The front throttle is located on the left hand side of the fuselage almost directly across from the joy stick, but can be mounted on either side during construction. The engine primer is located just below the throttle. To start the engine you bring the throttle back to idle, prime the engine a couple of times, turn the ignition switches on, apply the brakes (standard) and turn the key to engage the starter. Electric start, battery etc are all standard equipment.The Excalibur comes equipped standard with the Rotax 503 dual carb, 50 HP Rotax engine with a B reduction drive and electric start. Optional available engines include the 65 HP liquid cooled Bluehead 582, and the 60 HP twin cylinder four stroke HKS engine. The Rotax 503 and 582 will idle comfortably at 2,000 to 2250 rpm while the HKS depending on prop will come in between 1750 and 2000 rpm. The standard prop is a two blade ground adjustable 68 inch, my preference for a 582 is a three blade 66 inch and for a 503 a three blade 64 inch. The three blade in my opinion is quieter and smoother and provides a better cruise speed. For the best performance on the HKS the HKS factory recommends a PowerFin Prop. With a 2.58 to one gearbox a 68” F model or a three bladed B model in the smaller diameter 64’-66”. Using a 3.47 ratio a 68” three bladed F model is recommended. Take off with one on board, is as simple as pointing the Excalibur into the wind, finding neutral on the stick, moving the stick about an inch back from neutral and applying full power. At about 25 mph the nose wheel will lift and two or three seconds later you will be airborne. Cruise speed comes in around 65 mph at 5800 rpm. 6200 gives a cruise of 75mph, climb at full power is around 1,000 feet per minute. Stall with one on board is straight forward coming in at around 30 mph with no tendency to drop a wing. Application or reduction of power in flight will require correction via the stick until a constant speed is reached because of the pusher configuration. But once at cruise the trim can be set for a very comfortable cross country flight. If equipped with a nose wheel, wheel pant you will notice pressure on the rudders especially at higher speeds because the wheel pant is causing considerably more drag than a standard tire. Someone wrote that Excalibur with the Rotax engine mounted above the wing using the gear box, versus the engine being mounted inverted using a belt drive system gave the plane a higher thrust line. In fact whether the engine is inverted using a belt drive or upright using a gear box the thrust line is governed by the position of the prop. Which is almost identical in both applications. There are however a number of advantages when the engine is mounted upright.
The spark plugs do not get fowled when parked.
The engine gets better cooling since the fan inlet is not obstructed.
It is easier to work on.
The engine can be used with oil injection.
The pilot is less exposed to the exhaust and noise because the engine is above the wing and farther away.
Loss of propulsion do to belt failures are eliminated.
Unlike a belt drive, the gear box does not have to be continually adjusted.
The gears are not exposed, like the belt drive to wind, weather, snow, ice, rain and sun. | 
