WingedFrog
Well Known Member
I mean mechanical fuel pump. Everything was normal regarding fuel pressure during taxiing and run-up. Full throttle and after about 10-20 seconds, just as I was reaching lift-off speed I got a series of audio alarms from the SkyView lady "fuel pressure" confirmed by the gauge going down to the red. Takeoff aborted just on time. I believe that without the audio warning I would have lifted off the runway and lost the engine a few seconds later. Thank you lady and a big thanks to Dynon.
Back to the ramp, I ran a test just in case it was a sensor failure. After taxiing back the fuel pressure was back in the green. I did a fake run-off and after a few seconds the pressure gauge headed down and the alarm came back. This time I kept the 4000 rpm on and about 5-10 seconds later the engine started coughing from fuel starvation.
This was after a one and a half hour flight, preparing to head back to my home airport. By the way my engine came with the new type of mechanical fuel pump and I have 160 hours on the Hobbs. My Rotax specialist told me that the new types also fail but at a lesser rate.
I also had recently got whiffs of gas that I attributed possibly to the sinking floats and I smelled gas when I shut down the engine after arrival.
So far I did not mention the electric fuel pump but all this happened with the electric pump off. I have a switch for the electric pump that I usually activate after run-up but this time I forgot to switch it on and I dare say that it might have been a blessing. If the electric pump had been on it might have hidden the failure of the mechanical one long enough for me to takeoff.
Back to the ramp, I ran a test just in case it was a sensor failure. After taxiing back the fuel pressure was back in the green. I did a fake run-off and after a few seconds the pressure gauge headed down and the alarm came back. This time I kept the 4000 rpm on and about 5-10 seconds later the engine started coughing from fuel starvation.
This was after a one and a half hour flight, preparing to head back to my home airport. By the way my engine came with the new type of mechanical fuel pump and I have 160 hours on the Hobbs. My Rotax specialist told me that the new types also fail but at a lesser rate.
I also had recently got whiffs of gas that I attributed possibly to the sinking floats and I smelled gas when I shut down the engine after arrival.
So far I did not mention the electric fuel pump but all this happened with the electric pump off. I have a switch for the electric pump that I usually activate after run-up but this time I forgot to switch it on and I dare say that it might have been a blessing. If the electric pump had been on it might have hidden the failure of the mechanical one long enough for me to takeoff.