The oil cooler kit has arrived!

The oil cooler kit is now here. It looks a very good quality and is larger than the old one. It came with the drawings that you see in the photos, and all the bit to fit it.
In the first picture you can see that one of the oil pipes is attached, that is because the attachments that were with it are ear clamps rather than jubilee clips. I did some research on the web and decided to use these as opposed to fitting jubilee clips.
This second picture shows one of the drawings that came with the kit. They are very high quality drawings and are a far cry from the aircraft engineering drawings that I have used all of my life. I also have photos of the kit installed on a trike at the factory which will help.
This last photo shows the complete kit.
I will get around to fitting the modification kit over the next few weeks. This morning I received another parcel from the factory containing the small spoilers to fit beside the water radiator, which were free of charge, thank you Aircreation.

Oil cooler modification kit

I have now received the price list for the kit from the factory. The total cost of all the bits to fit myself comes to 236.72 euro. I phoned this morning and ordered it.
As the oil temperature is a known problem with some Tanargs, I think that this kit should have been a bit cheaper, but there is nothing I can do about that, it has to be fitted like it or not.
I will make a photo blog of the kit fitting for all to see when it arrives.
The other Tanarg problem looks like it will never be sorted. That is the Flycom Focus dashboard. I have the latest software update from AirCreation but my Flycom will not update as it should. The problem with the Flycom is that it never remembers the time and needs to be re-set every time it is switched on. The other problem is that it can switch itself off in flight. This means that I loose all instruments until I re-set it. That is one reason why the Enigma dashboard mentioned in an earlier post is so appealing.

How to fit the wing - a one man job

First of all position the wing, on the trolley if you have one, in front of the trike.

Connect the upright to the wing using a bolt and washer then another washer and the wing nut on the end.

Here it is fitted waiting for the safety pin.

Push the trike backwards till the wing keel rests on the upright. At this point apply the parking brake.

Then back to this area.

Thread the safety wire over the wing keel and through the strap from left to right.

Then take around the back of the king post and through the strap from left to right again. Fasten it on the right side with the wing nut.

I need to remove the two velcro straps that hold the base bar to the trolley at this stage.

Now fit the nose piece. You must never fly without this fitted.

Fit the front strut to the bracket.

A final check to make sure that everything is fitted and locked.

With the front strut on your shoulder lift the base bar. This bit is why you need the parking brake on.
Lift as high as it will go.

Then push the front strut into the lower bracket without fitting the bolt.

Insert the two bolts that hold the frame together, this shows the left one fitted and the right one empty. There are two micro switch levers behind these bolts that put the light on on the dash if one comes out.
Here are both bolts in with the wing nuts and safety rings fitted.

Next fit the front strut lower bolt, wing nut and safety ring. The black box on the left is the GPS aerial.

The windscreen then needs to be fitted. It is held on by eight plastic Dzus fasteners.

Last bit is to fit the engine cowling. That should keep the oil cooler warm!

Here is the very simple wing trolley that I have made. It has two caster wheels under the base bar and one fixed wheel under the nose.
This little job takes about 10 minutes when you have done it a few times.

Oil cooler re-location kit

I am still waiting for the information on this kit from the factory. It has been nearly 10 days since I emailed them asking for the kit price.
I had considered buying the Enigma dashboard for my Tanarg but would also have liked to but a new 13 square meter wing too. The cost of doing this would make it worthwhile selling mine and buying the new Tanarg 912ES. I will need to fit the oil cooler re-location mod before selling mine as I cannot sell an aircraft that has the oil temperature running over the limit all the time.
When (if) the kit ever arrives then I will do a photo blog on fitting the kit.

Some Tanarg features

Unlike many trikes these days the Tanarg has many adjustable features to make the aircraft more comfortable for both pilot and passengers. Here are a few of them.
First picture shows how the pilots footrest assembly can be moved forward or backward to a number of positions to suit all sizes of pilots legs. It takes about 3 minutes to adjust. Also worth noting is that the Tanarg has full sized pedals at the front for the feet, rather than just pegs.
This shows the rear footrests in the rear position for short legged passengers. The pin on the floor is the bit that holds it into place. Note the cable that gives rear seat steering, this is now disconnected on my Tanarg and the rear pegs are non moving.
Here the rear pegs are in the forward position for log leg passengers. The adjustment takes minutes.
This shows the access to one of the small storage compartments, they are very good for gloves, sandwiches and small handbags.
The removable panel below the filler cap is another, larger, storage compartment. This is held on by 5 or six Dzus fasteners.
You can get access to the rear storage from behind, but the access is not as good. Note that the coolant level can be seen from here.
This shows the rear suspension. The Tanarg is very comfortable on the ground and also very stable due to the long wheelbase and wide track of the wheels. The center of gravity is also very low.
In this picture the top engine cowling is removed to show the location of the oil cooler on the top of the engine. This is a problem when carrying passengers as there is not enough cooling air going through the oil cooler due to the passengers shoulders.
If flying solo, the Tanarg can also have a tailor made luggage back fitted to the rear seat.

The spoilers next to the radiator

I have just spoken to Jean-Luc Tilloy at AirCreation and found the reason for the spoilers.
My Tanarg has the oil cooler above the engine and suffers from high oil temperatures when carrying a passenger and using high power settings. To overcome this the factory moved the oil cooler to a position in front of the water radiator, this led to a slight reduction in cooling air flowing through the right side when a passenger is carried. The spoilers improve the airflow through the intake ducts and have totally eliminated any problems.
I have emailed Jean-Luc today to ask for the price of the oil cooler re-location kit.

A new dashboard (EFIS) for the Tanarg?

While I was at AirCreation last week I saw the Stratomaster Enigma dashboard fitted to a Tanarg. These pictures do not really do the unit justice as it was switched off at the time. To see more pictures of what this unit is capable of then CLICK HERE.
The unit is very versatile and has built in GPS. The different screens can be customised on a PC running windows and save to an SD card for transfer to the unit. It seems that a PC running Linux is not catered for yet.
This system seems to be a great improvement over the Flycom Focus monochrome dashboard as fitted to my Tanarg, with the bonus of not needing a separate GPS.

The picture above is one that Mike sent me of the unit with power on. On this screen it is showing flight and engine instruments, but by pressing one of the 9 buttons on the right hand side the screen will change to any of the screens shown in the link above.
This picture shows the Flycom Focus and Garmin 296 GPS as fitted to my Tanarg. With the Enigma I can get rid of the Garmin and have a full colour dashboard.
The gauge to the left is the EGT gauge and is used in conjunction with the leaning lever below the gauge. The square back thing below the dash is the radio mount.