First Flight - HKS700T Speedster

[Geowitz]

:D Had my first flight this morning. It was more or less uneventful. Slightest 90 degree crosswind, maybe 2-3 mph. Take off was relatively straight forward. Pitched prop for 5000 rpm max with IVO 2 blade medium(Max rpm for HKS 700T is 5300 rpm). Easily sustained over 1000 fpm climb at 60 - 65 mph. With same pitch and 4200 rpm she settled in at 80mph(still need to add lift strut fairings). Temperatures stayed in the green. Flew for about 30 minutes circling the field. Did some slow flight and realized my idle was set too high. Wanted to keep a tight pattern in case I had engine problems so it was hard to come over 100 foot trees and slow down. Not to mention I wasn't too smooth with the elevator :rolleyes:. Made the landing interesting with a few bounces and riding on one wheel, but hey, it returned to earth in one piece :).

I will update with solid performance figures as testing proceeds.
Videos here -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl9_YlfQihw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9NvnaGMLQU

[Dorsal]

Awesome!!! congratulations :D

[cubtractor]

Congrats!!

[Geowitz]

Thanks! Also meant to say...

THANK YOU TEAMKITFOX!!! for your support through the project. This would have never happened without you guys!

[DesertFox4]

Congrats. to the max Geo on your first flight. Great accomplishment.:D
Glad it flies as good as it looks and the HKS sounds good. Here's hoping phase 2 goes by without a hitch. Once you get your throttle set the landings will improve. Those are some tall trees on your approach.
Be safe and enjoy every flight. Thanks for the videos.

[jamesmil]

way to go,:D

[Dave S]

Congratz on you first flight! You realize that that this is pretty special when you think about how few people in this country are pilots:).....build a plane.:)...and do the first test flight:):):):).

Savor the moment and enjoy your plane and the experience!:cool:

Fly Safe,

Dave S

[Av8r_Sed]

Nice first flight, Geo! It looks like you won't need much tweaking if you're getting those performance numbers from the start.

What prop RPM are you turning and what's the diameter of your IVO? You're putting my 582 powered bird to shame.

[kebopa3]

Outstanding, way to go!!!!

Kebo

[Geowitz]

Prop rpm is 2000 at 5300 max engine rpm. The reduction ratio is 2.62:1. It's a 2 blade 72 inch IVO medium with in flight adjust. Would have went with 3 blades, but it was too heavy for the moment of inertia limitations on the gearbox. Did not get a chance to mess with the in flight adjust.

[ken nougaret]

that's awsome to see! can't wait to feel the joy as i'm sure you did.
ken

[HighWing]

Congratulations. It has been a project and I am sure the path has been almost as enjoyable as the flight. Regarding your landing, I have seen worse from the left seat of my Kitfox. yours reminds me of my recent first flight - 30 minutes was about all I could endure - Too much adrenaline.
Lowell

[Geowitz]

You're so right about that. I sat around the hangar for 2 or 3 hours still amped up on adrenaline.

[ackselle]

Nice job! Congrats!

[Pilot4Life]

What a pleasure! Has the adrenaline rush slowed yet? And the family there to see the first flight! Great job amigo! Looking forward to seeing more of your new toy! Let the real fun begin...after phase two, look out! Again, congrats!

[Av8r3400]

Congratulations, George.

Looking forward to your reports!

[Geowitz]

Thanks all.

Some more thoughts upon reflection...

- Idle speed set too high. On the ground it was about 1800, but in the air it was hard to get below 2100. Couple that with wanting to keep a tight pattern and it made for a quick approach. Will dial idle down to 1600 and try again.

- I did not have nearly enough up trim available. My balance as flown was in the forward half of the envelope. I had the horizontal stab incidence set in the highest (forward) bolt hole as the manual suggests for a starting point. I think with my forward center of gravity I will move the incidence down to the next hole and see how that works. This will give me more down pressure on the elevator and should trim everything up better. This issue also made it hard to control pitch during my flare as I was constantly holding significant back pressure on the stick.

- Rudder and ground control felt fine. My only other tail wheel time is in a Champ and I felt more or less comfortable in the Kitfox. I have just under 1 degree of toe out in each wheel.

- Slightest right stick pressure needed to keep wings level in cruise flight. Will adjust one of the strut attach fittings 1/2 turn and try again.

[Dutch]

Congrats. George beautiful plane. Man that must have been a RUSH!!

Dutch

[AirFox]

Great Job Geowitz! Just the motivation all of us builders need. Now back out the the garage to get to work.

Congradulations!

Scott

[Mnflyer]

Hi Geo, a big congrats, your plane looks great the HKS sounds great and your numbers are good, thanks for the videos. Like you posted just a little fine tuning here and there and you have one fine airplane. That's the first real report and video of a HKS 700T I've seen nice I like it. Keep posting as you fly.

[Spook712]

Congratulations, it looks awesome :-)

[HighWing]

[QUOTE=Geowitz;27690]

Some more thoughts upon reflection...

- Idle speed set too high. On the ground it was about 1800, but in the air it was hard to get below 2100. Couple that with wanting to keep a tight pattern and it made for a quick approach. Will dial idle down to 1600 and try again.

George,
Thanks for the update. Your comments regarding idle speed are pertinent. Mine is a bit too low and I haven't adjusted it yet. On three or four of my landings during Phase I, the engine actually quit as I touched - I guess the moving air kept the prop spinning to a point. The problem was that the engine didn't start readily and I don't want a situation where I was dead on the threshold with other traffic coming in. A friend has his Model IV set way low, but he has the procedure in place to goose it a bit right at the flair and has had no problems. Too much speed at idle can introduce issues as you mention.
Lowell

[Northof49]

Congrats George very well done.

[MotReklaw]

this thread really motivates me to get my project finished.

Geo, I've been down your way several time to Statesboro and Hinesville. I do plan a cross country to Statesboro next fall in my SS.

Would like to see you and your Speedster.

[GWright6970]

All of your hard work has been rewarded... BIG TIME!! Congratulations on a job well done!!! You two look great together in the air!!:D

[inzersv]

Great job Geowitz! Thanks for the videos.

[peanut]

Great colors and scheme... Sketchy landing! I am envious of your build...

[WISDAN]

Cheers to you on a great job! You now have that WOW feeling of flying your pride and joy!

Happy flying!

Dan

[GT280flyer]

Congrats Goewitz on the first flight, plane looks very nice great job. Even though it's been a few days the grin is still on your face!!!! Good first landing, reminds me of mine, good luck and safe flying.

[Geowitz]

Thanks guys.

A few more videos. Sorry for the shakes. My cameraman needs some practice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXSecl8bXag&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qocVf9gec48&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_YsGDPXlR4&feature=plcp

So far I've been able to get about 110mph indicated cruise with WOT(wide open throttle) and pitching the prop to keep rpms around 4850. Should be able to squeeze a little more out of it as I have a little more boost available and I still haven't been able to play with it much to see what rpms give the best thrust. Also, I do NOT have lift strut fairings so I am expecting at least another 10mph.

[Geowitz]

Just a quick update. Have about 12 hours total time so far and everything has been running great, knock on wood. The engine really is great! It never skips a beat. Just have to figure out the best prop combo - Not much in the way of field experience yet so it's pretty much up to me.

Been running a 71 inch Kiev for about 5 hours. The 71 has great thrust and climb if pitched appropriately, but doesn't quite have the cruise I was hoping for. About 105mph when pitched for cruise. May be able to try out a 67 inch version on loan soon. From the sounds of it in some older posts the shorter prop may be the ticket.

Worked out some of my vibration issues by adjusting my rubber isolators so I may try the IVO again too.

Still got the grin :)

[Geowitz]

Update - About 23 hours as of today. Engine still never skips a beat. So far I've tried three different props. Finally had time to do 180 degree opposite GPS tracks to average for true airspeed so kindly ignore my indicated speeds from before. I still have not added strut fairings or closed up the hole around the horizontal stab so eventual speeds will be considerably higher.

Just to recap - max rpm is 5300(2000 prop rpm), max continuous is 5000(1900 prop rpm)

All flights were as close to the same weather conditions as I could get. About 60 degrees F at the ground. Airport is 85'msl.

Ivoprop, 2 blade, 72", medium, in flight adjust -
Max climb at 60mph WOT 5300 rpm - 1100fpm
Cruise with prop pitched to 5000 rpm at WOT- 105mph

Kievprop 163, 67.3", 3 blade
Pitched to 5100 static, Max climb at 60mph WOT(5300rpm) 1200fpm, Max cruise at 5000rpm - 92mph

Pitched to 4700 static, Max climb at 60mph WOT(4850rpm) 750fpm, Max cruise at 5000rpm - 99mph

Kievprop 183, 71", 3 blade
Pitched to 5100 static, Max climb at 60mph WOT(5300rpm) 1400+ fpm, Max cruise at 5000rpm - 90mph

Pitched to 4700 static, Max climb at 60mph WOT(4800rpm) 1100fpm Max cruise at 5000rpm - 97mph


Conclusions - So obviously the IVO gives the best overall performance... big surprise there. I was hoping the Kiev would be close enough to make the IFA feature of the IVO more of a novelty than a performance gain, but with a max prop speed of 2000rpm I don't have as much of an envelope for one pitch to give great performance in both climb and cruise. I am still, however, going with the Kiev 183. The IVO is very heavy and as noted in previous post the moment of inertia makes start up quite violent at times. The IVO definitely also has more noise and vibration throughout the RPM range. I'm more interested in comfort at this point and when I am able to make some speed mods(strut fairings, gas caps, etc...) if I can get it to 110mph TAS cruise I'll be happy with that.

Went to just under 10,000 feet today. What a beautiful view and the engine loved it! Climb at WOT was still 850 fpm.

[Dorsal]

Sounds like fun.

[Geowitz]

Yeah, snuck away early from work today. What a great way to play hookie!:p

[t j]

That's very informative information Geowitz. Myself, for my Kitfox mission, I consider the performance you got from the 71" Kiev to be the best performance of the three.

I suspect you will gain 8 to 10 mph in cruise speed with wing strut fairing.

[napierm]

After the strut fairings, consider the gear. Because of the slipstream the area behind the prop is in the highest airspeed but is often the dirtiest part of the plane. A rectangular gear leg has a coef. of drag something like 0.5. A simple wrap around fairing can drop that to something like 0.01.
http://www.bd5.com/bededesign.htm

http://www.bd5.com/BedeDesign18.jpg

http://www.bd5.com/BedeDesign06.jpg

Another source of drag with the grove gear is the 1" gap between the center of the gear and the fuse if you have a flat bottom w/o a radiator just in front. I've been thinking about a fairing just in front and behind the gear just level with it unloaded (gear off the ground).

[airlina]

Some Photos from my builders log on how I faired my Grove gear to the fuselage. First photo shows foam molds ready to be fiberglassed. Second photo during fiberglassing. And third shows fairing in place on bottom of fuselage awaiting Grove gear. Bruce Lina N199CL

[Geowitz]

Airlina,

Very nice. I imagine I could just form that up, leave the foam in place and bond it straight to the fabric.

[airlina]

Thanks Geowitz, If you look closely at the last photo you can see that I left a flange of fiberglass that has attachment holes drilled in it. As the anchor to the fuselage, I used scotch welded plain clamps (like adels but minus the rubber) around the tubing and rivnuts thru the plain clamp holes. This provided the threads for the AN 526 screws to hold the fairing in place without drilling thru any fuse tubing-works good lasts a long time. Bruce

[napierm]

Cool! I've never heard of an easier way to add a tab where needed.

Thanks,

Mark
(Slapping forehead with hand.)

[Geowitz]

40 hours done and Phase 1 complete! :)

Still no major squawks. Engine runs like a top. Plenty of power.

Sticking with the 3 blade 71 inch Kievprop. Have prop pitched for cruise at the moment and am getting about 700fpm at 1200lbs. Not sure what climb would be at a finer pitch, but I would guess around 1000fpm at 1200lbs.

[napierm]

Congrats, that's a *nice* airplane.

Any clue as to what your service ceiling might be?

Have any oxygen? :)

[P Morel]

When can I expect to have you show up in my neighborhood now that your 40 hour restriction is over? I'll be rebuilding my carbs next week but anytime after that, we can hook up for lunch somewhere. Great job George!