Hello again Pete, Mark has some very good tips that I hadn’t thought about. But let’s add a little more to it. Mark has had a couple engine failures and unfortunately I have as well. I’ve had 13 or 14 in around 18,500 hours. Probably about the same percentage actually. Both of us are still walking around so we can talk about engine failures from experience. Remember that if you had to land off the airport with or without the engine the airplane doesn’t know the difference. Only you do so IF the thing quits on you land it. Some would say pick you out a spot and land it but we don’t have to worry about you picking out a spot for this flight because you are going to survey your emergency landing spots before hand. Before the throttle is pushed forward you know where you are going if it quits in the first mile. Then on down wind. Then you are back in easy gliding distance from the runway. Don’t tell the world that you will be flying your airplane on Saturday. Peer pressure is not something you want for this. You will fly it when you are 100% confident in both you and the airplane and not before. Not to mention the weather being perfect. It may be that this process will take you two months or longer. Don’t let anyone influence you to fly it before you are ready. We call it test flying but if you take the time to do it right the test are already done when you go around the pattern. You can note your takeoff and landing speeds on your bunny hops. Then as Mark suggest make your first approach a little faster. Quiet frankly I’ve never liked the idea of a stranger coming to test fly an airplane that someone else built yet I’ve done that many times for Velocity owners. I was getting paid well so I didn’t complain about it. But you the builder know that airplane better than anyone else ever will. If I were in the states I would come help you but I’m in Africa until October so all I can do is coach you from the sidelines. We are all here for you if you need us. Keep us posted on everything just in case we see something that you don’t. Air speeds can vary greatly from one aircraft to another so numbers mean very little to me on test flights. These short hops down the runway will teach you where it lifts off and lands at but remember that is in ground effect. If it lifts off at 45 and flies down the runway it won’t do that at 1000 feet. Have the CG on the forward end to start with, never near the rear limit for a while. Build up to that slowly. Bring all the patience you have to the airport then buy some more.
Victor Taylor Irvington Alabama. Hope this helps. Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 24, 2019, at 19:46, <m...@n56ml.com> <m...@n56ml.com> wrote: > > Victor Taylor wrote: > > .....>> I’m not saying don’t get someone else to fly it for you. You > built it and deserve the joy in launching it for the first time. But > only if it’s safe to do so. << > > This was an excellent reply, and would be hard to improve on. I was > hoping you'd be the guy to answer it. I have no right to answer this, > as I invited Troy Petteway to fly mine first, and fortunately it went > quite well. I thought about flying Robert Pesak's for the first time, > but got antsy when I thought about the tri-gear vs a taildragger (which > should be no real difference), but more importantly....the engine > controls. Nobody is more familiar with the engine and other system > controls than you, Pete, and for that reason I'd say you're the best guy > to make that first flight. You'd never forgive them if somebody else > piled it up because they did something stupid because of a > misunderstanding of the controls. Just make absolutely sure you've > tested fuel flow at climb attitude to be at least 1.5X what the engine > will need at full throttle, and that the engine will run wide open for > at least a minute (that'll get you plenty of altitude and a good shot at > a decent forced landing). After my first engine failure, I adopted a > takeoff policy of climbing out to the right about 30 degrees from > centerline, just in case I need to turn back (left) to the runway. This > helps mitigate a sharp S-turn if you have to turn back. Also, make sure > you climb high enough to stall it at least once so you know what your > indicated airspeed is when it quits flying, and land 10% faster for the > first few landings. I'm also a fan of taxi testing, but some folks will > assure you that's a dumb idea. Still, I think you'll do fine if you > follow Victor's advice and get a little stick time in a KR. I'd > volunteer, but N891JF is a very tight fit, and the heaviest person I've > flown was my 100 pound daughter. But as Troy Petteway told me after he > flew N56ML, "it's the best ground handling KR I've ever flown, and KRs > in general are pussycats on the ground anyway." > > Mark Langford, Huntsville, AL > ML "at" N56ML.com > www.N56ML.com > > _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org
