It was mentioned in previous posts that I was about to fix some issues with our aircraft. Fortunately, this wasn't necessary after all, but I will show some background details here.
The issue was that our turbine was starting "slow", meaning that it would take longer than normal to "spool up" to the point where it was running at idle speed without help from the battery. If a slow start becomes even slower, it may eventually lead to the point where one experiences a "hung start", i.e. the turbine will not reach the stage where it will run at idle speed without the help of the battery. Obviously, such is to be avoided during a trip like ours. The problem was that the start became slower with altitude. We experienced an "almost hung start" at Addis Ababa at an altitude of 7500 feet.
As we were operating at several other high altitude airfields in Rwanda, I wasn't too happy with the situation and wanted to become pro-active to prevent a possible hung start. I knew that the situation could be fixed by adjustment, but I had no clue how easy or difficult this would be to achieve. My solution was to contact Guillaume Marais, who has maintained our helicopters for many years and truly knows those engines. As it happens, our Silver Eagle utilises the same engine as the helicopters
we used to operate. Within minutes of Guillaume receiving my message, he responded with a detailed description of exactly what to do, along with numerous pictures showing the adjustment in detail and even a quickly produced short video. Amazing!
Armed with such detailed information, I proceeded to remove the cowling from the aircraft, hoping that I could quickly affect the setting and do a test run. Unfortunately, the area with the adjustment controls was somewhat inaccesible - at least for somebody with thick fingers and no real tools - which made me realise that I would need smebody with the right tools after all. This would not have been an issue, but due to other challenges (see below) I decided that the adjustment could wait until our arrival in Cape Town. I am nevertheless very grateful to Guillaume to have responded so quickly and efficiently, that I knew I could have the issue resolved if it became necessary. It provided me with great peace of mind.
The other challenges referred to above had to do with our booking at Nyanga Forest Lodge. We had booked and pre-paid at this high-end lodge for two nights with the intention of doing Chimpanzee tracking there. The lodge is 35 km away from Kamembe International Airport and it was pre-arranged that the lodge would arrange for our pickup on arrival. Well, on the day of our arrival I spent in excess of 3 hours (!) communication with the lodge to make arrangements for our pickup. I will spare you the details but during those 3 hours endless emails and numerous phone calls yielded no result. The lodge was simply unable to provide me with a phone number that I could use on arrival at Kamembe to request the pickup. All I requested was a reachable phone number with an english speaking person at the other end. No Sir, can't do! After three hours. With the reservations people copied into the correspondence. Ultimately, with no more response forthcoming, we were forced to spend 2 nights in Kigali instead of our beautiful forest lodge, that we had all been looking forward to.
STORM IN UPINGTON
One other aircraft issue which deserves mention is our short stay in Upington. We landed in fairly heavy winds, gusting at 35 knots and sandstorms in the area. We shut down on the main apron for the night and had almost left the terminal already when one of the fire station staff came running after us and suggested that we put the aircraft in a hangar over night, due to the possibility of further heavy storms during the night. The person had already made the effort of contacting a private hangar owner to secure hangar space for us. The hangar owner turned out to be Eben Mocke, who builds and sells gyrocopters in Upington. It was no trouble at all for Eben to re-arrange the aircraft in his hangar to make space for our Silver Eagle and soon our aircraft was secure for the night.
The next morning it was again no trouble for Eben to release the aircraft from the hangar and help us on our way. He did not even want to be paid for the service. It is truly a pleasure to experience the hospitality and helpfulness of our people in South Africa, something we were already exposed to when we arrived in the country 40 years ago. Thanks again Eben, for your help!
The issue was that our turbine was starting "slow", meaning that it would take longer than normal to "spool up" to the point where it was running at idle speed without help from the battery. If a slow start becomes even slower, it may eventually lead to the point where one experiences a "hung start", i.e. the turbine will not reach the stage where it will run at idle speed without the help of the battery. Obviously, such is to be avoided during a trip like ours. The problem was that the start became slower with altitude. We experienced an "almost hung start" at Addis Ababa at an altitude of 7500 feet.
As we were operating at several other high altitude airfields in Rwanda, I wasn't too happy with the situation and wanted to become pro-active to prevent a possible hung start. I knew that the situation could be fixed by adjustment, but I had no clue how easy or difficult this would be to achieve. My solution was to contact Guillaume Marais, who has maintained our helicopters for many years and truly knows those engines. As it happens, our Silver Eagle utilises the same engine as the helicopters
we used to operate. Within minutes of Guillaume receiving my message, he responded with a detailed description of exactly what to do, along with numerous pictures showing the adjustment in detail and even a quickly produced short video. Amazing!
Armed with such detailed information, I proceeded to remove the cowling from the aircraft, hoping that I could quickly affect the setting and do a test run. Unfortunately, the area with the adjustment controls was somewhat inaccesible - at least for somebody with thick fingers and no real tools - which made me realise that I would need smebody with the right tools after all. This would not have been an issue, but due to other challenges (see below) I decided that the adjustment could wait until our arrival in Cape Town. I am nevertheless very grateful to Guillaume to have responded so quickly and efficiently, that I knew I could have the issue resolved if it became necessary. It provided me with great peace of mind.
The other challenges referred to above had to do with our booking at Nyanga Forest Lodge. We had booked and pre-paid at this high-end lodge for two nights with the intention of doing Chimpanzee tracking there. The lodge is 35 km away from Kamembe International Airport and it was pre-arranged that the lodge would arrange for our pickup on arrival. Well, on the day of our arrival I spent in excess of 3 hours (!) communication with the lodge to make arrangements for our pickup. I will spare you the details but during those 3 hours endless emails and numerous phone calls yielded no result. The lodge was simply unable to provide me with a phone number that I could use on arrival at Kamembe to request the pickup. All I requested was a reachable phone number with an english speaking person at the other end. No Sir, can't do! After three hours. With the reservations people copied into the correspondence. Ultimately, with no more response forthcoming, we were forced to spend 2 nights in Kigali instead of our beautiful forest lodge, that we had all been looking forward to.
STORM IN UPINGTON
One other aircraft issue which deserves mention is our short stay in Upington. We landed in fairly heavy winds, gusting at 35 knots and sandstorms in the area. We shut down on the main apron for the night and had almost left the terminal already when one of the fire station staff came running after us and suggested that we put the aircraft in a hangar over night, due to the possibility of further heavy storms during the night. The person had already made the effort of contacting a private hangar owner to secure hangar space for us. The hangar owner turned out to be Eben Mocke, who builds and sells gyrocopters in Upington. It was no trouble at all for Eben to re-arrange the aircraft in his hangar to make space for our Silver Eagle and soon our aircraft was secure for the night.
The next morning it was again no trouble for Eben to release the aircraft from the hangar and help us on our way. He did not even want to be paid for the service. It is truly a pleasure to experience the hospitality and helpfulness of our people in South Africa, something we were already exposed to when we arrived in the country 40 years ago. Thanks again Eben, for your help!
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