C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

[Richard Boyer]

I was flying back to Georgetown from Houston last weekend. I was about 2/3 of the way back during a very monotonous part of the flight when something odd happened. I am not sure if I nodded off for a split second or if the engine hiccuped. What I do know is that I was no longer tired and the engine didn't do it again.

Talk about soiling your britches!!!! I was very aware of where I was after that!

Richard Boyer
N95791

[Dennis D'Angelo]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

Been there and done that.

My eyes were heavy while flying an eastbound XC over the badlands (no landing sites) of West Virginia. As the Champ and I climbed through 5000 MSL the A-65 iced up (yes, it was the first day of summer in clear blue skies) and quit. Carb heat cured the problem after a few tense seconds and we were on our way to Virginia Tech airport without another "hiccup"--of course with the carb heat now full "ON" for the rest of the flight.

I may not have soiled any clothes, but the seat cushion had to be extracted after the flight.

dd

[Forrest Barber]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

Yep, that wakes you up! The A-40 is well known for "hiccups" then once in a while you lose a cylinder for a while whew I hate that.
Remember that at 68 degress F ( and lower) with high humidity we get the very best time for icing. temp drop of around 40 degrees in the venturi area is occuring , duhhhh that takes us down to 28 degrees. I call it carb "moisturizing" the water is what is the problem...
A quick sticking valve coud do it too!

[Ragwing nut]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

Every time I fly over a body of water, mountains, or anywhere landing would not be a good idea, the engine always seems to go into automatic rough. Don't know if you have been in an accident before, but it is no fun. I am always looking for a place to land. I had to park a Bellanca in a hay field several years ago after a fuel pump and wobble pump failure.

Mike

[VictorBravo]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

That was old CG Taylor's way of keeping you awake Soiling your pants is a lot better than actually falling asleep...

[Dano"T"]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

My engine seems to have a new hicup. I'm on skis now and when I come in on final with carb ht on and add power after gliding in,there is a hesitation...or hicup...or sputter that was never there before. Any Ideas? Mags check good, Fuel checks good, Primer is not leaking. I go to add power and it sputters. If I added it too quickly it would quit altogether I'm sure....not too unusual...power must be applied steadily...It is just different than normal.

[3Dreaming]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

My engine seems to have a new hicup. I'm on skis now and when I come in on final with carb ht on and add power after gliding in,there is a hesitation...or hicup...or sputter that was never there before. Any Ideas? Mags check good, Fuel checks good, Primer is not leaking. I go to add power and it sputters. If I added it too quickly it would quit altogether I'm sure....not too unusual...power must be applied steadily...It is just different than normal.

Is this your first season flying it in the cold?? It seems the little continentals do this in cold weather. This is just my thought on this. The carb with no accellerator pump has a metered hole for fuel transition in the mid range. With the cold dense air it is a little on the lean side for this transition. After the transition everything is OK. Tom

[Howard Wilson]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

Is the carb heat butterfly closing all the way? Denser air different mixture? Had an A-65 in my Aeronca Chief back in the 70's that iced up, even with the carb heat on and revving the engine in an extended descent, 50+ degrees and very humid. Saw I was going to be a little low- pushed in the throttle and it just coughed and died. Bounced off the dike at the end of the runway and rolled out in about 200 ft

[Pearson]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

Mine used to do the exact same thing until I learned to turn the idle mixture screw out about a half turn in the fall, and back in a half turn in the spring.

[Dano"T"]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

I've flown this particular airplane on skis for 13 years and a 65hp cub pior to that for a number of years....this is a new development on this particular airplane...I did just have an annual done...but the IA says he did not adjust the carb. I'll try a few things this weekend and hope it will fix the problem. I have a 1940 BC-65 that used to run rough on final and found the the rubber sleeves on the intake manifold needed tightening...maybe I'll look at this also. This plane has a C-85-8 and it runs great otherwise. I just dont want to overshoot sometime and add power and have it calf on me. I had an engine failure on takeoof once in my 1940 and don't want a repeat performance

[crispy critter]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

Dan,
Check your fuel screen in the carb. A lot of IA's overlook this simple process at annual time and always causes just what your describing. Of course some of the others are correct too by saying they do run leaner in colder weather and after some hours they do tend to develope there own attitudes. I have also seen this happen with many 4 cylinder conts running stromburg carbs where they have to be adjusted every spring and fall ....the M/S carbs don't seem to be as bad for it.

[high time cub]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

My engine seems to have a new hicup. I'm on skis now and when I come in on final with carb ht on and add power after gliding in,there is a hesitation...or hicup...or sputter that was never there before. Any Ideas? Mags check good, Fuel checks good, Primer is not leaking. I go to add power and it sputters. If I added it too quickly it would quit altogether I'm sure....not too unusual...power must be applied steadily...It is just different than normal.

http://www.aeronca.com/ServiceLetters/Cont_M64_6.pdf

[Dano"T"]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

I realize this thread originally was about something else...but it turned out some excellent suggestions....Thank You All. That service buleetin makes good sense. Sounds exactly like my problem.

[Jim Hartley]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

My engine seems to have a new hicup. I'm on skis now and when I come in on final with carb ht on and add power after gliding in,there is a hesitation...or hicup...or sputter that was never there before. Any Ideas? Mags check good, Fuel checks good, Primer is not leaking. I go to add power and it sputters. If I added it too quickly it would quit altogether I'm sure....not too unusual...power must be applied steadily...It is just different than normal.

Same here Dano...Not all the time and I am diligent with clearing the engine frequently on descent. The only time I have had this happen is in the winter and around 15 degrees F or lower. I think Tom may have the correct explanation.

Jim

[alwaysoar]

Re: C85 Hiccup or Sleep depravation?

I made one of those baffles but before I could put it on I got a bunch of questions from mechanics and IA's about how it works. They said that with the baffle on you were losing ram air and that would be counter productive. I said with the filter on you wer'nt getting much ram air anyway, but I still don't know why it would work. Any ideas?