Lost the starter today on the Lance. Flew the plane down to North Las Vegas on Thursday with no issues and haven't had any indications of problems. Went to start it today to return home and got the free wheeling sound of the starter turning, but there is no engagement to the flywheel. I reached in and tried seeing if I could move the drive gear in to line up with the flywheel to see if that would get me one more start to get it home, but it still was spinning freely with no engagement. So, had to leave her there and drive home to Reno.
Now debating buying a new Sky-Tec to send down for replacement (quicker, they would only need to pull the cowling off once and then put it back on), or having them pull the original and ship it to me so I can have someone here I really trust rebuild it. Problem with that is they have a pretty full shop and if they pull it out at my shade hangar or put the plane back there after pulling the starter I am sure they will want to cowl it back up and then when I get them the rebuilt one back they will have to take it back apart and reinstall the starter. I'm thinking between that and shipping I will spend a LOT more than just buying a new Sky-Tec. Then I can also take the original and have it rebuilt and have it on the shelf as a ready to go spare in case of emergency.
It appears guys have had good luck with the sky-tec units and I will lose almost 10lbs off the nose, does anyone see a reason that this is not the best way to go?
Now debating buying a new Sky-Tec to send down for replacement (quicker, they would only need to pull the cowling off once and then put it back on), or having them pull the original and ship it to me so I can have someone here I really trust rebuild it. Problem with that is they have a pretty full shop and if they pull it out at my shade hangar or put the plane back there after pulling the starter I am sure they will want to cowl it back up and then when I get them the rebuilt one back they will have to take it back apart and reinstall the starter. I'm thinking between that and shipping I will spend a LOT more than just buying a new Sky-Tec. Then I can also take the original and have it rebuilt and have it on the shelf as a ready to go spare in case of emergency.
It appears guys have had good luck with the sky-tec units and I will lose almost 10lbs off the nose, does anyone see a reason that this is not the best way to go?