Warbird Information Exchange

Wow! That's for sure!

What engine is that? Sure is a simple exhaust system.

Dave

That is a 145 Warner! Those bayonet exhausts are really cool and sound good, however, they constantly crack! Whenever we go cross-country we always carry a couple spares.

_________________
President National Waco Club
Curator for the Waco Historical Society Air Museum
Writer for VINTAGE AIRPLANE, SKYWAYS, BARNSTORMERS.COM EFLYER

Well it's not the carb heat leaking, partially ON. I had a good look today, and the flapper valve seals tightly. I guess it's that warm simply due to ambient heat.

I did find an old rag stuck in the carb heat overflow valve mechanism. The valve worked fine, and it's not something you'd find in a regular service check, but there it was, hooked around the valve shaft and so black and crusty I think it must be several decades old.

Elimination, item by item...

Add the rag to the thread of 'Scary and weird things found in airplanes.'

_________________
"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

I'll post a photo of my Waco Cabin firewall forward and you will think your Fairchild is wide open!!!!! Probably good that you got that rag out of there!!!

_________________
President National Waco Club
Curator for the Waco Historical Society Air Museum
Writer for VINTAGE AIRPLANE, SKYWAYS, BARNSTORMERS.COM EFLYER

Dave....here is an answer from a good buddy of mine who was well-known for his Warner overhauls...out of business now:

Sounds to me like his heat is partially on...35 to 40 C is like 95-100 in real degrees. 15 C is about a standard day...59-60 real degrees, so I would expect his carb air temp to be at least 20 degrees colder than that without heat

_________________
President National Waco Club
Curator for the Waco Historical Society Air Museum
Writer for VINTAGE AIRPLANE, SKYWAYS, BARNSTORMERS.COM EFLYER

Thanks. I had a look and the valve appears to be closing, but what I'll do is pick a nice dry day when the probability of carb icing is remote, and see what kind of RPM I get (static) with carb air intake plugged.

Data points....

Nice article about flying the DH-4 to Oshkosh... one of the airplanes I drool over the most. Didn't know there were any flying.

Hi Dave, how ya' coming with the Warner?
Doug

_________________
"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Well, it sure runs smooth! Lovely slow idle.

To recap -- we got the cylinders back together, buttoned it up, and I flew it away from Stan the Mechanic's strip. Then I moved it to its winter home, a local grass strip on a potato farm 8 minutes from my front door. Wonderful! Now it's nestled away in a heated shop attached to the barn, where I can tinker with it over the winter, and fly it on very nice days (it has no cabin heat).

The Warner is still only putting out about 2000 RPM static thrust at takeoff. But I have to 1) Check the prop, to see if it's a cruise pitch model, 2) Calibrate the tachometer using one of those light-interrupter counters. 3) Try a run-up with the carb heat intake blocked, to see if we're getting heated air all the time into the carb.

We're in long-term mode now. At this very moment Robin is reviewing her Ground School questions (she took a 3-day/All-day course on the weekend) with a view to writing her recurrency exam soon. I'm building a cabinet to hold all my tools and stuff in the hangar. And we're sourcing out supplies and parts.

Over the winter I've got a long list of small items to get into, plus some larger ones like a radio stack. Lots of fun ahead!

I'll try to take a picture today of her new home.

Dave

Hey Dave....our 145 Warner with the cruise prop turns 1850 and with the climb prop about 1950. Just an FYI....

_________________
President National Waco Club
Curator for the Waco Historical Society Air Museum
Writer for VINTAGE AIRPLANE, SKYWAYS, BARNSTORMERS.COM EFLYER

Thanks, YKC. Yes, the early Warners were lower RPM engines, but the R-550-1 and eventually the -3 were higher, all the way up to 2400 for takeoff.

I forgot to mention the spark-plugs -- we tested all of them during the Annual, but Stan had 7 new ones on hand, so he installed them on the aft side of the cylinders. Shortly after, the mag drop on the front plugs (right mag) was 200. No good.

So, adopting the easiest fix first, I replaced those forward plugs, and the mag drop went to 70.

Very pleasing result!

Now we have 4 in of wet snow here, and the strip is mucky. Also the wheel pants are on -- they're difficult to remove on a Fairchild since you stand on them to get onto the strut for refueling.

Looks like we won't be flying for a while.

Dave

We use the original Champion C-26 plugs in the Warner. We tried the new style Champions and it does not run as good. I forget at the moment but the C-26 is either hotter or cooler...thinking hotter. Anyways, it was a noticeable difference!

_________________
President National Waco Club
Curator for the Waco Historical Society Air Museum
Writer for VINTAGE AIRPLANE, SKYWAYS, BARNSTORMERS.COM EFLYER

Hey Dave,

I stumbled across a image my dad took of EKC back in the early 70s with a slightly different paint scheme.



Cheers,

Eric

_________________
The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

Hey, that's great, Eric. Thanks! That would have been about the time it was rebuilt and recovered after about 8 years of semi-derelict.

Really interesting to see something from way-back pop up like this!

We'll have to arrange a proper photo shoot in the spring, like we did with the Tiger and the Canuck. An excuse to have fun!

All the best to you and Bernie for the Holidays,

Dave