Rock On!

Hey there! We prepped the plane to fly for the Labor Day weekend. Ground runs were showing us that the oil tank modifications have fixed our loss of oil from the breather issue and the inter-cylinder baffles were working to lower the CHT’s. We really didn’t know if we had actually solved the high CHT’s or just delayed the high temps - flight testing would be required. Saturday we finished re-installing the lower fuselage and cowling. We did some video of the plane out on the ramp and ran the engine. Did some taxi testing for practice. I ran out of excuses, so decided to taker her up and get familiar with her.

I lined-up on the runway and advanced the throttle slowly. Tail came up very quickly and the airspeed came alive at 40. She got light on the gear at 55 mph. I was at approx 2/3 throttle and she left the ground at 62 mph and quickly accelerated to 90mph and 850 fpm climb while advancing the throttle to full. Pulling back on the stick I got her down to 80 mph and was seeing 1200 fpm but only 2000 rpm. So the prop is still not adjusted right. She is very responsive on the controls - maybe a bit more than I was expecting. Ailerons are indeed light forces and very responsive. Even the elevator and rudder are very responsive. Just slight inputs and she is responding. The stick and rudder pedal forces are good on the tail surfaces. She feels good and will be a lot of fun after I get used to her. This flight re-affirmed what Elliot was observing on his flights.

I didn’t want to overheat the plane so kept the flight to pattern altitude and pull the throttle back to 1800. The plane felt draggy and the airspeed was showing 110. It feels like it wants more power to really get up on step and cruise. Well, with the prop not adjusted right, we are 150 to 200 rpm low. Definitely not getting full power in flight. The large 600x6 wheels and tires and fixed gear are hurting us for sure.

I brought her around for a fly-by as the temps and pressures were all satisfactory and the engine was purring along. It was not a full power fly-by, just cruise speed and rpm. Felt good, a bit of rough air kept me adjusting the controls. Climb-out was again about 1200 fpm and I kept it above 80 - staying way above the 60 she flew-off at. The CHTs were getting close to max but staying acceptable. I didn’t keep climbing above pattern. I opted to RTB (Return to Base) as Elliot says, not fearing the CHTs, just it was late in the evening and the sun was getting very low - long shadows. I was thrilled to get to fly her and decided to not push my luck, keep it short and sweet.

Pulling back the throttle abeam the end of the runway on down-wind, it started to descend quickly and I had to add throttle to keep a glideslope. Below 90 it drops real quick. I kept the short final about 80 and kept her on centerline. Touched down with a very light bounce and a strong rebound - she was flying again. Oops! Bounced her again and then again - PIO! The fourth bounce put me feet into the air and a bit off-center so I did a go around and she immediately flew. Climbing to pattern, I was not happy at all. Was it me? Was it the gear legs? Fortunately, we have a go-pro camera out on the wing tip. I brought her around again and lined-up on final. Again, bounced the landing and after a few bounces, she settled into a three-point attitude and on the ground. I let her roll down to the end of the runway and taxied back to the hangar. Whew! Relieved that she was intact and held-up to a serious landing gear structural test. Definitely frustrated with my landing attempts.

After some review of the video footage from the Go-Pro and a ground camera, I am happy to report that it was not the plane. It was me. A little rusty with the tailwheel landings. Elliot made it look so easy I wasn’t concerned at all. But I should have been doing wheel landings and three-points with an instructor. I was basically doing wheel landings, but acting like I was three-pointing it. So the plane would drop the tail as soon as the mains touched and the angle change put me up in the air again. I watched a lot of tailwheel instruction videos on Sunday and figured-out my errors. I am not a beginner, I have about 160 hours of tailwheel. But I haven’t flown tailwheel for three years. It’s like riding a bike right?! Well, maybe not. Rusty.

That said, she is well behaved on the runway and taxiways. Even bounced, she tends to stay right on centerline. Tracks well and brakes are good for taxi. I’m thinking that grass will be much easier to land on. I also think that I will need to stay at a long runway airport until I get the rust off. Looking for a tailwheel trainer and instructor around here.

So on the first flight, she is not performing to my expectations. Need more flights to see if we can improve our cruise and climb. We will investigate our drag and power/prop. To reduce drag, we can possibly switch to 400x6 tires and wheels that Matco makes for LSA aircraft. Can even go to 5 inch wheels if we have to, but wont look right at all. I can also adjust the cowl flaps in a bit and see how that affects the cruise speed. Prop adjustments will help, but we may have the wrong propeller for this combination of airframe and engine. An in-flight adjustable propeller would be very helpful I’m sure. Retracts! Also, this prototype airframe is heavy. So we are identifying ways and areas to lighten for the next airframe.

We are just starting to learn this machine and have a lot of testing and refinements to do. Will tweak the prop and get her back up by this weekend. We will do some editing of the video and put it out shortly. It’s the end of summer already - and so many things left to do!

See you shortly. Rock on!