First engine start

[Rene Bubberman]

Hi fellow builders,

Just wanted to share this very exiting moment with you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoTxL1XmEJA
We hauled the plane out of our basement, assembled it, fed it with a jerrycan of Avgas, hooked on the computer (to collect FADEC engine data) and I pushed the start button........

[Mike S]

Looks a bit windy in there, time for the old scarf and goggles.

At least the electronics wont overheat--------------

Mike

[dan]

Congratulations Rene!

As a word of caution, imho the cowling should be OFF for the first engine runs. If you had a fluid leaking onto the hot exhaust (fire potential!) you wouldn't have known until it was too late.

A helper with a fire extinguisher standing out by the wing tip can observe the engine and QUICKLY alert you to anything out of the ordinary. It's good to "brief" with your helper and come up with a PLAN for communication in the event of something like that.

And hopefully I'm mistaken, but it looks like the tail wasn't tied down!

Hey, congrats again and I don't mean to get all preachy, but let's all be really careful out there!

[Rene Bubberman]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your concern! The tail was actually tied to the fence and there were two helpers with Halon extinguishers standing by. And, hey, can you keep a secret? This was actually the THIRD engine run and the first WITH the cowling on ;-)
We had an extensive checklist and runup program so I can only agree with you. After each short (timed) run we analysed the data and checked the engine for leaks etc.