The Brazos Breeze

Congratulations folks on taking on these highly paid positions!

Dave Folz was all set to demonstrate what his balloon "Starfire III" could do on the evening of the 13th. The winds were a bit brisk, so he came in the early A.M. on Sunday the 14th. A balloon launch is preceded by a lot of "das huffen-puffen". The envelope has to be inflated (sort of) by a fan before the burners are ignited to complete the inflation. Dave Boldenow won the coffee lottery and got a ride along with Amber Steppling. Let him describe it: Dave Folz released a helium balloon first to gauge the winds. The balloon first went southwest before reversing to go Northeast. When we departed we did the same, and returned to plane view park a couple of minutes later. We could have landed near where we lifted off. Shortly after liftoff we ended up over the golf course lake at the corner of Wedgefield and Monticello. Dave Folz was able to maneuver the balloon within one foot of the water and could have easily dipped the basket of the balloon in the water.

We flew for about an hour and during that time he let me try landing. Because of the delay between firing the burner and the reaction of the balloon; you can be within a few feet of the ground, hit the burner for a couple of seconds and then be 150 feet in the air. It was great during the times when the burner was not operating, to hear the deer underneath you running through the wooded areas.

The landing was "firm" and we ended up being dragged 150 feet or so. Dave Folz gave the landing an 8 out of 10 for firmness. After landing we had the opportunity to watch Dave Folz bring out a extremely large sword and cut the top off a bottle of champagne. Amber and I received our initiation into
balloon flight by having champagne poured over our heads. Over all a very enjoyable flight. To all those who were wondering if I was able to keep my hair far enough away from the burner to keep a full head of hair, the answer is yes. Amber Steppling writes; Thanks Chapter 983; going up in the hot air balloon was the most exciting thing I have ever done in my life. A lot of people asked me how was the landing? I told them that it was fun & freaky at the same time, but that is just part of the experience of going up in a hot air balloon and getting flipped & flopped when you land. I also want to give a big thanks to Mr. Dave Folz for taking me up, I will remember this flight forever.

Bill Eslick will have one slick RV-6 pretty soon. He hopes to be able to take it to Oshkosh in '03. What makes his RV particularly unique is that he has installed a Mazda rotary engine. There are many advantages to the rotary engine with cost being first. He expects his total powerplant cost to come in at $5000! Comparable Lycoming new engine cost is in the $20K range. It also burns Auto gas and the Low lead moratorium is not a concern. He expects to get 180 HP out of it.

There is a dual fuel injection system, with either system capable of running the engine. A "high boost" setup is used to meter more fuel for starting. In the event that one injection system fails, a switch selection delivers more fuel to the surviving system. The injection system is electronically controlled and measures the O2 content in the exhaust. This info, in conjunction with RPM, temperature, and manifold pressure, controls fuel flow. Bill said that one attribute of the Mazda is a very distinctive exhaust "bark" due to the essential square wave of exhaust discharge as compared to the sinusoidal and smaller output of a conventional exhaust. He will of course have a muffler, but it will have a "bark" to it.

Bill is an electrical engineer so it is only natural that his engine has electronic fuel and spark control, but he also has a neat, resettable electronic Circuit breaker set-up for all electronic components.

The fuel system has one feature worthy of note and copying. He has all fuel fed from the right tank with vapor return to that tank. The left tank transfers fuel to the right tank. This has one advantage; if you get to a low fuel state, you just transfer all fuel to the right tank. Then you don't have to worry about that left tank running dry; the fuel transfer just stops. You have "all your eggs in one basket" and do not have to worry about 1/4-1/8 fuel in two tanks, trying to run one tank nearly "dry"
without actually doing so. Bill says that the plumbing is simpler as well.

The Mazda is liquid cooled with the well known advantage of even engine cooling. Cabin heat is extracted from the same heat exchanger as Mazda cars. No carbon- monoxide- in- the- cabin fears.

If you want more info. You can get it at: http://www.homestead.com/eslickaerospace

Bill is a former F-4 driver and served 3 years in Germany before opting for civilian life. He and wife Linda are newcomers to Pecan having moved from Richland Hills last year.

• Best engine operation is when peak chamber pressure occurs 16-1/2 degrees after TDC. They have a system, soon to be introduced; that "dithers" spark ignition very slightly around the 22 degree before TDC nominal; (electronic ignition naturally) and senses actual chamber pressure (through a novel spark plug adapter) to lock peak pressure to that 16-1/2 degree after TDC point. This is done for each cylinder!
• Their testing tells them that there is as much as 5 degrees twist in the crankshaft! ( So much for striving to get 1 degree accuracy in ignition timing.)
• Another advantage of running lean of peak is that you don't have to worry about carbon monoxide. Rich mixtures produce CO.