| Volume 2, Issue 1 - January 1, 2004 |
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| National Aviation News |
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“This is great news, as it completes an important step to make sport pilot/light-sport aircraft a reality,” said EAA President Tom Poberezny. “My compliments to FAA and DOT for their hard work in getting this important task accomplished. EAA and the aviation community have been looking forward to this important announcement as the rulemaking package enters its final phase.” OMB now has 90 days in which to review and return the package to the
FAA, at which time it would be published in the Federal Register as a
final rule. |
| World Aviation News |
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Piccard is working with his partner, British national, Brian Jones and a team of scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. You may remember Piccard and Jones from their successful attempt in the Spring of 1999 to circumnavigate the Earth in their balloon, Breitling Orbiter III. The project presents many technological challenges, the greatest of which is the ability to store enough energy to power the plane through the night. Piccard hopes to achieve this by 2007. He announced that he is currently looking for sponsors. kgn SANTIAGO, CHILE (December 23, 2003) Jennifer Murray and copilot Colin Bodill are recovering after their Bell 407 helicopter crashed in Antarctica. The cause of the crash was unknown, a British rescue team from the Falkland islands was dispatched and they were rescued just one day after the crash. Murray and Bodill sustained non-life threatening injuries. Murray was attempting to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe via the North and South poles. |
| First Flight RV-6 - Built by Don Woodham and Rick White |
FLIGHT CHECKLIST • DEPARTURE
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You don’t just buckle up, fire up and blast off on the first flight. Don and Rick did it right and their preparation is a good example for us all. We’ll look at it step by step. Having completed most of the building, Don and Rick wanted to feel comfortable about two very important things. The airplane needed to pass the pre-flight inspection and it needed to be ready for a SAFE first flight. They enlisted the help of three new sets of eyes to give the airplane a careful inspection prior to the official inspection by the DAR. George Mikita, Steve Formhals and I spent about three hours looking at all the critical and not so critical parts of the airplane. All three of us had built RV type airplanes and were well versed in what needed to be addressed. We created a list of recommended changes. Some were legitimate safety issues that Don and Rick would need to repair before that first flight. Next came the paperwork. Several things must be ready for the inspector. Things like the weight and balance information, the N number and the application for registration. Rick knew the DAR and was able to verify that all the required paperwork was ready before the inspection. Additionally, Don had kept a builders log and had taken numerous pictures of the building process. The inspector really wants to see these. The inspection itself went quite smoothly. It really ought to if the appropriate preparation has been done. With the DAR’s blessing, the project was ready to become an airplane. Many people think that the first flight is the most hazardous one the airplane ever makes. It doesn’t have to be. Don and Rick approached it correctly. First, the issue of the test pilot is critically important. Many pilots think “I built it and I’m going to be the first to fly it.” This is a bad decision in many cases. The builder often hasn’t flown during the building process. The builder may also have zero time in type. For RV builders, a great advantage is that so many of them are flying. There are a lot of highly qualified pilots to either do the test flight or provide some stick time in an RV. Don and Rick did the smart thing. They allowed an experienced RV pilot to do the first flight. I was fortunate. I pulled the long straw and made that first flight. Secondly, they were ready for the flight. The weather was perfect. A small ground crew was available and briefed. A complete pre-flight checklist and flight checklist was prepared (see below). Air to ground communications were available. Communications frequencies were determined and pre-loaded in the radios. Don and I did a complete orientation of the aircraft systems. After going over every detail of the “flight plan”, we were ready. I’ll give you a blow-by-blow of how the flight went. Note – We had planned on a chase plane but the pilot was unable to make it. Engine start and taxi were normal. At the end of the runway, we carefully went over each item on the pre-flight checklist. The result of each item was transmitted to Don who documented any problems. We were ready to fly. Don and I both had copies of the flight plan, so as I flew each item and reported the result, Don could document results. The take off was remarkable. The tail was up before I had the throttle
all the way in. The airplane lifted off in less than 300 feet. The
plan was to climb out at 100 MPH with full power. We were at 120 MPH
and climbing at over 1500 FPM much too quickly. Raising the nose to
hold 100 MPH resulted in a rate of climb of about 2600 FPM. WOW!! Remaining
over the airport I leveled off at 4500 feet and the indicated airspeed
was just below 180 MPH (without gear leg fairings or wheel pants).
The air was silky smooth. Slowing to flap speed, half and then full
flaps were dropped. Everything is absolutely normal. A straight-ahead
stall was benign with only a slight left wing drop and immediate recovery.
At this point, the oil temperature was getting a bit too high, so the
flight was terminated. Some of the items we hoped to evaluate will
have to wait until the next flight. The post-flight revealed just a
few squawks. This was not an exciting flight. It’s not supposed to be. Don and Rick prepared the airplane properly. We were organized and prepared for the flight. The ground crew knew exactly what to expect and the pilot was intimately familiar with the flying characteristics of the airplane. The result of forethought and preparation was an uneventful and SAFE first flight of a marvelous little airplane. Rick and Don are going to love it!! Bob Cabe |
| Local Aviation News |
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Let me start with Jack’s activities. In flying a gyro, most of them have a “pre-rotator,” which is often a starter motor driving a ring gear on the rotor. This takes a bunch of battery power, as well as a hefty alternator. Jack had neither, and so his takeoff roll was longer than he liked. He’s got that cured for sure, now. He also took this down time to install a water pressure gage for his Subaru engine, and found that water pressure was very much dependent on engine RPM, instead of mostly on temperature. He figures that if you typically run an engine at the higher RPMs, you are driving the water pump too fast. The cure for this is a smaller main pulley on the crankshaft, so he is pulling the engine to get at that. Luckily, after-market pulleys are available. And while the engine is a bit more accessible, he will also put a slightly hotter pair of camshafts in that smooth running baby. Oh yes—Jack also installed a real set of brakes on the machine—just for those special occasions! Now to the Breezy. All of us have had a hand in doing “stuff.” One picture shows David Talley attempting to break the adhesive bond of fabric on a test frame. No Luck! This process is from Chris Falconar’s Canadian firm, and requires no rib stitching at all. Our wings are now ready for cover, and we’ll get at this shortly. The engine is in (temporarily), with a recently fabricated stainless exhaust, and awaiting the installation of a new, light-weight, key-type starter (a slight engine mount mod is, however, required). We’ve also been fabricating the fuel tank, and now we’re at the welding stage. I hadn’t realized that the outlet port flanges were an AN part, but I do now! We’ve got four of ‘em now, so we’re pretty good at pressing in the shapes to receive them (our 2-ton press along with lots of slippery wax makes short work of them). Oh yes—longtime chapter friend Sal Hernandez is doing all the welding honors—he is really, really good! I (yes, even I) can recognize that our shop is in major disarray, especially now that son-in-law Mike Jewett is preparing to begin work on his Turbi, a low wing, tandem open cockpit, all-wood taildragger (chapter member Buzz Heye is also gearing up for a Turbi). Honest Mike—I’ll get things straightened up! |
| Guess that Plane |
Do you know what ultralight plane this is? I will post the winning answer in the e-Letters to the Editor section next month. (Clue: this ultralight is capable of vertical landings) Look for this contest each month. If you would like to submit a photo of a hard to identify plane or make a guess, please send it to kris123@ticon.net |
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