Joined the club at last

[Ken]

Well I posted a wee pic as proof last thursday and I din't want to make
a fuss but I guess I should fess up and admit that I finally got to the
end of the paper admin stuff and 119R (Rubber Rebel Ducky) has 4.0 hours
on her as of this evening.

It flies nicely hands off and climbs at about 800 fpm with the EJ22 at a weight of about 1400 lb.
With the 3 blade 72" Warp at about 12 degrees I'm getting about 4400 static rpm and 4800 in the climb. It tops out at about 110 knots at 5100 rpm at 3,000 asl with the 1.92:1 psru. I figure I'm making about 120 hp in the climb like this so it is not working hard at all.

Stall starts about 42 K flapless or 40 with flap. I haven't calibrated the IAS yet but the GPS seems to agree within about 5 knots of IAS. Rudder is sensitive, light, and very effective throughout. With the offset vertical stab it climbs in trim but the ball is out about a sixteenth inch or so at low power cruise. I think with a passenger and normal cruise power it might be back in the center. I've mostly just been tooling around at 3800 to 4000 rpm and about 75 knots while burning about 14 liters per hour (4 usgal) while I burn off time and break in the engine. (No need for a full power break in on this one.) It seems to need a minimum of about 3200 rpm to maintain altitude at about 60 knots.

Cooling has been amazing just like it was during ground testing. Water temperature sits at 85 C all the time (thermostat) and I haven't even opened the cowl flap beyond position 2 of 5. Occasionally it has peaked at 90 C after firewalling it but it quicky comes right back down. Warmest OAT was 27 C so far. Peak oil temp has been 107 C in a climb. In cruise it sits about 95 C. It has a oil to water heat exhanger which also gets the oil up to temp within about 10 minutes of startup.

I'm gradually learning how to land the thing (thanks again Bobp) but it can't be stalled on as it takes a much higher nose up than a 3 point attitude to stall it. It does have Angus's Mackenzie STOL leading edge. Even with the moved firewall and 30 degrees of up elevator it was inded a good suggestion to throw a bit of ballast in the baggage area, especially when the fuel gets down to about 1/3.

It seems that it is the quietest plane on the field. I'm starting to relax now and really enjoy it. I should probably try to improve the compass swing accuracy but no snags and nothing to do but fly it for the time being :)

An observer reported that my two leaf steel tailsping was flexing about 3" during my bouncing this evening so it might be a touch on the soft side but it seems like a good match to MAM's tailwheel to me. No shimmy and the kickout is working perfectly.

Ken







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