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This guy is doing pretty good. This would be in line with my idea of an acceptable training "Hop". He's a bit timid on the power but doing good to not let the plane get inadvertently airborne and high. Bottom line with this is to build up to the "Hop" in stages rather than trying to do it right from jump street.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzOhFj0ZT7U

Thanks Shannon....I just purchased IGGI and haven't had time to clean the carbs. The motors haven't been run for over two years, and although they came up to over 6000 on the tiny tacks I didn't want to press my luck,but I was sure tempted to do a circuit. All my Lazair time has been in a ser.2 Snoopy Bird with Crysler Power Bees, so I was just doing some runs on the grass to get used to the brakes and wide gear and way more power. This is a good strait, tight plane and the engines seem strong. I want to change to cdi and maybe the comp. releases to reassure myself.... no logs of course.....anyway, we've run out of decent weather here in midwestern Ontario so I'm done playing with it for a while. I got a good set of skis with it, so I'm hoping to try the later....Thanks Peter

Hi Peter or is it Pete ? Congrats on IGGI, nice plane !

Definitely doing right to take it easy. Discretion is the better part of valor ! A few hours of ground work is well worth the investment. The Series III can be a bit of a challenge at first.

Somewhat unusual to get 6,000+ with the engines. I've seen it a few times. Usually most standard bore 185s (with bi-props) are only going to turn in the 5700-5800 range static. You want to make sure your (H) adjustment isn't tweaked out too far lean. Generally you find best revs (engine wide open) and tweak (H) back rich until the point just before RPM drop is seen.

Definitely change out gaskets, diaphragms, ect. on the carbs. Fuel lines, fuel filters, spark plug caps, kill switches, wires, BE's, brake pucks, tires, plastic wheels, cables ect... are good maintenance items to be checked and/or replaced. Compression releases should be carefully inspected for potential failure. If the aluminum head of the release spins 360 degrees the release is going bad. Various methods have been employed to prevent release stem injestion. Some people opt to chunk the releases all together. A common problem with 185s are the carbs working loose. George drilled and safety wired the carb nuts ( he did not drill carb mounting studs coming out the engine block) and it has worked great so far. May sound silly but check (with a wrench) unwired carb nuts during pre-flight.

If you like the power of the 185s now with Bi-props rob the piggy bank and get a set of P-tips.

Shannon

Pic: RPMs with Bi-props

Hi Shannon Thanks for your advice....I want to go over the plane thoroughly this winter ...the left brake needs set up for sure.....I have a set of wheel pants off my old narrow gear Snoopy that I will have to remodify to put back on to keep the dirt off the wings, and dress it up a bit. This one has the 1/2 in.rud.push rods which is good, but I'm scratching my head as how to install long bolt engine bolts ....the rt. top cap screw was stripped....there is an inspection plate on either side of the rib, but you can't see once you get your hand in there....I sure don't want to have to cut the fabric, but it may be the only way....Anyone any ideas?....I don't know if George has any comp.releases on hand....I'd take a couple if you have George...let me know.....P tip props would be great, but I think these are the light cranks and I heard they can't handle them...any thoughts? This plane also doesn't have jury struts...no doubt they strengthen the neg. wing load, but I'm not planning on any aerobatics....are they really necessary?....But certainly I want to get talking to Dale George at Big Bay and find out more on installing cdi...apparently it is a real improvement over the old points ign. from a reliability and performance standpoint.
Thanks again Shannon, and also for your informative posts over the years........Pete Harrison Harriston Ont. IGGI #A899