Well There's Your Problem!

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loose-exhaust-stack-lycoming

Dan “Nordo” West’s 248 mph RV-8 held its place in the Sport Bronze race today, but wasn’t able to move up because it started to lose a cylinder on the second lap.

Nordo and the crew wasted no time when the got back to the pits pulling the cowl to see why the jug’s EGT went away, and the symptoms matched the signs when they found the #3 stack hanging from its probe wires. It’s not an uncommon failure mode, and they were off the find a good welder – not a hard thing to find at Stead field on race week.

Unfortunately, the racing is over for this year, so Nordo will have to come back again to see if he can break that magical 250 mph barrier. That’s racing!

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Paul Dye
Paul Dye, KITPLANES® Editor at Large, retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 40 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the Space Shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 and SubSonex jet that he built, an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife, as well as a Dream Tundra and an electric Xenos motorglider they completed. Currently, they are building an F1 Rocket. A commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 6000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an A&P, FAA DAR, EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor; he was formerly a member of the Homebuilder’s Council. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country.

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