N36KJ Flies First Time

[alexM]

Woohoo! Nicely done. Let us know how the continued shake down adjustments (both you and the plane) go.

[Maverick]

Thank you to all.

I flew today and left the airfield for the first time. I flew to a practice area and tested for stalls. With no flaps I was getting 43-45 indicated and with 20 degrees I was getting 41-43. Does this sound about right compared to other 912s?

Slow flight at 55mph was very comfortable. S-turns and turns about a point were uneventful.

With the pitch that I have the prop set at I was seeing 100mph at 5200rpm, 105 at 5400 . I'll open the pitch on the prop next flight to check for performance with more bite. What are you seeing at these rpm settings?

Today was a standard day and I was climbing at 1100fpm on take off at 75mph no flaps.

Best glide with engine at idle was 65mph.

Best maneuvering speed seemed to be about 75mph.

Total test time 1.4hrs. I would have stayed longer but my old guys bladder was screaming about my morning coffee. Note to self, next time just one cup.

With about half the oil cooler covered with aluminum tape my oil temp was running 168 degrees.

I'm new to the Rotax. I've always flown Continentals and much prefer them to the Rotax but, the performance difference is astounding. It seemed like there were differences in the smoothness of the Rotax engine at various rpm settings. I have the IvoProp medium three blade and wondered if there is any balancing that has to be done. There was no earth-shattering vibrations when it was noticeable. A slight up or down change in rpm setting would smooth things out.

My landing was successful but, I wouldn't say it was pretty. I think I'm stalling too high above the runway letting it sink too fast. I'll try tickling the throttle a little next time so maybe I can get that tailwheel down first. What about flaps? I don't use flaps on landings and I know I need to practice it but, as a general question, do you use flaps when landing and if so how much?

Cheated death once again.
Fred

[Sahota]

I use some, but very little flapperon on landing, maybe 15 degrees(ish) full flapperon in slow flight, like on approach, tends to produce a little left roll in my airplane. Pretty common to give a little throttle to get some elevator back. I have to be careful because my 582 will also give me some yaw if I "tickle" too much.

[efwd]

Damn, glad your able to tell us. Another thing, it speaks volumes about you and those who are willing to share such stories. I firmly believe that sharing saves lives and Im glad as hell to be associated with the likes. Thanks

[efwd]

I think about that adage alot. Particularly if I am in a BFE location like Death Valley.

[Maverick]

Phil,
my empty weight is 777lbs.
Fred

[Cherrybark]

Congratulations Fred and a very nice report. Would enjoy reading more as you continue your test flights.

[aviator79]

Well done sir! Congrats.

[jiott]

That's one of the ignition wires; if its broken there is no way to ground that mag thru the ignition switch. That exact same thing happened to me after about 600 hours. Mine was harder to find because the wire was broken but the insulation was intact. I had to pull the pin out of the connector and do a continuity check, which immediately showed the break. I suspect vibration is the culprit; to repair it I spliced in the next heavier gauge wire to a new pin (the break was right at the entrance to the pin). I also put some shrink tubing on both ignition wires for strain relief.

[Maverick]

I flew to Casa Grand to buy fuel. When I pulled up to the fuel pumps I attempted to shut the engine off and I couldn't. I turned off the first mag and the rpm dropped but when I turned off the second mag the engine kept running. I shut the fuel valve off and let it run out of gas. My first advice was to check to see if the ground wire had come loose on the switch because the grounds for both switches are daisy chained to the same ground and the first one turned off. In order to do that, I had to pull the cowling and panel shield. Ugh.

Nothing seemed amiss but, because I had everything exposed I went ahead and rewired the ground and then tested the engine. Again, I had to starve the engine of fuel to get the motor to die. I was perplexed and started looking elsewhere. I finally found it. It was not in plain view as in the picture. It wasn't until I stuck my finger down in the bundle of wires exploring for anything that this came to light.

I'm not sure what to call the wire but, you can see from the pictures which one it is. I have no idea what might have caused this to break unless something happened to it during the motor's prior life in the crash of the plane this motor came from. After splicing this wire back together all is well. Man, I miss my Continental.
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