Lazair 40th Anniversary, Primer System, Headed to Oshkosh

Its been a great long while since I've posted, not much going on in Lazair world unfortunately.

I have developed a new fuel tank from a common fuel can with better fueling posture using a remote filler neck and a new fuel primer scheme that makes starting the engines much easier.

The primer is an nipple drilled into the phenolic spacer between the engine cylinder and carburetor, the primer line (yellow tube) and nipple can be seen in the photo above. It also has a primer bulb (available from the aircraft section of your local small engine shop) mounted just to each side of the pilots head.

Just one or two squeezes of the bulbs primes the engines enough to run a few seconds and draw fuel out of the main tank. However it is VERY easy to flood the engines. One must be careful.

On a service difficulty note:

One of my very first posts was about installing safety wire on the spark plug cap to prevent the cap from coming off the spark plug.



Recently I began having rough and erratic engine troubles which ultimately resulted in an engine out scenario. It was not big deal as I was at 3000ft and right at the end of the runway. After a lengthy investigation first suspecting carburetor diaphragms and then ignition points I decided to check the simple stuff first and went to look at the spark plugs. When I removed the safety wire and removed the spark plug cap I found a sticky and carbonized residue on the spark plug insulator (white part) that was in the shape of the twisted safety wire. Apparently the rubber deteriorated and became carbonized and formed a conductive pathway intermittently grounding the spark plug via the safety wire over-wrap. I replaced both rubber spark plug caps with NGK phenolic caps (like the ones shown below, P/N LB01E) and resafetied them in place. The engines have never ran smoother.




Perhaps some folks are unaware that this year is the 40th anniversary of the Lazair. Oshkosh is having a big celebration and I will be attending, hope to see some of you there.

Also check out the Canadian stamp issued in commemoration and honor of the Lazair ultralight and Dale Kramer.

You can get your own collectable stamp (if your a philatelist) or just want something neat related to Lazair from the Canadian Post. Dale is a national hero and the Lazair was honored by Canada right alongside the Avro Arrow! Dale has always been my hero!

Its always been a dream of mine to fly Lazair at Oshkosh and this year seems the most fitting. I'm very much looking forward to the adventure. Hope to see you at OSH, look for me in the ultralight area.

More next time,
Gene