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Posted for "Mr Gary Burns" <gkburns@bigpond.com>:
Hi all, Just a short e-mail to express a few thoughts on Wayne Bourke's
Lancair IV after conducting the first flight on friday the 9th of February.
(7th Lancair now flying in Australia, with a further 4 expected to fly in
the next 12 months).
Firstly, the jpeg enclosed doesn't really do the aircraft justice. The paint
is similar to that used by Lancair on their Legacy ie it changes colour with
different ambient lighting. Another photo inside the hanger tends to make
the aircraft look purple.
On inspection,( prior to the first flight ) Ric Steven & myself could find
no defects. Our only criticism was a few minute gaps in the baffling that
will be filled with clear high temp silicon in the near future. As it was,
the highest cylinder head recorded during an extended climb was 365 degrees.
With Wayne in the left seat,we carried out the pre flight checks noting the
spark plugs were a little fouled after ground test runs with a little to
rich mixture. After the flight, at 1000 rpm the engine ran smooth with a
fuel flow of 9 to 10 litres per hour.
On the first take off it was great to have the gear retract as advertised.
Many others have had the main gear hang up because the gear doors were not
stiff enough. We climbed at 170 knots IAS & I noted that the rate of climb
was 1400 feet per minute (oat 33 degrees celsius) which is about 200 fpm
better than my aircraft does. I put this down to Wayne's new 4 blade MT
propeller. In cruise I noticed the elevator horn was flush with the
tailplane. I had noted on many Lancair IV'S I had been in that the horn sat
up in the airflow.We decided that on my aircraft & subsequently on Frank
Fry's & Wayne's that we should change the incidence from the recommended .6
degrees to .4 degrees. It seems to be perfect. The other mod that I highly
recommend is the stall strip on the left hand wing. We carried out power on
stalls with full flap & had no noticeable wing drop. This system was devised
by Peter Yates & Ric Steven in Perth for VH-HOT. The dimensions of the strip
are: 8" long by 1/4" by 1/4" triangle located 18" from the wing root. This
makes for a very docile aircraft at the stall.
In cruise, at 75% power & 90 litres per hour (100 rich of peak, 31.5" & 2500
RPM) VH-LWB indicated 220 knots, about 2 knots slower than VH-LKG. This may
improve as the engine is run in. Although the engine / prop combination is
not as smooth as the turbine, I think it will improve after the prop is
strobe balanced. It is still streets ahead of any other propeller aircraft I
have flown in other than another Lancair IV!
This test flying on Wayne's aircraft was virtually trouble free & it is a
credit to him that he has produced such a fine aircraft. I will go so far as
to say that all examples of the Lancair IV in this country will more than
hold their own against any example world wide. For those of you that are
still building, keep perservering as results like this make it all worth
while.
Regards Gary Burns
[note... the referenced JPG photo will be added to the LML website under
the "Complete Aircraft" heading shortly. <Marv> ]
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LML website: http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
LML Builders' Bookstore: http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair
Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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