The days leading up to my scheduled first engine start were very hectic, I had only a few tasks to complete but I kept finding that one part that didn't get ordered and of course I kept myself busy checking, rechecking, and tripple checking anything that could go wrong on the big day. I tested out a Facebook livestream and found that I had the wrong browser type and it wouldn't livestream unless I downloaded their stupid app. Then I tried using YouTube to capture the moment my engine would come to life, but YouTube doesn't give small channels like mine access to all the features like livestreaming.
I found the answer to all my problems: Twitch. Twitch is actually designed for people to watch others play video games but I discovered that it is actually very versatile. It did everything I wanted it to do and had the capability to do much more if I ever wanted to play with all the fancy features.
So I had my engine almost done, it was waiting on one little AN6 Nipple to arrive and then I could close the oil system and give it it's first taste of oil. The day came to start my engine and I still didn't have my part. It didn't look like it was going to arrive in the 6 or so hours I had before the livestream started and because of this corona lockdown we really should avoid going hunting from autoshop to autoshop trying to find the part. Our local homebuilder's candy shop, Airparts, was the answer. They have great customer service and stock lots things you would otherwise need to pay expensive shipping for. Best of all they're only a half hour down the road from my house.
My dad and I jumped in the car and sped off to Airparts to get the crucial fitting. The folks at Airparts were great, we called them up from the parking lot and they brought the part right out. When we got back home it was go time, I tightened down the nipple into the oil filter, screwed on the waiting hose and we pulled the plane out to the front lawn.
We waited as long as possible to put the prop on because it would make the garage even more cramped then it already was so when the plane was out front we pulled out my prop and started torqueing it on. It was slow work because I didn't want to seat it crooked by tightening one side too much too fast. My work paid off when we tested the tracking and on the first test it was only off by 1/8" I tweaked it a little further to get within 1/16". With the oil system closed and the prop on all that remained was to put oil in the plane. I used a $10 manual pressure pot to help shoot the oil over all the interior surfaces on the engine. It took forever but we got the 2.5 quarts of oil in with only 1 oil explosion; a pretty good end result I think.
Everything was ready to go so we made sure the plane was chocked and tied town securely and I hopped in. We went over emergency procedures for any eventuality and I was ready to go, my dad stayed outside to monitor the engine and alert me to any problems I couldn't see. I cranked the engine with the mags and ignition off to test for oil pressure registering. Everything looked A-OK so I turned on the ignition and mags, pushed the fuel valve on, got my hand ready on the start switch and pushed the mixture to full rich.
I yelled clear prop, held the start switch and the prop turned over but it didn't feel right. It was just turning over too weak, it didn't start and I released the starter and pulled idle cutoff on the mixture. In all the checking engine stuff and torques and fittings we had forgotten to charge the battery! This battery had been sitting half charged in the plane for a year! to make matters worse it's not a fresh battery, it's my dad's old unflightworthy battery that he let me use for testing until I buy a new one. I explained to the people watching on livestream that we were going to have to charge the battery and try again in an hour or two.
After charging the battery we added a jump starter just to give it a good umph for best chances of starting. I booted the livestream back up, gave people a few minutes to join while I was setting up and went over emergency procedures again. Everything was ready so I engaged the starter. after just a couple turns my engine, the hunk of metal I had built, roared to life. It had a glorious sound, just perfect. I jockeyed the throttle to find a smooth idle and let it run while monitoring all my sensors to make sure nothing got too hot with the limited cooling of a ground run. No red flags popped up on my Sport EX EFIS and ran great. I took a moment to look around and enjoy the breeze and saw a half dozen neighbors watching from their yards. After a few minutes I pulled the idle cutoff and hopped out to inspect the engine.
The exhaust pipes were gently smoking, but they're supposed to do that as part of their curing or setting process. Everything was in order, hot in all the places it should be, no oil leaking, nothing signaling a problem at all! I am really glad I had an experienced mentor like my dad to help me get my engine right the first time. It really is something else to be able to turn a bunch of metal parts, gaskets, and bolts into a living breathing powerful engine.
You can watch the first start here:
The next post will be coming soon, I've got lots of news about the tail so stay tuned!