NetHeads, Somebody asked last week what kind of climb rate I'm getting out of the 3100cc engine. I did another two hours today, making 11 landings at three different airports, for a total of 16 hours on the engine. I went back and checked the climb data from one of the climbouts, and over a four minute period I climbed from 1080' at the runway to 6160', which is 1270' per minute at about 110 mph, with an OAT averaging 60F . It climbs best at about 80 mph, but this should give you an idea of the fairly impressive climb rate I get out of this thing these days, and I wasn't even trying. This is with 2/3's tank of fuel, and a gross weight of probably 1000 pounds.
I flew into Suwanee, TN several times today, which is a tricky little field on top of a mountain, surrounded by trees all around. The direct crosswind led to some interesting eddies that made for some good practice. I have to confess that it was a blast to have the plane go up and down like an elevator with no notice, having to haul back all the way on the stick to break the fall when I was headed toward the runway. This is a little twisted, but I'm starting to think of good landings as anything in which the plane is unhurt (and they've all been good so far). Greasers are something that are only possible on relatively calm days with me, and all the rest are educational experiences. I'll probably take it down for a few days to install the new ICOM A-200 radio and do a few other things. I've finally had enough of people telling me my radio is unintelligible. It'll have to be up by Sunday for another trip to my father's farm though, but I suppose the handheld will get me there and back, since technically I don't have to talk to a soul between here and there. Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama see KR2S project N56ML at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford email to N56ML "at" hiwaay.net --------------------------------------------------------------
