I have enjoyed and found other threads on Phase 1 experiences useful, and thought I would add my own. Right now I am at slightly over 10 hours, and have mainly been running high power settings to break in my new ECI cylinders. Have not yet experimented with higher altitudes or a great deal of slow flight.
-I have a small oil leak from somewhere on the front portion of the engine. The oil lands on the lower cowl right above and forward of the air intake. I slightly snugged up on case bolt there, but have not been able to stop or track down the source yet. Maybe 4-5 drops per flight.
-As noted in another thread, my electric Facet boost pump had stopped pumping, although fuel flowed through it fine. Removing from airplane and shaking it seemed to fix it. I think a spec of dirt got in it, and have ordered an inline filter to install before it and the Flo-Scan.
-Right side CHT's were slightly high. I have since moved the upper inlet ramp forward a few inches and re-glassed. This brought #1 way down. #3 is still slightly hotter, and hovers around 406* at 75% power at 70* OAT. I have done a lot of work baffle sealing, so will probably not stress over it too much until the cylinders have had time to break in. I know some people have had to re-jet, but this carb has been flying fine for 760 hours, and all my other temps are okay (well under 400). I am pretty sure further break-in will help even more, as well gear leg fairings and wheel pants.
-My oil temp is on the low side, and I have taped over the upper portion of the oil cooler inlet, which has helped.
-Oil consumption is reasonable considering break in, I think. I have added 1 qt in 10 hours.
-When I installed my fuel level senders, I forgot to add the bend that keeps them from pivoting. Neither of them were reading correctly. I have since removed and fixed the right sender, and will do the left next time I get the fuel level low enough to drain out. I still need to calibrate them as well. In the meantime, I keep the tanks fairly full, and find that my flo-scan has been fairly accurate.
-My passenger side step is already showing a crack at the typical location.
As for flying, she flies beautifully and hands-off. I had second-guessed the manual elevator trim, but I find it very intuitive and in a natural location where my right had falls anyways.
Full flap stall is 40 knots, straight ahead.
My first few landings were probably my best, as I used 60 knots on final. Letting that slide up to 65 knots gave me a lot more float and time to botch the perfect landing. I think I have let the airspeed creep up as the difference in sink rate between 60 and 65 knots is pretty noticeable, but I have to remind myself that even at 60 knots there is plenty of speed left to arrest the descent. I am renewing my focus on nailing that 60 knot airspeed over the fence. If I find myself a bit high, a quick slip works really well for getting down without speeding up. Either way the plane is very forgiving and stable once in ground-effect, and none of my landings have been hard or bounced. I have landed in up to 8 knots crosswind without much issue at all. Plenty of rudder authority.
The airplane loves to climb, and if I don't pay attention, it will. I have to get used to the slightly nose-down attitude of level flight. It will easily climb in a steep turn if I'm not careful, as well. Much more pitch sensitive than I am used to. I had to get used to planning my descents and slowing down farther in advance. But it isn't really that hard. My plane is proof that 150hp and a fixed pitch prop will, in fact, fly, and slow down.
Have not done much speed testing. I have no gear fairings or wheel pants. At about 3000' DA and 75% power I am showing about 136 KTAS. This is a 150HP and Sensenich fixed pitch prop. I don't really know how this compares to others or what to expect at higher altitudes. It's a plane that I built in my garage and goes over 150 mph. I'm happy. I can tinker later.
I have been making an effort to fly with increasingly different CG profiles, but have not yet worked up to anything near max weight.
Hoping to get a few more hours in this week and do some power-on stalls and work on some short-field landing technique, as well as some more crosswind practice.
Chris
-I have a small oil leak from somewhere on the front portion of the engine. The oil lands on the lower cowl right above and forward of the air intake. I slightly snugged up on case bolt there, but have not been able to stop or track down the source yet. Maybe 4-5 drops per flight.
-As noted in another thread, my electric Facet boost pump had stopped pumping, although fuel flowed through it fine. Removing from airplane and shaking it seemed to fix it. I think a spec of dirt got in it, and have ordered an inline filter to install before it and the Flo-Scan.
-Right side CHT's were slightly high. I have since moved the upper inlet ramp forward a few inches and re-glassed. This brought #1 way down. #3 is still slightly hotter, and hovers around 406* at 75% power at 70* OAT. I have done a lot of work baffle sealing, so will probably not stress over it too much until the cylinders have had time to break in. I know some people have had to re-jet, but this carb has been flying fine for 760 hours, and all my other temps are okay (well under 400). I am pretty sure further break-in will help even more, as well gear leg fairings and wheel pants.
-My oil temp is on the low side, and I have taped over the upper portion of the oil cooler inlet, which has helped.
-Oil consumption is reasonable considering break in, I think. I have added 1 qt in 10 hours.
-When I installed my fuel level senders, I forgot to add the bend that keeps them from pivoting. Neither of them were reading correctly. I have since removed and fixed the right sender, and will do the left next time I get the fuel level low enough to drain out. I still need to calibrate them as well. In the meantime, I keep the tanks fairly full, and find that my flo-scan has been fairly accurate.
-My passenger side step is already showing a crack at the typical location.
As for flying, she flies beautifully and hands-off. I had second-guessed the manual elevator trim, but I find it very intuitive and in a natural location where my right had falls anyways.
Full flap stall is 40 knots, straight ahead.
My first few landings were probably my best, as I used 60 knots on final. Letting that slide up to 65 knots gave me a lot more float and time to botch the perfect landing. I think I have let the airspeed creep up as the difference in sink rate between 60 and 65 knots is pretty noticeable, but I have to remind myself that even at 60 knots there is plenty of speed left to arrest the descent. I am renewing my focus on nailing that 60 knot airspeed over the fence. If I find myself a bit high, a quick slip works really well for getting down without speeding up. Either way the plane is very forgiving and stable once in ground-effect, and none of my landings have been hard or bounced. I have landed in up to 8 knots crosswind without much issue at all. Plenty of rudder authority.
The airplane loves to climb, and if I don't pay attention, it will. I have to get used to the slightly nose-down attitude of level flight. It will easily climb in a steep turn if I'm not careful, as well. Much more pitch sensitive than I am used to. I had to get used to planning my descents and slowing down farther in advance. But it isn't really that hard. My plane is proof that 150hp and a fixed pitch prop will, in fact, fly, and slow down.
Have not done much speed testing. I have no gear fairings or wheel pants. At about 3000' DA and 75% power I am showing about 136 KTAS. This is a 150HP and Sensenich fixed pitch prop. I don't really know how this compares to others or what to expect at higher altitudes. It's a plane that I built in my garage and goes over 150 mph. I'm happy. I can tinker later.
I have been making an effort to fly with increasingly different CG profiles, but have not yet worked up to anything near max weight.
Hoping to get a few more hours in this week and do some power-on stalls and work on some short-field landing technique, as well as some more crosswind practice.
Chris