Hi Sven,
We have a mono-wheel XS with 912S, with about 400 hours on it now.
We fit the Skydrive carb heat during the build and left it on all the
time, assuming there would be no performance loss. After having some
problems with difficult hot starts, we installed a coolant valve
(included with the Skydrive kit) in the carb heat path. We then tested
climb performance, with carb heat on and off, and found no difference in
climb performance. We have found that if we leave the carb heat on
after landing and during the taxi back, we have more trouble with hot
starts, so we normally leave the carb heat off, except when needed.
We have definitely had carb ice, both on the ground and in the
air, with the engine running rough and at lower power. Turning on the
carb heat cures the problem quickly (5-10 seconds, as I recall). The
Skydrive kit includes a carb heat gauge. We try to turn the carb heat
on whenever the gauge reads below 5 deg C, especially when throttling
back for landing. Whenever we have had icing, the carb heat gauge has
read around 0 to 2 deg C.
The Skydrive kit is well made, I highly recommend it.
regards,
Terry Seaver
A135 / N135TD
Sven den Boer wrote:
>
> So far I have been told that a 912S on an Europa does not require a car heater
due to several reasons.
> Last week during an engine run up at the platform the engine quited due
> to......,
yep carb ice.
> I have to say that the engine cowlings were not mounted at the time.
> One of the fellow builders draw my attention to the heating kit CH-912-3 912
---From Skydrive.
> Any help and comments are highly appreciated.
>
> Cheers.
>
> Sven den Boer
> PH-SBR
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