It Flys!!

[rfeenstra]

I got my airworthiness certificate this AM, loaded my Cabin DE sideways on a trailer and hauled it to a local field.  Flew for about an hour this evening.  I need a different prop for my A65, left wing is just a tiny bit heavy. needs a little Rt. rudder trim, and need to move the CG back (I'm at 26% of cord, need to get closer to 30%.)  Great fun! The airplane is heavy on the ailerons but turns great with a little extra rudder.  Landed with extra speed and a bit of engine but was still surprised at the lack of authority for flare. I even have 2 degrees of up incidence built into the stab. Need to get the CG back a bit. I'll do some tweaking and will have a great time!

Rob

[Steve]

I got my airworthiness certificate this AM, loaded my Cabin DE sideways on a trailer and hauled it to a local field.  Flew for about an hour this evening.  I need a different prop for my A65, left wing is just a tiny bit heavy. needs a little Rt. rudder trim, and need to move the CG back (I'm at 26% of cord, need to get closer to 30%.)  Great fun! The airplane is heavy on the ailerons but turns great with a little extra rudder.  Landed with extra speed and a bit of engine but was still surprised at the lack of authority for flare. I even have 2 degrees of up incidence built into the stab. Need to get the CG back a bit. I'll do some tweaking and will have a great time!

Rob

Congrats, Rob - we are waiting for the VID's with that A-65 barking!...

[rfeenstra]

Vids??  I'll have to work on that!

[Steve]

I sure do like running the slideshow on your gallery photos - it is a  v e r y  nice build...

[rfeenstra]

I was pretty proud today.  The DAR said it was the best built Eagle he's licensed and he's inspected several. Didn't fine anything to complain about.  I had a hard time getting my head in the cabin!  I haven't checked the vid on the first takeoff yet, but it was into the sun, so it probably didn't turn out.  Sun was low and bright!

[Tom H]

Rob, congrats on the flying DE.  Some real fun starts now.

You are on the right track to get the flying CG more towards 28-30 percent of wing cord.  We went through the same thing with DE Stubby, finally shortening the front of the fuselage to move the engine back, and still ended up putting the battery in the tail.  We are probably around 28 - 29 percent, and it flies/lands real good, but will not break into a stall.  We think even a bit more aft CG may be worth trying.

Our DE is also a bit left wing heavy.  I think mostly because the body inside is on the left side.  I can lean to the middle and cause the plane to bank right.  I rigged up a bungee to offset the heavy left wing, and it flies level with no arm strain, now.

The ailerons are generally heavy, especially in rougher air.

We also had to put on a rudder trim tab bent out to the right; it biases in left rudder.  Could be that the two "fixes" are fighting each other, but it flies well.

The elevator trim is real sensitive at higher speeds.  Just a touch on the lever makes a difference.  Less effective at slow speeds, but it does reduce up elevator stick force during landing.  It got a lot more effective after we discovered that the control horn on the trim tab was loose, resulting in not moving the tab much at all, and tightened it.  Seems that all the eyeballs that inspected the plane missed the fact that the nuts connecting the control horn to the tab were not elastic stop nuts, but plain nuts, and they loosened up.

We set the horiz stab as much nose-down as possible, a bit more may help us, but it will be involved to make that happen.  OK for now.

Keep the reports coming.  Seems there are a lot of LEXL reports, but not too many DE reports, especially after Gil gave his up, Utt cashed in and Shane has disappeared.

[rfeenstra]

Thanks!  When I built the DE, I knew you had shortened the nose to help with getting the CG back.  I built mine that way from the start.  I think I brought the firewall back 5", as i recall.  The A65 mags need some room so my engine mount is a bit more forward. I believe I wound up with the prop a good 3" back from the plans location.  I wish it could have been more.  It's easy to build a new, longer engine mount if the CG wound up too far back.  But, alas.  I need to add lead to the tail.

Today I added an 8 lb weight to the tail spring bringing the CG back about an inch.  I believe I am now at about 27% of cord. It really seems to have helped so I think I will add a gel cell battery for radios back there as well.  Might as well make the weight useful.

Knowing that a lot of people had flare problems and shimmed their stab, I built in 2 degrees of UP incidence hoping that would help in the flare.  Don't have anything to compare it to so I don't know.  I also put in 2 degrees of DOWN thrust in the engine mount as I used to do in flat bottom winged RC models.  When you pull throttle, it should allow the nose to come up easier.  Don't know if it helped or hindered!

I had to put a rudder trim tab on my champ several years ago and I may do that on here.  I'll experiment with shifting weight side to side to see how it affects the heavy wing.  Given the "heaviness" of the ailerons, a little right aileron to compensate for pilot weight may seem heavy.  If I decide I need to change the incidence of a wing, all I have to do is make a new aluminum block for the rear strut.  It probably would be nice to have an adjustable rear strut from the start.

Interestingly, the DAR who inspected my plane has inspected several eagles.  He said that some have added a bungee or spring to the elevator to help take some of the weight of the elevator.  I've never read anything about that on the forum.  Have you?

Had fun flying it today but my first landing on pavement with a cross wind was an ABORTION!  I'll work on it.

Rob

[Tom H]

Rob, sounds like you are re-playing a lot of what we did with Stubby to get the flying CG right.  I wrote the equivalent of a book on our findings, efforts and fixes in the old Yahoo forum, probably still available if searched for.

No bungee needed on the elevator.  I often lift the tail soon after power-up at takeoff and don't notice any major force on the stick.  During the climb the elevator trim tab can be adjusted to hold the climb with minimal force on the stick.   Then, re-adjusted after leveling out for cruise.  During approach for landing, the tab can be adjusted for almost neutral force on the stick.  By the way, our elevator trim tab is per plans, but the activation control is by Bowden cable.  Seemed simpler to build to us, probably little or no weight penalty.

Pavement.  That's another story.  We operate from a grass strip, and landing there is easy, even with cross winds.  I've landed on pavement only a few times, and it is a different animal.  Have to work quickly to keep control.  Almost lost it once during a spot landing contest when I tried to stretch the final to touchdown with lively crosswinds.  It was a wild ride from the inside, but the video makes it look tame.  I did not win the contest, not even close.

[Sam Buchanan]

Pavement.  That's another story.  We operate from a grass strip, and landing there is easy, even with cross winds.  I've landed on pavement only a few times, and it is a different animal.  Have to work quickly to keep control. 

I suspect that is common with all the Eagles, certainly is with a particulate XL I know about. Stay on top of it and it'll go straight...get a bit lazy and it'll take you on a tour of the runway...  

[rfeenstra]

It sure did!  The Champ I had had balloon tires on it that always lost air over a weeks time.  I normally let them squat quite a bit.  Once, I pumped them up a bit so that I wouldn't have to fill quite so often.  Next time I landed on pavement, I almost lost it. Let the air back out and it was a @#$% cat.  I have the  tires on my DE soft, but they are from my Comanche so they have  fairly stiff sidewalls.  I would like to find some different tires for it.  The Comanche tires were FREE.

I made several takeoffs on pavement today, but always landed on grass.  FUN!!!!  Getting a feel for it, though I want to move the CG farther back.  I want to get it back to 30% (at about 28% now).

[rfeenstra]

Interesting! The forum bleeped out a common term for a gentle cat (sometimes also refers to body part!)

I have uploaded a few pics of the first flight.  Pictures were taken directly into the sun, so they don't show up very good.  I have a couple of video clips taken with a point and shoot camera that I'll try to edit and post.  I've never done that so give me some time.

Rob

[rockiedog2]

if you wanta cuss just eliminate the space before the cuss word and the filter will miss it. watch this...rat's ass. now...rat'sass. when it posts the first ass will be scrambled. i think. we'll see...

[rockiedog2]

see. the filter changed it to arse.
now how silly is that?
management came up with all that. they're probably gonna put me on moderation now.

[Dan_]

Interesting! The forum bleeped out a common term for a gentle _ _ _.  (sometimes also refers to body part!)

Rob,

You refer to the gentle (usually) animal --the word for which can never be uttered here.  The pathology relates to animal cruelty a few on here find humor in.  It is a hold over from the old yahoo group. 



Puddy tat would be a good substitute in your sentence, and is the glaring exception to the list of "cuss words" that are blocked here by the forum software, most of which no one would even consider using in mixed company, let alone something as public as a forum. 

It is what it is. (rather ridiculous in the case of how to refer to Sylvester, but the few who like the drama refuse to let it go)

The list is an adaptable, ongoing work in progress.  It does not have to be grounds for a grievance, or infringe on freedom of expression.




A little creativity when you want to use strong language is all it takes.

[rfeenstra]

I understand!  It's hard for software to account for context.  Anyway, more flights today with the CG farther back.  Shooting for 30% cord.

Rob