Oshkosh 1998 Coverage:
Day Four – Friday, July 31

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AVweb's OSH '98 Coverage - Day 4

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It Came, It Saw, It Concorde

Concorde arrives at OSH“Delta wing with the long nose on thedownwind, rock your wings.” Captain Max Robinson and his crew landed a BritishAirways supersonic Concorde at AirVenture Oshkosh at 1224 Friday. They were about an hourlater than their scheduled arrival because of delays leaving JFK. EAA President TomPoberezny, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin, and a huge AirVenture crowd welcomed theairplane to the West Ramp. As in past years, several planeloads of folks were willing topart with a furkin of shillings (actually $715 USD) for a “local” ride on theship. When it’s not flying, it’s on display at the West Ramp showcase area.

NOTE: AVweb’s OSH ’98 coverage includes additional details and photos of the Concorde’s arrival at OSH, plus a 4-minute RealAudio clip of the arrival ceremony.

Concerns Over Fuel Contamination Continue

Philipps Petroleum Reps Phillips Petroleum officials got a hotreception at an EAA forum on the future of avgas on Friday morning. An estimated 250people filled the Forum 3 tent, and many came to vent their frustrations over thecondition of Phillips avgas purchased from Basler Flight Service this week. The problemappears to be affecting more than just the warbirds.

Yesterday, EAA warbirds officials called off the warbird portion of the daily airshowwhen it was believed that a number of aircraft had been fueled with avgas contaminatedwith jet fuel. Samples from three T-28s and two refueling trucks were collected and sentfor analysis at the Wisconsin Bureau of Petroleum Services in Fond du Lac, Wi. The labtested for the presence of heavier distillate compounds, such as kerosene, jet fuel ordiesel, and can detect the presence of as low as 1/2% kerosene in a sample of avgas. RickRiley, an engineer with Phillips, reported that all samples tested within ASTMspecifications. When asked, he said that the Fond du Lac lab did not have the capabilityto test the octane level of the samples.

Pilots Provide Samples That Don’t Feel, Look, Or Smell “Right”

Not happy campers This report did nothing to mollify many, if notmost, of the pilots present, many of whom brought fuel samples with them to the forum.Several reported that fuel taken from their tanks felt, smelled and looked wrong. AVwebstaff sampled two examples of suspect fuel, one from a Saratoga, the other from a T-28.Both samples smelled “wrong” with a hint of kerosene, felt like fuelcontaminated with kerosene, and one sample was definitely clear, the other very lightblue, far lighter than normal.

A pilot from Michigan demanded that Basler drain her aircraft’s tanks and replace itwith acceptable fuel. She indicated that she had contacted legal counsel in the matter.Another pilot said that his aircraft was being de-fueled, and fueled with fresh avgas, athis expense.

Basler Sends A Line-person, Nobody From Management

Lots of contentious discussion The sole representative at the meetingfrom Basler Flight Service was a line-fueler and did not have the authority to speak forthe company. Basler’s failure to send anyone from management only served to raise the ireof most present.

Mike Wagner of Phillips told the crowd that Phillips had dispatched a company jet,which was expected to land at Wittman Regional Airport shortly after 11 a.m. today, andwas to ferry additional samples of fuel to a lab in Borger, Tex. for more extensivetesting. The results of those tests are expected by tomorrow, and EAA officials presentsaid that a special forum would be scheduled for Saturday afternoon. When pressed, Wagneradmitted, “I think it feels a little different…yeah.”

None of the officials at the forum were able to tell the crowd why the fuel smelled andfelt different. Riley insisted that smell, appearance and feel should alert a pilot tocheck further on the condition of fuel in the aircraft, but aren’t reliable indicators asto fuel quality. He said that avgas contaminated with 1% jet fuel shouldn’t cause aproblem for a piston engine GA aircraft, but that a contamination of 5% or more couldcause detonation, with higher compression engines affected by relatively lowercontamination levels than those designed for 80 octane avgas. Jet fuel contaminationcauses detonation problems for piston engines by lowering the effective octane level ofthe fuel. Riley said that a pilot suspicious of jet fuel contamination can perform arun-up at full power. If the cylinder head temperature rises sharply with no increase inEGT, then jet fuel contamination is a real possibility. Such a ground run-up would notdamage an engine. For those without engine gauges, the problem would manifest itself by asignificant power RPM reduction.

Phillips Not Yet Willing To Sign Off

Phillips reps cornered outside When pressed by pilots to sign aletter that would say that there was nothing wrong with the fuel, Phillips declined andthe Basler rep was not in a position to do so. The Basler line-person noted that the jetand avgas fuel farms were at opposite ends of the field and the possibility of an errorwas remote given this segregation. After the discussion inside the forum tent wasconcluded, another heated argument occurred between a small number of pilots and thePhillips reps just outside the tent.

Cessna Says It Is Over The Hump

Single Engine Problems Over-Production Rates Up

Cessna Vice Chairman Gary HayCessna Vice Chairman Gary Hay seemedupbeat Friday morning as he reported that business is very good, and that the growingdemand for GA airplanes seems to be benefiting Cessna more than others. Hay noted,”to be completely candid, some of our early units were not up to our standard ofquality and service bulletins were…too many.” Hay added that the problems had beencorrected and the quality of Cessna singles coming off the line “is now right whereit ought to be.” Productions rates are up and waits for delivery of 172s and 182s aredown.

While Cessna Pilot Center Programs Are Ready For Prime Time

Cessna CBI courseCessna VP-Marketing Phil Michel provided an updateon Cessna’s complete makeover of their Cessna Pilot Center flight school program andintroduced Cessna’s new Computer Based Instruction private pilot groundschool program,developed by King Schools. With Martha King manning the computer keyboard and mouse,Michel walked the group through a few lessons from the CBI course. The course material wasclearly developed with a lot of cleverness and humor. “We’ve only just begun theprocess of introducing this new program to Cessna Pilot Centers around the country, buttheir reaction and the reaction of the new students has been just fantastic,” saidMichel.

NOTE: AVweb’s OSH ’98 coverage includes a large article on Cessna with lots of additional details and a glimpse into Cessna’s single-engine future, along with photos of the first delivery of a Cessna 172-SP.

Unison and Lycoming Team Up

EPiCUnison Industries and Textron-Lycoming jointly announced today atEAA AirVenture Oshkosh that the two companies are developing a new electronic enginecontrol system for piston aircraft engines. The system, called Electronic PropulsionIntegrated Control or EPiC, will increase power, improve fuel economy and reduce pilotworkload according to Uinson President Rick Sontag at a joint news conference.

EPiC provides “single lever” power control for throttle, prop, mixture andturbo boost, controlled by a microprocessor-based system. The system will incorporate anelectonic multi-port fuel injection system, electronic prop control and electronicwastegate control. Unison and Lycoming officials said that they are looking for a 10% to20% increase in fuel economy and 20% power increase.

Mechanical Backup And Pilot Selectable Modes

EPiC system EPiC will rely onindependent mechanical controls as backup. Electronic fuel and ignition controls arebacked up by magnetos and a mechanical fuel controller. The prop and wastegate wouldrevert to a non-electronic fixed position backup mode. The prop will revert to minimumpitch, maximum RPM. Sontag called the manual reversion fuel controller “not alimp-home system” and a cockpit switch will allow choice of “best power, besteconomy, and manual.” It will be possible for a pilot to fly the system continuouslyin manual mode using a small mixture lever on the control quadrant.

The system will not require an STC. Instead it will be certificated as an integral partof the engine under its type certificate. It will be available as a factory option on newLycoming engines. Sontag said “the cost and weight should be virtually the same”as today’s mechanical engine systems.

Jim Koerner, president of Lycoming said that the companies hope to have EPiC on themarket by the year 2000. Initial flight test will be conducted in a Cessna 182R, with FAAcertification expected by the end of 1999.

Textron Lycoming and Detroit Diesel In Aero-Diesel Effort

Jim KoernerTextron Lycoming and Detroit Diesel Corp. announced thismorning at AirVenture a joint effort to develop an aero-diesel engine. The two companieswill share responsibility for design, development, certification and manufacture of theengines, if performance, reliability and market benchmarks are met.

Lycoming has been studying the feasibility of Diesel engines for aircraft for a numberof years. According to Jim Koerner, president of Lycoming , both companies believe that anaero-diesel engine project makes sense today. Lack of availability of aviation gasoline insome parts of the world, and the increased fuel economy of diesels are cited as strongselling points for the project.

Like the Teledyne Continental Motors Diesel project, the Lycoming/Detroit Diesel enginewill study a 200 hp turbocharged model. Lycoming has a prototype engine running in a testcell in Williamsport, Pa. No timeline for development and certification has beenestablished. Lycoming and Detroit Diesel will jointly make a decision to produce theengine after completing technical and market research, but they claim to be proceedingwith full production as a goal.

ICOMAVweb’s OSH ’98 communications radios provided courtesy of ICOM America.

OSH ’98 Articles and Features

Sea(Plane Base) Of Tranquility

EAA Seaplane BaseThere is a reasonably well-known annex to EAAAirVenture Oshkosh which relatively few people take the time to visit – the seaplanebase. As a result, it is a refuge, a place of sanity away from the frenetic pace of themain venue on Wittman Regional Airport. Even the approach for someone coming by bus or carfrom the main part of the event is pleasant, a stroll down a wooded lane. Rick Durdentakes us on a brief tour of this oasis of sanity where a few dozen seaplanes have circledthe bay in Lake Winnebago, lined up with the wind, hushed down final and slid onto thewater, taxing to the small, triangular inlet where the others of their kind are moored.

EAA Recipe for Safer, Better, and More Pleasurable Flying

Walter Atkinson compares this air show and aviation get-together to a wonderful meal.Every wonderful meal starts with extensive preparation and that’s exactly what hasoccurred at EAA AirVenture with regards the forums and hands-on workshops. They are asmorgasbord for those hungry for a safer, better, and more pleasant flying experience.Join Walt as he considers why these forums are so valuable and so well attended, yearafter year.

OSH ’98 Photo Gallery – Day Four

A couple of dozen new photos (and snappycaptions) reflecting the eclectic diversity that characterizes EAA AirVenture atOshkosh. From the Concorde to ultralights, from people to Port-A-Potties, from asphalt toLake Winnebago, here’s the pick of today’s photo crop.

Don’t forget to visit AVweb again tomorrow for more OSH ’98 coverage!

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