Flying my V8 Super Rebel
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:47 pm
My confidence in my engine keeps growing with each flight. Today I actually
stopped thinking about my engine quitting and started thinking about the
plane's flight characteristics. I stayed in the pattern and did 6 takeoffs
and landings. I selected different flap settings, messed with approach
speeds and most importantly, easily got off on the first runway exit every
time. I'm ready to fly in to the EAA summer picnic at the local EAA chapter
president's 1700 foot grass strip this Sunday.
I tried to gauge my takeoff distance, but all I can tell you is that it is
really short. I set the prop for about 4800 RPM at max power and that works
pretty well. I don't know if that is the absolute best setting though. It
will take many hours of flying and playing with the prop pitch to figure
that out. But when I start down the runway and add full power the plane
starts feeling light almost immediately. I don't force the nose down but I
encourage it with a little forward pressure and as soon as I can see over
the nose the plane is flying.
On one takeoff I raised the nose to about 100 mph and saw 2000 fpm of climb.
As I passed the tower I glanced at my altitude and saw that I was already
500 feet above pattern altitude before I even thought about turning
crosswind. The nose looked really high. It was awesome. I was alone, with
about 55 gallons of fuel. I pull the power to about 4500 rpm right after a
positive rate of climb is established, then back to 4000 rpm as I turn
downwind. Then I move the power down to 3500 or so to keep my speed in the
white arc (100mph at the top. I came up with my own white, green, and
yellow arcs after a bit of research from MAM and others). My gear reduction
is 2.11 to 1 so do the math yourself if you want the prop speed. 84 inch,
3-blade IVO prop. I already have two notches of flaps (about 20 degrees) as
recommended by Bob P. for takeoffs. Power comes down as I start to lose
altitude in preparation for base and I'm down around 2500 rpm. That's a
problem because I have a vibration at 2500 rpm. 2000 rpm is smooth but too
low. 3000 is smooth but too high. Oh well. I try to adjust above and
below 2500 rpm to stay out of the vibration range. It's not bad so I'm
probably just paranoid but I still try to stay out of the 2500 rpm range.
I still like two or less notches of flaps and more approach speed for smooth
as glass landings. Full flap landings make me bounce a bit on landings but
that should get better with practice. My sink rate seems like it can build
pretty fast if I don't manage it but each time I think my sink rate is
excessive I look at my VSI and it's only like 500 fpm. I've got to train my
perspective. Apparently, I scare easily.
My roof mounted flaps are working just great but I am experiencing a little
of what Murphy discovered ages ago when they had them on the roof. The
first couple of notches of flaps are easy but it's a pretty hefty pull to
get the last bit of flap in even at 90 mph or less. I'm a little curious
about the effort needed to pull in the last bit of flap for those of you
with the stock floor mounted flaps. Pulling up from the floor is probably
easier than pulling down from the roof so it may not be a good comparison.
Let me know, floor mounted flap people.
For those of you that like the engine stats, I see 180 deg F of coolant temp
and no more under any conditions. I'm pretty sure this is because of my
electric cooling fan. It kicks in at 180 deg F and delivers 2500 cfm of
airflow which is the most I could find for the size fan. It's 17 amps of
current draw and you can see it easily on the ammeter. Good thing I've got
a 100 amp alternator. I moved my coolant temp probe from my water pump to
the thermostat housing. It stopped working when I did that but at a tip
from a local pilot I added a ground wire attached to the body of the temp
probe and that fixed it. Apparently, my thermostat housing is not well
grounded to the engine block. It's an unusual housing because it sits
taller than a stock Chevy housing and has a radiator cap on top due to my
remote mounted radiator below the engine. My oil varies between 210 and 230
deg F depending on how much power I ask of my engine. It looks like I need
to look at an oil cooler. It should be a piece of cake to add, so I'll
start planning for that. I saw oil pressure drop from 60-70 psi with the
engine cold at initial startup to about 25 psi at idle after flying for
about an hour. Oil probably got a little thin. Just running Penzoil 10W-40
right now. Might switch to synthetic if there's a delay in installing a
cooler. Winter's not too far off so I don't feel too rushed.
Mike
044SR
P.S. I also have a request for someone I corresponded with a while ago that
was using the same MSD dual ignition system I have. I've lost previous
emails so I don't have your address anymore. If you are on this list please
contact me at mkimball@gci.net. I still have radio noise that I know you
don't have and would kill to discuss it with you.
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stopped thinking about my engine quitting and started thinking about the
plane's flight characteristics. I stayed in the pattern and did 6 takeoffs
and landings. I selected different flap settings, messed with approach
speeds and most importantly, easily got off on the first runway exit every
time. I'm ready to fly in to the EAA summer picnic at the local EAA chapter
president's 1700 foot grass strip this Sunday.
I tried to gauge my takeoff distance, but all I can tell you is that it is
really short. I set the prop for about 4800 RPM at max power and that works
pretty well. I don't know if that is the absolute best setting though. It
will take many hours of flying and playing with the prop pitch to figure
that out. But when I start down the runway and add full power the plane
starts feeling light almost immediately. I don't force the nose down but I
encourage it with a little forward pressure and as soon as I can see over
the nose the plane is flying.
On one takeoff I raised the nose to about 100 mph and saw 2000 fpm of climb.
As I passed the tower I glanced at my altitude and saw that I was already
500 feet above pattern altitude before I even thought about turning
crosswind. The nose looked really high. It was awesome. I was alone, with
about 55 gallons of fuel. I pull the power to about 4500 rpm right after a
positive rate of climb is established, then back to 4000 rpm as I turn
downwind. Then I move the power down to 3500 or so to keep my speed in the
white arc (100mph at the top. I came up with my own white, green, and
yellow arcs after a bit of research from MAM and others). My gear reduction
is 2.11 to 1 so do the math yourself if you want the prop speed. 84 inch,
3-blade IVO prop. I already have two notches of flaps (about 20 degrees) as
recommended by Bob P. for takeoffs. Power comes down as I start to lose
altitude in preparation for base and I'm down around 2500 rpm. That's a
problem because I have a vibration at 2500 rpm. 2000 rpm is smooth but too
low. 3000 is smooth but too high. Oh well. I try to adjust above and
below 2500 rpm to stay out of the vibration range. It's not bad so I'm
probably just paranoid but I still try to stay out of the 2500 rpm range.
I still like two or less notches of flaps and more approach speed for smooth
as glass landings. Full flap landings make me bounce a bit on landings but
that should get better with practice. My sink rate seems like it can build
pretty fast if I don't manage it but each time I think my sink rate is
excessive I look at my VSI and it's only like 500 fpm. I've got to train my
perspective. Apparently, I scare easily.
My roof mounted flaps are working just great but I am experiencing a little
of what Murphy discovered ages ago when they had them on the roof. The
first couple of notches of flaps are easy but it's a pretty hefty pull to
get the last bit of flap in even at 90 mph or less. I'm a little curious
about the effort needed to pull in the last bit of flap for those of you
with the stock floor mounted flaps. Pulling up from the floor is probably
easier than pulling down from the roof so it may not be a good comparison.
Let me know, floor mounted flap people.
For those of you that like the engine stats, I see 180 deg F of coolant temp
and no more under any conditions. I'm pretty sure this is because of my
electric cooling fan. It kicks in at 180 deg F and delivers 2500 cfm of
airflow which is the most I could find for the size fan. It's 17 amps of
current draw and you can see it easily on the ammeter. Good thing I've got
a 100 amp alternator. I moved my coolant temp probe from my water pump to
the thermostat housing. It stopped working when I did that but at a tip
from a local pilot I added a ground wire attached to the body of the temp
probe and that fixed it. Apparently, my thermostat housing is not well
grounded to the engine block. It's an unusual housing because it sits
taller than a stock Chevy housing and has a radiator cap on top due to my
remote mounted radiator below the engine. My oil varies between 210 and 230
deg F depending on how much power I ask of my engine. It looks like I need
to look at an oil cooler. It should be a piece of cake to add, so I'll
start planning for that. I saw oil pressure drop from 60-70 psi with the
engine cold at initial startup to about 25 psi at idle after flying for
about an hour. Oil probably got a little thin. Just running Penzoil 10W-40
right now. Might switch to synthetic if there's a delay in installing a
cooler. Winter's not too far off so I don't feel too rushed.
Mike
044SR
P.S. I also have a request for someone I corresponded with a while ago that
was using the same MSD dual ignition system I have. I've lost previous
emails so I don't have your address anymore. If you are on this list please
contact me at mkimball@gci.net. I still have radio noise that I know you
don't have and would kill to discuss it with you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at: https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe: rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
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