Brian Kraut wrote: >I put gap seals on my Stang in about 15 minutes. My conclusion? Mark is > just having way too much fun.
I have a mountain of excuses, but I'll spare you...most of them. I haven't put gap seals on it yet because it's still in primer and I figure the tape's not going to stick well, but you may have just shamed me into trying them anyway. I have enough data to be able to show how much difference they make, even if I they only stay on for a few weeks. I have a brand new spinner now, but I want to use it as a mold and pull a carbon fiber one off of it. No real excuse there. Wheel pants, body work, etc. aren't done because it's been too cold for epoxy to cure, and that excuse is about to evaporate. I need to redo my cowling, but I'm expecting the opportunity to put a "fifth bearing" on the front of my next (3100cc) engine, so that's on hold until the machine work is done on the case and heads, as well as the previous excuse...cold weather. Another excuse is that I'm trying to only do one modification at a time, so I'll know what each modification does to performance. That's why I document every flight with notes and electronic EIS data stored to files, including altitude, airpseed, barometric pressure, OAT, etc. I do that because I like to know what I'm talking about when it comes to KR modifications, rather than speculate. You're absolutely right about way too much fun though. I'm addicted, pure and simple. If it's good flying weather, nothing else matters. I go to work at 6AM, just so I can leave early enough to get some flying in every afternoon. I used to never miss the news at 5:30...but now it's rare that I catch it, because the really good flying weather is just before sunset. I used to never miss Car Talk and stuff like New Yankee Workshop, and This Old House. Now I don't even remember to set the VCR....too busy flying or planning to fly, or getting the plane ready to fly again. It's addictive, I tell you! Today was a really cool trip. Up there in under two hours, despite a headwind, and back in 1.5 hours, except I didn't come straight back...I had to do four touch and goes in Fayetteville, buzz the house and surrounding area, and then grease one on in super smooth air at Hazel Green just as the sun went down (when you haven't bothered to install nav lights and strobes yet, you have to land before dark). I did most of the trip burning 4 gallons of auto fuel an hour at 11,500' and 10,500', up where it's smooth and clear...and I can glide for 20 miles with no engine. It's so smooth up there that you can kick back and steer by moving your arms or legs to different places to make a gradual turn, or keep it going straight. I took mine to 15,000' the other day, and it was still climbing at something like 300' per minute at that altitude. It's amazing how much my plane and Larry's are alike. The one big difference is the airfoil, but he has a great excuse...the AS5046 didn't exist back when he built his wings. I think today we proved again that it makes a difference. I even got to fly Larry's plane again, but it was so bumpy we decided to cut it short. They fly as similarly as they look. See photo at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/flesner/060326116m.jpg . Weather permitting, I'll fly to SNF next Friday, the 7th. People will see my KR and think "gee, I thought he did better work than that...it looks like crap". But the biggie to me is that I will have flown it in from north Alabama, 550 miles away, burning less than 20 gallons of fuel (less than I could drive it) in under 4 hours (a third of the time it would take to drive it). So for me, I don't even care how ugly it is... I've created a time machine! I parked it tonight with 172 hours on it.... Mark Langford, Harvest, AL see homebuilt airplane at http://www.N56ML.com email to N56ML "at" hiwaay.net
