While I only have a 10th of the time in my KR2S as Joe has in his, I agree with his opinions. The majority of my time in the airplane so far has been in 3 hour legs flying from coast to coast, and I can say without hesitation that I never adjusted the trim once during the entire trip. It is set for hands off flight while straight and level, but if I let go in a climb it stays there also. I don't usually let go while landing, and control forces are basically the same anyway wherever the trim is set. Heck, my trim adjuster only has about an inch of travel anyway, so it's hardly worth moving it.
I so far have not noticed any change in stability as C.G. shifts aft during the flight, but have not pushed to the aft limit, and don't really plan to after reading Marks horror stories. It certainly seems steady as a rock with two people in it and about 4 gallons of gas left in the header tank, and I can't imagine loading it any more aft than that. Of course if you double the capacity of the header tank it might be enough to start noticing a C.G. shift in flight. I'm not an engineer. Certainly when it comes to risk management, everyone has their own level of risk acceptance. One could argue that just because one person managed to get away with operating safely does not mean that we should turn our noses up at any modification to the original design that might improve safety. At the same time, when hundreds of people have operated the same basic design without any problems you could easily argue that there is nothing wrong with bypassing modifications that may increase building time, weight, complexity, etc. if you are willing to accept the same level of risk that they all did...and survived. I once watched a program on TV called Fear Factor in which they had contestants performing some task on a very high catwalk or such. It looked like it would be lots of fun to try, but then they ruined it by having the contestants wear so much safety gear i.e. harnesses, wires, helmets, goggles, etc. that there was no way you could possible get even a minor or superficial injury even if you dove off the place. Where's the FEAR FACTOR come in? I certainly don't mean you have to be afraid of flying, but the important thing is that some of the thrill comes from the fact that we know when we fly that we are doing something that if done incorrectly can have tragic and deadly consequences, and we have trained ourselves to do it safely. Not everyone can do that. We get some of the same kind of thrill by flying a well built homebuilt airplanebecause not everyone can build something that can safely fly. Sure maybe it could be built even safer, but is there a cost in how we will feel when we fly it? Sorry I'm rambling. ......... Just my thoughts. Have fun flying guys, Todd Thelin Spanaway, WA In a message dated 1/18/2011 6:41:31 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, joe.kr2s.buil...@juno.com writes: Don't sweat it. I have the 12 gal header tank ...(and I)... accept the risk. ... I fly for hours at a time and i really would not even have to change the trim from full load in all the tanks to nearly empty. ... now be real about your personal risk level after all your building your own real live airplane in a livingroom ar something. I am concentrating on not having an accident for risk management.let the fire begin,Joe HortonCoopersburg, PA.565hours KR2s
