Early April. A visit to our home airfield by Simon of Eccleston Aviation to do the 200hr overhaul on the carburettors and an annual service on the engine. I did it last year but we are planning some serious touring this summer so a professional looking over it provides a little added peace of mind. As it turns out there were a few bits needing replacement so it was a good investment to get the expert in…
Plus looking more closely at Simon’s box on wheels gave me a serious case of tool envy:
After the service it seemed only fitting to test the engine by going for a flight. It was a lovely day, so we headed for hills following the River Tay…
Passing over Dunkeld and Birnam:
Up the A9 towards Pitlochry, over the Ballinluig Motor Grill – fantastic all day breakfast at http://www.ballinluigservices.co.uk
Got a bit bored on the way towards Pitlochry (I’ve seen it many times with the day job) so turned east towards the wind farm at Alyth, over the high ground:
Which still had a little snow on it:
Then turning south and running back along the Tay to Stanley and back to the field for some circuits (patterns to those of you in the US)…
But before that, just time for a quick photo of my shadow on the wing. If it’s a selfie of a shadow does that make it a “shelfie” ??
The circuit work was a good workout…low power to idle to full power to medium power to low power to idle to….etc. No issues with the engine at all.
Three of us from the aero club had banded together to share the travel costs (Simon came all the way up from Lancashire to Perth), and on landing I was able to tell the others that the engine had run flawlessly.
https://ecclestonaviation.co.uk – for all your Rotax servicing needs, 4 stroke or 2 stroke. Recommended.