MessageRusty, If it makes you feel any better, I am
getting less than 1000
FPM.  This is a combination of low compression
rotors, non-ported engine,
intake runners too long and poorly designed, and the
exhaust going through a
turbine housing.  None the less, it still kicks ass
over any Cessna and is a
joy to fly.  Every time I tell myself that I believe
it for 10-15 min. :-)

Good job on getting those impressive numbers.  I'm
really jealous.

Bout time on the 40 hrs. must be a good feeling. I
just flew my 79th hr
today.  (Not much better than grilling steak and
drinking beer).  The TO4
will be mounted before the new year.  I will start
making preparations to
keep it cool...  may include some spray bars.

Dave Leonard (Only goal in life is to beat Tracy and
Rusty at the next
Sun-n-fun)
  Greetings,


  Posted below are the details of today's final
phase one flight.  I'm truly
at a loss to explain how I saw 3000 fpm yesterday,
because I sure couldn't
do it today.  I know I've seen 2500+ on a couple of
occasions before, but
not today.  Sorry to get everyone (particularly
myself) overly excited about
the climb rate.  I'm still not sure how I'm getting
500 fpm less than Tracy,
while running the same prop, and rpm.  Oh well, the
testing will never
really end, which is what keeps it all interesting.



  Cheers,

  Rusty (grilling steak, and drinking beer now)









  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.