Madhatter

There is always a repair standard for exhaust repairs. What is your basis for approval to reinstall? I'll bet if you asked FD or Rotax they would not have one. Most exhaust systems on all aircraft have muffler issues at 1000hrs and before. Cirrus gets about 750hrs to 1000hrs. If you have cracks now you will have more later. You can't inspect the flame cone inside the muffler for issues. If it comes apart there is a good chance it may block the tailpipe, this has happened a lot and the engine fails. No one in certified ever repairs cracks in mufflers anymore, those days are gone, they have them rebuilt or buy new. LSA exhaust is no different than certified. They will kill you just as easily.

These are very early engines. The gen 4 engine is no comparison to the early ones and has a very high reliability. If you do your research you will find that a large number of issues came from pilot operation errors and SB non compliance on early engines. The gen 4 is a completely different engine. Also a lot of the early engines used in homebuilts did not conform to correct baffling and had overheat issues. The "A" model of any engine is always an issue including Rotax.

Do your research, the gen 4 has a pretty good record so far. The Jabiru aircraft has had one of the lowest accident records of all LSA's regardless of early engine issues. All new engines have early issues even when Continental went to the 520 from the 470, Lycoming also. I was a test engineer for Lycoming and the LTS101 turbine reliability was horrible engine, ask the coast guard helicopter pilots. How about 300hr tbo. Now it's one of the most reliable engines 30 years later. Rotax had a lot of development issues too.

Just spoke to Jabiru and confirmed gen 4 engines tbo is 2000hrs but need top overhaul at 1000hrs. In the early years there were a lot of development issues. The gen 4 is a completely different design with the cylinders and they are just being careful. So far in the last 6 yrs it's been outstanding reliability.

The newest model is the generation 4 engine that came out in 2017. Actually I will be talking to the engine people in Shelbyville in about 30 min from now.

The 3300 is a 2000hr tbo but with a top overhaul at 1000 hrs until Jabiru gets enough data to extend it. I have no issue with that.

FD will never approve this, it is not in their advantage to do so at this point. I was already ELSA due to being the first to use the E-Props on a Flight Design in the US. My vg's are extremely significant in a prolonged flare. You however will have to evaluate your aircraft in all phases of the flight envelope to be sure nothing else has changed. There were no changes in my aircraft between vg's and no vg's except for the prolonged flare characteristics. In my opinion MicroAerodynamics vg kits are the way to go, they give you everything you need. They are the leading developer of vg's in certified and experimental aircraft. They expressed an interest in developing vg's at one time for FD but FD made it too difficult for MicroAerodynamics to deal with.

Don't know who to trust anymore, China makes a lot of junk but lately so do we. I am looking at Jabiru aircraft lately and for years they have had issues with their engines. They were in so much trouble over this that they did several complete redesigns over the years until they were able to produce a very reliable engine. I guess this is what it takes to get things right or go out of business. China may eventually get it right but I wouldn't want to get their "A" model engine.

It's the cheap thin webbing. I had mine rebuilt with aircraft quality webbing and better hardware, no issues now.

I was not looking for improved aileron function in stall. That is not something that is going to work in a deep stall configuration because the wing is no longer flying, that's what te rudder is for. There was no significant benefit to having vg's on the wings with this airfoil. The vg's above the cabin and on the stabilator prevents the stall in a prolonged flair and that made a huge difference in the landing characteristics.

The amperage is very high on the starter activation and I'm sure it can vary depending on temperature causing higher friction especially in cold temperatures. I think a fuse would become an issue.

You can buy an aircraft quality starter solenoid from aircraft spruce. I don't know the quality of the one that comes on the CT, many light sport items seem to be on the cheap side.

I suppose you could put in a disconnect switch like you find on boats. Maybe it would be easier to replace the solenoid every so often.

They have not had a thermal runaway yet in their tso certification process for the certified version, this coming from the company principles I'm working with. Of coarse the FAA is requiring an overboard vent system regardless.