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Johns Web Site
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Date: 8-19-2017
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Number of Hours: 0.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Third Test Flight
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The third test flight was completed Saturday, 8-19-2017. The primary focus was determining the effects of changes made since the previous flight.
On the last flight, I could not get stall data with the flaps down because the flap detents would not fully engage. The flap detent plate slots were cleaned and now engaged properly. The most important data for final approach planning was the indicated stall speed of 50-mph with 30-degrees of flaps. This allowed me to reduce my final approach speed to an indicated 65-mph, 5-mph slower than previous approaches without flaps. I’m sure this slower landing speed contributed to an uneventful landing at the end of this flight.
Another contributor may have been changing the main gear from a toe-in of ~1.37 degrees per side to a toe-out of 0.75 degrees per side. It’s difficult for me to separate the effects of this change from the effects of the lower energy remaining from the slower landing speed, but things were tremendously less squirrely this time. Another contributor may have been all my recent reading about how to handle a taildragger. I found two recent articles by Steve Krog, in the August and September issues of Sport Aviation entitled “So You Want to Fly a Taildragger” to be a good reminder of the basics that had dimmed in the fog of disuse over the past eighteen months.
Another change since the last flight was a minor adjustment of the left flap to relieve a slightly heavy left wing. That change helped, but a little more is needed to eliminate the issue.
In the previous flight, the engine ran a little rough at wide open throttle, yielding a maximum of 3150 rpm. On this flight, the engine was perfectly smooth at W.O.T. and achieved and held 3320 rpm.
I really like this airplane. For its diminutive size, it is surprisingly stable, solid, and precise. The controls are quick, but not twitchy. Even down at 65 mph, it feels solid and comfortable. GREAT JOB SPA!!!
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Approximately 70% Power, Slight Climb
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100% Power, Slight Descent
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