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2.1 Water on wings:
Water on the wings of any airplane, whether caused by dew or rain1 can
add a considerable amount of weight and therefore will alter the flight
characteristics - especially the rate-of-climb.
If you're flying the Lazair, the effect of water on the wings is
much more noticeable than it would be with a more conventional light
airplane.
The leading edge
of the Lazair wing is very smooth and relatively free of rivets.
This, along with the super-smooth mylar covering makes the Lazair
wing one of the most aerodynamically clean wings ever used on a
sub-sonic airplane, and is one of the reasons a Lazair is able to
outperform most microlights which have more than twice the
power-to-weight ratio.
However,
with beads of water on the wing (and especially on the leading edge)
much of the smoothness of the wing is destroyed and climb performance
will be significantly reduced.
A
take-off roll three to four times as long is not uncommon if the wings
are wet. You may also find
that immediately after lift-off, the airplane will assume a mush
attitude and refuse to climb until It reaches an airspeed of about
twenty-five or thirty miles per hour and the water beads begin to
disperse.
2.2
LONG GRASS
Taking
off or landing in reasonably long grass (up to a foot high) is generally
not a problem except for the obvious increase in the take-off roll.
However, the real long stuff (one and a half to two feet) can get
caught In the cables (you know - the ones' people keep walking into) and
can put enough stress on the tail to bend T 11 (the spreader) or even
break F4 (the rear stabilizer attach fitting).
This is not a common occurrence but it has happened a couple of
times and you should be aware of it.
Any time you land in long grass (whether intentionally or
otherwise) check your T 11 and F4 before you take off again.
2.3
PRIMER BULBS
We
have recently discovered that the major cause of those annoying air
bubbles in the fuel line Is the primer bulb.
If you're having this problem, the best way to get rid of it is
to get rid of the primer bulb. This obviously makes it more difficult to get fuel to the
engines Initially, but it should solve the bubble problem.
If you want
to retain the primer, be sure it is positioned so that the outlet end of
the primer is lower than the inlet end.
This will reduce the possibility of trapped air in the primer
entering the fuel line to the engine.
2.4
SPARK PLUGS
Relative
to the engines used on most other microlights, the engines on the Lazair
have demonstrated excellent reliability.
However, like any other two-stroke engine, they will refuse to
run with fouled spark plugs. If an engine quits due to fuel starvation, it will usually
cough and sputter a few times before It stops.
If you notice an engine stop very suddenly with no warning,
there's a high probability that the problem Is due to a fouled plug.
A small fiber of electrically conductive carbon, so small you can
barely see It, can cause an engine to stop.
Although
no one can guarantee you'll never have a fouled plug problem, there are
several things you can do to reduce the possibility to a minimum.
(a)
do not use unleaded fuel.
(b)
Use a good quality two-stroke oil in the gasoline.
Although~ there are, no d6ubt, many good oils available, the one
we recommend is Granberg (eutectic), mixed in a ratio
of 100 to 1.
(c)
Check and clean (if necessary) you plugs regularly.
Once every five hours is recommended, but this can be altered,
based on your own experience. Plugs
may be cleaned with a wire brush or with a small sandblaster of the type
available at most automotive accessory stores and catalogue outlets for
about ten dollars. If you use one of these units, be sure you clean all the sand
particles out of the plug before you re-install it. Regardless of how you clean your plugs, make certain you
clean all the grit out of the threads and apply a bit of oil before you
screw it Into the head. Aluminum
heads can be damaged very easily by an improperly Inserted spark plug. An easy way to avoid wasting valuable flying time cleaning
plugs is to keep one or two spare sets of plugs and rotate them
periodically.
(d)
Never turn the engine over with the spark plug lead off the spark
plug, or with the spark plug incorrectly grounded as this could destroy
your Ignition module. This
is a very costly mistake.
2.5
STRUT PLUG HOLE LOCATION
Make
sure that the 1/4" holes in the lower strut plugs are
drilled with the center of the hole at least 1/2" from the end.
If they are not contact Ultraflight or your local dealer.
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