SecondFlightReport

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="05b00640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Steve Kiblinger, .. Builder of a Milholland Better Half 2 cylinder VW and Legal Eagle Ultralight Airplane</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |    </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Steve Kiblinger, .. Builder of a Milholl"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>SecondFlightReport</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>LEU #33 was flown for the second time Sunday 7-14-2002 (took off at 8:15 AM from the Dulzura ranch UL strip to Jacumba County airport climbing from 1450 feet to 6800 feet clearing the low mountains (air miles 32 and road miles 43)… Changes to the plane since first flight were new Tuff wheels with ball bearings, wing gap cover top and bottom, parallel fin cable braces and tightened rubber motor mount bushings…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I ran the engine at high power settings (3250 RPMs or more) and spent most of the trip climbing at 45 MPH… It was calm and clear but very hot (in the high 90's) the engine oil temp peaked at 160 degrees and would cool back to about 150 degrees when I leveled out and let the speed move up to 60 MPH… At altitude the airspeed showed 55 MPH at 3000 RPM and 60 MPH at 3100 RPM… Stan and Mike were driving along CA HWY. 94 the connecting road between the ranch and Jacumba and I circled occasionally to keep them in view (they say they never saw me)… When they turned onto Interstate (8) I leveled out and let the revs go up to 3350+… I was able to stay in site of traffic that runs at 70-85 MPH in that area and then branched off to the airport to check pattern traffic and try my first power on stall… I set the revs at 2000 then slowing it still felt solid at 30 MPH and finally when the airspeed needle neared 20 on the bottom of the scale the plane nodded and mushed wing level straightforward… I repeated this 2 times and then it was time to think about landing…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>At the start of the trip I had circled the ranch 3 times on a very wide overhead loop to get an (it looks good) all clear from the ground crew then circled occasionally to let them catch up by car, got briefly lost once when I took the wrong road! - (it looks different from the air) did a 2000 AGL pass over the airport to check traffic and wind and then the little stall series on the way down to enter on the 45 mid field downwind… I did a fair landing (my second ever in the LEU) still needing work on maintaining the correct amount of power down to flare… I had been in the air 1.5 hours and the fuel check showed we had used 3 gallons - not bad for high power settings…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>OK, how the changes worked:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Tuff wheels with ball bearings roll f o r e v e r…We need brakes on the ranch hillside strip for sure... No brakes is manageable if you have lots of room to roll out in...</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Wing gap cover makes the cab less windy and maybe puts less turbulence over the empennage - it did not change the way the plane lands much…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The parallel cable braces stopped the fin from fluttering…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The tightened motor mounts changed vibrations in the airframe… There are definite sweet spots that you feel out for cruising… High power settings are smooth… I turned in the seat and looked at the empennage several times to see noticeable vibration in the stabilizer leading edge… Upon landing I found the front parallel cables had developed more slack than I want in them… I will remove a washer on each side and check this again…The fin needs to be rebuilt with the 1/2 inch front spar tube and a rib between the parallel cable attach points as the final fix...</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Mike didn't feel like flying and Stan took it out twice for taxi runs… He got the tail up on every pass and is beginning to get the sense of tailwheel steering…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We set up 50 foot markers for 400 feet at center field and I did three touch and go's to see if I could qualify for the spot landing required at the ranch… The LEU consistently gets off at 496# gross in 250 feet without a stick pull… It climbs solidly and is at pattern altitude when you reach mid field downwind… On the first two landings I overshot the turn to final and you never really recover from that or at least I don't… I continued to mismanage power settings and made safe landings but off my marked area… The last landing was better from hitting the wind correction right and turning to final properly with sufficient power control right down to a clean landing - I even got a little float in ground effect on that one with a gentle touch down… I felt safe today but always just a little behind the airplane - Steve needs pattern work and practice, practice, practice…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We had a Paradoctyl being flown by new owners for the first time on the field so we gave them the full runway, tied #33 down facing into the desert wind and went to lunch…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>LEU #33 has just under 3 hours on it now and is a joy to fly… The hours of building are worth the effort…</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Steve</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>PS: It's Monday, we left the LEU at the Jacumba airport overnite because I need more pattern flying skill before tacking the ranch hillside strip landing... Thunder storms are forecast with much damage already done over in Phoenix so Mike brought his trailer, we disassembled #33 and were hit by a huge dust devil as we took it apart (one wing was off and we were really hanging into the remaining wing to prevent an upset - Boy, were we covered with dust)... #33 is back in the ranch hanger waiting for the next round of improvements and a Sept 14, 2002 -6- airport landing poker run date around the perimeter of San Diego County in memory of 9/11 with flying in mountains, desert, down the SD Terminal VFR corridor over the beaches and finally a run along the Mexican border From/To Nichols field and home of EAA UL Chapter 114 which is hosting the run... </B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>