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Colibri MB2
A few words and pictures about my aeroplane.
I bought the plane in December 1998. It had been standing in a hanger at Langham, just north of Rutland Water for about 5 years.
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This is how I found G-BNDP. Initially, my
impressions were that there was very little work to be done.
The rudder and elevator were missing and needed to be recovered with Ceconite, painted and refitted. There was also a small tear in the fabric of the starboard wing which needed a repair. Apart from that all it needed was a quick wash and polish, or so I thought.
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| The engine appeared to be in really good
condition. The plane had only flown 75 hours since being built. I later
learned that the engine was in need of a complete rebuild.
Minnow Fish carb neatly installed with inlet manifolds on the top of the engine.
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Original engine layout. Chaincase on the rear of the 1834 VW engine provides drive for the twin Slick 4001 magnetos on the underside of the engine.These mags cannot be rebuilt. |
| Engine completely removed for rebuild and
installation of new LEBURG
electronic ignition system.
Elevator has been recovered in CECONITE 102 and repainted. Rudder also re-covered, has yet to be fitted.
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Fixed fin is a mod fitted to all Andy Szep built Colibris. Fixed fin, rudder and elevator were a bit of a problem and took many hours of work to finally get fitted. Outboard sections of main wings needed only minor repair. |
| Electronic ignition boxes and coils now fitted. Nearly ready for engine installation. |  |
Yeah yeah, I heard it before, you'll never move that tractor. (I didn't)
| Engine now fitted and running. In all, about 6 hours of ground running were completed. The MINNOW FISH carb took some setting up and will probably still need some more tuning once the plane is flying to get it finally set right. So far the engine runs very well. Only problem was after about 5 hours when the valve clearances closed up. Initially, we thought that one of the ignition boxes may be faulty but soon realised that it was the valve clearances at fault. After resetting the valves, the engine ran well again. The ignition system was working without fault. |  |
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Hopefully, G-BNDP will look as good as this COLIBRI once it is finished. |
| This one belongs to the Reddish family who own the well known, much photographed VANS RV6 G-RIVT |  |
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Another two Colibris similar to mine. These also built by Andy Szep at Netherthorpe as was G-KARA above. |
| This Colibri owned for many years by Ernie Hoblyn from Devon. Now owned by Dave Mickleburg and hangered at Fenland. Some restoration work has been completed as well as an engine rebuild after Leburg Electronic ignition fitted. |  |
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Ready to go flying. About 160 hours so far
now.
The big advantage of the low maintenance electronic ignition system is that it leaves you free to concentrate on keeping the rest of the engine set up properly. No antique magnetos to constantly maintain! |
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Be sure to check the LEBURG website for details of the Electronic Ignition system
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