I shut down ?Junior? yesterday morning as drops from an approaching light rain dappled the cnopy with 40.1 hours on the flight-o-meter and reams of test data in the computer. Reading through the Ops Lims statement, I had no reservations signing it out of Phase 1 as having fulfilled all of the REQUIRED testing to determine that it has no hazardous flight characteristics throughout the normal flight envelope ? and also signed off the huge number of aerobatic maneuvers (?left and right?) that we?ve gone through. So legally, the airplane is free to roam ? which is good, because we still have testing to do!
The ?additional testing? is generally to build detailed performance charts (we have enough rough data already to refine the envelope) and to check out all of the nooks and crannies of the avionics package. Eventually, we?ll build nice cruise/power charts from the performance data, although realistically (based on experience), we?ll probably find the numbers we like the best and use them all the time. It?s nice to know the capability in advance (for flight planning) of course. In the world of avionics, we?ve verified that everything is connected and plays properly, the Comm radios Comm, the Nav radios Nav (and the entertainment radios entertain). We?ve flown enough with the autopilot to verify that it can do the whole coupled approach thing while we sip on a juice-bag?.but now the serious work of understanding all of the little nuances begins. And of course, since we beta test software, everything we learn may change as upgrades come along.
So while Phase 1 is complete, we still have lots of fun test flying ahead. It has been a lot of fun mentoring Louise through her parts of the Phase 1 program, and I have enjoyed exploring the envelope with such a capable airplane ? especially when doing vertical roles at only 70% power. Hopefully, we?ll get some time to do a little fiberglass touch-up work before it heads to the paint shop in April. But for those in Texas, you might start seeing the unpainted -3 with the ?pepto-cowl? on a ramp somewhere in the meantime!
Paul
The ?additional testing? is generally to build detailed performance charts (we have enough rough data already to refine the envelope) and to check out all of the nooks and crannies of the avionics package. Eventually, we?ll build nice cruise/power charts from the performance data, although realistically (based on experience), we?ll probably find the numbers we like the best and use them all the time. It?s nice to know the capability in advance (for flight planning) of course. In the world of avionics, we?ve verified that everything is connected and plays properly, the Comm radios Comm, the Nav radios Nav (and the entertainment radios entertain). We?ve flown enough with the autopilot to verify that it can do the whole coupled approach thing while we sip on a juice-bag?.but now the serious work of understanding all of the little nuances begins. And of course, since we beta test software, everything we learn may change as upgrades come along.
So while Phase 1 is complete, we still have lots of fun test flying ahead. It has been a lot of fun mentoring Louise through her parts of the Phase 1 program, and I have enjoyed exploring the envelope with such a capable airplane ? especially when doing vertical roles at only 70% power. Hopefully, we?ll get some time to do a little fiberglass touch-up work before it heads to the paint shop in April. But for those in Texas, you might start seeing the unpainted -3 with the ?pepto-cowl? on a ramp somewhere in the meantime!
Paul
