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We are working on hour #33 and the Gremlins keep coming, although small ones. Little by little we are working them out. I have a bad connection in #4 CHT that was verified this morning when I turned on the Skyview. The thing went wacky up and down the degree scale from 100 to 500. We could wiggle wires and make it happen one second and do the same thing the next and nothing. If it keeps it up we’ll redo those wires. Dennis has some radio issues, but that might be the headset.
Still getting used to the Skyview electronic display and learning what it can do more and more every flight. Amazing piece of equipment. My last two flights it seemed the prop gov was acting a little erratic. I’ll keep an eye on it. Both of us are getting slowly used to landing these planes as well as we landed the ones we had. (Pacer/Citabria ) It’s not that hard, just not what we are used too. So far the plane has been very patient with our landings. It’s waiting for us to “get itâ€. ( AND WE WILL )
One thing we did was fabricate landing gear fairings out of fiberglass for flexibility. We attached them to the landing gear with nut plates on the boot cowl on the outside and nut plates in the upper flange of the landing gear on the inside. This allows the fairing to be tight to the plane on both sides in flight. Works great!! ( Have photo's of this in another post, tips / techniques )
As per Whirlwind suggestion, we had the props balanced. Actually they suggested it done before first flight, but our prop guy said wait a while. Mine was out half as much as Dennis’, but neither of us could tell anything had been done. One thing we would suggest is setting the spinner a little high on the cowling to avoid having to add washers to the lower engine mounts down the road. (What we are doing the next two days while it rains) Or rather setting the cowling a little low.
We have the Van's engines baffle kit and are lowering the #2 cyl. baffle plate. That cyl in both planes is running hotter by 30 degrees. ( A lot of hanger talk on why that cyl is hotter going on here. ) Our oil cooler is on the fire wall and keeping temps in the normal range so far. WX is still cool though. N240-170's and N241-180's.
To sum it all up, most all of the Gremlins are coming from add ons and not the plane itself. This plane flys just like we were told it would. Getting all the good speeds in cruise, 140 plus @ 75% power and we are consistently landing way shorter than we have in the “other†planes. I would guess within 150 ( once ) to 400 feet and everything in between. All a matter of pilot skill, the plane will do it no problem. The only thing I found bad, and I use that term lightly, is you need to be careful dropping down from altitude. It can and will pick up speed very quickly.
Much to my delight, every where we go, they are getting attention. People are meeting us on the ramp and wanting to know what they are and to complement us on a job well done. A few have waited for our return just to show the wife our planes. Future pilots or builders?? We’ve been told they have a sound of their own and they know who it is when we take off. What I know is I can’t wait for the next WX appropriate day to go fly!!!
Still getting used to the Skyview electronic display and learning what it can do more and more every flight. Amazing piece of equipment. My last two flights it seemed the prop gov was acting a little erratic. I’ll keep an eye on it. Both of us are getting slowly used to landing these planes as well as we landed the ones we had. (Pacer/Citabria ) It’s not that hard, just not what we are used too. So far the plane has been very patient with our landings. It’s waiting for us to “get itâ€. ( AND WE WILL )
One thing we did was fabricate landing gear fairings out of fiberglass for flexibility. We attached them to the landing gear with nut plates on the boot cowl on the outside and nut plates in the upper flange of the landing gear on the inside. This allows the fairing to be tight to the plane on both sides in flight. Works great!! ( Have photo's of this in another post, tips / techniques )
As per Whirlwind suggestion, we had the props balanced. Actually they suggested it done before first flight, but our prop guy said wait a while. Mine was out half as much as Dennis’, but neither of us could tell anything had been done. One thing we would suggest is setting the spinner a little high on the cowling to avoid having to add washers to the lower engine mounts down the road. (What we are doing the next two days while it rains) Or rather setting the cowling a little low.
We have the Van's engines baffle kit and are lowering the #2 cyl. baffle plate. That cyl in both planes is running hotter by 30 degrees. ( A lot of hanger talk on why that cyl is hotter going on here. ) Our oil cooler is on the fire wall and keeping temps in the normal range so far. WX is still cool though. N240-170's and N241-180's.
To sum it all up, most all of the Gremlins are coming from add ons and not the plane itself. This plane flys just like we were told it would. Getting all the good speeds in cruise, 140 plus @ 75% power and we are consistently landing way shorter than we have in the “other†planes. I would guess within 150 ( once ) to 400 feet and everything in between. All a matter of pilot skill, the plane will do it no problem. The only thing I found bad, and I use that term lightly, is you need to be careful dropping down from altitude. It can and will pick up speed very quickly.
Much to my delight, every where we go, they are getting attention. People are meeting us on the ramp and wanting to know what they are and to complement us on a job well done. A few have waited for our return just to show the wife our planes. Future pilots or builders?? We’ve been told they have a sound of their own and they know who it is when we take off. What I know is I can’t wait for the next WX appropriate day to go fly!!!
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