The grass strip at my home airfield has at last been opened, after a wet winter. The forecast for this morning was for calm weather early morning.
So yesterday I put some fresh fuel in both tanks, & did yet another full-on preflight.
I arrived at the airport early, & wheeled my plane out. I chocked the wheels, warmed up the engine, then ran it to full power. All good.
I did a couple of tailup taxi runs the length of the grass strip. Partly to check out the runway (bumpy), partly to test the composite spring (works well), & partly to see if I could still do it (much easier on grass).
Then I lined up for a fast taxi/crow hop. After a few yards I was going quite fast, & when I hit a small hillock, I let the plane take off. I flew for maybe 100 yards, at up to 3 feet altitude. Then I slowly eased her back onto the grass. It went ok.
So I turned round at the other end, & tail up taxied back to 02. Checked everything 8 more times. Lined up, gave it some gas, gritted my teeth, and took off. : ))
I climbed at about 600 fpm, maybe 3/4 throttle, about 55 mph. The plane was very steady - much nicer to be in than all that lurching about on the ground! At 1000' agl I turned crosswind, & kept climbing. I stayed in the circuit pattern the whole flight. At 3000' agl I tried a stall, but I must have had too much power on, because I got to a crazy angle of attack, down to 30mph ias, with no nose drop. So I levelled off, & did some turns, left & right, maybe 40 degrees of bank. Then I did some slips, left & right.
The plane was totally predictable, felt very smooth & steady, with tiny control inputs. The pitch trim is very sensitive, & the plane responds quickly to throttle inputs. The cht's & egt's were all below limits.
I tried a very gentle dive at 5500rpm (max 6000), and saw 80 mph on the ASI. It all felt good. The air was very calm, no clouds in a very blue sky. Wow!!
I did a couple of descending circuits, & came in for a touch & go. I had to slip it a bit to lose altitude. The view over the nose at 55 - 60 mph is excellent - no danger of not being able to see the runway. I held a steady descent, and held off to let the speed decay. But by the time I settled (ok, bounced) onto the ground, I was too close to the end of the runway, so I made it a full stop. I turned round, taxied back to 02, & did another circuit. I made it a bit bigger all round, but still had to slip to get to 600' on turn to final. It slips very controllably: no drama at all. There was a bit of low level turbulence on late final, but it was easily dealt with due to the very powerful ailerons.
I did a fair landing, about halfway along the strip. It was sort of a 2.5 pointer - neither 3 pointer nor wheeler. I think perhaps I stalled it about a foot too high. I don't really remember. Anyway, only a minor bounce that soon stopped. I was so excited about my flight that I lost concentration, & did quite a large swerve. Fortunately I managed to catch it before it ground looped, but it was a good reminder to keep flying until the engine is off.
I'd been flying for 40 minutes, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. I taxied back to the hangar, took the cowl off, & had a good look over the engine. I took 2 spark plugs out - they look a little rich to me, & my temps were all below limits, even in a long descent at small throttle opening. But I will leave the jets & needles as they are for the moment - better rich than lean.
I'm stoked to have finally flown my plane, after the long road from thinking about building, to doing it, then eventually getting to make my maiden flight. I am very impressed with how beautifully the Max flies: it is so controllable, & gives a great feeling of confidence.
I'll build on this firstflight, & try some more stalls, steeper turns & slips, power off landings, etc. But for now I'm on the beer! A very happy bunny, me.
Bruce
I did all this alone, so no pix. But I hope to post some Go Pro stuff soon.
CONGRATULATIONS on your first flight. Was great to follow your posts during the build. The feeling of accomplishment will last a really long time. Now go out and fly when ever you wish and I hope each flight is better than the last one.
Congratulations Bruce! Being you an outstanding builder, I wouldn't expect anything wring on your maiden flight. We just miss that grin face after touch down. The party had just started!
This forum was a major part of my decision to build a Max - so thanks to all for your help & encouragement over my build.
And good luck to all who are still building - I almost envy you the enjoyment you still have ahead of you (but I plan to have the fun part of flying now the build is done!)
Congrats on your first flight Bruce! Such careful construction and innovative ideas in your build that now I'll miss your updates. Wishing you many years of flying enjoyment.
I went for a quick couple of circuits this morning, before the forecast thunderstorm arrived from the west (it did). My mate took a couple of videos of my flights. They're not very good, but at least give an idea of my little bird in her element.
My last landing was my best so far. I think I've been flying too fast before. for that one I managed to keep holding off much longer. Still a wheeler, though - just a slow one. It doesn't show in the vid very well.
The country side looks great cos its Australia...!!!!...and I love it.
send me a photo of your elevator trim Bruce......is the material too thin making it sensative to airflow around "neutral" ...by adding 5 mm balsa to top and bottom of sheet trim...makes the airflow rough and predictable.....Its a Jodel trick....Delmontez was a smart guy
I went for another 40 minutes yesterday, in the early evening, to dodge the day's thermals. I carried out some successful stalls. As expected, these were very gentle nose drops, albeit with the right wing dropping a bit (prolly due to the propwash from the idling engine). The ias was 34 mph.
Timing from 1000" agl to 2000' showed 55 seconds, so a climb rate around 1100 fpm. I'll need to do a lot more timed trials to get a true average.
I tried a max level speed, & as near as I can say, it showed 85mph, though I think it might have still been accelerating. This figure agrees almost exactly with the theoretical speed from my 42" pitch prop at 6000 rpm on a 2.55:1 gearbox ratio.
These figures tell me a couple of things. Firstly, the propellor at 65" dia & 42" pitch is pretty much exactly matched to the engine & plane. I certainly have no complaints about takeoff roll, climb rate, or level speed.This is borne out by the CHT's being under 350, and the EGT's maxing out at 1150. Secondly, the ASI must be accurate. Next step is to go flying with my ipad to check groundspeed against ias.
My landing was a bit better, but I'm still trying for minimum speed touchdown. The Max is a very responsive little plane, as all you longterm pilots know. This means that with precise inputs you can be very accurate in the flare. But if you're a bit heavy handed, it's also easy to get into Pilot Induced Oscillation - leading to a bouncy landing.
I'm just having such a ball now I'm finally flying. Yaay!
I'm playing around with a GoPro in the cockpit. Attached is a cockpit view of me flying part of a circuit over my home strip.
I look like Mr Grumpy, but I'm enjoying it, honest!
Nothing much happens in this vid - it's just mid flight. You see the first 30 seconds, you seen it all. When I get it sorted I'll post some takeoff & landing vids, which might be marginally more exciting. Or not.
I'll also try an external mount in various positions.
))
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