by Chappy » Sun Feb 01, 2004 1:57 am
Shannon,
Ultraflight did fly the Solo's. As I remember, they produced somewhat more power, and could almost pull three of the plastic props. They developed most of that extra power at higher RPMs, which was a disadvantage compared to the Rotax. Support for the Solo was even more problematic back then than for the Rotax, and Dale was developing good relations with Bombadier, so it made sense to continue with the 185's. Besides, he had just become the Canadian and US importer for the Westlake NGL twin drone engine, and was testing the electric start KFM's.
The NGL was a beautifull, light engine that had the potential to be a great fit to the Lazair, but they were unsuitable for turning a larger direct drive prop. They experienced all kinds of problems, the worst of which were cracked and broked crankshafts. None of the first ten engine we tested failed to NOT experience a critical crankshaft problem within the first 100 hours! Fortunately, Dale was able to return the remainder (40) of the first stock order of engines. No customer received one. Otherwise, Ultraflight surely would have been ruined financially.
The early KFM installations also had their share of problems. These engines also were designed to run at high rpm. That would create too much noise, and way more power than we required. We fitted large, heavy props. IIRC, the KFM was prop limited down to around 13-16 hp depending on which props we were using at the time. This caused all manner of problems, including crank flex, prop fatigue, ignition, and carb jetting.
The reduction drive setup on my Pioneer's in the above pictures were my design, and I built them over the winter of 80/81. I made everything, including the pine props, with the exception of the large sheaves. I'm pretty sure I was the first to use redrives on a Lazair. They made a very significant improvement in performance over the stock Pioneers, so Dale had some motivation to try them on the 185's. He tried tuned pipes on the Pioneers, as the stock Pioneers just were outclassed when floats were fitted. For his trouble, he got horrible noise, both exhaust and prop,and holes in the pistons. Dale gave me a set of floats, which I smuggled into the states, but even with my redrives the performance was pretty awful. Redrives were installed on the 185 while I was working there, but didn't fly until after I left.
And then there was the disastrous adjustable prop project...
A quick look tonight on the Web finds several 'off the shelf' reduction drives currently available for the Solo 210. Cool!
Chappy