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Remos 835FS Tips, Tricks and Suggestions
Hi all,
These are my own personal Tips, Tricks and Suggestions on how to work with the Remos. I am by no means an expert but as the owner, as well as having about 180 hours flying it, I have some ideas on what might make flying the Remos easier. I hope this is useful for you. And by all means, contact me if you have suggestions.
-Bill Snodgrass
Checking the oil or “burping” the airplane
The Remos has a Rotax 912 with an oil sump assembly located above the bottom of the engine. This means for accurate determination of how much oil is in the engine you must first push the oil that is at the bottom of the engine in the crankcase up into the oil sump assembly. This is done by slowly pulling the prop in the direction of rotation. NEVER move the prop in the direction opposite of normal rotation as this can destroy the engine!
As the prop turns, the piston cylinders pressurize the bottom of the engine crankcase forcing oil that has been sitting there up into the oil pump assembly. The burble, gurgle or burp that you eventually hear is air being forced into the oil sump after most of the engine oil has now been moved upwards. You can now check the oil amount with the dipstick. See this YouTube video for a decent explanation: https://youtu.be/HsIfNt7_SB4
You MUST burp the engine before checking and adding oil! Adding too much oil can damage the engine!
Did you know there is a baggage compartment behind the left seat?
No, not that small box area where the POH is located, a full, blown baggage compartment area behind the left seat that can hold 30 pounds of stuff. Maybe golf clubs! Although why you would take golf clubs flying is beyond me! :-) Check it out sometime.
Putting away the Remos (wrestle the bear!)
Although I think I have a nice hangar, unfortunately there is a large dip in the asphalt in front of the hangar due to drainage. And having another airplane in the hangar adds to a tight environment and a bit of tricky maneuvering. My suggestion is, after shutting down the airplane, to turn or maneuver the aircraft by pushing down on the back end of the fuselage before the elevator by grabbing or gently hugging the fuselage with your arm and then use the weight of your body to push down and raise the nose wheel. Pushing gently on the rudder assembly with the back-end down, walk the aircraft back into the hangar making sure to align the tail or nose with the red nose wheel tape in the hangar (yellow stripe is for the right side wheel). Be very careful to not have the right wing too close to the side of the hangar and damage the wing. Once in the hangar, walk it back to the gigantic log which will keep it from touching the other airplane.
Closing up the airplane
Once the Remos is parked back in the hangar, please make sure to close all vents and buckle all seatbelts. Although we do not suffer so much the damnation of the little critters like some places in the world, it is still good practice and a safety precaution to close the vents as bugs or even mice could get into the cockpit. Buckling the seatbelts is a courtesy to others who will be flying after you are done. Attach the electrical trickle charger to the battery connector.
And plug in the oil heater. The oil heater is set a on a timer so in summer you can still plug it in.
Spit and polish
Although I don’t clean the Remos as much as I would like, there really is not too much required to clean it. If you become so inclined to show your appreciation by cleaning the aircraft or just want to get the bugs off the windows, all you need for the windows is a micro-fiber towel and water. The blue water jug has water and there are cloths near it. Do not use paper towels on the Plexiglass as it will scratch it. Use one soft, wet micro-fiber towel to clean the windows and one dry micro-fiber towel to dry it off.
Save The Planet (Recycle the Sump Gas)
Ok…yes, I’m a greenie. (I’ve also worked for Halliburton for 24 years so ask me more sometime about my O&G views.) But the truth of the matter is I don’t like the gas stains that appear on the asphalt in front of the hangar if the sump gas is thrown there. Although I doubt much of the residual gas makes its way into the water, I still prefer for aesthetics, as well as the environment to please dump your drained sump gas into the red recycle can with the blue funnel.
FAQ
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Why does the plane vibrate on takeoff? – Because it’s excited?!? No? Well ok…from what I understand, typically the nose wheel will be out of balance after a tire has been replaced. It requires using motorcycle weights to re-balance it.
Thank you for flying the Remos and be safe and have fun!!
Bill Snodgrass
Colorado Sport Pilot, LLC