The good news: after months of delay, I finally have my new engine hung, new prop installed, and am about ready to fly.
The bad news: something's not quite right.
Background: Back in December I ran off the runway and ended up with the tail in the air and the nose in the dirt. But I was uninjured and well-insured. So I had an A&P replace the firewall, the engine mount, and a lot of other stuff. And rather than do a tear down of my old, old engine, I opted to trade it in for a factory re-man O-360-A1D--same engine as before, but this one is a wide-deck.
Since my Sensenich wood was shattered, I ordered a new Catto three blade.
So after all of that, plus quite a bit of fiber glass work, the plane is back together again.
The odd thing: The engine appears to not be centered in the cowling (see picture). It looks like it's offset to the lower right about 1/2" So I'm wondering if the engine is installed incorrectly or if the cowling just doesn't fit the new engine. Maybe I just need to re-cowl it.
I'm also wondering if it will alter the handling characteristics in any significant way.
Thoughts?
-Martin
402BD
P.S. Thanks to some fellow Van Heads and the records they provided me, the FAA is willing to sign me off without going back into Phase I testing--important because my airplane is currently at VGT where Phase I ops are not allowed.
The bad news: something's not quite right.
Background: Back in December I ran off the runway and ended up with the tail in the air and the nose in the dirt. But I was uninjured and well-insured. So I had an A&P replace the firewall, the engine mount, and a lot of other stuff. And rather than do a tear down of my old, old engine, I opted to trade it in for a factory re-man O-360-A1D--same engine as before, but this one is a wide-deck.
Since my Sensenich wood was shattered, I ordered a new Catto three blade.
So after all of that, plus quite a bit of fiber glass work, the plane is back together again.
The odd thing: The engine appears to not be centered in the cowling (see picture). It looks like it's offset to the lower right about 1/2" So I'm wondering if the engine is installed incorrectly or if the cowling just doesn't fit the new engine. Maybe I just need to re-cowl it.
I'm also wondering if it will alter the handling characteristics in any significant way.
Thoughts?
-Martin
402BD
P.S. Thanks to some fellow Van Heads and the records they provided me, the FAA is willing to sign me off without going back into Phase I testing--important because my airplane is currently at VGT where Phase I ops are not allowed.
...) just over a 1/4 inch.