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Unread 11-16-05, 11:40 PM
Ernie Martin's Avatar
Ernie Martin Ernie Martin is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Miami, Florida
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Ernie Martin is an unknown quantity at this point
Your love for the Skymaster is well deserved and contagious.

The door removal STC is by RT Aerospace. Go to www.rtaerospace.com for more info. I know Ray Torres personally -- he's a fine, very talented engineer and an FAA DER -- and I know the product well, having used it in my first Skymaster.

On the engine upgrade let me share some opinions, some of which may be off the mark, so I invite others to jump in here and set me straight if I'm wrong. I would recommend two things: go slow and talk to Owen Bell at Aviation Enterprises (615-865-1802, owen.bell@juno.com), to the Riley people (www.superskyrocket.com) and to Tule River Aero Industries (www.tuleriveraero.com), the production facility for Riley.

The Riley conversions are proven but costly, and I keep hearing at times that they're not around anymore, so you've got to check. Owen has done a lot of work on re-powering Skymasters, but I don't know exactly where things stand, whether he is working on an STC or has one already.

I caution you to go slow because, for Riley, you want to make sure that they're going to be around after the install, and for Owen, I don't think there are a lot of conversions, so you're kind of a guinea pig.

If some of my engine views sound a bit negative, I need to disclose that, as an engineer, I'm leery of major changes to an overall system. Different engine means different stresses on the airframe and propeller, on the electrical system, etc. I like a product that was engineered, where hundreds were made and flown and flaws have been found on these hundreds of aircraft and the flaws corrected via Service Bulletins. So I'm biased.

Hope this helps.
Ernie
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