Making my series 5 into my dream plane

[offroute]

Really nice Trent. I'm jealous that the S-LSA status prevents me from doing the Airmaster...

[rosslr]

Hi Tent - Great post! And you have been busy in 5 months! I looks like you are achieving your dream of the dream plane! I have just mounted the Airmaster also and have the same impression of the quality of this gear - it will be a little longer until I try it out though so I'm really looking forward to your posts re performance. Great job on your panel - While love the quirkiness of the 'hidden ASI (a bit like a hidden spare key), I am a little baffled as to why you didn't mount in permanent view? Love to hear your thinking on that one.

Thanks for a great story so far - you certainly don't appear to be daunted by any of the 'big' tasks! Hope the W&B goes well and look forward to more stories.

cheers

r

[HighWing]

Trent,
I like your planning and work. I learned about the Airmaster several years ago and if it was in the budget and if I was still Class IIId, I would have one for sure. The Zipper? Seriously thinking about it as well, but age and some physical issues makes me wonder how long it would be in my own hangar.

we are almost neighbors, but I am on the wrong side of the big hills.

Thanks for the posts and pictures. Looking forward to updates as well.
Lowell

[trentp]

Thanks for the compliments guys! I was able to weigh the plane today and it weighed in just 6lbs over the original certified weight, must be the weight saved from getting rid of some gauges and the lithium battery. I did a quick test flight today, I still have a bit of adjusting to do on the Airmaster but my immediate opinion is that this prop is amazing! I put it in cruise and with the throttle about 2in out from full I was indicating 100mph, and the density altitude was at 8000ft today. I have never seen my airspeed that high!

Hi Tent - Great post! And you have been busy in 5 months! I looks like you are achieving your dream of the dream plane...

The dynon has airspeed, altitude, heading, turn coordinator, vertical speed as well as artificial horizon, so I use that as my primary gauge for airspeed

[GuppyWN]

A plane that nice with all those upgrades needs................ bigger feet!

[trentp]

I know... I know... I'm saving my pennies! That's the next thing for sure

[trentp]

Got my bushwheels in! I decided that the 26" airstreaks were the perfect match. So far I am super happy with them, about 7.5lbs heavier per side than the aero classic 21" tires that I had on.

Right away I can tell you that these tires are amazing! First two landings were on pavement just to get a baseline last night after I installed them. I could tell they were softer and I could definitely tell that the handling was a little different due to the extra clearance and the softer tires. Then this morning my wife and I flew up to a nearby reservoir and did the first off field landing with them followed by a nice little hike to enjoy our day off on the 4th of July. All I can say is wow... I see why there is so much hype bout the alaskan bushwheels, they soak up the bumps so nicely and roll over anything in their way. I can only imagine how smooth this thing would be on 29s! (I didn't want to carry the extra weight or lose the cruise speed otherwise I would be on 29s right now).

The plane is pretty much just what I would ask for, I am battling some high oil temps right now during climb out so my next step is moving the oil cooler or possibly going with a larger one. Then it time to go see where this plane can take me!

Quite a bit of difference in size, the "21s" were actually about 19" when I measured, compared to the true 26" bushwheel




Much better proportions


First time landing off field, WOW they are worlds smoother, just suck up all the bumps


My wife enjoying the cool weather after our 4th of July hike

[Slyfox]

nice looking airplane. did you loose any top end speed with the bigger tires?