Netters - this is going to be rather long and will contain content regarding the KR2 as LSA compliant - so be warned and delete now if you desire. I feverently hope that we don't start an endless discussion but rather my objective is to add some datapoints that some of you may find interesting.
First a description and some history of N202RH. A KR-2 with a RAF 48 wing with tips extended 18 inches to the same dimensions as a "Diehl" wing. Has a forward opening "Dragonfly" canopy and the first generation of Rands fixed gear, which were two piece aluminum legs that bolt to aluminum castings. Equipped with a Continental C-85 with the Starter and Generator removed and swinging a 60 x 64 Sterba prop. It currently weighs 696 lbs. empty and dry (no fuel or oil) with a fuel capacity of 17.5 gals in one tank, I've set the gross weight at 1150 lbs. Construction was started in October of 1985 and was originally built as a tri-gear with the main gear mounted on the rear of the main spar and a Rutan Long Eze nose gear strut and castering nose gear fitted. A local DAR signed it off in June 2002 - yes almost 17 years of construction and 3000+ hours. But we weren't finished yet. The more we ran the engine the more dissatisfied I became with the Eisleman mags - I rebuilt them with new points and coils but still had unacceptable drops so they were eventually replaced by Slicks and a new harness. That took us to 2003 - then while taxi testing the Long Eze strut collapsed doing minor damage to the cowling and destroying an absolutely beautiful Peery prop. So I carted the fuselage back to my home to re-group. The structure was inspected and found to be OK - the old nose gear was removed and a new more robust gear was designed around an early Lancair nose wheel assembly that I was given. All in all that took another year of my life before the trip back to the airport. It's now early July 2004 and things began to proceed a little faster. First flight was on 7/31/04 but was cut short by high engine temps - we were able to get them down to just under redline by opening the cowling intakes and tightening up the baffling a bit. We began to build hours somewhat slowly as we found that we didn't have enough up trim even with the CG in the middle of the envelope. Moving the battery from the firewall to the back of the seat helped but it became apparent that my nose wheel installation was causing the nose to pitch down and was most likely impeding the outflow of the engine cooling air. About this time (March 2005) fate struck again - my test pilot suffered an engine out and put the aircraft into a cow pasture off the end of the field after determining he wasn't going to clear power lines at the end of the runway. The good news is that he was unhurt and the new nose wheel held up - the bad news is that the main gear legs sheared the AN4 bolts that attached them to the castings. The departing right leg poked large holes in the underside of the center section and damaged the right flap. The left leg didn't depart but folded under doing similar damage to that side of the center section. After we got the plane back to it's hangar and up on saw horses and began the damage assessment we found no wood damage at all. The damage was limited to foam and glass. We also determined the cause of the engine stoppage - a cover on the fuel vent, located under the wing, was overlooked on the pre-flight - tanks don't feed well without air to replace the fuel. Total time 5 hrs. At this point a decision was made to remove the nose gear, remount the main gear forward of the spar and install a tail wheel. (I know the exact reverse of most.) The main driver was to improve the cooling airflow and correct the drag on the nose, which was requiring a large nose up trim to fly level. Anyway new gear mounting brackets were fabricated out of 4130 and mounted on the front of the spar. The cast brackets spar mounting holes were off just enough when moved from the back of the left spar to the front of the right spar to require new brackets. The right flap was rebuilt and the foam between the center section wing spars and replaced with 1/16 ply. A tail wheel was mounted on the existing TW mount that was built in place during original construction as the tail tie down. The only new hole drilled in the structure during this conversion was for tail wheel spring mounting. The wings were thoroughly inspected for any damage and the right underside was found to have a rather large delamination so that section of the skin was removed and replaced. So after 15 months and new weight and balance we are ready to try again. On 6/24/06 N202RH flew again (same test pilot but he now religiously uses the provided check list) with much more manageable engine temps and an improved trim range. As of 12/23/06 we now have 25.7 hrs of mostly trouble free flying. Kind of slow progress by some but I've been relying on two others to do all of the test flying - they have better flight experience than I do and I've been concentrating on keeping the plane airworthy and analyze the data collected at this point - but that's soon to change. So where are we and how does it perform. First all speeds quoted are average of multiple GPS readings. At the 2550 redline line we have measured it at 132.5 mph CAS, Climbs at 750 fpm at 1130 lbs., has been flown at the max weight of 1150 lbs., Stalls clean at 50.7mph CAS at 1130 lbs. and a CG of about 27.8% MAC (range is 16.7 % to 29.2%). This is as close to max weight and aft CG as I am willing to go. My test pilots are thoroughly in love with N202RH - it has no vices except it wants to float forever, even with full flaps, and has made landing challenging- by the way that's a change from when it had a nose gear - the nose gear I had at least acted as a speed brake. Based on those numbers and comparing them to the LSA regs - It's my opinion the aircraft registered in the Amateur-Built Experimental Aircraft category as Human KR-2 (N202RH serial # 7269-66RH) is in compliance and can be operated under those regulations. Ok - what does this mean as far as the Light Sport Aircraft regulations and why should we care - Well in my case I am a holder of a Private Pilot certificate but if anyone has been keeping track of the time involved I've been steadily aging (better than the alternative), I had just turned 39 when I started cutting wood for this beast, I'm now 60. Can I pass a third class physical - probably - but why incur the expense or chance rejection when the Light Sport will satisfy all my needs. You see I don't have to be any where that I can't get at 130 mph. Slow for a KR, maybe, but if you go back and look at the data in the Excel spread sheet on the KR net or the data in the old newsletters it's not far off based on horsepower. So there it is if anyone is offended by a KR-2 that is limited to 138mph - well that's your problem - I'm going to start enjoying My LSA Compliant KR variant that I've invested the last 21 years on. Rick Human Houston, Texas
