Current Flying Report

Current Flying Report

September 1, 2004

It was just before sunset on a beautiful Southern California day and I had a new Tennessee 54 x 20 prop to test for a better rate of climb at a gross weight as near 500 lbs as I could manage with the help of the Atkins diet... I'd been working on my personal weight for 15 months and the scales said we weighed (LEU #33 and me) 510 lbs with 3 gallons of fuel on board...

My friend Ray Ganzer was there to see the plane fly for the first time and observe the climb performance... My field (Nichols) is shared with a busy jump operation that includes the Navy Seal unit here in San Diego... Ray checked with the jump operators and when they said the last load was in the air I started the engine to warm it up thoroughly and be ready to roll when the jumpers were down... Operations said over MultiCom the jump plane was going to over night at Brown field so when the last jumper hit the ground I rolled out onto runway 27...

The engine had not been run much for 15 months so I was pleased that it was running well on the ground and went right past 3350 rpm as I started the ground run... The new prop seemed to hook-up and pull more as I rolled plus I was in the air far sooner than with the Perry 54 x 24... The climb away from the runway was what I had been looking for - the ground just dropping away and had several hundred feet of altitude as I crossed the end of the 2000 foot paved area... Then I got my pre-set warning light that I was going over EGT temp - I had forgotten to re-jet the carbs for the increased power being pulled out of the engine... I cleared the water hazard at the end of the runway and reduced power to 3200 rpm and leveling out at pattern altitude... The engine was running smooth as glass and the EGT came right down into the 1200 degree range as I made a left pattern to land back on 27... I set up a 45 - 50 mph approach and 2700 rpm seemed about right to keep the sink in check... When the plane was into ground effect I closed the throttle - with light stick back pressure it settled quickly into 3 point configuration and we were rolling on the runway touching light as a feather - it all felt soooo good...

Ray said the take off and rate of climb looked like you would see with a normal light airplane... That's what I felt and I was pleased...

January 1, 2003

I flew up to Mike Ward's shop (LEU factory) in Guatay, CA this morning... Got into rollers and huge gusts that blew sideways right into the cab... I had the seatbelt and harness really cinched down and additionally I was hanging onto the front wing brace hand grip with my right hand to feel less on edge... Nichol is down at 224 ft and Mike is over 4000 with a 5000 ft hill just south of him and higher ones to the North... I crabbed and crawled the last 5 miles - did a shallow turn over the shop 1000 ft AGL and retreated... I was so busy flying that I didn't have time to see if Mike got outside... He knew I was coming and I was on time (later Mike told me that he heard me 5 miles out when I was coming across I-8 at Japatul Road)... Wind was still out of the East when I got back to Nichol Field and normally would have shifted to the West... I made my first landing over the trees at the West end and greased it on short... There was snow on the mountains further north and it was cold... It was so clear I could see much of the S. Calif coast... Coming down from the high country and 10 miles out of Nichol I ran the engine at 2500 RPM and 45 MPH airspeed showing -200 FT per Min ROC... I tried 40 MPH airspeed but the gusts would push too much... Still carrying altitude when I got to Nichol I went on to the West over the lakes and pulled the power back to 1600 RPM and saw -600 Ft per Min at 50 MPH... You get significant sink when the power is pulled way back... So far I have found it natural to make 3 point landings and the plane stays where you plant it... The only time I've had a bounce (and it was a single one) was on the first landing at the dry lake... I was not expecting the high sink rate and had the power at idle coming into ground effect... Since then I always carry 2500 RPM until I'm in ground effect and just a little fast...

There is some video of #33 around that shows vortex generators at the thickest place in the chord behind the mainspar in the middle of each rib bay... With limited up elevator we have found the plane near stall proof but climb performance has been reduced above stall right up to 50 MPH... With this setup the plane wants to fly and BEFORE it's ready (behind the power curve) while still in the 3 point attitude... We are going to remove the vortex generators and perhaps try them on the aileron wing bays at some distance in front of the front wing spar... Leonard and I both strongly advocate raising the tail immediately with forward stick on the take off roll and then reducing forward stick pressure as the speed builds before lifting off... At my weight the proper lift off speed is above 35 MPH and the perception is you are really rolling along when you break ground...

We are working on Swiss mufflers for the LEU's (Mike, Danny & Steve) and tuned exhausts on Danny Doolin's and my airplanes because we have high lift / overlapped cams that respond well to pipe tuning... I had to get an ANR headset and I still hear a phantom lingering high pitched whistle in my ears hours after flying... The short stacks and open cab are a bad match.

I have 30 TT hours on #33 now... Much of the time in cross country flying and 2 hours of really windy conditions... The structure has shown no deterioration... The wind gusts have put loads on the airplane in excess of 2G's... I don't advocate that as fun flying... I climbed at 3250 RPM (maximum climb power) for 45 minutes (topped out at 5400 ASL) going to Guatay and saw 130 degrees F oil temp... OAT was 50 degrees F... The plane was still climbing and the rev's showing 3230 RPM at 5400 Ft... I'm going to make a blanket for the oil sump...

Let's get some more LEU's in the air this year!...

December 03, 2002

It was too windy to fly yesterday... Today we were having an on shore flow that promotes fog with winds that almost stiffen the windsock... The wind comes up the main runway at Nichol about 12 degrees south of the runway heading... The temp 63 degrees F...

I took off on the UL runway and headed out where there are some places to make an off field landing (a rarity in these parts)... The visibility was down between one and two miles in ocean fog and clear straight up... Bumpy and requiring constant coordinated aileron and rudder inputs... I flew at power settings all the way down to 2500 RPM and having 36" sleeves was able to reach forward and feel what kind of temp was present near the air filters... You will be pleased to know that warm air surrounds and flows back over the carb inlets on both cylinders - maybe warm enough to diminish power but certainly helping with carb icing potential... Never discount a carb ice possibility as it exists in a greater temp and dewpoint range than you might suspect... Follow this link and study the graphic...

The engine showed no signs of icing... I carried power right to touchdown and angled across the main runway to stay headed into the wind... The brakes were a nice closing exercise to a landing at perhaps 30 MPH - just a touch and the energy was gone...

I looked the plane over for gig's and finding none filled the tank and put it away... Maybe the wind will be down tomorrow and I can do some slow flying, stalls and pattern work...

The most impressive change to the design has been the eyebrow air scoops... The head fins in the tin area are cool to touch for quite awhile after you shutdown before internal heat starts working out of the cylinder... The oil temp today never got over 120 degrees F... The engine is turbine smooth at idle and flying power ranges between 2500 and 3400 RPM... Digital EGT with limit's capability is just fantastic... Ask Santa for a Grand Rapids Technologies Engine Information System...

Happy Holidays,

Steve

October 9, 2002

The objective: Fly the LEU from the ranch near Dulzura, CA to the Copperstate regional fly in near Casa Grande, AZ some 300 miles east of the ranch...

The attainment: First a little background - After developing a crankcase oil leak on the back of the engine during the San Diego Round County poker run September 14, 2002 which required removing the engine we decided to tear the engine totally down and have Hummel Engines do their reciprocating mass balance on the crankshaft assembly...

Notice hole drilled in crank rod journal and crank material removed above plus external counter weight on prop extension below... Also note that thrust loads are being taken on #3 main bearing and not #2 as per Better Half engine plans...

The leak was caused by not using Permatex Red Silicon Sealant on both sides of the rear main cover gasket (the gasket material contact cement coating failed)... We found the rubber cam plug ready to fall out and made a cover there too from the old main bearing cover plate... We used 6 screws on the new main bearing cover plate just because...

We did not get all the pieces ready to assemble again until Saturday October 5, 2002... The wings, right stabilizer / elevator assembly were off the fuselage and the engine parts in boxes... Mike Ward and I worked like animals and by Monday afternoon the 7th the engine and plane were together (it would have taken me a month without Mike's help and many thanks to Mike!)... We ran the engine for an hour Tuesday with a 5 minute full power segment... At 7:15 AM Wednesday I flew the plane out of the ranch strip bound for the first stop / refueling at Jacumba County airport where Mike joined the venture in his Titan... I was loaded down with a lot of gear to survive an off field landing in the mountains or desert...The all up weight of the plane was 525# and over-gross... The fresh engine was down a 100 RPM and the extra weight plus reduced engine performance with temperature in the 90's made climbing thru the 4000 ft passes a slow exercise... Headed out from Jacumba to Holtville we lost each other due to the speed / climbing differential between the Titan and LEU... Mike arrived a few minutes before me at Holtville... The caretaker at the Holtville facility (a closed airbase) suggested I fly at 2000 ft and Mike below me to make it easer for him to spot me when circling around to keep pace with my 55 MPH progress... This was very good advise and Mike provided the navigation to get us thru the complex airspace around Yuma, AZ... When I took off from Holtville the LEU ground handling was squirreley and unlike it's normally docile characteristics... When I landed again at Dateland, AZ the landing was a struggle to keep the airplane from ground looping and inspection of the main gear revealed that the left axle had been slowly bending up to a point ground handling was vigorously impaired... We tied the LEU down in old B25 ramp anchor points (it took 50 ft of rope) and I joined Stan who had been driving the van with our gas and baggage for the last 100 miles to Copperstate... Mike was the first registered flying attendee at Copperstate!...

Steve & Mike at Copperstate...

Summary:

The Legal Eagle flew beautifully and the flight was terminated by the lack of a gear repair that I should have done when the weakness had become known... I had put 1/2" .049 wall tubes inside the axle tubes and it was not enough... The gear with solid axle insert repairs is currently at the welding shop... The 40 hour experimental test period within 25 miles of the designated test airport is a prudent rule - it is time consuming and expensive to recover airplanes from distant airports... The Hummel Engine balance job removed 85% of the airframe shaking just as they advertise...We have found that the heavy grease reported in Experimenter for the valve cover gasket to head flange surfaces eventually leaks... Valve cover gaskets coated with Permatex Red Silicon Sealant on both sides do not leak and the only one of many processes we have tried that works... The first engine had run on 2 gallons per hour of fuel after a 10 hour ground run in... The new engine used 2.75 gallons an hour with carb jet changes after a 1 hour ground run in... Any carb jetting change must be accompanied by re-proving the fuel consumption rate for fuel requirements planning... We have found that 1 hour flights and 50 miles are comfortable for cross country work... The wind buffeting and seat time are about right and you have enough fuel remaining after an hour to seek out an alternative landing area if necessary... I'm eager for Mike to get his Legal Eagle finished so that matched performance airplanes can be flown together - flying the Legal Eagle is pure pleasure and only better when you have someone right out there just off your wing...

September 14, 2002

The third flight of the LEU was to be a Round San Diego County poker run of 200+ air miles... The LEU needed brakes for me to self launch from the ranch so a Formula Activa bike disk brake system was devised and installed... Mike Ward came to help with assembling the airplane as it had been trailered home from the second flight and assisted with the final brake assembly... We aggressively tested the brakes and did a full power run-up holding the plane with just the brakes... (More on the brakes page will follow - here's one picture to see the general layout)...

17 flyers were signed up for the rally and most were going to launch from Nichols Field (Home of EAA UL Chapter 114)... Mike Ward was going to be my flying buddy as we were all requested to fly in pairs... Mike trailers to Jacumba 42 miles from Nichols so the plan was for me to self launch from the ranch by 7 AM and meet Mike at Jacumba to fly to the other 5 airports... We pre-registered my departure time with the rally central coordinator... On the side I told Mike I'd break ground at 6:15 AM at very first light... That was a good move because as I unknotted the tiedown rope at the cab and applied the brakes a brake cable end fastening released the cable so I was grounded needing repair... The cable end failed because I had opened it during assembly with Loctite applied to the threads and had a hard time re-tightening it (moral is clean all Loctite out if you open fittings and reapply)... I managed to do the repair and launched right at 7 AM the launch time of record... Now us border people have a little problem called (cellphones don't work and further Jacumba has no facilities) so Mike was both in the dark and in the light in the dark waiting for me...

The sun was rising as I flew east over 2 lines of mountains and the 1/2 VW was just cranking it out in a 55 MPH cruise climb showing 3250 RPM... I leveled out and ran about 15 miles at 59 MPH showing 3000 RPM between the 2 sets of mountains... The temp was about 80 and the plane flying so well (I'm really starting to sync in with the airframe in my 4th hour of flying) that I didn't want the flight to end... From the cockpit it was like sitting on a porch with friends on a warm summer evening - down low the mountain scenery is very picturesque if you don't dwell on where to land in a Rocky Mountain emergency ( the 1/2 VW has never missed a beat or burbled - I know why I choose this plane over a 2 stroke)... The oil temp is running (too low) at about 155 degrees F and I'm hoping it will go up some when I switch to synthetic oil... I've never heard that engine story in the west before...

Darn - I'm getting close to Jacumba so I call Multicom and ask for the active... Getting a little closer I saw a lot of UL's and that 25 was in use... Come in on the 45 downwind to the right pattern which keeps you out of Mexico ( the border is on the field) and pull the throttle back to 2500 RPM (Joe Maynard is really right about that RPM for the let down)... I nailed this landing and when the plane was settled on the runway still rolling fast down hill I applied the brakes and was I pleased - it slowed quickly and straight ahead - added power to get up to the turnoff and out of the way of 3 UL departures queued up...

Mike said that had I not showed up by 8 AM he was going to go home and gave me no slack for making my field repair in a timely fashion (we have airports to visit and desert wind a coming)... The flight from the ranch to Jacumba had gone flawlessly once I was rolling... I'll always remember it as the first LEU flight that I had begun to fly as a part of the plane... Observing all the structure as it moved thru the air and how well it handled in cross country, take-off and landing modes... I put 2.5 gallons of fuel in (started with 5 and went to capacity of 5.5 gallons full)... Did a walk around inspection as Mike warmed his Rotax, started the engine with one flip (it started on the first blade all day) climbed in the cab, looked in the foot well and shut the engine down for the rest of the day...

A major oil leak amounting to about 1/2 cup of oil had started somewhere on the back of the engine where you can't see... It had run thru the firewall along the lower right motor mount bushing and onto the plywood floor board and then down into the trapped area between the floor board and the fabric... The rear main cover is probably the leak source but we won't know until the engine is pulled away from the firewall and we pressurize the case to force the oil in leak mode...

Denny Walker (another east county member of the UL chapter) had come out to Jacumba before dawn and helped Mike put his Titan together... Denny called my wife from his ranch and then drove to Nichols to log us off the flying list and was a much appreciated flying team member - we did buy Denny breakfast at the Jacumba Resort/Spa of movie star drying out fame... I wanted Mike to fly the rally but he offered again to trailer me home and so we took his Titan to live in the Guatay garage - to my ranch for tools and wing stands, then to Jacumba to disassemble the LEU and back to the ranch hanger in Dulzura... We were feeling our years when all that was done...

Tach time this flight was 1 hour and 4 hours total on airframe - 14 hours on the engine...

We are going to split the case and send the crank assembly to Scott Casler for the Hummel Engine balance process... Mike Ward has volunteered to help with this significant effort and it is appreciated...