Day: May 9, 2009

But it’s just about everything that’s needed to get G-MYRO back into the air. Here are a few pics of the stuff I picked up on Thursday from Galaxy Microlights.

In the left foreground (the small square unit with the blue label on) you can see the electric fuel pump. It’s only used for priming the system before you start the engine and should never need to be used in flight unless there’s some sort of problem with the fuel system. Once the system has been brought up to pressure (about 0.2 bar) the electric pump is switched off and the engine started. Then the mechanical pump (the round unit next to the electric pump in the picture) takes over. There’s actually a manual primer incorporated in the system (the black rubber bulb in the pic) but although the electric pump adds extra weight, AX3 owners seem to prefer the electric pump option.

Behind the fuel system stuff in the pic is the exhaust, which is in very good condition – not far off new actually. That’s really good news because they cost £hundreds to replace! By the way, anything to do with aviation – and that includes microlights to a great extent – you decide what you think something is worth and put a ‘0’ on the end! Well OK, not literally, but it certainly feels that way 🙄

Here’s a more detailed pic of the engine.

The engine is a Rotax 503 twin cylinder, air-cooled 2-stroke developing about 52HP. That’s not a lot but it’s enough for the AX3. It has twin carburettors (one per cylinder) and dual ignition, which means that there are two spark plugs per cylinder. This is just a fail-safe design and is preferred to a single ignition system, although there are many single ignition Rotaxes around which perform very well. But which system would you prefer if you were the pilot, eh?

On the front of the engine is mounted a 2.58:1 reduction gearbox which you can see is quite a small unit. The propeller fits directly onto the round flanged plate that you can see on the front of the gearbox using bolts through the holes that are visible. The standard prop is a 2-blade wooden 64″ x 46″ (64″ diameter with 46″ pitch) but many AX3 owners have now gone for a plastic 3-blade unit which is lighter and more efficient, but much more expensive. At the moment, I don’t have a prop for MYRO so I’ll be looking out for one.

To the right of the engine is the electric starter unit. Usually this would be attached to the engine in that position but Mark at Galaxy had removed it before I phoned him.

Here’s a pic of the instrument panel that I got off Mark.

It’s actually in pretty good condition and should clean up pretty well. Mark had to remove the two twin temperature gauges (Cylinder Head and Exhaust Gas temperatures) that had been in the smaller holes on the right hand side because he had already sold them to someone else. However, the sensor units were left attached to the wiring loom which will be very handy when I start work on MYRO. I’m a bit worried about the fuel pressure gauge on the left because it’s showing a reading without being connected at all. I know that the one that was in MYRO is now in MZEL so that could be a problem. The other two large holes take an altimeter and a vertical speed indicator both of which I think are still in MYRO. The panel still has airspeed and RPM gauges in it and I think that those also are still in MYRO. If so, I’ll be able to choose which ones I prefer. So there you are then. I think this panel will considerably enhance MYRO’s cockpit compared to the one that’s presently in there.

I am sure that it will be a real challenge sorting MYRO out and getting the engine and all the other stuff installed and working. But I’m really looking forward to it and now can’t wait to get going.

Now then…. really must make a start on clearing my garage 😕

Just out of interest, I thought I’d see what I could find out about the Cyclone AX3. I found a database that shows that between 1992 and 1996, a total of 38 Cyclone AX3/503s were built in the UK. In fact the number is undoubtedly more as there are gaps in the serial numbers listed. There are 36 Cyclone AX3/503s in the ‘active’ G-INFO database although that number includes G-MYME which we know for sure has now been destroyed. There are 4 AX3/503s in the de-registered G-INFO database, which now brings the total manufactured to at least 40. Incidentally, G-MYMF and G-MYFY are both in the de-registered list although pics of them still appear in the Gallery. There are also a few AX3/582s with the larger water-cooled Rotax engine, but I’ve ignored those as really they are a different model.

The last AX3/503 appears to be S/No 7253 G-MZDS. That’s interesting – so it’s no surprise that Rosie’s new steed, G-MZEL is still looking so fresh, as it’s S/No 7250, one of the last built.

G-MYRO came along in 1994, in about the middle of the series, so by then any bugs in the design had been ironed out. It was also nearly the last in the old serial number range, being S/No C4043211. The highest old serial that I found was C4043215, G-MYSO.

G-MYSO was put up for sale recently on Ebay by Nic Stoneman. Unfortunately it had been through a few trials in recent times. Nic had pegged it out over at least one very wet Welsh winter and the pics he sent me showed a very wet cockpit interior. The tie-down ropes had also chafed very badly and caused quite a lot of damage to the edges of the wings and control surfaces and Nic also mentioned to me that the last time he flew it, he had had a rather heavy landing. None of these would be a bar to getting MYSO back in the air and I’m sure the new owner has done so, or is working towards that aim, but the work involved was a bit too much for me at the time.

I’ve tried to get together as many pics of these AX3s as I could find and they are now all in their own Photo Gallery which you can see by clicking on the link or by going to the Galleries page and choosing Other AX3s. The registrations of all of the aircraft are pretty clear, except for the first one in the Gallery, which I think is MYFI that was owned by Medway Air Sports (same aircraft as in second shot – they also flew MYFV but that I think had different colours) and the last two which are my own shots of Rosie’s G-MZEL.