10-31-04 1.9 hours / 40.0 total
I finished up the
climb testing, and did some descent testing. Unfortunately, I must have been seeing
things yesterday when I though I saw 3000 rpm. Either that, or it was a bit of an
extended zoom climb. The real
figure is 2222 fpm, which is almost depressing, but it was 85 degrees, and I
have full fuel, so I’m sure I can improve this with better conditions. The goal is still 3000 fpm, but I’m
wondering if I’ll make it now.
The main climb
test was done at 4000 ft. I
started at 3500, then established a climb at the designated speed. Once it was stabilized, and I passed
through 4000 ft, I recorded the reading from the VSI. This was just to get an idea of the
best ROC, without regard to the actual figure.
Climb testing
: mph / fps climb
90 / 2100
100 / 2200
110 / 2000
120 / 1900
130 / 1700
140 / 1400
Since 100 mph was
the best, I dropped to 1500 feet, established 100 mph at full throttle climb,
and timed how long it took to get from 2000 to 3000 feet. The average of a few runs was 27
seconds, which calculates to 2222 fpm.
If nothing else, it shows that my VSI is pretty accurate.
I also did some
descent rate testing around 3000 feet.
Basically, I went to idle, and noted the VSI descent rate at the
following speeds.
Mph / fps descent
80 / 700
90 / 900
100 / 1100
I had added a trim
tab to the (new) rudder, and found that it wasn’t quite enough. It’s amazing the power it has
though. In high power cruise, I
still need a little right rudder (added more trim after the flight), but in
descent testing, I had to add a bunch of left rudder to counteract the trim
tab.
I also tried to
un-squeeze the trailing edge of the new left aileron, to try to correct a
little left rolling motion that was aggravated when I replaced the
aileron. It may have been a
little better, but it still took some trim. After the flight, I gently squeezed
the right aileron a little, so we’ll see if that helps more.
Finally, this
concludes the phase one testing. I had to circle around the area for the
last couple tenths to be legal, but it’s done. The airframe itself has behaved just as
any RV should, and since I did fairly through airframe testing on my previous
RV-8, I was able to get through the testing of this plane fairly quickly. Just gotta love Van’s RV’s :-)
Now that the
official time is over, I plan to pull the cowl, and do some work on the oil
temp scoop. I’m also going to
vastly improve the TB air inlet that’s in the right radiator duct.