Sun N Fun Prep

Sun N Fun starts Tuesday and runs through Sunday. Aeromarine booth is way out in Paradise City away from any contagions besides great aircraft. I know at least one blog reader plans to attend. The other one is stuck on the other side of the pond.

Lets start with the Vtwin news. We painted the display stand and added wheels! But even more impressive is the exhaust system is getting finalized. Custom welded stainless steel pipes shown above feed into a racing muffler (not shown). Will be quiet and efficient.

The first batch of reduction drives was shipped weeks ago and finally arrive to Dayton the day before the show starts. We have to FedEx a couple sets down to display. After the show this engine will be delivered to customer #2 with prop and redrive and radiator.

Customer #1 has made his first engine runs and will have his engine and trike in our booth at SNF. https://youtu.be/UBpfcZvS-Ec

I was in Dayton last week waiting for a container of Merlins but they won’t arrive until after the show. This container has the new Merlin Lite long wings in it too!!

I managed to load the BRS rocket fuel without any drama so my rocket scientist heritage pays off (My Dad was a member of the American Rocket Society). Above is an installation of a BRS 800 to a Merlin going overseas soon.

The next container is ready for shipping so after I return to Dayton to unload and deliver these Merlins it’s off the CZ for another inspection. By then lockdowns will be lifting so maybe I can get a real beer in a real pub. Don’t tell anyone but I might have smuggled a few Budvar original Czech beers inside one of the aircraft. I better make sure to unpack before the customer gets excited.

Won’t arrive in time for SNF show. Sigh.

Here is one beautiful Merlin getting ready for container #2. It will get the last HKS off the production line. There are several Merlins finishing soon and a couple of them or more plan to attend Oshkosh in July. My booth will be packed!

In Merlin Lite news I have been practicing touch & goes. I repositioned the radiator and cooling is almost too much with temperatures just in the low end of green. Climb is around 500 FPM. Cruise matches RPM with 70mph at 7,000 and 60mph at 6000. Full flaps provides a nice steep approach and touchdown under 35 mph. After SNF I will be making more accurate measurements of all parameters then swapping out to the long wing for comparison. I hacked together a lousy video for those who like abuse: https://youtu.be/TOn2R9Bn720

I had a request to measure the Merlin Lite panel for an 11 inch iPad. Looks like an easy fit with only one fuel gauge and some other minor adjustments. I could really use Foreflight for my cross country tomorrow to Lakeland SNF show. After all it is nearly 4 miles!

CWE