I'm a bit slow posting this, but I've been busy flying!
First flight 7/09/2014
First flight had one oh **** moment at about 500 feet when the pre-made canopy shield (I purchased a ready made shield and fitted to the front of the canopy rather than lay one up from scratch) caused a loud buzzing noise which quickly turned to a high pitch screech like a dry bearing about to fail. Certainly got my attention and quick disposal of the headset to better try to quickly identify and locate the noise. I levelled off and quickly scanned engine temps all ok, so reduced engine rpm a small amount (I had a landing option of a road if I needed it in an emergency) there was no change in the noise, so I reduced the throttle to idle, the noise did not change so I figured it was not an engine problem. I increased the throttle back up to full power and continued to climb to circuit height. Whilst in the climb I remembered reading on the forum about someone else having a loud buzzing noise so I pulled down on the canopy bow to see if it would change the noise, it stopped the noise instantly whilst I held down on the bow and started again as soon as I released the downward pressure.
Apart from a slightly heavy starboard wing and stabilator trim switch function reversed and propeller under pitched the remainder of the 15 minute flight was uneventful. The next 2 days after the first flight saw 10.7 hours of flying including a very embarrassing moment when I was asked to Squark ident by the area controller due to converging traffic in my vicinity (It turned out to be a curious local mustering helicopter sneaking up on me for a sticky we both had our transponders on, hence the call) and whilst my eyes were on stalks looking feverishly for the other aircraft, I forgot momentarily how to get back to the transponder display within the dynon. (I was 25 miles from the local airport at 2,000? in an area that is uninhabited and only rocks and more rocks to see, not expecting traffic at this height in this area). I now have 32 solo hours logged. I have submitted my papers to get the provisional registration (25 hours & 25nm and no passengers) change to full registration status.
Some of the items I had to address during this time were,
Heavy Port wing corrected, (Squeezed Starboard flaperon trailing edge)
Reduced the Vans Rudder trim tab ofset
Trim switch wiring swapped to correct reverse trim operation. (Spoke to 2 other builders who also made the same error)
Fuel flow transducer calibration factor increased to correct fuel flow reading and fuel used (Still fine tuning this)
Propeller pitch (Whirlwind GA-RW3B-RW 3 blade) increased in three 1 degree steps, (to 22 degrees then reduced to 21.5 degrees due to Static rpm being below 5200 rpm.
Yesterday I experienced rough engine running rough on climb out at about 700 feet. This occurred after sitting on the ground in 35 degree ambient temperature for around 10 minutes and engine coolant and oil temps high, but not in the caution areas. Just prior to the rough running I got a fuel smell then a misfire, I turned off the electric fuel pump and the misfiring ceased almost immediately, this was quickly followed by the Audible low fuel pressure warning from skyview. A close in circuit conducted and high final approach in case the noise went quiet turned out to be uneventful. On cooler days I can operate on just the mechanical pump and retain normal operating range fuel pressures.
I have experienced a low fuel pressure warning on one other previous occasion on a mid 30?s degree day. I am beginning to wonder about the new all alloy rotax mechanical fuel pump and alloy gascolator (Getting cooked by the hot air exiting the engine cowls) they make a great heat sink. I have been having trouble getting fuel at the local servo also, I need to get PUP first off in the morning, the local servo is having petrol pump vapour lock problems on days when the ambient temperature is above 30+ degrees C. I?m beginning to wonder if the fuel might be boiling in the hot pump and hot carby bowls. I removed the carby bowls to check for debris this morning and they were both clean. A flight afterwards in the cooler air confirmed normal fuel pressures with and without the electric pump on and no misfiring. A three hour flight today 20Deg C outside temp at 5,500ft I had no problems at all (Electric pump was turned off for the 3 hours and the fuel pressure remained constantly in the green zone) as per all the previous operational hours when the electric pump had been turned off for short periods of time prior to the above misfire episode. After a short taxi and shut down and the time to get out of the aircraft and walk around to the front of the aircraft to measure the engine mechanical fuel pump upper chamber temperature I was surprised to see it was already 56Deg C ambient temp was 27 deg C. This problem is still a work in progress.
Now looking forward to relocating the aircraft to a cooler cleaner climate to get her painted.
Thanks to VansAircraft for such a great kit and aircraft, Building and flying this bird has been a very enjoyable and rewarding experience.
First flight 7/09/2014
First flight had one oh **** moment at about 500 feet when the pre-made canopy shield (I purchased a ready made shield and fitted to the front of the canopy rather than lay one up from scratch) caused a loud buzzing noise which quickly turned to a high pitch screech like a dry bearing about to fail. Certainly got my attention and quick disposal of the headset to better try to quickly identify and locate the noise. I levelled off and quickly scanned engine temps all ok, so reduced engine rpm a small amount (I had a landing option of a road if I needed it in an emergency) there was no change in the noise, so I reduced the throttle to idle, the noise did not change so I figured it was not an engine problem. I increased the throttle back up to full power and continued to climb to circuit height. Whilst in the climb I remembered reading on the forum about someone else having a loud buzzing noise so I pulled down on the canopy bow to see if it would change the noise, it stopped the noise instantly whilst I held down on the bow and started again as soon as I released the downward pressure.
Apart from a slightly heavy starboard wing and stabilator trim switch function reversed and propeller under pitched the remainder of the 15 minute flight was uneventful. The next 2 days after the first flight saw 10.7 hours of flying including a very embarrassing moment when I was asked to Squark ident by the area controller due to converging traffic in my vicinity (It turned out to be a curious local mustering helicopter sneaking up on me for a sticky we both had our transponders on, hence the call) and whilst my eyes were on stalks looking feverishly for the other aircraft, I forgot momentarily how to get back to the transponder display within the dynon. (I was 25 miles from the local airport at 2,000? in an area that is uninhabited and only rocks and more rocks to see, not expecting traffic at this height in this area). I now have 32 solo hours logged. I have submitted my papers to get the provisional registration (25 hours & 25nm and no passengers) change to full registration status.
Some of the items I had to address during this time were,
Heavy Port wing corrected, (Squeezed Starboard flaperon trailing edge)
Reduced the Vans Rudder trim tab ofset
Trim switch wiring swapped to correct reverse trim operation. (Spoke to 2 other builders who also made the same error)
Fuel flow transducer calibration factor increased to correct fuel flow reading and fuel used (Still fine tuning this)
Propeller pitch (Whirlwind GA-RW3B-RW 3 blade) increased in three 1 degree steps, (to 22 degrees then reduced to 21.5 degrees due to Static rpm being below 5200 rpm.
Yesterday I experienced rough engine running rough on climb out at about 700 feet. This occurred after sitting on the ground in 35 degree ambient temperature for around 10 minutes and engine coolant and oil temps high, but not in the caution areas. Just prior to the rough running I got a fuel smell then a misfire, I turned off the electric fuel pump and the misfiring ceased almost immediately, this was quickly followed by the Audible low fuel pressure warning from skyview. A close in circuit conducted and high final approach in case the noise went quiet turned out to be uneventful. On cooler days I can operate on just the mechanical pump and retain normal operating range fuel pressures.
I have experienced a low fuel pressure warning on one other previous occasion on a mid 30?s degree day. I am beginning to wonder about the new all alloy rotax mechanical fuel pump and alloy gascolator (Getting cooked by the hot air exiting the engine cowls) they make a great heat sink. I have been having trouble getting fuel at the local servo also, I need to get PUP first off in the morning, the local servo is having petrol pump vapour lock problems on days when the ambient temperature is above 30+ degrees C. I?m beginning to wonder if the fuel might be boiling in the hot pump and hot carby bowls. I removed the carby bowls to check for debris this morning and they were both clean. A flight afterwards in the cooler air confirmed normal fuel pressures with and without the electric pump on and no misfiring. A three hour flight today 20Deg C outside temp at 5,500ft I had no problems at all (Electric pump was turned off for the 3 hours and the fuel pressure remained constantly in the green zone) as per all the previous operational hours when the electric pump had been turned off for short periods of time prior to the above misfire episode. After a short taxi and shut down and the time to get out of the aircraft and walk around to the front of the aircraft to measure the engine mechanical fuel pump upper chamber temperature I was surprised to see it was already 56Deg C ambient temp was 27 deg C. This problem is still a work in progress.
Now looking forward to relocating the aircraft to a cooler cleaner climate to get her painted.
Thanks to VansAircraft for such a great kit and aircraft, Building and flying this bird has been a very enjoyable and rewarding experience.
