Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Found this site looking for a fuel flow computer. Ordered one. Came today. USA made unit. NOT Plastic ! Billet aluminum and very well made. Better price than the $600.00 EI unit ! Check out their other stuff.

RB

I bought the clock/g-meter/oat unit. Not installed yet, but looks like a great little unit. Very light, very nicely made.

RB, the billet aluminum piece your referring to is most likely the flow transducer .... That's made by EI FDS uses EI's "red cube"

I have all EI stuff with the exception of my tach which is from flight data systems. No real complaints, the guys are very helpful (but so are the EI guys of course). The only thing Ill comment on is that the EI stuff is more feature rich and maybe a tad more user friendly but you're right RB the difference in cost makes up for bells and whistles.

One more note, watch out on that transducer, mine went bad last year at Oshkosh, the warranty period is pretty short. I found out pretty quick that the bulk of what were paying for is the transducer not the head unit.

_________________
Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

I have the GT-50, clock & G meter. So far it's been good. I didn't know they had other offerings.

You are correct LEE the "red cube" is EI and billet aluminum. I looked at the control head again and it sure looks like aluminum, but then again I have been fooled before ! Yep wasn't really looking for a unit that has a LOT of features...The more complicated the less I am going to remember between flights ! One year warranty. Just basic fuel flow, fuel remaining, time etc. Probably didn't need it, but I like having something to cross check my fuel gauge which I think is pretty darn accurate for an analog gauge. Best I can figure it is within a gallon according to what I put in the tank at the pump. Having that access panel on top of the cowl over the fuel sender made it very easy to calibrate the fuel gauge.

RB

BTW Mr. Lee...where did you install the "Red Cube ?" My plan is between the Facet boost pump and the engine driven pump...according to the FDS install instructions. I do find conflicting info on other sites ? After the fuel valve, after the engine driven pump, Blah, blah, blah. When I called FDS and explained where I was going to mount the "Cube", he said between the "boost pump" and the engine driven pump is where he has had his for about 1000 hours. He did say with the boost pump on the readings would be slightly higher ?

RB

Mine is between the Servo and the Spider on my FI IO-360. This is "metered" fuel after the servo cuts the pressure. Instructions for the EI setup require that the unit be vertical when installed.

_________________
Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

RB,
EI recommends the ff transducer be the last thing that happens before the carb. With that in mind mine is mounted after my engine driven pump and before my carb. Physically it's hard mounted to the fw with fire sleeved hose on both sides. I have talked to ei since and they say it's really not 100% necessary to hard mount the transducer, after pulling my old one apart I can see why, it's not much more than a metal box containing a paddle wheel, an adel clamp on the engine mount and a piece of angle should do the trick.

_________________
Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

Well...Flight Data Systems has a slightly different procedure for the install. The "Red Cube" (EI) that came with the FDS control head had 2 different and conflicting install instructions (separate from the FDS info) which led me to call FDS to get the skinny. The EI instructions that came with the Red Cube said to install the transmitter AFTER all the pumps ? The instructions in the same FDS box for the control head said you could install the transmitter between the boost pump and the engine driven pump ? It also stated the out line should not drop down which is impossible in my situation. When I called FDS and said I was mounting betwwen the boost/'engine pump he said that's the set up he has had for 500 hours. Lee you are right it can't be more than a paddle wheel with some sort of with a small brain to transmit the data to the control head. A well built small head !

RB

Hello Thorpies,

I installed a tach and fuel monitor computer. The tach works perfectly. When first installed, I soldered 10K resistors as recommended in installation instruction, but the unit was extremely jumpy. Reading would go from 1100 rpm to 1400 then to 1080 and so on. Discussing the issue with Chuck, he mentioned that many users were having similar problems and recommended to go up to the 40K resistors which seem to work well. I changed the resistors and the tach will not vary more than 10 rpm if it does. Still trying to set the fuel flow meter to read with the fuel tank gauge. Since I have wing tanks, I will be testing the quantity once all other flight tests in Phase I are almost done and see how accurate the computer is with the tank gauge. Spoke with Chuck a couple of times as he's been very hepfull when he's not flying.

Would like to point out one slight anomaly with the transducer. The Red Cube has 1/4" orifice which could restrict fuel flow if the system is gravity fed. Don't really know if that is the case, but didn't want to chance it According to the specs, the Red Cube is supposed to handlle gravity fed system up to 200 +hp engine, but I opted to order mine with the Gold Cube which is designed for up to O-540 engines because andd has slightly larger orifice (5/16") which gives less flow restriction than the Red Cuibe and seems to be working fine on my gravity fed system.

Don: Funny you should post your comments now. I just left the FDS web page and saw your panel on the site. I was going to ask you how you mounted yours. Didn't think of the "gold cube" as the "red cube" could handle up to 200 hp gravety feed. Besides I have mine mounted betwen the facet pump and the engine driven pump. Did a ground leak check today with the pump on and so far it leaked checked OK. Not many options to mount the transducer FWF with a carb engine as the out line is not suppose to drop.

RB

Sorry RB for not posting soomer, but just yesterday saw the post on the Flight Data gadgets. Haven't had leaks issues and can't really comment on accuracy since I am yet to carry a full load of fuel and program the totalizer for the full 63 gallons. With the thirty gallons main and sixteen in each wing (I think), I want to do most of the Phase I from the main and once the system is proven, I'll load up the wings and hopefully find out just just how much the airplane will hold and how the computer will read it. Anyone care to donate so I won't be tempted to rob a bank for the fuel?

When you save up enough $$$$$$ plan on having a destination as landing with that much fuel in the wings is a big load on the ground. When the three amigos travel, we plan fuel use based on distance to the next stop and only have main tank fuel when arriving at our destination.
See you at SnF.

A few days ago the red cube was mentioned. It contains a light source, paddle wheel to strobe the light and a opto-isolator which basically is a transistor turned on and off by light. For some reason these opto-isolators are expensive.

Bill,
Without a relief apparatus, I don't intent to fly for six hour non stop. When going cross crountry, my plan is to fill all three tanks depending on how far I'll be flying, burn the wing fuel first and make stops along the way. The idea is to have enough fuel so that if pumps are down or price too high, I can continue on.

On another note, one of my bucket list item is to fly south of the border to visit home and that's when the full load will comes in handy. If fuel not so good in Honduras for example, I can fly further south before having to refuel, but then again, that idea is way down the line once the airplane iand pilot are well seasoned. See you next week.

Don: Where did you install the "cube ?" If you heading South (for fuel ?) Panama has/had an excellent jungle survival program/course ! You may need it flying over all that jungle in Central America ! ! Stay away from the Golden tree frogs ! Fishing is excellent in Gatun Lake.

RB