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Larry Winger's 601XL Project
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Date: 10-12-2014
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Number of Hours: 0.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: 1 - First flight!
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A scaled-down group gathered for this planned first flight on October 12. Once again we we poised to listen to Steve Glover's tower transmissions while taking first flight video. All his radio calls were good and clear and he was finally given the green light to roll. This time no instruments froze, the prop was turning powerfully and Steve pulled back on the stick to lift off around 3:00 PM. As we stood on the tarmac cheering, we were also listening for his next transmission -- which did not happen. The tower was trying in vain to get him to read back his left turn instructions, and soon it was clear his radio was not transmitting. He made one circuit around the pattern and landed successfully after 5 minutes and 19 seconds in the air. Once he was rolling toward the taxiway, he began to transmit again without a problem. Needless to say, we were curious to hear the story. As it turns out, just after takeoff, transmissions from the tower were faint and he could hear country western music. Even if you like country western music, that is not a good thing! He was also not able to transmit during his time aloft, but all that changed when he returned to the ground. The second issue was a heavy left wing. He had to hold almost full right aileron the entire flight. Finally, he noticed higher than expected CHT (cylinder heat temperature) readings that concerned him. While the reading from the stock position under cylinder 1 never exceeded 345 degrees (400 is the max allowable), the sensors on the top of the cylinders, which always read hot, were of concern to him. Put it all together, and you can understand why he probably needed a shower after that short, but eventful flight. The good news is that it flew and all the issues I've mentioned can be fixed. Our only pictures are video, from the ground and cockpit. Perhaps I'll be able to post some stills later.
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