Did an 1800 nM roundtrip through europe and touched 7 countries and great weather all the time. Temperatures most days around 100 to 105 deg F.
The 12 was great and I really love the autopilot and ADSB on these long stretches.
Overflying Slovakia however about an hour after departure the Amp reading started hunting between -8 and +8 and finally settled at -8 A i.e no more charge.
Switched off most consumers and landed after another hour at a voltge level of 11.8 Volts at a small bumpy grass airstrip in the middle of nowhere east of Bratislava.
After removing the cowl I found the regulator xtremely hot although the additional cooling hose is installed and blowing well on top of the regulator.
All other temps such as CHT and oil temp were quite normal during the flight.
Now the miracle ! We expected to be grounded for at least a couple of days.
However the owner (farmer) of the airfield which operates only 3 to 4 little planes came to us and we explained the problem using hands and feet.
He ran into the farmhouse and came back after a few minutes with an identical brand new regulator in a sealed bag.
We purchased it from him and 30 minutes later we were ready to fly again.
By now we flew another 10 hours and its quite ok.
The advantage of a widely used aircraft engine is clear but the regulator worries me a bit. I have heard others having temperature problems
The 12 was great and I really love the autopilot and ADSB on these long stretches.
Overflying Slovakia however about an hour after departure the Amp reading started hunting between -8 and +8 and finally settled at -8 A i.e no more charge.
Switched off most consumers and landed after another hour at a voltge level of 11.8 Volts at a small bumpy grass airstrip in the middle of nowhere east of Bratislava.
After removing the cowl I found the regulator xtremely hot although the additional cooling hose is installed and blowing well on top of the regulator.
All other temps such as CHT and oil temp were quite normal during the flight.
Now the miracle ! We expected to be grounded for at least a couple of days.
However the owner (farmer) of the airfield which operates only 3 to 4 little planes came to us and we explained the problem using hands and feet.
He ran into the farmhouse and came back after a few minutes with an identical brand new regulator in a sealed bag.
We purchased it from him and 30 minutes later we were ready to fly again.
By now we flew another 10 hours and its quite ok.
The advantage of a widely used aircraft engine is clear but the regulator worries me a bit. I have heard others having temperature problems
