No Mags is Official!

I am now legally mag-less. I just finished my FAA  mandated 10 hours within a 50 nm radius, so now I can go back to flying anywhere.  I have to say, the engine is running nice and smooth and is starting pretty well.

If you fly 400+ miles and return to the same airport, should you log that as a cross country flight?

Since I was burning up time rather than trying to get somewhere I decided to put some hours on for a single flight. Departing Carbondale, I headed straight west for 50 miles, then turned right. Using my GPS set to KMDH I tried to keep the distance about 49 nm out. Since I wasn't in a hurry, I throttled back to 2,100 RPM or so, which slowed me down to 145 mph, true. So, when you do the numbers, this big-ass circle was 314 miles in circumference, adding in the 50 nm each way gave me a distance of 412 nm. I did it all in around 3:20.  This was a different kind of flight and kind of fun.

It was also interesting to see my performance at reduced throttle. At only 2,100 RPM I still had a true airspeed of 157 mph and a fuel flow of 4.2 GPH. I was surprised it was that good. I guess the combination of fuel injection and electronic ignition has really paid off. 

On the last of my 10 hours I decided to do some flight testing, as advised in the FAA Advisory Circular Flight Testing for Homebuilt Aircraft. I did a stall series and that was easy enough, putting my "stall" at 70 mph.

The harder part was gathering the numbers for Best Rate of Climb, then deriving the Best Angle of Climb. The middle of those two numbers gives you the Best Glide Speed. Having never done this before, it was harder than I thought. I used 3,000 feet as my baseline altitude and wanted to determine how far I would climb at that airspeed in one minute. 

The procedure I used was to set my Dynon's airspeed bug at whatever speed I was testing for, say 145 mph, then descend to 2,000 feet. I would to to full power and attempt to keep the airspeed right on the money and establish a smooth climb. When I reached 3,000 feet I would start the timer. When one minuted elapsed I noted and recorded the altitude.  This kept me very busy and I had quite a time keeping the airspeed right while doing everything else. I aborted a few attempts, since I hit the watch too late, of my airspeed was too far off.  

When I was finally done I captured 38 readings and it took over two hours to fly. I really didn't need that many, since the numbers i was most interested in  were in the 100 to 135 mph range. As you can see, I took a lot of liberty smoothing the curve, but I think it's close enough for government work. 

 The speeds I came up with were:

Stall in landing configuration, Vso = 70 mph

Best Rate of Climb, Vy = 117 mph (gives me about 1,650 feet per minute.)

Best Angle of Climb, Vx = 110 mph

Best Glide Speed (the average of Vy & Vx) = 113 mph

And here are some theoretical values Maximum Endurance, Maximum Range, and Optimum Cruise Speeds, by Russ Erb:

Vmax endurance = 85 mph

Voptimum cruise = 148 mph

And now I'm ready to fly all over the place, right? Unfortunately, my annual condition inspection expires tomorrow so I'll have to get that done first.  Maybe when it warms up a little.

Electronic ignition is done - I think

Trickier than I thought. (As usual click on the photos to see the full version.)

I started out by modifying my electrical drawings, which was kind of fun.  I had to add in the four coils, decide where the connections were and assign wire numbers.

Then I had to modify the switch connections on the instrument panel to get rid of the magneto P-Lead ground path and add the +12 volt power supply to the coils.  Glad I managed to remember

how to use the Solid Edge CAD program.

Well, it turns out the hard part was finding a spot for four additional coils. I was hoping to attach them to my plenum in some fashion, but my friend John Cotter talked me out of it - and he was right.

Finally, I decided the only space available was the compartment that the magnetos previously occupied, the cutout in the firewall.  John came over and helped me install these rascals. I think this installation will work, and I can actually reach in and get my hands on the coils, with the engine installed, for what ever reason may come up in the future.

It was a bit of a bother finding which spark plug wires to use, but I settled on the MSD Street Fire line.  In retrospect I wish I used Magnecor, since they seem to be higher quality, but since I have $60+ invested, I'll keep them until I decide they're a problem.

Now that it's all done,  I have been able to start the engine several times and it runs a lot smoother, especially noticeable in the lower RPM ranges. I think I'm going to like this setup. It's kind of odd pulling the prop through and not hearing the magneto impulse couplings clacking away.

So for now, I am waiting to test fly until I get a letter back from the FAA giving me my flight test area limitation.  After five hours in the local area, I'll be good to go.

One More Time! Revising the ignition system

During the AVC race trip I had some persistent roughness in my remaining magneto. When I got home I pulled the engine and the magneto, to find it was in need of an overhaul. I am tired of pulling the engine to inspect the mag and it has only gotten worse with the addition of the fuel injection given all the extra wires.

My friend Lyn French has been running the same EC2/EC3 system as I have and he eliminated the second mag a couple of years ago, so I figure it's time for me.  According to Lyn, I just need to add a second set of coils, hook up some wires and I'm good to go.  Naturally, easier said than done.  

Here is a photo of Lyn's installation of the upper spark plug coils.  He ganged the four coils together and mounted them of top of his plenum.  He was able to do this since his plenum doesn't cover the whole crankcase.

Here is my plenum setup. Notice it covers the entire crankcase since I wanted to provide as much cooling as possible. Since there isn't any room left in the engine compartment I'm somehow going to have to figure out how to mount the coils under my plenum.

 

Catching up and the AVC race.

Work on the back-up system has mixed results, and I think there is no point listing it all here, since few of you have the RWS EC3 engine controller. I'll just let it go that it it working better, but still not 100%.

Another Oshkosh has come and gone and this year was exceptionally special. This was the 25th year I have had my Q-200 to the big show and it is also the year I earned my 30 year tag. Actually, I should have amended the words "Has been flying over 30 years" with "Off and On".

I really wanted to get our mobile home up to Oshkosh this year, but it just wasn't doable, so I resolved to leave the Quickie at home next year so I could drive it up with Sandy. More about that later.

The AirVentureCup was great as usual. This year the starting line was at Mitchell, SD, so it was convenient for me to stop at Topeka on the way up to visit with Cherish, Brent & Fisher. Fisher was really disappointed when he found he couldn't get a ride this time around.  Can you tell?

It's really hard to capture what it like having 70+ race planes on the ramp. Let's just say it's pretty exciting.

First time racers applying their numbers

Checkered flag toes.

Fast Class

The omnipresent Jeff Barnes.

Pre-race dinner and pilot's briefing

Thunder Mustangs at the ready.

Jeff Lang's Turboencapulator powered Soneri.

Typical cockpit organization.

Race aircraft strewn all over the place at our interim stop, Owatonna, MN.

Honestly, we really do know what we're doing.

Finally made it to Oshkosh.

Cozy Girrrls put on a great spagatti dinner for the Canardians.

With AnnElise Bennet

I think this was departing from Owatonna. Lots of wake turbulence.

Quickie and Dragonfly folks having a cold one before the evening airshow.

Richard Kaczmarek proposing to Wendy at the end of the Quickie Builders Association
annual stockholders meeting.

Reg Clarke's very fast Subaru powered Q-2, from British Columbia.

Going to church in Oshkosh.

Uncle Doc, Rich, Dee, & Sam

I was in the conga line for departure for over 40 minutes!
Here, I am only number six or seven in line.

So, after doing another AirVenture Cup race and Oshkosh for a week, I am finding it hard to hang up my racing shoes. I want to make it go faster, faster faster.  Now all I have to do is to firure out how to get the motor home and the plane there at the same time.

Missing the Backup

The RWS EC3 engine controller has two sides to the computer, A&B. You normally run on A and this handles the ignition and the four fuel injectors. If there should be a plroblem with the A side, I flip a switch and go to B. I have set up the B side with a larger single mounted on the Jenvy throttle body. If you study the photo, you can see all five of the injectors.

When I do a run-up at 1,700 RPM and check the A/B performance it works just fine.  However, on my way back from AirVenture last year I got the bright idea to check the backup side while in flight. I flipped the switch to B and the engine basically crapped out. No chance of sustaining level flight.

So, for the last month I have been trying to resolve this problem. I have pretty much eliminated ignition, fuel pressure, mixture control, etc. Watching my EGT gauge, it's apparent that cylinder #3 is the one dropping out.

I watched some YouTube videos on fuel dispersion from injectors and see that many injectors shoot a strong stream of fuel. What I think is happening is when the mass airflow increases at higher RPMs, the fuel is probably concentrating towards the rear of the intake elbow, starving Cylinder #1.

This TB has a provision for two injectors, so I have ordered the parts to run with two.

Stay tuned for further developments.

The next three photos are a few years old, when I still was trying out the composite oil sump, but they help illustrate my setup.

Not So Fast

Took a little trip up to visit my daughter yesterday and thought I'd check performance.  Not good enough.  I seem to have lost about 4 mph, I used to top off around 211 TAS.  Unfortunately, there  are all sorts of variables, the new canard, new overhaul of the engine, not the identical angle of incidence as the old one, new shape wheel pants, completely different prop, etc., so it's difficult to ascertain where the problem lies.

One thing I think I need to look at is the prop speed.  With the old setup I would turn about 3,100 RPM.  Intentionally, we set the new one to top around 2,800 RPM, but with a steeper pitch.

There are some unfinished items on the rebuild.  It needs a good wet sanding and buff, and I need to fabricate the covers that hide the exposed elevator torque tube on the under side of the canard.  I also need to better tweak the mixture and will be installing a new O2 sensor to aid with that.

Actually Flying

So, with about seven flights under our belt, Plastic Explosive and I decided we were reliable enough to take it on a big trip, the Annual Quickie Aircraft "Field of Dreams" event, held this year in Orange, MA. Of course, you remember that Sandy and I were on the same trip last year when we had our "incident".

I loaded up with 32 gallons of fuel and hit the road.  Really, the plane flew just great.  The cylinder head temps got hot on climb out, but I could fix that by lowering the nose, increasing the mixture, and throttling back a little.  Remember, this engine isn't fully broken in yet and I still have some work to do sealing the air gaps in the plenum.

I used flight following both ways.  It's better than filing a VFR flight plan, because they know where you are all the time, and it is good practice communicating with ATC. This map shows the return trip.  I was almost out of Massachusetts when I started flight following, that's why it's not showing KORE as the origin. The joggles are where I had to fly around some Class B airspace and some clouds.

On the way out, I stopped for fuel in Columbia, NY. I was pretty sure I had enough to make it the additional 65 nautical miles to Orange, but better safe than - well you know.

I was very happy to make it to Orange and see Dave Dugas, the organizer. Jerry Marstall already there beat me there, by a day.

We had five Q birds, one Cozy and a Bonanza attend.

Q-2: Dave Dugas
Q-200s: Sam Hoskins, Paul Fisher
TriQ200s: Jerry Marstall, Bruce Crain
Cozy: Rodney Herzig
Bonanza: Mike Bergen

Jerry and I flew up to New Hampshire to look for a long gone cabin he used to own.  This gave us the opportunity for some fun formation flying. We stopped at Keene, NH where were were met by the other guys for lunch.  Fun.

A impromptu Quickie invasion at Keene, NH.

Some people have just too much fun.

Bruce Crain gave lots of rides.

Jay Scheevel gave us a great presentation on the aerodynamics of our little planes. I hope he publishes it, because it was a lot of great information that will take a while for this feeble brain to digest.

 First time I attended a clam event. It was good, but things did not go well for me later in the evening.  Probably just too much of a good thing.

Dave steaming the corn, clams and lobsters.

It was not a good day to be a lobster.

These little guys were awaiting us Sunday morning.

My guy was green.  Something to do with the clams, I think.

Finally, it was time to hit the sky and head home. The weather was clear, with light varying headwinds. I was able to make it all the way, 975 miles, non-stop.  Five hours and 45 minutes is a long time to sit in one place.  When I landed, I still had another  75-100 miles of fuel left, so I must have used about 27 gallons for the trip.  Comes out to around 4.6 gal./hr, and 36 miles/gal.  Not too bad. BTW, only used 1/2 quart of oil.

Whew!  Am I glad to get that trip behind me. Now, how can I get this thing to go faster?