Sounds Great to me, Bob.  Thanks for the additional information – makes me feel like I was sort of your co-pilot {:>).  It sounded like to me like more power came on (or at least it sounded louder) near lift off  I have a 74x88 performance prop and at WOT my RV-6A does not have sufficient rudder authority  up until around 35-40 mph to hold it on the runway.  But, part of that problem is I am still using the same engine mount (and offset) that I had when the prop rotated in the opposite direction with the 2.17:1 gear box (now using a 2.85:1), so fixing that would undoubtedly help..

 

Geeze, with everything going right on your first flight, you’re missing half the fun – kidding needless to say {:>)

 

 

 I will never forget the thrill of my first flight, lift off, airspeed increasing, altitude increasing, rpm increasing and oil temperature beating them all.  Hit 240F on the oil temp (gauge limit). So I quickly decided to  bend  it back around to a no-flaps landing - all of 4 minute flight, but certainly a thrill remembered {:>).

 

 

I like it when someone gives the amount of thought and consideration into an auto conversion as you clearly did – certain greatly increases the odds for good results. 

 

Please don’t hesitate to provide more flight reports.

 

Best Regards

 

Ed

 

 

Ed,

 

On takeoff, the turbo engine was producing 38 inches of manifold pressure and I still had 1/3 of my throttle left.  Because I have an aggressively pitched prop (68x 84), I think there was a little blade stall until I got more speed.  I climbed out at 120 mph and over 1,000 fpm.  I did not feel any “P” effect, but I may have been too excited to notice.  The controls are well balanced and the plane will stay wherever you point it, hands off.  My only problem so far is that the right wing stalls first and causes a sharp wing drop.  The published fix is to make the outer leading edge more rounded on the right wing.  After some re-shaping, the stall was much improved on the second flight, but I still need to do a little more work on the right wing to get it to stall at the same time as the left wing.

 

The nose is longer than usual. I moved the seats back some and added additional baggage space behind the seats, which called for more weight on the nose.  Based on my original W&B estimates, that is where the engine should have been placed.  It gave me enough room to place the radiator and oil cooler between the engine and firewall.   As it turned out, the plane was slightly nose heavy with the battery on the firewall, so I repositioned the battery in the tail.  Now the W&B is perfect. As a bonus, the battery is out of the engine compartment where it would have gotten a lot of heat and there is more room on the firewall for cooling air to exit.  So far, I have been able to idle on the ground for over 25 minutes without any overheating.  My cowl flap can be opened wide or closed to adjust for temperature needs.  Even on climb out, the engine barely got up to operating temp (180 degrees) with the cowl flap half open.  Yesterday, on the second flight, I closed the cowl flap completely and ran the engine up to about 32 inches of manifold pressure and got 190 on water temp after about five minutes.  Speed was only 170 mph (4800 rpm) at 3,500 feet and OAT was 55 degrees F.  When it gets hot during the summer months, cooling may be marginal at high power settings.  With the turbo, I should be able to fly at higher altitudes where it is cooler and I can go faster.  Time will tell.  Right now, I am happy just to be flying instead of building.

 

Bob

 

 

 

Great looking flight, Bob!!

 

Looks like you took off less than WOT during initial roll and then applied more power near/after lift off based on the sound track I heard.  I presume appreciable “P” effect?  Let us know what the numbers look like on your next flights – temps as well as performance.

 

Great to see a project get airborne, congratulations again!!

 

Best Regards

 

Ed

 

 

 

If you are interested, there is a video of my first flight at this link.  http://www.eaa1246.org/videodisplay.asp?id=36

 

I have a lot of good friends who helped me make the event a success.  They took pictures and video and were there to support me.

 

I did my second flight yesterday and all went well.  The landing was much better.

 

 

Bob

 

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