Yesterday was a happy accident. I was scrounging some exhaust gaskets at AvTech, when I overheard a conversation that an AvTech alum was bringing his transponder and static check equipment to KMDH. I asked to be put in the queue and as luck would have it, I was in.
John checked at least two C-172, I think a C-182, an LSA, a Cherokee 140, and the mighty Q-200. All in a matter of a few hours.
This was particularly great, since I wasn't really sure how accurate my systems were. In the conversion, I had discarded the altitude encoder and now use the Dynon D180 with the gray-code (whatever that is) converter for altitude encoding. I had no way of knowing if it was even wired correctly until the checks had been done.
We hooked everything up and John fired up his test device and gloriosky! The transponder and altitude reporting were spot on.
Next, he checked altitude calibration. At 10,000 feet, the Dynon was only off by 20 feet (10,020 ft.), which was well within specs.
Finally, we did the airspeed calibration, and this was the happiest news. My airspeed indicator is reading a little low, so when the airspeed indicator reads 196 mph, I am actually going 200 mph! I just got four more miles an hour!
It's the little things in life.
Excellent.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
I Actually Flew Somewhere
Actually, I went somewhere twice this weekend.
Saturday, the local EAA chapters, the SIU Rotor & Wing club, and what's left of the FBO, hosted a little brunch fly-in and Young Eagles day at the Marion airport, KMWA. This is actually all of about 9 miles from Carbondale, so I was pretty sure I could make it.
Coming into Marion, the tower let me do a "low approach" and I got a lot of nice compliments from the guys on the ground. This was my first off-KMDH landing since the rebuild, so I guess that's kind of a milestone.
With that under my belt, I decided to take on a much grander trip, so Sunday I flew all the way to Decatur, KDEC. Whoo-hoo! A whole hour each way!
On the way, I attempted to do some climbing exercises to determine if my Best Rate of Climb had changed, but about half way there I decided my methodology was wrong and abandoned that part of the test card. It's pretty clearly spelled out the the FAA's publication for testing homebuilts and I just need to do what the durn book says.
On the way back I had fun fooling around with the mixture profiles and get that a little more in line.
It ran well, but I can't a maintain high throttle setting for extended periods of time because of the the oil hitting the revised red line, but at least it got me there and back.
I now have about 13 hours and 18 landings (47 if you count all the bounces) since the rebuild and I feel like I'm generally getting most of it sorted out.
Funny, I was thinking (yes - dangerous, I know) that I was so glad to make a 250 mile trip, when 10 years ago I flew all the way across the whole durn country in one day. Maybe that just comes with getting older.
Saturday, the local EAA chapters, the SIU Rotor & Wing club, and what's left of the FBO, hosted a little brunch fly-in and Young Eagles day at the Marion airport, KMWA. This is actually all of about 9 miles from Carbondale, so I was pretty sure I could make it.
Coming into Marion, the tower let me do a "low approach" and I got a lot of nice compliments from the guys on the ground. This was my first off-KMDH landing since the rebuild, so I guess that's kind of a milestone.
With that under my belt, I decided to take on a much grander trip, so Sunday I flew all the way to Decatur, KDEC. Whoo-hoo! A whole hour each way!
On the way, I attempted to do some climbing exercises to determine if my Best Rate of Climb had changed, but about half way there I decided my methodology was wrong and abandoned that part of the test card. It's pretty clearly spelled out the the FAA's publication for testing homebuilts and I just need to do what the durn book says.
On the way back I had fun fooling around with the mixture profiles and get that a little more in line.
It ran well, but I can't a maintain high throttle setting for extended periods of time because of the the oil hitting the revised red line, but at least it got me there and back.I now have about 13 hours and 18 landings (47 if you count all the bounces) since the rebuild and I feel like I'm generally getting most of it sorted out.
Funny, I was thinking (yes - dangerous, I know) that I was so glad to make a 250 mile trip, when 10 years ago I flew all the way across the whole durn country in one day. Maybe that just comes with getting older.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Why Do You Think They Call it a Quickie!
For a better look, be sure and click on the image.
Now that I have your attention, I wanted to mention that I finally broke the 200 mph, true airspeed, barrier on the 15th flight.
A big hurdle has been the oil temp. The Continental overhaul manual lists redline oil temperature as 225F. Well, just about every time I flew it would get up to 225 pretty quickley, so most of the flights have been around 1/2 hour.
I started looking around at the Continental documents and found there was more to this oil temperature business. First off, remember that those oil temperature limits were established a loooong time ago. Probably in the 1950s. Oil has changed a lot since then.
Long story short, I called tech support at TCM and talked to an engine expert. He said it's official, the red line inlet oil temperature for the O-200 is 240F. So, if your plane doesn't meet the specification - just change the spec! Easy!
So yesterday I decided to go up and fly, fly, fly. First I climbed to to 5,000' or so and did a hearty full throttle run. That's when I achieved about 3,050 RPM and the TAS hit 201 mph. The highest oil temp I saw was 226, one degree above my "old" red line but well within the revised tolerance.
The engine still isn't perfectly smooth and I'm still fooling around with the mixture, EGT sensors, and maybe that darned trigger wheel sensor bracket again. But, I actually flew out past the big Mississippi and did a low approach at Perryville, MO before I came back home. (Kind of funny that I'm excited about making a 30 mile "cross-country", when 10 years ago I made this trip).
I'm still going to do something to bring the oil temps down, but at least I know that I'm not really in the danger zone and that I'm within striking distance of making this plane go faster than ever.
And that my friends, is why you call it a Quickie.
Now that I have your attention, I wanted to mention that I finally broke the 200 mph, true airspeed, barrier on the 15th flight.A big hurdle has been the oil temp. The Continental overhaul manual lists redline oil temperature as 225F. Well, just about every time I flew it would get up to 225 pretty quickley, so most of the flights have been around 1/2 hour.
I started looking around at the Continental documents and found there was more to this oil temperature business. First off, remember that those oil temperature limits were established a loooong time ago. Probably in the 1950s. Oil has changed a lot since then.
Long story short, I called tech support at TCM and talked to an engine expert. He said it's official, the red line inlet oil temperature for the O-200 is 240F. So, if your plane doesn't meet the specification - just change the spec! Easy!
So yesterday I decided to go up and fly, fly, fly. First I climbed to to 5,000' or so and did a hearty full throttle run. That's when I achieved about 3,050 RPM and the TAS hit 201 mph. The highest oil temp I saw was 226, one degree above my "old" red line but well within the revised tolerance.
The engine still isn't perfectly smooth and I'm still fooling around with the mixture, EGT sensors, and maybe that darned trigger wheel sensor bracket again. But, I actually flew out past the big Mississippi and did a low approach at Perryville, MO before I came back home. (Kind of funny that I'm excited about making a 30 mile "cross-country", when 10 years ago I made this trip).
I'm still going to do something to bring the oil temps down, but at least I know that I'm not really in the danger zone and that I'm within striking distance of making this plane go faster than ever.
And that my friends, is why you call it a Quickie.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Eleven and Holding
So, as of yesterday I have 11 flights since rebuild. Yesterday's was only a half hour.
I have several issues to address, but the most pressing is high oil temps. For years, I was a happy camper with oil temps and I strongly felt that a properly cowled and baffled O-200 would not need an oil cooler. Unfortunately, that changed with my new setup and I think the primary issue is with the new composite sump. The old oil tank was a big bulky piece of steel that was a marvelous heat sink.
My new sump doesn't conduct heat for beans and it is more much compact. Now, I get about 20 minutes of flight before the oil is dancing around 225F. (OAT of 57F).
I tried installing one of those finned heat sinks over my oil filter, then built a cooling shroud for it with a 1-1/2" hose leading up to it. Unfortunately, when I flew yesterday, it didn't seem to help a bit.
So now, I guess I'll be exploring the oil cooler option.
Rats.
I have several issues to address, but the most pressing is high oil temps. For years, I was a happy camper with oil temps and I strongly felt that a properly cowled and baffled O-200 would not need an oil cooler. Unfortunately, that changed with my new setup and I think the primary issue is with the new composite sump. The old oil tank was a big bulky piece of steel that was a marvelous heat sink.
My new sump doesn't conduct heat for beans and it is more much compact. Now, I get about 20 minutes of flight before the oil is dancing around 225F. (OAT of 57F).
I tried installing one of those finned heat sinks over my oil filter, then built a cooling shroud for it with a 1-1/2" hose leading up to it. Unfortunately, when I flew yesterday, it didn't seem to help a bit.
So now, I guess I'll be exploring the oil cooler option.
Rats.
Monday, August 03, 2009
A Stuffed Engine Compartment
I was fooling around with the camera and photo editing program to see if I could make some ghost images of the engine compartment. This will help allow me to see where I might have extra room. I found that using Picase Web Albums, I could upload the photos and present slideshows. So here they are. If it seems to bog your computer down, let me know and I'll pull them off. Click of the photos for a larger view.
Looking at the right side of the cowling...
Here is the front view...
And looking at the left...
Looking at the right side of the cowling...
Here is the front view...
And looking at the left...
Baseline Measurements
Today I talked to my friend Harry Hinckley about my plane. Harry is the chief pilot and engineer for Greg Zimmerman's very fast SX300. In this past AventureCup race Harry turned a blistering 298 mph, so when Harry talks, I listen.
When I was talking about where I was in the project, Harry asked me about my baseline numbers. As a Six Sigma Black Belt, I know all about data collection, I just get lazy and don't practice what I know I should do.
So after talking to Harry, I went out and made a ground static run, short test flight, and gathered a little more data.
Total cowling inlets: 22 sq. in
Total cowling outlet 28 sq. in. (kind of estimated)
Static & ground runup
ATIS Temp/dew: 27/16 C = 80/61F
Baro: 30.03"
Dynon Outside Air Temp (OAT) sensor: 84F = 29C
Static RPM 2,400, MAP 30"
Test Altitude: 5,500'
OAT: 59F = 15C, Dynon Density Altitude: 6,700 ft.
WOT RPM: 2,850 - 2,900 RPM MAP 24.5"
IAS: 170 mph, TAS: 188 MPH
Oil temp: 215F
I found some test data from May 23, 2005, also flown at 5,500 feet. At that time, I was able to get about 3,000 RPM and had a corrected airspeed of 199 mph.
I'll refer back to this post, to see what effect my changes make.
When I was talking about where I was in the project, Harry asked me about my baseline numbers. As a Six Sigma Black Belt, I know all about data collection, I just get lazy and don't practice what I know I should do.
So after talking to Harry, I went out and made a ground static run, short test flight, and gathered a little more data.
Total cowling inlets: 22 sq. in
Total cowling outlet 28 sq. in. (kind of estimated)
Static & ground runup
ATIS Temp/dew: 27/16 C = 80/61F
Baro: 30.03"
Dynon Outside Air Temp (OAT) sensor: 84F = 29C
Static RPM 2,400, MAP 30"
Test Altitude: 5,500'
OAT: 59F = 15C, Dynon Density Altitude: 6,700 ft.
WOT RPM: 2,850 - 2,900 RPM MAP 24.5"
IAS: 170 mph, TAS: 188 MPH
Oil temp: 215F
I found some test data from May 23, 2005, also flown at 5,500 feet. At that time, I was able to get about 3,000 RPM and had a corrected airspeed of 199 mph.
I'll refer back to this post, to see what effect my changes make.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
A Few More Flights
I am now up to six flights since the big rebuild. I had a big one yesterday - up for over an hour, which is a lot for someone who is expecting (fearing) the engine to quite any minute. Actually, I'm getting a little more confidence and think this may work out.
Much of the time has been spent fine tuning the mixture mapping for the EC3 and that is getting better. I also took care of the roll trim issue, by adjusting the length of the elevator push rods.
Here is what the mixture mapping looks like. As you can see, I have more tweaking to do. Click on it for a larger image. Get it?
I bounced the first three landings, but the last three have been better, so I am coming along. C-Rod says, even though any landing you can walk away from is a good one - you get extra points if you can reuse the airplane.
I am generally tooling around at lower throttle settings, around 2,300 RPM, since I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere. The oil temperature seems to be holding around 200-205F and I need to work on that.
Today, at wide open throttle (WOT) I got about 2,800RPM. I flew my last AirVenture Cup race at 3,050 RPM, so I have big work there. I am going to try all other means, but I believe the handwriting is on the wall to change back to a straight in-line induction system. Of course that means more design and more fiberglass and more painting. Yeauch.
As far as speeds go, I think I may not be too bad. Today at 3,100 feet, I briefly held 2,620 RPM with 26" MAP and got 159 mph IAS. The Dynon's displayed TAS was 167. I still need to check airspeed calibration, but I think those figures might be a little better than before.
I really need to get the RPMs over 3,000 to see what I have wrought.
Much of the time has been spent fine tuning the mixture mapping for the EC3 and that is getting better. I also took care of the roll trim issue, by adjusting the length of the elevator push rods.
Here is what the mixture mapping looks like. As you can see, I have more tweaking to do. Click on it for a larger image. Get it?
I bounced the first three landings, but the last three have been better, so I am coming along. C-Rod says, even though any landing you can walk away from is a good one - you get extra points if you can reuse the airplane.
I am generally tooling around at lower throttle settings, around 2,300 RPM, since I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere. The oil temperature seems to be holding around 200-205F and I need to work on that.
Today, at wide open throttle (WOT) I got about 2,800RPM. I flew my last AirVenture Cup race at 3,050 RPM, so I have big work there. I am going to try all other means, but I believe the handwriting is on the wall to change back to a straight in-line induction system. Of course that means more design and more fiberglass and more painting. Yeauch.
As far as speeds go, I think I may not be too bad. Today at 3,100 feet, I briefly held 2,620 RPM with 26" MAP and got 159 mph IAS. The Dynon's displayed TAS was 167. I still need to check airspeed calibration, but I think those figures might be a little better than before.
I really need to get the RPMs over 3,000 to see what I have wrought.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Missing the Big Show
This is the first year I've completely missed Oshkosh, in I don't know how many years. It's kind of a sour grapes pity party, but that's the way it is.
Last year I flew a friend and his C-182 up there, so it wasn't like I wasn't connected or anything, but I realized one of the best things for me was to just hang around the Quickie and see how many moths are drawn to the light.
So, this year I decided if the Quickie couldn't make it, I wouldn't make it. That's completely okay with me, but nothing beats being at Oshkosh with the plane on the flight line, Sandy nearby, and visiting with all the friends I've made over the years.
Next year, for sure.
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