Stick to the Plan
Hey guys and gals. So our plane is ready to fly - in my opinion. We have been working on the engine and propeller balancing as we needed to reduce the vibrations and had access to a test unit. If we never had hooked up the test unit, we would have been fine with the level of vibration - just quickly pass through the rough range. So glad we have done the work to dynamically balance her. Very much improved. There is still some vibration and Kamil Verner is thinking it is the type of propeller we are using. It is a one-off from NR Prop in Kiev. It is all carbon composite with no core. We are finding that having a wood core with composite overwrap is much better for vibration dampening. We are talking with Mika Jurka from All for Aviation in the Czech Republic. They have just flown their A6M Zero replica with a Verner 9 cylinder engine and WoodComp three bladed, electric constant speed propeller. We will likely purchase a propeller from WoodComp to see if that makes an improvement. This propeller looks awesome though! Again, it is good enough to fly with.
We have been tempted to fly the Hawk and all the locals are wondering if we are scared to do so. No, not one bit! Actually I am chomping at the bit for my turn! We have had an unusual stretch of fantastic flying weather for the last few weekends and it has been killing me to just test her on the ground. We have been slowed from flying by scheduling issues with our test pilot. He has to finish up work he is currently doing and some training that was scheduled. Over the last three weeks, we have debated the merits of sticking with the plan we have had for 6 months and wait for Elliot, or jump in and do it ourselves - as our DAR suggested. I was getting pretty frustrated and ready to just go, but had a long talk with Paul and he was not in favor of changing the plan for schedule pressure. Not a good sign and I agree with that sentiment. Even though I pretty much had convinced myself to just get going. We have 40 hours to fly off before we can fly it to Oshkosh. Or, we have to trailer it again.
Its a lot of work to disassemble and load it, reassemble for the show, disassemble in a hurry before dark after the show and load it. Then reassemble it back at home and basically have to do a condition inspection again before flying it. It is also not just taking the wings off. We have to remove the entire tail as well as its’ too wide for the trailer. Elliot mentioned that we should just trailer it no matter what. That a new aircraft with a brand new engine is not a sure bet for a long cross country flight. “it doesn’t always work out well.” He also said that our customer’s don’t care if it flew-in or was trailered-in either. No one will be watching our beautiful landing. Very true. I actually was more worried about the condition of the highways - they are terrible across the North. So then the plane will be getting another fatigue testing regimen via trailer. Arrgh!
So we are going to stick with the plan and will likely have to trailer the plane to Oshkosh. I have to gear up for that as we are under-staffed for the show. The plan is for Elliot to get here and put her through the paces and put 5 to 10 hours on her and get us the data we need to inform the kit design - and in order to publish performance numbers our customers can believe. Anything sub-par will be addressed in the kit version of the plane. Then, I will take over and fly her for most of the rest of the 40 hours required of phase 1. We will likely get Elliot or another acro-rated pilot to fly the aerobatic and difficult maneuvers. Hopefully, if all goes well, Elliot can do some or all of those maneuvers while he is here. No idea how that will go down.
So, he has agreed to get here late Thursday of this week and stay through the weekend if needed. Weather looks pretty good with T-storms on Saturday and maybe a shower early Sunday morning. First things first, we will be giving the plane a condition inspection. We just passed the airworthiness, but this is more for Elliot to get to know the machine and another set of eyes on everything. Im sure there will be something we should do better or safety wire. So Friday will be mostly that and then putting all the covers back on and prepping for ground and flight testing. Im excited to get going! We have been cleaning and organizing the hangar - much needed! Will keep you posted!