Got 4 hours in on the water yesterday, and everything went really well. It
was easy to find the sweet spot, and when you do, it just surges forward and
you're off. The guy giving me my float endorsement is a high time 180/185
float driver and was very impressed with the performance of the Rebel. We
put it through all the different stalls, tight turns, and sideslips, and he
remarked that this is a very, very safe float plane with no bad habits or
handling of any kind. I don't have another Rebel to compare to in
performance, but it appears that my angle of incidence and c of g settings
seem to have worked out. It also still hauls pretty good in the air, too.
With the wheels up, I was still doing 105 MPH indicated at 2350 RPM and
flaperons in reflex. And this is just with my tooth pick Warp Drive prop, as
some of the conventional guys at my airport call it.
My last float flying was on ultralights about 6 years ago, and man, was it
great to get back on the water! All I can say, is that I can't understand
why anyone would just fly the Rebel on wheels. In my opinion, it handles
better and is easier to fly on floats than wheels, and you have the best of
everything. You definitely lose some climb performance and cruise speed, but
with the right engine, it is still more than adequate.
-----Original Message-----
From:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com [mailto:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Walter Klatt
Sent: September 1, 2001 9:04 PM
To:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: RE: 1800 Amphibs
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Thanks again, Wayne, for the advice on the washers. I stopped in at Home
Depot and got some more washers to fill the gap on the front wheel retract
shaft, and it worked. I got in a few more touch and go's this evening and no
more shimmy. It's flying really great and a joy to land.
With my prebuilts, I had ordered them a year and half ago, and just got them
a few months ago, so they may not have all the latest mods, but how would I
know? With the rear shock washers, they finally gave me the big blue ones
which did the trick. MAM was still hoping to get the the little yellow ones
to work, and as I understand it, a lot of people are still using them. And
the front retract obviously doesn't work right out of the box or by the
manual.
All I can say, I'm sure glad we have this builders' list, and thanks again
to you, and Bob P. and everyone else for their great help.
Tomorrow if the weather holds, we'll head for the water.
-----Original Message-----
From:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com [mailto:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Wayne G. O'Shea
Sent: September 1, 2001 4:31 PM
To:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: 1800 Amphibs
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Walter, really starting to wonder about your "pre-builts"! First it was old
style rubbers/washers and now the nose wheel assemblies. In order to put
Howard's together I had to be creative with clamping the nose wheel pivot
shaft and wiggle washers in place, to allow even getting the retention bolt
started into the shaft. ABSOLUTELY NO up and down play what so ever, and hit
and miss on the right number of washers to prevent shimmy. Unless MAM has
changed something in the design of the nose wheel assembly yours isn't
correct. Correct the nose shimmy now as all it takes is about 2 landings on
pavement with a quick flapping "shopping cart" type shimmy to chew the tire
tread right off. It is normal to sometimes have a nose wheel swing back and
forth a couple times if the runway isn't absolutely flat, since one nose
wheel won't be weighted properly if it hits a low spot in the pavement, but
the quick destructive shimmy needs to be corrected immediately
Isn't it fun flying that huge "Radio Flyer" wagon though!!!!!!!!!!!?????.
Wayne
----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter Klatt" <
Walter.Klatt@home.com>
To: <
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 7:12 PM
Subject: RE: 1800 Amphibs
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
The weather broke and I was able to do my test flight after all today.
Everything went well, and you guys are right, this thing is easier to fly
on
floats than wheels. Once you set your nose to the right landing attitude
with a little power, it just squeaks on real nice. It is a lot heavier,
though, and it is no longer the climb rocket I had on wheels, but was
still
able to see up to 900 feet per minute with two aboard, and 25 g fuel.
Wayne, you were right about the breaking in of the brakes. I had no
problem
today with steering.
However, I do have a nose wheel shimmy after the nose comes down. I
currently have 7 spring washers on the bottom and 4 on top. There is still
about a half inch of play, though, on the shaft up and down, but as I
understand, that's the way it is supposed to be. Now, how do I stop this
shimmy? Is it more washers on the top or bottom? Can someone confirm that
this half inch of play up and down is OK?
-----Original Message-----
From:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com [mailto:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Wayne G. O'Shea
Sent: September 1, 2001 7:14 AM
To:
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: 1800 Amphibs
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
Walter before you do that first flight, that might need some hard braking
etc, Bob has hit on an item lightly that is absolutely necessary with a
new
set of disks and pads. Just like a new engine needs to be run flat out for
a
minimum of 2 hours (without a landing during this time unless it's an
absolute emergency) if you want a good ring seat, new brake assemblies
need
to be taxied at around 1400 to 1500 RPM (on pavement) lightly riding the
brakes to maintain a slow crawl. Do this the length of the strip and let
cool. Then do it again. You should see a noticeable increase on braking
power after this process, if not do it again. With the amphib I sold (with
well broken in brakes) it taxied and steered okay on the grass. When I
went
to pavement one day, with a 15 knot wind straight down the runway, I could
not taxi it from the apron to the threshold without getting out and
pointing
it in the right direction a couple times. Not enough brake to counter the
X-wind. I moved the pedal cylinders (bottom) mounting to the floor and it
made a HUGE difference. Wouldn't want them on the floor as a taildragger
though, as in my opinion would be too much brake if you have the newer MAM
wheels. As a taildragger, I have found that the normal brake cylinder
location is strong enough to stand the Rebel on it's nose very easily, so
I
sure wouldn't want more brakes when on wheels.
P.S. Remember, don't even try to anticipate the flare. Just keep the
forward
momentum going and fly it on (full flaps if no cross wind) at about 65 MPH
until you get used to the height!!! (it worked for me)
Have fun,
Wayne G. O'Shea
----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter Klatt" <
Walter.Klatt@home.com>
To: <
murphy-rebel@dcsol.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 9:55 AM
Subject: RE: 1800 Amphibs
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
Thanks, Bob. I was planning to do the first test flight today, but just
my
luck, it's pouring rain this morning, and the forecast is not good for
the
whole long weekend.
I will try removing a couple of spring washers from the bottom and see
how
that works.
With the brakes, I still have the original Murphy set-up, but maybe it's
time to try the new way with the brake cylinders attached to the floor.
At
least for floats, this might help, as I had a tendency to push the
rudder
and the brake to turn, when only the brake was necessary, and found
myself
*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*
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Hi Walter !
I don't recall using ANY wavey ones on the bottom, and 3 or
4 on top seemed to work ok.....
Steering with the brakes gates everybody ! ;-) One thing
to do is just taxi around dragging the brakes for a while, then use
them hard for several turns in each direction. There is a bit of glaze
on them when new, and you have to burn that off to get them to work
well. Steering then gets MUCH easier - you'll find you can turn in a
smaller radius than with the tailwheel !!! :-)
Amphibs are SO easy to land & taxi - the world's best kept
secret !!
....bobp
---------------------------------orig.----------------------------------
At 07:19 AM 8/31/01 -0700, you wrote:
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I finally got past my problems with the rear gear shock absorbers, and
did
some taxi tests last night. Suspension seemed fine, but had some
challenges
learning to steer the thing with the brakes. The front retracts have
spring
washers, and was wondering exactly how many are needed on top and
bottom.
I
understand that if you don't have enough, they can shimmy, but too many
can
make it difficult to steer. I may have erred on the not shimmy side and
am
using 7 on the bottom and 3 on top.
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