I sincerely hope you are serious about the leather cap and white scarf, that is SOOOOOOOOOO cool!!!! >Richard Alps ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I'm afraid that's just the "Walter Mitty" in me coming out. In reality I do wear just a baseball cap to the airport. Speaking of which, I played hooky from work yesterday and got in 4 hours of flight time on the KR. I did some climb test and flew with additional weight for the first time. All test went well. I'll try to remember to post the climb speeds when I get them charted but it seems the best rate will be somewhere in the 80 to 90 range. On one test I recall getting 1000 fpm (500feet, 30 seconds). On the weight I used 50 pound bags of rock salt from the laundry. I started with one bag, made a flight, added a bag, another flight, etc until I had flown with three bags with a gross weight of 1200lbs +/-25lbs. Keep in mind my KR is a 24" stretch. The handling did not seem to change much from no weight to 150 lbs in the passenger seat. I could tell it was changing but the change was less than I expected. It never seemed to feel "skiddish" at any point and I felt comfortable with the control I had. As I added weight I made sure I could lift the tail on takeoff well before I broke ground. I was ASSUMING that would at least give me enough control to return for landing. I started with the trim set at neutral each time and was watching for the KR to reach the neutral trim point. On the 150 lb flight I still required slight nose up trim. The landing on that flight required the trim tab to be set for a very slight nose down trim (tab approx 3 to 5 degrees up) at 80 mph. I stopped at the 150 lb point and intend to do another W&B with actual passenger to determine EXACTLY where I'm at in the C.G. range. I did find that with 100 lbs my neutral trim glide speed (controls free, power at idle) is 70 smph indicated. Rigging: I mentioned in earlier post that my KR requires considerable nose up trim at cruise. I was showing my flying buddy in the Acro Sport what I had and scared the *&^%$ out of myself. I set the trim for neutral and took off and caught up to him. I held cruise power and as I passed him I released my grip on the stick and moved my hand quickly forward to catch the stick. The nose "tucked" so quickly that it put me against the straps and the "junk" setting on the passenger seat lifted 6 inches before the stick hit my hand. I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon! After a B.S. session at a local airport the concensus is that the KR has (A) too much wing incidence and/or (B) not enough negative incidence on the horizontal stabilizer or (C) both. At least that was the conclusion about my KR. The addition of wheel pants will probably change that by some factor on my KR. The additional trim drag is probably costing me a few mph but hey, I'm still grinning. Ten T.O's and landings in one day and 47 hours total. I've probably flown my KR more in four months than some KR's fly in a lifetime! I need to make some log entries and hit my first airshow this weekend. YEE HAA............ Larry Flesner
