Brief Description: Attempted 1st engine start on airplane
Today was supposed to be the day for my first engine start since putting it on my airplane. The bottom line is that it didn't happen because of a carburator problem. More on that in a minute. In preparation, I was able to accomplish several important steps. Before calling for fuel I called Matt at MGL to make sure EFIS had the right configuration settings for my various engine sensors. He was able to walk me through the process very quickly and now it all looks good. I also connected the alternator. It had a proprietary 2-prong female connector that I decided to remove in favor of direction spade connections with heat shrink over the joint. When the fuel truck arrived, I was able to calibrate both tanks. As it turns out, the left tank will actually hold 12.5 gallons and the right holds 12.4 gallons. Well into the evening my hangar partner, Steve, arrived to assist with the engine start. We had a couple of annoying complications that we worked through, but the show-stopper was when the carburetor was leaking avgas. All the fittings in the fuel system seem good, but there is something wrong internally with the carb. I'll be checking with Russ at D&G tomorrow. This could take a few days to resolve, but watch this space once Steve and I get back from our respective upcoming trips.
