paulhartl(at)cox.net
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 Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 8:54 pm Post subject: Zodiac wheel pants |
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To those nattering nabobs of negativism ......
I got my ZAC-supplied wheel pants on my HDS last weekend, and finally
got a quiet enough night to go up and do some runs to determine if they
were good for anything. Surprise! - after spending almost an hour of
running upwind and then downwind (and up and down, and up and
down...)at a pressure altitude of 7100', temp of 20 degrees C, a fuel
burn of 4.2 gph (at) RPM of 2650, I was getting a TAS of close to 122 mph -
which is about 6 mph better than I was getting two weeks ago without the
pants at very similar conditions. Granted, it is not easy to get these
measurements, but after several careful runs upwind and downwind, I'm
pretty convinced that my HDS is now a 105 kt cruiser at 4.2 gph - up
from its old 100 kt status at the same fuel burn.
Now, you say, "how do you know you were running exactly upwind and
downwind"? It's not really that difficult, actually. First, check what
the winds aloft are supposed to be doing, then get up there and point
your airplane in that direction (or 180 degrees to it), find a landmark
to line up on, then putt along to see if you're drifting, and if you
are, make a correction so that you aren't drifting anymore. At the same
time, carefully watch your GPS and see if it agrees by noting if these
directions correspond with maximum and minimum ground speeds. After a
few minutes of playing around with these variables, you'll have a pretty
good idea of wind direction. Then just make a series of upwind and
downwind runs, recording your IAS and GS, holding altitude, RPM and fuel
burn constant. After a while, you'll see that your data is pretty
re-producible. Then, all you need to do is average your upwind GS with
your downwind GS and you'll have TAS. Compare with IAS to get CAS (see
last month's "Sport Aviation" for equation). The only major variable
with this method is changing wind conditions - which may occur - so it's
best to pick as quiet of night (or morning) as possible. You also want
to make sure you're keeping an eye out for traffic, as you can get
pretty busy watching all these items and then writing them down.
One more thing - the wheel pants make for a much better, and yes, even
faster looking airplane. Tower noticed them immediately as I taxied
past him tonight and complimented me on the improved look, and I had to
agree! One negative - they're a pain-in-the-arse to fit properly.
Just my two cents, of course, and worth the paper it's written on ....
Paul Hartl, N414PZ, 601HDS/Jabiru 3300A, 45 hrs, 56 landings
Flight Simulator 2002/4 Zodiac Website: www.members.cox.net/paulhartl
Sun Valley, Idaho 83340 208-788-9147
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