Winter 2002

The weather this winter has been warmer, but with fewer clear days as one might expect.

Despite the weather, the Gadget has accumulated about 25 hours since October.

Cell Phone:

I have installed a mount for my cell on the right side cockpit wall. Using a standard handsfree kit under my headset I can easily communicate while in flight. The national FSS 800 number is in the phone's memory along with my local tower. Officially, in Canada, the cell phone can be used for aeronautical communication but only after all other communications failure procedures have been tried. With that in mind it seems I will not likely need the cell phone as a backup in flight but its still nice to know its there.

The best part of this set-up has been sitting warm and comfortable (ready to go) in the Gadget while I file a flight plan and get weather updates five minutes before wheels up. Sure beats the old days when we had to get this information by dog sled.

Brakes:

The Great Plains Azuza hydraulic brakes were not as effective as I had hoped. They consist of a disc mounted to the inside of the wheel with a single circular shoe pressing outwards. The disc was match drilled to the wheel and tapped to be held in place by the wheel bolts. After assembly the disc was no longer flat as the stress of the wheel bolts had created high spots.

A local machine shop turned the discs flat for a reasonable fee. The brakes are still not as effective as Clevlands, however they are markedly improved.

Electrical System:

The 28AH battery has proved quite capable of starting the Revmaster 2100D even in temperatures as low as - 20 C.

After some time however it appeared the battery was not being maintained in a full state of charge. While the aircraft was being flown regularly the starter began cranking more slowly and eventually the battery needed to be recharged. This prompted me to look more carefully at the charging system voltage during a normal flight.

A sensitive voltmeter was installed and after the battery had been serviced we went forth to commit aviation. What I noticed early in the flight was that even at full power (3200 RPM) the meter was only reading about 12.5 V. This should be around 14V in a "normal" system and I began to suspect the regulator (Revmaster transistor type) or alternator might need to be replaced. After about 20 minutes however the voltage had increased to nearly 15 V at 3100 RPM. Reducing RPM to 2700 caused the system voltage to drop to about 12.8V.

After a while the regulator seemed to hold the system at around 12.8 V with occasional increases to nearly 15 V if RPM was over 3000. This was as though the regulator was sensing battery use and periodically increasing charge.

This behaviour is inconsistent with normal electrical system operation, as I understand it - but it does work. After 75 hours of flying and considerable ground testing prior to that time I have experienced only one low battery (at about 55 hours). The battery is three years old now and still working well. As a preventative measure I have included a battery maintenance (specific gravity check and charge) in the 25-hour check.

Night Flying:

The Gadget is equipped for night VFR but it is a brave man indeed who does night test flights. Being more the craven coward type I wanted to have at least 50 hours on the clock prior to this test.

I waited for a nice winter evening with light winds for this test. The engine went into "auto-rough" as soon as the end of the runway passed under the nose but this is a normal single-engine night phenomenon. After departing, the Gadget and I orbited within gliding distance while all systems were checked.

The upper strobe light was found to be distracting and a small area of the lens will be masked to prevent direct light from entering the cockpit area.

Putting the taxi light in the right wing was dumb, but in my own defence I had never before taxied in a KR at the time. Since large S turns are necessary while taxiing this light should go on the same side of the airplane as the pilot.

Lighting is nominal on the lower half of the panel and the panel light shades will be re-designed to improve this. Additionally, lights will be installed in the Quad engine gauge and tachometer. I find I check these gauges a lot at night (just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me).

The landing light was quite effective and landings with and without it were no problem.

Overall, it was a most satisfying experience to fly this test. While I do not plan to fly at night regularly, having this capability enhances the usefulness of the aircraft as a x-country machine.

Valve Adjustments:

I have found it necessary to check and adjust the valves about every 12-15 hours. Revmaster advises that during the first 100 hours run on a new engine (or cylinder head) the clearances can be expected to decrease as the valves "settle in" to the seats. The results of these adjustments can be seen in the table below.

All of the valves have exhibited this tendency except for #3 intake. The average is about .020 if number 3 intake is ignored.

At 100 hours operation any valve continuing this trend will be removed to check for elongation. I have seen photographs of what happens when an engine swallows a valve (very ugly).

Forced Approaches cont:

Just about the worst place for an engine to pack it in has to be right after take off right? Turning back can be an option but you need height for this stunt. Till now my question has been how much?

To determine this I established the Gadget in a full power climb and at 3000' (or so) reduced the power to idle. I then began a medium turn and watched the altitude loss through 180 degrees. In each attempt I was able to perform a 180-deg turn within 300 feet.

In order to make allowance for the surprise factor in the real thing and the residual thrust of the idling engine during the test I will continue to use 500 AGL as my reference. Below this altitude forced approaches will be done straight ahead with minor heading variations only.

Remember that in any turns close to the ground it's harder to stay coordinated due to drift. Check the ball and airspeed frequently. Good Luck!

Wheel Pants:

I am pretty happy with the Gadget's cruise speed however there is this smarty-pants Comanche driver I fly around with from time to time who keeps making snide remarks...

The Azuza wheels are small and in order to take advantage of this I found it necessary to lay-up my own wheel pant design. This looked daunting at first but, as we all know, with a bit of foam almost anything can be shaped.

The shape was inspired by the short Cessna pants common in the 70s. Full size drawings were made in 2 views. The foam plug was easily shaped with the usual tools and a carpenter's square as demonstrated in the pictures to get the top view correct.

West system and 3 layers of 6-oz boat cloth were used.

The brake covers and attachment hardware are yet to be fabricated with finishing to be done after testing.

Once completed, I expect a 30-40 kt increase in cruise and a fuller, thicker head of hair.