Volume 25 No. 10
REFLECTIONS
Ed Chenevey
Ed
Cygnet Chatter
Alvin Sager
My Cygnet has now passed 11 years mostly sitting and flying occasionally. I have had few problems and there is little I would have changed if I had it to do over. I did have to remake the exhaust since the combination of our climate and infrequent use turned the mild steel into red dust. Stainless is definitely the way to go. I added a second ignition system when I freshened up the paint a couple of years ago. Even though the engine only has 250 hours on it, it was reassuring to look inside and see the Brazillian, Japanese, German and American parts getting along.
A couple of weeks ago, when we last flew, I noticed something that I should have noticed ten years ago, unless something just changed. I was playing with the carb heat, and noticed that when I pull the control about a third of the way out, power increases and egt goes down. Has it been running lean all this time? I will bring a similar Solex carb to the meeting to see if I went about enriching the mixture properly years ago.
I hope we can come up with a plan to keep 238 in operation. We have a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience that is priceless, and should be put to good use.