- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
- Messages
- 3,400
- Reaction score
- 3,220
First Flights! For most people it seems to be way off in the distance, even over the horizon! Tuesday Nov 4 th after some preliminary ground taxi tests and minor stabilizer adjustments and some tail low full power engine runs that were followed by hi speed tail up runs down runway 15 The airplane flew for the first time, approximately 45 minutes although, about half of that was probably ground run time! Today Nov 6 I flew it again on two separate occasions, first time was for a half hr, and the second time was for one point one hrs dodging rain showers! I now have two point four hrs and about nine landings, and have not been the main story line for the six O' Clock news!
So far the flights have been quite successful and equally uneventful! Oil pressures, Oil temps, Fuel pressure, EGT, and Charge rate have been all in the green?
I have just now stopped holding my breath, as for numbers I have little to report in the way of cruise or stall speeds, I think the airspeed is fairly accurate, but who knows, I need to get my GPS installed to verify the indicated speeds, and as I commented earlier my VSI does not work at all! But the altimeter and airspeed seem to work just fine! At about 2400 rpm it indicates right at 140 mph and does not seem to like flying much below 100 mph until on final, part is due to hi idle speeds as so far with a little adjustment at a time have got it down on the ground prior to flight around 6 to 750 idle rpm, but after flying is around 900 ? I have a PS-5C that is on a narrow deck 235 HP O-540 B1B5 and the carb although has the later orange silicone diaphragms has set for many yrs?
I would like to thank first my good friend Mike Smith who has been my right hand man for the last three yrs, for with out him, I would probably be at least a yr away!
Also many on this site Beej for one, who was and has been most helpful followed by Wes, Ben, Cashflyer , Navy Bipe, Doug, Bill, Kris, Knight Twister Taff, Morgan, and of course Wild Man Ward!
There are of course many more who have crossed my path that have helped! This is the forth biplane that I have done most of the major work on and have followed to completion, and for an old guy 73 yrs old last Sept, one who has father and son Biplanes that have been flown to Oshkosh 2008, and recently on the October cover of Kitplanes have not been lacking for something to do in the way of aviation for the last 40 yrs! My son Dan took several videos tonight, but few pictures, hopefully we can post the flying video on a host site in the near future? Dave
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