X-Virus-Scanned: clean according to Sophos on Logan.com Return-Path: Received: from fed1rmmtao104.cox.net ([68.230.241.42] verified) by logan.com (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 5.2.11) with ESMTP id 3434564 for flyrotary@lancaironline.net; Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:32:29 -0500 Received-SPF: none receiver=logan.com; client-ip=68.230.241.42; envelope-from=alventures@cox.net Received: from fed1rmimpo03.cox.net ([70.169.32.75]) by fed1rmmtao104.cox.net (InterMail vM.7.08.02.01 201-2186-121-102-20070209) with ESMTP id <20090120063147.FAPF11567.fed1rmmtao104.cox.net@fed1rmimpo03.cox.net> for ; Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:31:47 -0500 Received: from BigAl ([72.192.137.74]) by fed1rmimpo03.cox.net with bizsmtp id 5iXo1b0051cVYgg04iXo2F; Tue, 20 Jan 2009 01:31:48 -0500 X-Authority-Analysis: v=1.0 c=1 a=Yt2xnok_7LwA:10 a=zUVn3SYUqxeJk54bWRIA:9 a=MVsY9c19MJ1KLXGf4l8A:7 a=56wKAg87EOXJqjwq5TZ0hG8hz0EA:4 a=EzXvWhQp4_cA:10 a=0dRpvnS4h04A:10 a=P3DfkNkSId69CQuZnOsA:9 a=Wk2DYQGtwwgbwIf0A1UA:7 a=ch29ogHxtUSmKVwXhmXSx6gXMZQA:4 a=AfD3MYMu9mQA:10 X-CM-Score: 0.00 From: "Al Gietzen" To: "'Rotary motors in aircraft'" Subject: RE: [FlyRotary] first flight - finally Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:33:42 -0800 Message-ID: <55D009BF085149C996CABA4825676970@BigAl> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_000D_01C97A85.FB849920" X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.6626 Importance: Normal In-Reply-To: X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C97A85.FB849920 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Mike; =20 VERY successful first flight. Congratulations! =20 Seems that your cooling is working very well. 210F on the pan temp is = not an issue; limit there is more like 250. Now that you are in the air; = that's the place to tune the EC2. If you have the EM2; run through the range = of MAP in auto-tune mode (assuming you've tested it first on the ground). =20 Best, =20 Al G =20 -----Original Message----- From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Mike Wills Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 8:07 PM To: Rotary motors in aircraft Subject: [FlyRotary] first flight - finally =20 All weekend winds were 45 - 90 crosswinds @ 10 - 15 so no chance to fly. = Was working on my glider in the hangar and happened to notice at 3:00 that = the wind had calmed. Drag the airplane out, quick preflight, quick brief of = my crew and the tower folks and away we go. =20 Verified at 40 knots that the ASI was working this time and proceeded = with the takeoff. Pitch trim good, healthy dose of left rudder and we're off. =20 Once off the ground everything is good. Just joined the pattern and continued to climb directly over the airport. My home airport is = surrounded, Mexico border 2 miles south, Class B 2 miles north, ocean to the west, = and a 3500 peak to the east so up is the only way to go. =20 Climbed to 5,000 and level off. Coolant temps are good (my mechanical coolant temp gauge isnt working at all but the engine monitor says 185). = Oil temp by the monitor on the output of the cooler is 190, mechanical gauge with sensor in the oil pan indicates 210 so I back off the power and it comes down to about 190. OAT was in the mid - 70s (sorry to rub it in = for the guys that are freezing elsewhere in the country). =20 Orbitted the airport for about 20 minutes. Still dont trust the ASI. = There's a 20 KT discrepancy between it and the GPS in all directions. Pulled = speed back to just nibble at the stall and the ASI is reading 30 KTS. =20 Holding lots of left rudder in straight and level also - I see a trim = tab in my future. No surprise since I didnt put any offset in the engine mount. Should make it easy to upgrade to a 2.85 ratio later. =20 Funny how you get so used to setting power by sound. I dont know where = to set power. Especially for the descent and landing which is exacerbated = by lack of a trustworthy ASI. So while loitering above the airport I set = 4500 RPM and see about 135 KTS on the GPS for ground speed. Seems lower than = I thought it would be but I need to do LOTS more flying before making any judgements. =20 Controls seem lighter than my old RV-6A. It's very nimble. For some = reason the rudder seems more powerful than the 6A even though they are exactly = the same. Pulled off a decent landing. Little bit of a skip but I'll blame = the rough runway surface. Wandered a bit left of the centerline due to the = left rudder I was carrying. =20 Thought I had the EC2 pretty well programmed but found once in flight = that it needs more tweaking - no surprise. Found a few throttle settings that were running a little lean/rich and had to tweak the mixture some. On = short final pulled the throttle back almost to the stop and got the surging = that I thought I'd finally cured on the ground - bump the mixture a little and = its gone. On roll out with the throttle at idle the engine starts to run = rough - richen it up a little and its good. At this point for the next few = flights I'll just leave the programming and focus on flying. The programming is close enough for now. =20 Lots of things I should have noted but didnt. Sensory overload. I have a little list of things to fix before I go again. My ground crew reported = that the airplane appeared to climb well ( I was focused on speed/attitude = and didnt think to look at the VSI - which probably didnt work anyway). They also noted that they lost sight of the all metal airplane, but never = failed to find it by the sound. :-) On a positive note, once away from the = ground, the cockpit got much quieter. And they pointed out that it was also considerably less noisy than the former George Graham E-Racer that used = to be based here. =20 More than enough for now. Sorry for the length - figure I'll be on a = high for a few days. =20 Mike Wills RV-4 N144MW ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C97A85.FB849920 Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Mike;

 

VERY successful first flight. Congratulations!

 

Seems that your cooling is = working very well.  210F on the pan temp is not an issue; limit there is more = like 250. Now that you are in the air; that’s the place to tune the EC2. =  If you have the EM2; run through the range of MAP in auto-tune mode = (assuming you’ve tested it first on the ground).

 

Best,

 

Al G

 

-----Original = Message-----
From: Rotary motors in = aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Mike Wills
Sent: Monday, January 19, = 2009 8:07 PM
To: Rotary motors in = aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] = first flight - finally

 

All weekend winds were 45 - = 90 crosswinds @ 10 - 15 so no chance to fly. Was working on my glider in = the hangar and happened to notice at 3:00 that the wind had calmed. Drag the airplane out, quick preflight, quick brief of my crew and the tower = folks and away we go.

 

Verified at 40 knots that = the ASI was working this time and proceeded with the takeoff. Pitch trim good, = healthy dose of left rudder and we're off.

 

Once off the ground = everything is good. Just joined the pattern and continued to climb directly over the = airport. My home airport is surrounded, Mexico border 2 miles south, Class B = 2 miles north, ocean to the west, and a 3500 peak to the east so up is the = only way to go.

 

Climbed to 5,000 and level = off. Coolant temps are good (my mechanical coolant temp gauge isnt working at all but = the engine monitor says 185). Oil temp by the monitor on the output of the = cooler is 190, mechanical gauge with sensor in the oil pan indicates 210 so I = back off the power and it comes down to about 190. OAT was in the mid - 70s = (sorry to rub it in for the guys that are freezing elsewhere in the = country).

 

Orbitted the airport for = about 20 minutes. Still dont trust the ASI. There's a 20 KT discrepancy between = it and the GPS in all directions. Pulled speed back to just nibble at the stall = and the ASI is reading 30 KTS.

 

Holding lots of left rudder = in straight and level also - I see a trim tab in my future. No surprise = since I didnt put any offset in the engine mount. Should make it easy to upgrade = to a 2.85 ratio later.

 

Funny how you get so used = to setting power by sound. I dont know where to set power. Especially for the = descent and landing which is exacerbated by lack of a trustworthy ASI. So while = loitering above the airport I set 4500 RPM and see about 135 KTS on the GPS for = ground speed. Seems lower than I thought it would be but I need to do LOTS more = flying before making any judgements.

 

Controls seem lighter than = my old RV-6A. It's very nimble. For some reason the rudder seems more powerful = than the 6A even though they are exactly the same. Pulled off a decent = landing. Little bit of a skip but I'll blame the rough runway surface. Wandered a = bit left of the centerline due to the left rudder I was = carrying.

 

Thought I had the EC2 = pretty well programmed but found once in flight that it needs more tweaking - no = surprise. Found a few throttle settings that were running a little lean/rich and = had to tweak the mixture some. On short final pulled the throttle back almost = to the stop and got the surging that I thought I'd finally cured on the ground - = bump the mixture a little and its gone. On roll out with the throttle at idle the = engine starts to run rough - richen it up a little and its good. At this point = for the next few flights I'll just leave the programming and focus on flying. = The programming is close enough for now.

 

Lots of things I should = have noted but didnt. Sensory overload. I have a little list of things to fix = before I go again. My ground crew reported that the airplane appeared to climb well = ( I was focused on speed/attitude and didnt think to look at the VSI - which = probably didnt work anyway). They also noted that they lost sight of the all = metal airplane, but never failed to find it by the sound. :-)  On a = positive note, once away from the ground, the cockpit got much quieter. And they = pointed out that it was also considerably less noisy than the former George = Graham E-Racer that used to be based here.

 

More than enough for now. = Sorry for the length - figure I'll be on a high for a few days.

 

Mike = Wills

RV-4 = N144MW

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