tomarnold

With all this crappy weather I finally got round to decoking my motor and servicing the carb. I was pleasantly surprised to find how easy these jobs were, but unpleasantly surprised by the two scores in the cylinder wall. The piston looks unmarked. My motor (Rad Arrow with Raket 120) has been running absolutely fine, but I'm wondering if I should get this sorted? I'm not experienced in the internals of engines - I've always serviced my own motorbikes and cars, but never messed about with cylinders and pistons before. A new cylinder from Radne is about £250 which seems a bit steep, and I'm not sure it's necessary considering how well the motor was running. Is it expensive (or indeed possible) to have the cylinder replated? Would you just take it to your local motorbike shop? For the time being I have put it all back together so it's ready for when the weather clears up, but I need to know if I ought to be sorting out this cylinder scoring issue.

I just got home, so I took the motor out in the garden, fitted the prop, and it fired up and ran beautifully. Hooray! Lesson learned though. Now I just have to try and figure out why my tiny tach (I think that's what it's called) rev counter isn't working. (edit - turned out to be a broken wire. Nice easy fix, I love those!)

Thanks, that puts my mind at rest a bit. My motor is clutchless and belt driven. Hopefully off flying tomorrow, so will have to wait and see...

Oops, won't be doing that again then. I'm not too worried about the warranty though - I'm fairly sure mine ran out well over 10 years ago!

I couldn't get my motor to start the other day. I traced the problem to the plug, replaced it and it fired up straight away. However, as I was testing it in the shed I had taken the prop off. It ran fine and revved up fine but wouldn't idle, even once it had warmed up. I haven't changed anything other than the plug and taking the prop off. I wondered if perhaps the prop's flywheel effect would help the engine tick over. Would you expect your motor to idle without the prop on? As soon as I get a chance I'll fire it up outside with the prop, which should answer my question, but in the meantime I am intrigued to find out your views.

So is the power good? I haven't tried mine out yet - hopefully this weekend...

Thanks very much for all the replies. The length is definitely 120mm - the hub of the propellor is 20mm thicker than the one on the original carbon prop, and the existing prop bolts are just under 100mm long.

He he he, no, you're right about the measurements! Thanks for the offer. I'll have a look on the internet with the revised and definitely more accurate measurements! Do they have to be any kind of special type of bolts? Or would these be suitable? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/25125817 ... 101&ff19=0

I need to buy 4 M6 bolts, 1150mm (or perhaps 1200mm at a push) for my new prop, which is quite a bit thicker than the last one. Any ideas where I can buy them?

Well, I went for a little fly this evening for half an hour at sunset, and my repaired prop (I repaired it using two-part epoxy using the Danny Weston method on Youtube and then balanced it with black spraypaint) and it worked fine. Hooray. So I'm going to keep it as a spare as soon as my shiny new D&T prop arrives.

Great, thank you.

Perfect, thanks. Ordered one this afternoon. Anybody know where I can buy other Radne spares?

I'm trying to find a carb service kit for my Walbro WG8. Can't seem to find one in the UK. I can order from Radne (it's for a Radne Raket 120) or I can order from Karting supplies websites in France, but the shipping is 20 euros! I can order from the USA they only cost $3, but the shipping is generally at least $20. Surely there must be somewhere that sells them in the UK, but I have searched and searched but haven't found anywhere. The part number is K12-WG. Also, does anybody know anywhere to buy general spare parts for Radne engines in the UK? I can order from Rad Aviation, but they are very expensive. For example, the carb repair kit they sell is £30 yet the same kit is available in the USA for $3 !

Anybody tried a prop from this guy: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... ink:top:en ?

Lots of people seem to like Born propellers, so perhaps I should go with them. On their website I can select 'Radne Raket' and then choose a 120cm prop. They just want to know the configuration of the bolts (which again I guess is 4xM6x50), and the turn direction (refer to my question above!). Does anybody know if there's any advantage in paying extra for 'Evo power' or 'Silent scimitar' props over the 'Classic design'?

Right then, I've decided to repair my prop, but also to buy a replacement so that I have a spare just in case I decided to put my face in the mud again So I need a bit of advice. My motor is a Rad Arrow with a 120cm prop. I have heard good things about these people: http://dtpropellers.com/ but I'm not sure about a few of the details that I need to provide. Pulley ratio - I can't seem to find this information anywhere, including the owner's manual. Any ideas? 'Drilling' - I guess this is 4 x M6 50 - is this the information they need? Turn direction - This may be a silly question, but of course I want to be sure I get it right. Is this the turn direction when viewed from 'in front' of the prop, i.e. standing where the prop would be blowing in your face if it was spinning? Also, if anybody has any direct experience of replacement props, I'd welcome any recommendations. Thanks!

I managed my first faceplant this morning. Nil wind forward launch on slippy mud. Hurt my nose and my prop! I've never damaged a prop before, so I don't know if this is a case for repair or replacement? If it is repairable, is it a diy job or are there people out there who repair props? If it needs replacing, does anybody know if it's possible to buy props for Rad Arrows that aren't £320 (that's how much Rad sell their carbon props for)?

Having said all that if I could lay my hands on £1500 I'd get myself a more powerful motor so I could climb faster and keep up with other pilots

Although I know Simon is in a much better situation than me for handing out advice to newbies, I thought I'd add my experience in to the mix. I have been flying paragliders for 7-8 years after doing full training to pilot level (freeflying), so you'll have to add training costs to my example. However, I bought my wing for £300 (a 3-year-old Gradient Golden 2) and my motor for £600 (a fairly old Rad Arrow including harness) and my reserve for £100 (a 5-year-old Conar) and I have been flying for all of this year so far with no extra costs other than fuel. My kit is definitely not the latest equipment and I can't keep up with other pilots on modern reflex wings and powerful motors, but I fly at least an hour or two a week (weather permitting of course) and I have a great time. So it can be done for £1000 or less in total although of course you need some training too.

Got halfway to Charmouth today, but the headwind got the better of me and I had to turn back. Some nice thermals about to make life interesting, but it was a shame not to get to the coast. With regards to taking off on the beach, I believe I'm right in thinking that anything below the high-tide line is free for us to use, so I was intending to take off on the sand at low tide rather than the shingle by the cliffs. I have flown down there many times without a motor over the years, and I can't see any reason why I shouldn't take off on the sand and then bugger off back home.

That could have been me as I've flown down there from here a couple of times in recent weeks. But I'd really like to find a takeoff in the area so that I can get a bit more airtime along the coast. I have wondered about going to Charmouth at low tide and taking off on the sand - might have to walk along the beach a bit to get away from people first.

I would like to find a takeoff site in the Bridport/West Bay area that I could use to takeoff from tomorrow afternoon for a flight back home on the SE wind. Does anybody know anybody who flies in that area?

Thanks Simon

I've been looking at getting third-party insurance, and this one (that you linked to above) looks like a good bet. I had a quick look through the policy wording, and it looks like it should cover me just fine, although one of the clauses says that the insured must have the necessary certification and licencing as required by law. In the UK I guess that this basically means none (?!). I am a BHPA qualified paraglider pilot, but I have never done any paramotor training. So would I still be covered by the policy? I think so, but does anybody know differently?