you when you hear andfeel the engine suddenly not doing right.Do you think the second problem with the engine was sediment in thecarburetor? Do you have a fuel filter in the line?Jack PhillipsNX899JPRaleigh, NC-----Original Message-----[mailto:owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of shadbellSent: Monday, July 24, 2006 3:20 PMHello Guys,Shad Bell here, what an adventure this past weekend was! It wasdissapointing to say the least but what a story. My dad Gary and Iheaded up for Brodhead on friday morning at 9:30 am from central OH.Fuel stops atevanwertthento Warsaw IN. The only set back untill thenwas low level scud clouds and an unsceduled fuel stop at Lima OH to waitfor clearing skys. I was driving the truck at this point, over toWarsaw for my turn to fly. I get in all fueled up at Warsaw and flyover to "Valpo" IN with no problems. I wait for Dad at Valpo and hebring a couple quarts of oil to keep in the airplane since we have thecorvair and run 15w40. So I take off again excited but cautious aboutthe wind at Joliet airport in IL. The WX briefer called for 8-12 ktsoutof the NE. Well along I go headed for Joliet and it starts raininglightly, no big deal it's only 8 miles to joliet. HOLY s- - -! I lookdown and see corn blowing over so hard it looks like waves of water.With out hesitating I punched in awos for joliet and the winds were26kts gusting to 36 kts at 020 deg, almost directly accross jolietsrunway. I remember passing a small airport to my east with 2 runwaysand one of them was halfway in to the wind, so I turned around andrealized my ground speed at my 2000 ft alt was close to 30mph. I got tothe airport and got her down with no scrapes tears or bruises and theairplane handled it relitivly good. After pretty much flying the piet (stalls at 34 indicated) to the ramp in blowing light rain I went insideto see if this seemingly abandon airport had weather radar. The airportwas Howell / New Lenox airport, and the attendant told me he was leavingto go home shortly but I could put the piet in a T hanger untill theweather cleared. He also let me do something unheard of these days, Hegave me the key to the fuel pump and let me pay for how much gas ithought I would need and trusted me not to take more than I paid for.He then told me the sad news of how his airport would be bull-dozed in10 days for housing developments. After waiting for 3 hrs I accepted Iwould not make Brodhead on friday I called dad, who was fighting Chicagotraffic at 6pm, and said it was no-go and I would like a ride and somefood, bed etc etc. He found the airport which is way off the beatenpath and we stayed in joliet at the holiday inn. On saturday the sky wasclear and the winds light so we went back early and got the piet readyfor the 3-4 hrs of flying on up to Brodhead. I was flying and aftertaking off the engine rpm dropped about 300 rpm, and I remembered thatcorvairs are very prone to carb ice so I pulled out the carb heat and itraised about 200 rpm so I figured It was OK. I circled the field 3times to make sure she was going to run and then headed west the 15miles to joliet. I passed joliet about 2 miles south west of the fieldand the engine started loosing power badly. At 2400rpm it would justbarly hold alt. I turned back to joliet airport and made a scaryapproach to joliet, with nothing below me but hi-ways, houses andindustry. I made the airport without complete power loss and called dadwho was only 30 mins away, and told him we need to do some work on theengine. We ended up checking the sediment bowl, it was clean. Thecarborateor was the next susspect so we took it off , took it apart andcleaned it on the tailgate of his pickup truck (with people looking atus like we were crazy). We found just a little bit of verry finesediment in the fuel bowl cleaned the bowl and blew out the jets. Aftergetting the carb installed we test ran tied down at full power for 10-12min. It ran fine and made the full 3300-3400 rpm. Dad test flew aroundJoliet for 20-30 min and no problems. We fueled up and I was stillflying so I went off to the north to Dekalb IL for fuel. The engine wasrunning great and it was a very great flight. Took o fuel at dekalb andheaded north to Poplar Grove airport for one last fuel stop beforeBrodhead. I went in to pay for my fuel and chaked the radar and saw thepop up storms around the Brodhead area, This was about 5pm on sat. Ionly had 35 miles to go so I taxied out and took off and right afterpassing the end of the runway on climb out the engine started acting upagain, so I circled and landed and called dad. He was near Beloit WIgetting the hotel room. He headed down, we ran it and we could duplicatethe problem on the ground so we made the decission to truck her home.By this time we are very stressed out 500 miles from home and now wehave to find a way to get her home without dammaging her. This is wherean uncommonly generous man, Steve Thomas, the owner of Poplar Groveairport let us pull the airplane into his hanger and start pulling thewings. He then offered us use of his 24ft flatbed trailer to haul thepiet home. This was VERY appreciated as we had no idea how or what wewere going to do with this ordeal. So while the porkchop dinner wasbeing served we were pulling dad's pretty little airplane apart to beshipped home on the back of dad's truck. I guess in hind sight it couldhave been much much worse. I, my father, and lastly the airplane alllive to fly another day. We also foud out that esspecially in ourchosen hobby of airplanes and aviation there are generous and out-goingpeople. So to all you fellow Pietenpol enthisiasts : like the Cubs fanssay, "There is always next year".Fly safeShad Bell _____ See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. Check it out. _________________________________________________This message is for the designated recipient only and may contain privileged, proprietary, or otherwise private information. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the original. Any other use of the email by you is prohibited.Dansk - Deutsch - Espanol - Francais - Italiano - Japanese - Nederlands - N________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "Bill Church"
Subject: RE: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureHello Jack, We are suspecting that there may be debris partially blocking the fuelflow into the carb. We just got it unloaded today but have not worked onit yet. When we had it appart we did not find any hard evidence as to what wascausing the problem. The strangest thig is that it ran fine for 45hrs and eventhe flight to Brodhead it was running great ecept for the intermitant problemswe encountered. The fuel line will flow great when we disconnected the fuelfeed line from the carb. I think we will compleatley tear down the carb andsee if there is something loose and possibly "flaping" into the fuel flow pathcausing an intermitant restriction. I susspected it was lack of fuel flowbecause after it starts loosing rpm I could pull it back to idle and run it upto 3300 rpm and it would get the full 3300 but drop off suddenly after 5-10seconds. I also could get it to rise in rpm if I gave it a shot of primer whileit was running rough. We inspected the finger strainer in the carb and it was clean. Do you have much experiance with marvel/scheblercarbs? Sincerly Shad"Phillips, Jack" wrote: Good story Shad, and glad it all worked out safely for you. Havinghad a partial power failure induced forced landing in mine, I know the feelingof sphincter-clinch that grabs hold of you when you hear and feel the enginesuddenly not doing right. Do you think the second problem with the engine was sediment in the carburetor?Do you have a fuel filter in the line? Jack Phillips NX899JP Raleigh, NC -----Original Message-----Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 3:20 PM Hello Guys, Shad Bell here, what an adventure this past weekend was! It was dissapointingto say the least but what a story. My dad Gary and I headed up for Brodheadon friday morning at 9:30 am from central OH. Fuel stops atevanwertthento WarsawIN. The only set back untill then was low level scud clouds and an unsceduledfuel stop at Lima OH to wait for clearing skys. I was driving the truckat this point, over to Warsaw for my turn to fly. I get in all fueled up atWarsaw and fly over to "Valpo" IN with no problems. I wait for Dad at Valpoand he bring a couple quarts of oil to keep in the airplane since we have thecorvair and run 15w40. So I take off again excited but cautious about the windat Joliet airport in IL. The WX briefer called for 8-12 ktsout of the NE. Well along I go headed for Joliet and it starts raining lightly, no big deal it'sonly 8 miles to joliet. HOLY s- - -! I look down and see corn blowing overso hard it looks like waves of water. With out hesitating I punched in awos for joliet and the winds were 26kts gusting to 36kts at 020 deg, almost directly accross joliets runway. I remember passing asmall airport to my east with 2 runways and one of them was halfway in to thewind, so I turned around and realized my ground speed at my 2000 ft alt was closeto 30mph. I got to the airport and got her down with no scrapes tears orbruises and the airplane handled it relitivly good. After pretty much flyingthe piet ( stalls at 34 indicated) to the ramp in blowing light rain I went insideto see if this seemingly abandon airport had weather radar. The airportwas Howell / New Lenox airport, and the attendant told me he was leaving to gohome shortly but I could put the piet in a T hanger untill the weather cleared.He also let me do something unheard of these days, He gave me the key tothe fuel pump and let me pay for how much gas i thought I would need and trustedme not to take more than I paid for. He then told me the sad news of how his airport would be bull-dozed in 10 days for housingdevelopments. After waiting for 3 hrs I accepted I would not make Brodheadon friday I called dad, who was fighting Chicago traffic at 6pm, and said itwas no-go and I would like a ride and some food, bed etc etc. He found theairport which is way off the beaten path and we stayed in joliet at the holidayinn. On saturday the sky was clear and the winds light so we went back earlyand got the piet ready for the 3-4 hrs of flying on up to Brodhead. I was flyingand after taking off the engine rpm dropped about 300 rpm, and I rememberedthat corvairs are very prone to carb ice so I pulled out the carb heat andit raised about 200 rpm so I figured It was OK. I circled the field 3 times tomake sure she was going to run and then headed west the 15 miles to joliet.I passed joliet about 2 miles south west of the field and the engine startedloosing power badly. At 2400rpm it would just barly hold alt. I turned back to joliet airport and made a scary approach tojoliet, with nothing below me but hi-ways, houses and industry. I made the airportwithout complete power loss and called dad who was only 30 mins away, andtold him we need to do some work on the engine. We ended up checking the sedimentbowl, it was clean. The carborateor was the next susspect so we took itoff , took it apart and cleaned it on the tailgate of his pickup truck (withpeople looking at us like we were crazy). We found just a little bit of verryfine sediment in the fuel bowl cleaned the bowl and blew out the jets. Aftergetting the carb installed we test ran tied down at full power for 10-12 min.It ran fine and made the full 3300-3400 rpm. Dad test flew around Joliet for20-30 min and no problems. We fueled up and I was still flying so I went offto the north to Dekalb IL for fuel. The engine was running great and it wasa very great flight. Took o fuel at dekalb and headed north to Poplar Grove airport for one last fuel stop before Brodhead. I went in to pay for my fuel and chaked the radar and saw the pop up storms aroundthe Brodhead area, This was about 5pm on sat. I only had 35 miles to goso I taxied out and took off and right after passing the end of the runway onclimb out the engine started acting up again, so I circled and landed and calleddad. He was near Beloit WI getting the hotel room. He headed down, we ranit and we could duplicate the problem on the ground so we made the decission totruck her home. By this time we are very stressed out 500 miles from home andnow we have to find a way to get her home without dammaging her. This is wherean uncommonly generous man, Steve Thomas, the owner of Poplar Grove airportlet us pull the airplane into his hanger and start pulling the wings. He thenoffered us use of his 24ft flatbed trailer to haul the piet home. This wasVERY appreciated as we had no idea how or what we were going to do with this ordeal. So while the porkchop dinner was being servedwe were pulling dad's pretty little airplane apart to be shipped home on theback of dad's truck. I guess in hind sight it could have been much much worse.I, my father, and lastly the airplane all live to fly another day. We alsofoud out that esspecially in our chosen hobby of airplanes and aviation thereare generous and out-going people. So to all you fellow Pietenpol enthisiasts: like the Cubs fans say, "There is always next year". Fly safe Shad Bell --------------------------------- See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. Check it out. ---------------------------------See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. Check it out.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "bike.mike"
Subject: RE: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureShad,Just to complete the fuel system check task, take a look (clean) the shut offvalve below the tank and take a look at the finger strainer, if in the tank, Also take a look inside the tank with a lamp and a mirror, if it was sloshed(?) (sealed) some products are afected by some auto fuel and peel off, wehad a case like that in an aluminum aux tank from a Kitfox... peeled off likecheap paint.... was factory sealed several years ago.All posibilities (in reasson) should be checked out.Hope this helps.SaludosGary GowerFlying from Chapala, Mexico.No Piet but in the list for years.shad bell wrote: Hello Jack, We are suspecting that theremay be debris partially blocking the fuel flow into the carb. We just gotit unloaded today but have not worked on it yet. When we had it appart we didnot find any hard evidence as to what was causing the problem. The strangestthig is that it ran fine for 45hrs and even the flight to Brodhead it was runninggreat ecept for the intermitant problems we encountered. The fuel line willflow great when we disconnected the fuel feed line from the carb. I thinkwe will compleatley tear down the carb and see if there is something loose andpossibly "flaping" into the fuel flow path causing an intermitant restriction.I susspected it was lack of fuel flow because after it starts loosing rpmI could pull it back to idle and run it up to 3300 rpm and it would get the full3300 but drop off suddenly after 5-10 seconds. I also could get it to risein rpm if I gave it a shot of primer while it was running rough. We inspected the finger strainer in the carb and it was clean.Do you have much experiance with marvel/schebler carbs? Sincerly Shad"Phillips, Jack" wrote: Good story Shad, and glad it all worked out safely for you. Havinghad a partial power failure induced forced landing in mine, I know the feelingof sphincter-clinch that grabs hold of you when you hear and feel the enginesuddenly not doing right. Do you think the second problem with the engine was sediment in the carburetor?Do you have a fuel filter in the line? Jack Phillips NX899JP Raleigh, NC -----Original Message-----Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 3:20 PM Hello Guys, Shad Bell here, what an adventure this past weekend was! It was dissapointingto say the least but what a story. My dad Gary and I headed up for Brodheadon friday morning at 9:30 am from central OH. Fuel stops atevanwertthentoWarsaw IN. The only set back untill then was low level scud clouds and an unsceduledfuel stop at Lima OH to wait for clearing skys. I was driving the truckat this point, over to Warsaw for my turn to fly. I get in all fueled up atWarsaw and fly over to "Valpo" IN with no problems. I wait for Dad at Valpoand he bring a couple quarts of oil to keep in the airplane since we have thecorvair and run 15w40. So I take off again excited but cautious about the windat Joliet airport in IL. The WX briefer called for 8-12 ktsout of the NE.Well along I go headed for Joliet and it starts raining lightly, no big dealit's only 8 miles to joliet. HOLY s- - -! I look down and see corn blowing overso hard it looks like waves of water. With out hesitating I punched in awos for joliet and the winds were 26kts gusting to 36kts at 020 deg, almost directly accross joliets runway. I remember passinga small airport to my east with 2 runways and one of them was halfway in to thewind, so I turned around and realized my ground speed at my 2000 ft alt wasclose to 30mph. I got to the airport and got her down with no scrapes tears orbruises and the airplane handled it relitivly good. After pretty much flyingthe piet ( stalls at 34 indicated) to the ramp in blowing light rain I wentinside to see if this seemingly abandon airport had weather radar. The airportwas Howell / New Lenox airport, and the attendant told me he was leaving togo home shortly but I could put the piet in a T hanger untill the weather cleared.He also let me do something unheard of these days, He gave me the key tothe fuel pump and let me pay for how much gas i thought I would need and trustedme not to take more than I paid for. He then told me the sad news of how his airport would be bull-dozed in 10 days for housingdevelopments. After waiting for 3 hrs I accepted I would not make Brodheadon friday I called dad, who was fighting Chicago traffic at 6pm, and saidit was no-go and I would like a ride and some food, bed etc etc. He found theairport which is way off the beaten path and we stayed in joliet at the holidayinn. On saturday the sky was clear and the winds light so we went back earlyand got the piet ready for the 3-4 hrs of flying on up to Brodhead. I was flyingand after taking off the engine rpm dropped about 300 rpm, and I rememberedthat corvairs are very prone to carb ice so I pulled out the carb heat andit raised about 200 rpm so I figured It was OK. I circled the field 3 timesto make sure she was going to run and then headed west the 15 miles to joliet.I passed joliet about 2 miles south west of the field and the engine startedloosing power badly. At 2400rpm it would just barly hold alt. I turned back to joliet airport and made a scary approach tojoliet, with nothing below me but hi-ways, houses and industry. I made the airportwithout complete power loss and called dad who was only 30 mins away, andtold him we need to do some work on the engine. We ended up checking the sedimentbowl, it was clean. The carborateor was the next susspect so we took itoff , took it apart and cleaned it on the tailgate of his pickup truck (withpeople looking at us like we were crazy). We found just a little bit of verryfine sediment in the fuel bowl cleaned the bowl and blew out the jets. Aftergetting the carb installed we test ran tied down at full power for 10-12 min.It ran fine and made the full 3300-3400 rpm. Dad test flew around Joliet for20-30 min and no problems. We fueled up and I was still flying so I went offto the north to Dekalb IL for fuel. The engine was running great and it wasa very great flight. Took o fuel at dekalb and headed north to Poplar Grove airport for one last fuel stop before Brodhead. I went in to pay for my fuel and chaked the radar and saw the pop up storms aroundthe Brodhead area, This was about 5pm on sat. I only had 35 miles to goso I taxied out and took off and right after passing the end of the runway onclimb out the engine started acting up again, so I circled and landed and calleddad. He was near Beloit WI getting the hotel room. He headed down, we ranit and we could duplicate the problem on the ground so we made the decission totruck her home. By this time we are very stressed out 500 miles from home andnow we have to find a way to get her home without dammaging her. This is wherean uncommonly generous man, Steve Thomas, the owner of Poplar Grove airportlet us pull the airplane into his hanger and start pulling the wings. He thenoffered us use of his 24ft flatbed trailer to haul the piet home. This wasVERY appreciated as we had no idea how or what we were going to do with this ordeal. So while the porkchop dinner was beingserved we were pulling dad's pretty little airplane apart to be shipped home onthe back of dad's truck. I guess in hind sight it could have been much muchworse. I, my father, and lastly the airplane all live to fly another day. Wealso foud out that esspecially in our chosen hobby of airplanes and aviationthere are generous and out-going people. So to all you fellow Pietenpol enthisiasts: like the Cubs fans say, "There is always next year". Fly safe Shad ---------------------------------See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. Check it out. ---------------------------------________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "Barry Davis"
Subject: RE: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureWe had an a/c quality fuel hose whose inner lining separated. When disconnected from the carb, fuel flowed very well. However, as we moved the hose back into position to re-attach to the carb (this put a curve in the hose), flow stopped. We removed the hose and looked through it while bending and we could see the inner lining flexing and crumpling. Possibly the old aviation fuel hose couldn't take modern auto fuel?Just one more thing for you to check.Our new fuel line has no bends and it was obtained at AutoZone Aircraft Supplies...>Hello Jack, We are suspecting that there may be debris partially >blocking the fuel flow into the carb. We just got it unloaded today >but have not worked on it yet. When we had it appart we did not >find any hard evidence as to what was causing the problem. The >strangest thig is that it ran fine for 45hrs and even the flight to >Brodhead it was running great ecept for the intermitant problems we >encountered. The fuel line will flow great when we disconnected the >fuel feed line from the carb. I think we will compleatley tear down >the carb and see if there is something loose and possibly "flaping" >into the fuel flow path causing an intermitant restriction. I >susspected it was lack of fuel flow because after it starts loosing >rpm I could pull it back to idle and run it up to 3300 rpm and it >would get the full 3300 but drop off suddenly after 5-10 seconds. I >also could get it to rise in rpm if I gave it a shot of primer while >it was running rough. We inspected the finger strainer in the carb >and it was clean. Do you have much experiance with marvel/schebler >carbs?>Sincerly>Shad>>"Phillips, Jack" wrote:>>Good story Shad, and glad it all worked out safely for you. Having >had a partial power failure induced forced landing in mine, I know >the feeling of sphincter-clinch that grabs hold of you when you hear >and feel the engine suddenly not doing right.>>Do you think the second problem with the engine was sediment in the >carburetor? Do you have a fuel filter in the line?>>Jack Phillips>NX899JP>Raleigh, NC>>-----Original Message----->From: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com >[mailto:owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of shad >bell>Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 3:20 PM>To: pietenpol-list(at)matronics.com>Subject: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventure>>Hello Guys,>Shad Bell here, what an adventure this past weekend was! It was >dissapointing to say the least but what a story. My dad Gary and I >headed up for Brodhead on friday morning at 9:30 am from central OH. >Fuel stops atevanwertthento Warsaw IN. The only set back untill >then was low level scud clouds and an unsceduled fuel stop at Lima >OH to wait for clearing skys. I was driving the truck at this >point, over to Warsaw for my turn to fly. I get in all fueled up at >Warsaw and fly over to "Valpo" IN with no problems. I wait for Dad >at Valpo and he bring a couple quarts of oil to keep in the airplane >since we have the corvair and run 15w40. So I take off again >excited but cautious about the wind at Joliet airport in IL. The WX >briefer called for 8-12 ktsout of the NE. Well along I go headed >for Joliet and it starts raining lightly, no big deal it's only 8 >miles to joliet. HOLY s- - -! I look down and see corn blowing over >so hard it looks like waves of water. With out hesitating I punched >in awos for joliet and the winds were 26kts gusting to 36 kts at 020 >deg, almost directly accross joliets runway. I remember passing a >small airport to my east with 2 runways and one of them was halfway >in to the wind, so I turned around and realized my ground speed at >my 2000 ft alt was close to 30mph. I got to the airport and got her >down with no scrapes tears or bruises and the airplane handled it >relitivly good. After pretty much flying the piet ( stalls at 34 >indicated) to the ramp in blowing light rain I went inside to see if >this seemingly abandon airport had weather radar. The airport was >Howell / New Lenox airport, and the attendant told me he was leaving >to go home shortly but I could put the piet in a T hanger untill the >weather cleared. He also let me do something unheard of these days, >He gave me the key to the fuel pump and let me pay for how much gas >i thought I would need and trusted me not to take more than I paid >for. He then told me the sad news of how his airport would be >bull-dozed in 10 days for housing developments. After waiting for 3 >hrs I accepted I would not make Brodhead on friday I called dad, who >was fighting Chicago traffic at 6pm, and said it was no-go and I >would like a ride and some food, bed etc etc. He found the airport >which is way off the beaten path and we stayed in joliet at the >holiday inn. On saturday the sky was clear and the winds light so we >went back early and got the piet ready for the 3-4 hrs of flying on >up to Brodhead. I was flying and after taking off the engine rpm >dropped about 300 rpm, and I remembered that corvairs are very prone >to carb ice so I pulled out the carb heat and it raised about 200 >rpm so I figured It was OK. I circled the field 3 times to make >sure she was going to run and then headed west the 15 miles to >joliet. I passed joliet about 2 miles south west of the field and >the engine started loosing power badly. At 2400rpm it would just >barly hold alt. I turned back to joliet airport and made a scary >approach to joliet, with nothing below me but hi-ways, houses and >industry. I made the airport without complete power loss and called >dad who was only 30 mins away, and told him we need to do some work >on the engine. We ended up checking the sediment bowl, it was >clean. The carborateor was the next susspect so we took it off , >took it apart and cleaned it on the tailgate of his pickup truck >(with people looking at us like we were crazy). We found just a >little bit of verry fine sediment in the fuel bowl cleaned the bowl >and blew out the jets. After getting the carb installed we test ran >tied down at full power for 10-12 min. It ran fine and made the >full 3300-3400 rpm. Dad test flew around Joliet for 20-30 min and no >problems. We fueled up and I was still flying so I went off to the >north to Dekalb IL for fuel. The engine was running great and it >was a very great flight. Took o fuel at dekalb and headed north to >Poplar Grove airport for one last fuel stop before Brodhead. I went >in to pay for my fuel and chaked the radar and saw the pop up storms >around the Brodhead area, This was about 5pm on sat. I only had 35 >miles to go so I taxied out and took off and right after passing the >end of the runway on climb out the engine started acting up again, >so I circled and landed and called dad. He was near Beloit WI >getting the hotel room. He headed down, we ran it and we could >duplicate the problem on the ground so we made the decission to >truck her home. By this time we are very stressed out 500 miles >from home and now we have to find a way to get her home without >dammaging her. This is where an uncommonly generous man, Steve >Thomas, the owner of Poplar Grove airport let us pull the airplane >into his hanger and start pulling the wings. He then offered us use >of his 24ft flatbed trailer to haul the piet home. This was VERY >appreciated as we had no idea how or what we were going to do with >this ordeal. So while the porkchop dinner was being served we were >pulling dad's pretty little airplane apart to be shipped home on the >back of dad's truck. I guess in hind sight it could have been much >much worse. I, my father, and lastly the airplane all live to fly >another day. We also foud out that esspecially in our chosen hobby >of airplanes and aviation there are generous and out-going people. >So to all you fellow Pietenpol enthisiasts : like the Cubs fans say, >"There is always next year".>Fly safe>Shad>>See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. > >Check it out.-- _____________________________________________________________Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhDAssociate Professor, Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, GA, USASenior Editor, Molecular Vision, http://www.molvis.org/molvismailto:jboa ... __________

Original Posted By: Jeff Boatright
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureRE: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventurecould it be that the auto fuel had alcohol in it? It might attack the rubber in the hose.Barry ----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Mark Blackwell
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureThat's what we suspect. We've been running avgas exclusively, but the former owner used whatever was to hand.>could it be that the auto fuel had alcohol in it? It might attack >the rubber in the hose.>Barry>>----- Original Message ----->From: Jeff Boatright>To: pietenpol-list(at)matronics.com>Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 2:07 PM>Subject: RE: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventure>>We had an a/c quality fuel hose whose inner lining separated. When >disconnected from the carb, fuel flowed very well. However, as we >moved the hose back into position to re-attach to the carb (this put >a curve in the hose), flow stopped. We removed the hose and looked >through it while bending and we could see the inner lining flexing >and crumpling. Possibly the old aviation fuel hose couldn't take >modern auto fuel?>>Just one more thing for you to check.>>Our new fuel line has no bends and it was obtained at AutoZone >Aircraft Supplies...>-- _____________________________________________________________Jeffrey H. Boatright, PhDAssociate Professor, Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, GA, USASenior Editor, Molecular Vision, http://www.molvis.org/molvismailto:jboa ... __________

Original Posted By:>> ** Jeff Boatright
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureI think almost if not all auto gas now has at least some alcohol in it now and the signs on the pump I do not think they have to disclose it anymore unless the concentration is quite high. Jeff Boatright wrote:> That's what we suspect. We've been running avgas exclusively, but the > former owner used whatever was to hand.>>> could it be that the auto fuel had alcohol in it? It might attack the >> rubber in the hose.>> Barry>>>> ----- Original Message ----->>

Original Posted By:>>> ** Jeff Boatright
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Brodhead atempt, What an adventureHere is a link to a list of gas stations in Minnesota that sell non-oxygenated gasoline.http://www.msra.com/NonOxygenatedFuel/N ... 01.06.pdfI got the list through the Minnesota Street Rod Association website.Check with your own state's street rod association for availibility.Greg CardinalMinneapolis----- Original Message ----- Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 4:56 PM> >> I think almost if not all auto gas now has at least some alcohol in it now > and the signs on the pump I do not think they have to disclose it anymore > unless the concentration is quite high.> Jeff Boatright wrote:>> That's what we suspect. We've been running avgas exclusively, but the >> former owner used whatever was to hand.>>>>> could it be that the auto fuel had alcohol in it? It might attack the >>> rubber in the hose.>>> Barry>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----->>>