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.
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