michaelj Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 (drum roll) Saturday the 27th was inspection day for N499CM at the Springfield , TN airport. I was able to tweak a few things in the DAR's presence and at the end of the day awarded the nicest pink slip you can imagine. Sunday and most of today was spent buttoning her up and getting mentally prepared to begin Phase 1. Fast forwarding; the taxi, takeoff, climb out, two orbits around the pattern and landing were as required. I did suffer a big oil leak but it incredibly occurred during the last 300 feet of taxi to shutdown. After cleaning it up it appears to be the braided steel line from the engine to the oil pressure sending unit is at fault. This is an easy fix but the fact that it occurred at that point still blows me away! If it had happened in flight I would have seized the engine. What I want to convey to everyone is that test flying is serious business. The airplane was flying great but I decided to not push it more than two times around the patch. The oil did not get low enough to set off the Dynon's alarm. Be sure to install an orfice in the fitting at the engine so that you don't have a massive leak if the hose fails. Guess what I will be doing in the morning.....Practicing what I preach! It has been a good day. I'll most likely get to fly her again Tuesday. BUILD ON!:cool2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelj Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Here is a pic of N499CM earlier today. It is 0320-E2D power swinging a prop that I fabricated using JC Prop Design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Erickson Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 (drum roll) Saturday the 27th was inspection day for N499CM at the Springfield , TN airport. I was able to tweak a few things in the DAR's presence and at the end of the day awarded the nicest pink slip you can imagine. Sunday and most of today was spent buttoning her up and getting mentally prepared to begin Phase 1. Fast forwarding; the taxi, takeoff, climb out, two orbits around the pattern and landing were as required. I did suffer a big oil leak but it incredibly occurred during the last 300 feet of taxi to shutdown. After cleaning it up it appears to be the braided steel line from the engine to the oil pressure sending unit is at fault. This is an easy fix but the fact that it occurred at that point still blows me away! If it had happened in flight I would have seized the engine. What I want to convey to everyone is that test flying is serious business. The airplane was flying great but I decided to not push it more than two times around the patch. The oil did not get low enough to set off the Dynon's alarm. Be sure to install an orfice in the fitting at the engine so that you don't have a massive leak if the hose fails. Guess what I will be doing in the morning.....Practicing what I preach! It has been a good day. I'll most likely get to fly her again Tuesday. BUILD ON!:cool2Congrats, thats great. yes it is to cool. Quote Evolultion Eze RG -a two place side by side-200 Knots on 200 HP. A&P / pilot for over 30 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfryer Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Congradulations!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLKnolla Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Congratulations on first flight and on successfully navigating the challenges of emotion vs. logic during flight test. The DD cowl looks interesting - what kind of temps did you see during your brief flight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilK Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Here is a pic of N499CM earlier today. It is 0320-E2D power swinging a prop that I fabricated using JC Prop Design.Congratulations on first flight!!! Although it's been about a year and a half since I did my first flight, I remember like it was yesterday... What a rush! Put on another 100 hours and it will feel like a second skin. I'm interested in your JC prop. I'm about to cut one myself. (perhaps we need to start another thread) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waiter Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Excellent, Now be prepared to have fun :-) Waiter Quote F16 performance on a Piper Cub budget LongEZ, 160hp, MT CS Prop, Downdraft cooling, Full retract visit: www.iflyez.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Kriley Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Congratulations! You learned from Howard Hughes' mistake! Quote Phil Kriley Cozy #1460 Chapter 13 - nose Right wing done - working on right winglet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMann Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 ...... alright .... I'm jealous! Keep us up to date. Congrats! Quote T Mann - Loooong-EZ/20B Infinity R/G Chpts 18 Velocity/RG N951TM Mann's Airplane Factory We add rocket's to everything! 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 14, 19, 20 Done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelj Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 The EZ has three short flights on her now. I'm trying to keep the speed down on the first flights but she is pretty fast. At roughly 2300 rpm I was showing 140 knots IAS . That is without wheel pants , canopy seal and some other minor gaps to be siliconed. I thought that I had a high oil temperature and the Dynon alerted me on que. As it tuned out I had the wrong oil temperature sending unit selected. The temperature was well within limits. I will fly each day and continue to analyze everything. Maybe by the weekend I will install the wheel pants and shake it out a little harder. BTW the canard's elevator behaves exactly like my CozyIV's elevator. It is ever so slightly reflexed straight and level. I appreciate all the congrats posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMann Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 At roughly 2300 rpm I was showing 140 knots IAS . That is without wheel pantsI'm pretty fast without pants as well! Quote T Mann - Loooong-EZ/20B Infinity R/G Chpts 18 Velocity/RG N951TM Mann's Airplane Factory We add rocket's to everything! 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 14, 19, 20 Done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longez360 Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 The EZ has three short flights on her now. I'm trying to keep the speed down on the first flights but she is pretty fast. At roughly 2300 rpm I was showing 140 knots IAS . That is without wheel pants , canopy seal and some other minor gaps to be siliconed. I thought that I had a high oil temperature and the Dynon alerted me on que. As it tuned out I had the wrong oil temperature sending unit selected. The temperature was well within limits. I will fly each day and continue to analyze everything. Maybe by the weekend I will install the wheel pants and shake it out a little harder. BTW the canard's elevator behaves exactly like my CozyIV's elevator. It is ever so slightly reflexed straight and level. I appreciate all the congrats posted. Congratulations Michael. Keep up the focused flight test and enjoy your aeroplane. Quote Cheers, Wayne Blackler IO-360 Long EZ VH-WEZ (N360WZ) Melbourne, AUSTRALIA http://v2.ez.org/feature/F0411-1/F0411-1.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelj Posted July 1, 2009 Author Share Posted July 1, 2009 I meant streaking through the sky:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfryer Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Sounds like you are having a lot of fun. I look forward to the first few flights of mine even more when I hear success stories. Please keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpellicciotti Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Congratulations. Come on down to Memphis sometime! Quote Rick Pellicciotti Belle Aire Aviation, Inc. http://www.belleaireaviation.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelj Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 Thanks for all the great replies. As of today I have made five flights. It is going so well that I explored the slow flight down to 60 knots indicated up to 180 knots in a shallow dive. It handles as advertised. It is just a little heavier on the roll ( both ways ) than I remember on my CozyIV. I suspect that the balance springs may be tighter than they should be. The oil temperature is excellent. The next time I drop the lower cowling I'll get a good pic to share. It is my own concept and it works. With the 320 I am able to clear the ground in 800 feet. That is with 20 gallons of fuel and I weigh 160#. My last two landings were smooth. All I had to do was get it down below 70 knots and the landings smoothed out. Some of the pressure is subsiding and I'm able to enjoy it more. Now get back out to your shop and get that next layup done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfryer Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Now get back out to your shop and get that next layup done. Yes sir! Right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifessamsara Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Looking forward to the 320 installation shots so I can take the design layout into consideration for my similar fit-out Bruce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelj Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 As of today I have ten hours on the LongEZ. It has been in the air 16 times so most of them have been less than 30 minutes. The stock 0320 has her off the pavement in less than 1000 feet even with current density altitudes in the 2900 foot range. I'm feeling really good about my homemade prop. It is as smooth or better than the Performance prop I had on the CozyIV. I'll have performance numbers available later. At this point I am still running mineral oil for break in. I have fouled the bottom plug on #1 cylinder twice now and hope that that will clear up soon so that I can take longer flights. The cold compression numbers were all 75/80 except for one at 72/80. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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