[Roger Larson]

I clicked on the link you posted and watched the video. They have a big adventure going!

I liked watching Motorkite dreaming on RedBull TV. They changed it though and they took down a lot of the good story and footage they once had on there. Still there is some footage worth watching while they are flying down in Australia.

[Roger Larson]

That is a nice improvement!

[Roger Larson]

You can get it wrong once. :).

[Roger Larson]

I have that same question. Anyone have an answer?

[Roger Larson]

Everyone is different but I can fly with first gear snowmobile suit (seen in our videos many times on youtube “larson adventures”, down into the 30’s very comfortable with only using heated feet. My whole setup is First gear Suit, jacket under that, normal pants on under suit, pair of ski gloves, Gerbing Heated insoles on both feet. This setup keeps me totally warm for hours. The heated feet keep my whole body warm. I do wear a cloth also around my neck to make sure no wind gets down my neck. The Flycom helmets keep my head warm. I have flown like this for 3 hour flights. I do have the large windshield on our Revolt. Diane uses the whole setup, plus heated jacket, feet, gloves. I added a fuse block below my seat which i hooked up directly to the battery. I limit the use on the ground while taxi but in the air we can use all mentioned items at once. I have lighted gerbing on off switches on both front and rear. I do not use controllers for my feet only the on off switch. In 30 degree weather I don’t normally have to turn mine off but above that my feet get so warm at times that i do. The feet draw approximately 1 amp each side, the gloves i believe are about the same and the jacket is about 5 amps. I do have a heated jacket but never use it. The system i use is not restrictive in movement and is what i use after trying other systems. In higher winds, especially near mountains i move my hands on the bar somewhat and don’t believe i would like bar mitts. Before i got my heated feet i would get cold hands at times.

[Roger Larson]

The Tires on the Revolt are 4Ply. I considered putting 6 ply on mine but decided to keep it stock. The 6 ply were heavier. We get those stickers in Arizona called bullheads. Those stickers will give 4 ply flats but haven’t heard of them giving a 6 ply a flat. I did run some slime in one of my tires and it was fine for a couple of years. Slime dries out though. It was messy when i put on my new tires but did not damage anything. I have a 4 ply with a tube in my front tire. We have friends at the airport that run 6 ply tires on their trikes with no issues.. Their tires are smaller than mine on the revolt though.

[Roger Larson]

Ever had loose fitting Allen or Torx bits in a bolt. One tip can be to use some valve grinding compound on the Allen or Torx bit. It will fill the void and make it a bit tighter. On certain bolts you know that you might have a difficult time getting out and for sure you don’t want to strip it, give it a try.

[Roger Larson]

Propeller Tape also sold as Helicopter tape.

My Eprop came with this type of tape on the propeller. The purpose is to protect the leading edge of the propeller from small objects that might strike the propeller. 3M makes a very high quality self sticking tape designed for this purpose. My Eprop came with .79 inches wide and 310 MM long (tip of propeller inwards.).

After landing on numerous dirt and some rocky runways, the Propeller showed a few strikes of who knows what size object. The propeller tape showed the impact zone from turning clear to a little off color and slight tears in the tape.

Repair and replacing the tape.

I used a heat gun to very gently warm the tape and the tape will slowly come off when warmed. If you pull slow enough the tape will come off in one piece. After the tape is removed a portion of glue residue will remain. The glue is very stuck onto the propeller. I tried numerous products to break the bond of the glue. I did not allow some of the products to touch the propeller but only contact the glue, namely 3M contact adhesive remover. Results. Even the contact adhesive remover had limited effect on the glue. Other products i used included WD40 which had some effect but limited. Alcohol had no effect, Dawn dish soap had very limited effect. The glue likes to just move around and stick to itself.

Note: in autobody use i have used Oven Cleaner to remove these types of glues, however i would not even think of using that on my propeller.

The final technique i used to remove the glue was a small amount of WD 40 covered with a small amount of cooking oil, small amount of heat and used a plastic chisel and a razor blade. I worked on very small areas at a time and removed this stuff layer by layer. I did not let the razor blade come in contact with propeller itself. The WD 40 very Slightly acted as an emulsifier, the cooking oil helped because whatever got loose from the chisel and razor blade stopped the glue from sticking back to itself. After each swipe of the blade you have to wipe the blade off.

I ordered the tape they sold at Aircraft spruce and they sent me 2 inch wide tape. 2 inch wide was too wide for my needs so i cut it using a brand new razor blade in half. I used each half. i made sure i cut all of the pieces the exact length and thickness as each other and applied them identically to the propeller to keep it in balance. Just before i applied the tape i cleaned the propeller with Windex original formula. I did not use the type of windex that bugs are supposed to not stick to. I did very slightly warm the propeller and the tape with a heat gun just to get the surface to between 80 and 90 degrees. My garage was in the 50s at the time i did it.

Result, when i finished the propeller looks brand new.

The original propeller tape had saved the propellor from 99 percent of damage and the tape itself took the shock and prevented damage that would have occurred if no tape had been present. I did find one very small area under the largest strike area that i used 1 drop of superglue to fix.

What would i do different next time? After removing the tape with a heat gun, i would warm the propellor and the tape evenly and apply the tape directly to the left over adhesive. I think the weight of the adhesive that is left behind from the old tape is minimal. The old adhesive is a suitable surface (maybe even better than the prop itself) for the new tape to be applied. Warming both the new tape and the old adhesive on the prop makes for a very sticky surface and would increase the bonding properties.

Final tips. When applying the tape do not stretch the tape. Try to order the tape in the correct size which in my opinion would be from 3/4 inch to 1 inch in width. The heat gun really helped to make the bends easier as it is applied over the propellor. Use 3M tape because it for sure is great stuff. Windex worked fine for the final cleaning. Excessive heat or chemicals could damage your propeller. A warmer day or a warmer area might not require the use of a heat gun and would be better overall. If you do have to cut the tape width, I cut mine with a piece of cardboard below. Cardboard allowed the tape to have a strong enough support for cutting but also allowed the balde to sink in and did not over dull the razor blade. I used a brand new razor blade for each section of tape i cut. if you have tape on your prop currently, take note of how they finished both ends and try to copy what was originally done.

Conclusion. I am very pleased with the results it looks brand new. If your always landing on grass and nothing ever hits your prop, you should not have to do this. If you have a better method please share.

[Roger Larson]

What speed winds would you all feel comfortable leaving your Trike parked outside with your favorite tie down method?

[Roger Larson]

Hole saw tip. This works really good when drilling with a hole saw. First drill a 1/4 inch hole Any bit you like. Sweet up the hole saw and use a smooth shank drill bit but reverse the drill bit so the smooth part is sticking out instead of the drill bit. The smooth part will be the guide for the hole saw and will not enlarge the hole you predrilled. The smooth part of the drill blade won’t catch the sides of the hole and allows the hole saw to cut a perfect circle I just drilled a 2 inch hole in 1/4 steel using this method and it cut a perfect hole. Before I knew this trick I struggled with making the hole saw in aluminum trying to make some gauge cutouts. CNC is better but don’t have that expensive tool. T

[Roger Larson]

This last weekend a trike pilot had to tie his trike down outside. (no hanger space available.) the front of his trike was facing the opposite direction from where the wind was coming from. He used his seatbelt and his front strut to tie the bar off. The bar was kind of suspended between the seat and his front strut. The next morning his control bar was bent. We had some gusts about 25 miles an hour. The back part of the wing was really bending upwards and it looked like it was going to damage the wing but it did not.

I have tried to pay attention how the trike pilots at Oshkosh protect their trikes. I have seen some drop the bar all the way to the ground. That does seem to help in not causing a twisting force being constantly being exerted on the entire trike. What speed winds have any of you tied down in?

[Roger Larson]

Rivnuts. I am sure most of you know about Rivnuts and their uses, but possibly someone does not. Rivnuts can be a solution when you need to have a bolt in place and the metal is not thick enough to tap and or also you can’t get behind to put a nut on the back of the bolt. My latest uses for Rivnuts were making the battery tray holder. Go to youtube and put in Rivnut. I have the tool for installing them but also use just a bolt and washers to install.

[Roger Larson]

Thanks for sharing Jim. A pilot at my airport just put them in also and thinks they are the way to go also.

[Roger Larson]

How do you know your scale is accurate when testing your carb floats to be under 7 grams? Buy some small test weights, they are very cheap. I have several different types of scales and i use the test weights to verify calibration. My latest floats weigh in at 6.5 grams. I spoke with some of you and you highly recommend the blue floats. Let me know if anyone has heard anything bad about them. I plan on putting in the blue floats if I need to replace the floats.

[Roger Larson]

The trike did not need to be tied to the dollies. The weight of the trike kept them in place with no issues. The dollies allow a very easy 360 degree turn if you wanted to do that. Sliding them sideways was what allowed me to move my trike between two cessnas.