Third test flight for 1.2 hour cut short due to Alternator charging intermittently.

 August 14 2024

After many times doing ground runs to prove problems have been solved I finally got up in the air flight testing.  A clean set of spark plugs were installed so as to alleviate any popping/backfiring or oil soaked plug conditions.  As noted from my first test flight balance was a bit nose heavy.  This time I had 25 pounds of lead in the baggage compartment and the same amount of fuel.   Using pitch trim I was now able to trim with almost full up nose trim.  I completed a 1.2 hour flight adjacent to the Springbank airport CYBW under radar control of Calgary VFR terminal control.  Fuel pressure is behaving much better now that the fuel lines were made as short as possible and then wrapped in a thermal blanket on top of the existing firesleeve.  The heat deflectors on the exhaust pipe locations is also helping keep heat away from the fuel lines.  Engine ran very good with all CHT and EGT and Oil temperatures staying in the green.  The Manifold pressure was stable at about 21.5 inches and I was running 2450 RPM at 6000 ft and 6500 feet altitude averaging about 156 knots groundspeed.

My flight was cut short once again as my alternator problem continues to give me grief.  It worked for a while after startup then quit for a while then came on again for 2 minutes and then quit for good 1/4 way through my flight.  I have good instrument and audio warnings of my voltage and my amps draw so continued the flight until the battery was showing 11.7 volts and then requested to land right away.  Landing this time was really good although in the flair I did a couple of little floating up and down before it settled firmly on the runway.  I focused on the centerline giving the rudder immediate corrections and had a very good roll out this time.  I am very happy with the modifications I made  to the tail spring and steering links.

In two days I am taking the alternator into a repair shop to find out why it is not giving constant output.  Now I will spend some time to try and figure why my radio is hissing loudly when not transmitting.  Something to work on while the alternator id away.  Ps the alternator came back from the shop testing in perfect working order.

Flight test cancelled Fuel pressure dropping excessively

 July 8 2024

Below a heat deflector is mounted above the port exhaust pipe.

I planned on doing a flight test but only got as far as the runup area when my fuel pressure was dropping down to .2 pounds from the normal 2.5 to 3.5 pounds.  The tower controllers allowed me to backtrack on the taxiway quite a ways as I made my way back to the hangar.  A couple of builder friends came by to give me some feedback on my fuel lines and the possibility of high heat causing vapour locking in the fuel lines.  It was recommended that I shorten the two fuel lines as short as possible then wrap them in a reflective heat blanket material on top of the fire sleeve.  They also recommended that I build 3 separate heat deflectors to clamp onto the exhaust pipes in three locations, two close to fuel lines and one to protect the starter and alternator.

Below a heat deflector is mounted above the starboard exhaust pipe.

Below a heat deflector is mounted above the front crossover exhaust pipe.

Modifications to Tail Wheel

August 3, 2023

Note: My tail wheel, spring, and attachment to the tail cone are of my own specification and are NOT as per the manual.  Design parameters are intended to make field repair or replacement easier if away from home base.  My drawings will be attached for clarity.

 As result of my taxi testing and test flight I have decided to change my tailwheel configuration.   There are a few things that I want to improve, 1- the tail sits to low causing poor forward visibility and I would like to raise it,  2- My original spring (single trailer leaf) was too short, 3- I didn't like the alignment of the tailwheel  steering link and chains to the rudder pivot, 4- I can  afford to add a bit of weight to the tail as my test flight indicated a bit nose heavy and would not allow hands off trim for level flight (single pilot and 3/4 fuel).  I will experiment with carrying some weight in the baggage compartment on next flight.

Overview:  A rectangular steel tube was made in a bent leg shape to attach to the bottom of tail, a flox bed was formed to mate the metal leg to the tail.  A trailer leaf spring (new) 1.75x5/16 thick is disassembled so one, two or three leafs can be used as the spring.  A Matco tailwheel  is bolted to the trailing end of the leaf spring.  The new tail spring leaf is 9.25 inches longer than the original I built.

Second test flight attempt cut short due to Engine popping and backfiring

 June 26 2023

I attempted a second test flight but on climb out I was getting a popping and occasional backfiring from the engine.  My flight with one other Vans RV9 was cut short and I only completed one large circuit before landing as soon as possible.  My landing this time was much better except I took my eye off the centerline to look at my airspeed then began to turn and ended up doing a ground loop on the runway surface, thankfully no damage was incurred.  I have learned I need to make centerline and the flare the only things I do until slowed right down.

The popping noise was eventually identified as two of my lower spark plugs had lead balls on each which shorted them out and were not firing.  The excess fuel then exploded at times in the exhaust pipe.  I have bought a second set of plugs so I can have a clean set ready to begin any further test flights.  Being a newly overhauled engine it is also letting oil past the rings and into the spark plugs.  This is a real pain because I need to fly the engine hard for awhile to get the rings to seat properly.  Working on these small problems require more ground running to confirm problems have been rectified.  Oh well such is flight testing.

Rebuilt magnetos installed

 May 30 2023

What a lousy spring we had here,  I did not get out to begin working on the plane this year until the middle of May.

I removed my magnetos and via a local shop had them sent out to be professionally rebuilt.  As I get into flight testing there are a number of concerns that I have with engine equipment.  The engine was rebuilt but I never had any documentation on the magnetos so decided it was best to have them looked at.  A very good thing as both needed seals, bearings, condensers and one needed a new internal nylon gear.  Very happy that I did this , I am trying to reduce some of the sources of potential engine performance problems before they happen.

Install of a backup Airspeed Indicator and Installation of One way Fuel tank Air vent valves at wing tips.

 March 22 2023

Addition of the backup airspeed indicator is  installed in the panel.  Reasoning for this is in case of the very rare possibility of the main screen going dark.  The glass panel screen has a backup battery which will keep the screen on for 1 hour should ship power be lost.  The backup airspeed indicator would give me airspeed should my main screen be lost during flight.  Landing approach speeds would be readable for a safe landing.

Addition of the One Way fuel tank air vent photo into the wing tips(left side is the same). Below is the right wing tip with the fiberglass  tip sitting on top of the wing.  The blue colored one way air vent is to allow the air to pass freely into the fuel tank but if fuel were to slosh out as far as the vent tube the one way valve will stop it going overboard.  The fuel tank interior has many ribs and anti slosh hinges installed inside the tank minimizing the sloshing of fuel.  The blue foam on the one way valve is now wrapped completely around the valve so there cannot be any metal contact to electrical connections in the wing tip.

Modification to Elevator - Adding additional counterbalance lead -

 January 11, 2023

My elevator was static balanced during construction along the hinge line.  Once installed I found them to be tail heavy when all drive tubes were connected.  I  left the lead weight space accesible (removable foam + rib) in case I needed to add additional lead, just behind the original forward lead installed.  A additional 2 pound of formed lead was added to each elevator tip and elevators are balanced up perfectly.  The lead was floxed into place and a 1/4" rib was installed (floxed) along the aft edge of the new lead.

Two layer of bid fiberglass is to be installed to cover the foam.