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rlborger(at)mac.com
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 Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:42 pm Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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Ron,
I'll reply to you and the list as well.
Coordinating weather (wind mostly) has been a serious issue. We have
had so much wind over the last couple weeks it has been amazing. Im
talking 20 to 25 Kts steady with gusts over 34 kts. This morning
was OK, but was becoming dicy ( with my experience level in the
monowheel) at the end of the flight with an 8 - 10 Kt 30 degree x-wind.
Flew for the second time today. About 45 minutes. Have discovered
some additional issues that need to be cleaned up before I fly again.
Squawks:
Have to look at the charging circuit for the battery. The alternator
is putting out 13.8 volts, but the battery isn't charging.
Have to get into the brakes and find out why they won't hold over 2500
RPM. Might (probably) need bleeding.
Have to crank down on the friction for the throttle. The springs
cause the throttle to creep.
Need to set a better idle stop on the throttle lever. Too easy to
pull the throttle lower than 2000 RPM while on the ground.
Notes:
The aircraft climbs like a homesick angel. With moderate weight
today, it climbed at over 1200 fpm with 5700 rpm and 34 in. Easily at
pattern altitude while on cross wind.
The aircraft is is VERY light and sensitive on the controls. The
controls are very well balanced. All are light and sensitive. Rudder
is very effective as soon as you apply any power at all. Torque on
takeoff is impressive for such a small prop/engine.
Strong pitch change with gear/flap extension. Pitch up with
retraction, pitch down with extension.
Speed control on base and final is very important.
Throttle control on final is very important (creeping throttle doesn't
help)
Precise alignment with the runway centerline is critical.
Maintaining precise alignment with the runway centerline during last
of landing phase is critical
Precise pitch control after roundout is critical. The aircraft
baloons very easily.
Very precise management of the speed and descent during touchdown is
critical to not get a baloon or bounce.
It appears that the wing is not at the stall angle when sitting on the
ground. Stall angle has the nose quite high. You will have the
tailwheel on the ground and the main well over a foot off the ground.
You are actually slow-flighting the aircraft onto the ground. This is
why a bounce is so bad on touchdown. The wing is still capable of
flight so with a bounce it flies off at very low speed. Immediate
power is require to regain control. Don't even think about trying to
land again unless you have LOTS (4 or 5 thousand feet maybe) of runway
left to get set up again. Just go around.
I'm kinda sorta close to getting it, but I think that another 2 hours
at least will be required to gain more consistency. Probably more
time if the flights remain a week or more apart. I really need about
3 days straight with morning and evening flights to gain the
consistency I'd like.
This will be a fantastic aircraft once I have a reasonable level of
comfort with the landings.
Looks like several more days of wind and work on the aircraft before
any more flight attempts.
Check six,
Bob Borger
Europa Kit #A221 N914XL, XS Mono, Intercooled 914, Airmaster C/S
http://www.europaowners.org/N914XL
Aircraft Flying!
3705 Lynchburg Dr.
Corinth, TX 76208
Home: 940-497-2123
Cel: 817-992-1117
On Mar 2, 2009, at 17:43, rparigor(at)suffolk.lib.ny.us wrote:
| Quote: | Hi Bob
How goes flight testing?
Ron P.
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rlborger(at)mac.com
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:33 pm Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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Ron,
On Mar 2, 2009, at 19:19, rparigor(at)suffolk.lib.ny.us (rparigor(at)suffolk.lib.ny.us) wrote:
| Quote: |
**** Check voltage at battery. I forget exactly the voltage a Odyssey wants, but 14.4 or 14.7 sounds bout right. My LR3C regulator has an adjustable setpoint where the Ducati does not, nor does the internal Flight Crafter alternator. I am pretty certain you can madify pretty easily the Flight Crafter alternator to an external regulator, or do yourself a favor and get rid of the flight crafter alternator and get a SD20S. You may want to sense the aft battery voltage with your regulator?? |
Yes, my next step will be to get behind the baggage bay with a VOM to see what voltage is present there. Probably have to tie the tail to the fence again so I can run up enough to make operating voltage. The 13.8 volts was observed at around 3500 RPM when testing on the ground during taxi.
May convert to external regulator from B&C if necessary, but need to see what's happening when at battery first. Eventually, would also like to dump the Ducatti regulator and go with a Schicke regulator from Germany. If I can get them to sell me one.
Eventually run the external and internal regulators in parallel as Bob Nuckolls has discussed.
| Quote: |
****In case you are using factory set up throttle friction arrangement:
I studied Europa arrangement for throttle friction, and no matter how hard you tighten, you can not get enough friction. The reason being is you can only get a finite amount of friction between metal washers and nuts. I welded the nuts to the washers, and used those metal high temperature locknuts. needed to thread the bolt all the way down as well. Once complete when tightening you are getting desired friction between plastic washers and large area washers.
See picture #11:
http://www.europaowners.org/modules.php?set_albumName=album256&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php |
I'll see what I can do with a wrench before I start tearing into the mess. Interesting that there seems to be plenty of friction without the engine running. As soon as the engine starts, the throttle creeps. Must be something to do with the added vibration tugging on the cables.
| Quote: |
| Quote: | Need to set a better idle stop on the throttle lever. Too easy to
pull the throttle lower than 2000 RPM while on the ground.
|
****2000RPM?? I know you went to class and they probably told you to probably set idle at no lower than 1850 or 1800RPM, but according to Nev, set idle at 1450 max or you will float into next county. You don't need to idle when taxing so low, but upon landing, you want ability to tame down according to him. You can tune engine so 1450 static is pretty smooth, but when landing it will be higher. You should not rely on throttle stops on carb for idle, need stops on throttle lever and adjust cable, then set carb stops just as a mini setpoint. Bend the stops like you describe and idle will be rough because you will have out of sync carbs at idle.
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Ya, 1800. Misspoke. Still, need a stop as the RPM goes below 1000 if I tug too hard on the throttle while braking. Left hand on stick, right hand on throttle & brake. Gets interesting when the brake isn't cooperating. Easy to pull too hard on throttle as well. Right, probably need the throttle lever stop around 1450 on the ground as it yields the necessary 1800 RPM at flight idle needed to descend at a decent rate.
| Quote: |
**** Good luck! Sounds like a load of fun |
It's getting there slowly. I was almost enjoying it at the end of the flight.
Check six,Bob Borger
Europa Kit #A221 N914XL, XS Mono, Intercooled 914, Airmaster C/S
http://www.europaowners.org/N914XL
Aircraft Flying!
3705 Lynchburg Dr.
Corinth, TX 76208
Home: 940-497-2123
Cel: 817-992-1117
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jrgowing(at)bigpond.net.a
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:03 pm Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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Thank you for the exciting story Bob!
JR (bob) Gowing
327 in Oz
do not archive
---
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grahamsingleton(at)btinte
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:12 am Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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JR Gowing wrote:
| Quote: |
> Have to crank down on the friction for the throttle. The springs
> cause the throttle to creep.
>
> Need to set a better idle stop on the throttle lever. Too easy to
> pull the throttle lower than 2000 RPM while on the ground.
Bob
|
the throttle friction is a weak link, the nylon washers tend to turn
unpredicably so there is a tiny bit of lost motion at closed position.
Better to use nylon plates anchored to the box to get rid of the lost
motion.
Imho 2000rpm is too much, with carbs balanced you should achieve a nice
1750 rpm. You're right about the stop/lost motion. The whole box is too
floppy imho.
| Quote: | > Strong pitch change with gear/flap extension. Pitch up with
> retraction, pitch down with extension.
You should find that if you trim out clean at 80kts, lower the flaps and
|
you have 60/65kts trimmed. That's ideal, no retrim needed while you are
busy.
| Quote: | > Speed control on base and final is very important.
>
> Throttle control on final is very important (creeping throttle doesn't
> help)
I recommend small amount of power on finals but trimmed at 65kts. Easier
|
descent rate.
| Quote: | > Precise pitch control after roundout is critical. The aircraft
> baloons very easily.
Feel for the ground with tail wheel, then stick hard back. There will be
|
a small bounce but no balloon because aircraft can't pitch up any more
with tail on ground. All you need to think about then is keep it
straight and that means instant response to yaw, especially on black
top. Grass is more forgiving.
In ground effect the tail loses the downwash from the flaps/wings. The
nose drops, wheel touches and she balloons, (unless the tail wheel is
already on the ground ) 
Graham
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rlborger(at)mac.com
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:03 am Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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Graham,
On Mar 3, 2009, at 6:10, Graham Singleton wrote:
| Quote: |
>
>
>> Bob
the throttle friction is a weak link, the nylon washers tend to turn
unpredicably so there is a tiny bit of lost motion at closed
position. Better to use nylon plates anchored to the box to get rid
of the lost motion.
|
Yes, need to come up with something better.
| Quote: | Imho 2000rpm is too much, with carbs balanced you should achieve a
nice 1750 rpm. You're right about the stop/lost motion. The whole
box is too floppy imho.
|
Yes. A proper throttle quad could be another project for next winter.
| Quote: | You should find that if you trim out clean at 80kts, lower the flaps
and you have 60/65kts trimmed. That's ideal, no retrim needed while
you are busy.
|
That's about what I have found. Did not need to re-trim. Only set up
for the new speed. Just seemed interesting that those tiny flaps
acted more like adding full flaps on an old big-bar, manual C-150
rather than, say, an old manual Cherokee.
| Quote: | I recommend small amount of power on finals but trimmed at 65kts.
Easier descent rate.
|
If I can get the throttle creep problem resolved I may very well find
that to be.
| Quote: | Feel for the ground with tail wheel, then stick hard back. There
will be a small bounce but no balloon because aircraft can't pitch
up any more with tail on ground. All you need to think about then is
keep it straight and that means instant response to yaw, especially
on black top. Grass is more forgiving.
In ground effect the tail loses the downwash from the flaps/wings.
The nose drops, wheel touches and she balloons, (unless the tail
wheel is already on the ground )
|
That's sort of what I have been trying to do. Get the tail down
without excessive pitch angle so that the last bit of drop isn't so
bad. But you are right, If you nail the tail down first, it won't go
flying again. But if the drop of the main is more than a few inches
the resulting bounce off the main wheel will point you in any
direction except straight down the runway. Then things get way too
interesting. Yes, much more forgiving on grass than hard, but since
I'll be flying off the 6000 x 200 foot strip of concrete here at KDTO,
I need to get this down pat.
Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions. This is a
great group!
Check six,
Bob Borger
Europa Kit #A221 N914XL, XS Mono, Intercooled 914, Airmaster C/S
http://www.europaowners.org/N914XL
Aircraft Flying!
3705 Lynchburg Dr.
Corinth, TX 76208
Home: 940-497-2123
Cel: 817-992-1117
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grahamsingleton(at)btinte
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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Robert Borger wrote:
| Quote: |
that's sort of what I have been trying to do. Get the tail down
without excessive pitch angle so that the last bit of drop isn't so
bad. But you are right, If you nail the tail down first, it won't go
flying again. But if the drop of the main is more than a few inches
the resulting bounce off the main wheel will point you in any
direction except straight down the runway.
Bob
|
check the spring tension on the tailwheel, it needs to be fairly tight,
say 3/16" of compression at center. I used to have it fairly slack but
you will have more authority with it tighter. If you have my mod. I
recommend the wider tail wheel horn, also gives mroe authority, Go for
51/2" between the cables at the wheel horn.
The other thing to check is that the outriggers are firmly down on the
ground tail down. If they allow wobbling from one side to the other that
will cause snaking.
Graham
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rlborger(at)mac.com
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:34 pm Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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Fellow Europaphiles,
Thought I'd provide an update on the Squawks situation. Tommy, Gary
and I spent several hours on it this afternoon.
On Mar 2, 2009, at 18:36, Robert Borger wrote:
| Quote: | Squawks:
Have to look at the charging circuit for the battery. The
alternator is putting out 13.8 volts, but the battery isn't charging.
|
Didn't get around to testing this one yet. Reason to at bottom...
| Quote: | Have to get into the brakes and find out why they won't hold over
2500 RPM. Might (probably) need bleeding.
|
Loose fitting. Tightened fitting at master outlet and added brake
fluid. Good. Brakes hold to 4000+ RPM.
| Quote: | Have to crank down on the friction for the throttle. The springs
cause the throttle to creep.
|
Dropped the throttle housing and applied about 1/4 to 1/2 turn to the
nut and now the throttle seems to have plenty of friction. No final
test yet.
| Quote: | Need to set a better idle stop on the throttle lever. Too easy to
pull the throttle lower than 1000 RPM while on the ground. <---<<<
Corrected statement...
|
Not done yet as we discovered a fuel leak during ground testing and
had to cut all ground testing short (so no resolution on squawk #1 or
#4).
Leak is probably from the input side of the back side of the firewall
fitting. See my build web site, Year #5, Q32 006, pic #2. Probably
that fitting on picture right (Port side from aircraft view). We will
have to raise the aircraft, put it on the reinforced sawhorses, safety
the landing gear down lock and take off the wheel/tire to get to it
and tighten it. When the leak has been fixed, we can return to the
squawk list. May be Saturday before we get to it.
Check six,
Bob Borger
Europa Kit #A221 N914XL, XS Mono, Intercooled 914, Airmaster C/S
http://www.europaowners.org/N914XL
Aircraft Flying!
3705 Lynchburg Dr.
Corinth, TX 76208
Home: 940-497-2123
Cel: 817-992-1117
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rlborger(at)mac.com
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:00 pm Post subject: How goes flight testing? |
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OK, I know, the pic is from the bottom. The leaking fitting is on the
picture left which is also aircraft Port Side.
Bob Borger
Europa Kit #A221 N914XL, XS Mono, Intercooled 914, Airmaster C/S
http://www.europaowners.org/N914XL
Aircraft Flying!
3705 Lynchburg Dr.
Corinth, TX 76208
Home: 940-497-2123
Cel: 817-992-1117
On Mar 4, 2009, at 17:32, Robert Borger wrote:
| Quote: |
Fellow Europaphiles,
Thought I'd provide an update on the Squawks situation. Tommy, Gary
and I spent several hours on it this afternoon.
On Mar 2, 2009, at 18:36, Robert Borger wrote:
> Squawks:
>
> Have to look at the charging circuit for the battery. The
> alternator is putting out 13.8 volts, but the battery isn't charging.
Didn't get around to testing this one yet. Reason to at bottom...
> Have to get into the brakes and find out why they won't hold over
> 2500 RPM. Might (probably) need bleeding.
Loose fitting. Tightened fitting at master outlet and added brake
fluid. Good. Brakes hold to 4000+ RPM.
> Have to crank down on the friction for the throttle. The springs
> cause the throttle to creep.
Dropped the throttle housing and applied about 1/4 to 1/2 turn to
the nut and now the throttle seems to have plenty of friction. No
final test yet.
> Need to set a better idle stop on the throttle lever. Too easy to
> pull the throttle lower than 1000 RPM while on the ground. <---<<<
> Corrected statement...
Not done yet as we discovered a fuel leak during ground testing and
had to cut all ground testing short (so no resolution on squawk #1
or #4).
Leak is probably from the input side of the back side of the
firewall fitting. See my build web site, Year #5, Q32 006, pic
#2. Probably that fitting on picture right (Port side from
aircraft view). We will have to raise the aircraft, put it on the
reinforced sawhorses, safety the landing gear down lock and take off
the wheel/tire to get to it and tighten it. When the leak has been
fixed, we can return to the squawk list. May be Saturday before we
get to it.
Check six,
Bob Borger
Europa Kit #A221 N914XL, XS Mono, Intercooled 914, Airmaster C/S
http://www.europaowners.org/N914XL
Aircraft Flying!
3705 Lynchburg Dr.
Corinth, TX 76208
Home: 940-497-2123
Cel: 817-992-1117
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