I know that many of us had a chance to fly the 12 this week, so I'm interested in your perception of this new little bird.
I flew it (out of the Plant City airport) this afternoon with Mike S., long-time checkout pilot.
The aircraft was N912VA, the first (pre-production) version of the aircraft, and equipped with the old wing design. Other differences from the production model include the hand brake, what appears to be a slightly different gas tank configuration, different nose strut, and additional instrumentation (another glass flight instrument package is on the passenger side of the panel, and I don't remember who the manufacturer is.
Engine start was a non-issue: flip the master and two ignition switches, hit the starter, and the engine was running in two seconds. Idle was very smooth. Mike taxied the aircraft, and left the tip-up slightly open for ventilation during the five minute taxi out to runway 10 at Plant City. Flaperons were set at the first (of two) settings for takeoff. The Dynon took about 1 minute to warm up and display the attitude and nav functions.
Canopy secured, we took off in what appeared to be about 800 feet. He make a comment about the acceleration not being nearly as brisk as a 180 HP RV-7, but it was about what I thought it would be for a 100 hp Rotax. Mike retracted the flaps at about 300 feet with a bit of nose up pitch change. Engine noise was not excessive during climb out, and I mentioned as much to Mike. He quickly added "Yeah, but remember you're wearing a good noise cancelling headseat!" We took them off for a minute and smiled at each other--you can shout over the noise, but it's a lot better with those little nuggets of electronic bliss over your nugget. I rescind my earlier sentiment--it's a noisy airplane, but eminently tolerable with the ANRs working.
Eager to feel this new aircraft, I got my chance during climb out. Mike urged me to treat it gently, as the controls are indeed sensitive--but not overly so. The ailerons are delightfully light, and it took just a bit of rudder to maintain coordinated flight. The little "ball" was on the Dynon 180 display--on Mike's side--so it was a bit more difficult to figure out where coordinated flight really was. Plus, I'm not that good of a pilot. I just look good in a tux.
The 12 does bounce around quite a bit because of it's light wing loading. I had no difficulty keeping it on course, but let's face it: it is an LSA, and it's going to have a greater reaction to the wind than a heavier machine would.
Pitch sensitivity is moderate but light, but with positive dynamic stability. Small pulses were dampened immediately, and I did not try any long term phugoidal oscillations due to the limited time we spent airborne. Steep turns are a piece of cake, with just a bit of rudder required. Mike set the flaps at setting one and we set 4500 rpm, slowing to 65 knots for a slow flight demo. The electric trim button on the panel was easy to use, but offers no tactile feedback. It is also very quick, so a few quick "blips" was all that was needed to set the stick force to zero.
Roll control was a just a little bit more sluggish with flaperons extended, but still very acceptable and light stick force. Pitch sensitivity remained moderate, and it was very easy to maintain altitude. We then retracted the flaperons and did a power-off stall straight ahead. I did not check out the airspeed at which the aircraft stalled, but the break was clean and straight ahead. There was no warning otherwise. Releasing the stick about three inches was all that was needed to break the stall, and I was deliberately slow in adding power to see how quickly the aircraft recovered. With only 200 feet lost (at most), the airplane was flying just fine. I think the production 12 model has a stall warning vane on the left wing, so I think you'll get ample warning.
Recovering back to Plant City, we cruised at about 5200 rpm and 110 knots, but of course your speed will vary in the production models.
We flew downwind at 1000 feet and 70 knots, base at 65. Mike landed the aircraft on runway 10 with about 60 knots on short final, and even that was excessive. He played the speed off during the entire last half mile, and touched down at about 50 knots indicated. Nose attitude was a bit lower than expected at touch down. Roll out was very smooth, no doubt aided by my large grin and slobbering.
Gets hot with that canopy down during roll out! Even with the sun shade in place, without the engine running or airflow, it gets stuffy quickly.
Shutdown is easy--no mixture to pull, no mags to check. Just pull in and shut down the ignition switches and turn off the master.
So--that's my impression. What did you other guys think?
I flew it (out of the Plant City airport) this afternoon with Mike S., long-time checkout pilot.
The aircraft was N912VA, the first (pre-production) version of the aircraft, and equipped with the old wing design. Other differences from the production model include the hand brake, what appears to be a slightly different gas tank configuration, different nose strut, and additional instrumentation (another glass flight instrument package is on the passenger side of the panel, and I don't remember who the manufacturer is.
Engine start was a non-issue: flip the master and two ignition switches, hit the starter, and the engine was running in two seconds. Idle was very smooth. Mike taxied the aircraft, and left the tip-up slightly open for ventilation during the five minute taxi out to runway 10 at Plant City. Flaperons were set at the first (of two) settings for takeoff. The Dynon took about 1 minute to warm up and display the attitude and nav functions.
Canopy secured, we took off in what appeared to be about 800 feet. He make a comment about the acceleration not being nearly as brisk as a 180 HP RV-7, but it was about what I thought it would be for a 100 hp Rotax. Mike retracted the flaps at about 300 feet with a bit of nose up pitch change. Engine noise was not excessive during climb out, and I mentioned as much to Mike. He quickly added "Yeah, but remember you're wearing a good noise cancelling headseat!" We took them off for a minute and smiled at each other--you can shout over the noise, but it's a lot better with those little nuggets of electronic bliss over your nugget. I rescind my earlier sentiment--it's a noisy airplane, but eminently tolerable with the ANRs working.
Eager to feel this new aircraft, I got my chance during climb out. Mike urged me to treat it gently, as the controls are indeed sensitive--but not overly so. The ailerons are delightfully light, and it took just a bit of rudder to maintain coordinated flight. The little "ball" was on the Dynon 180 display--on Mike's side--so it was a bit more difficult to figure out where coordinated flight really was. Plus, I'm not that good of a pilot. I just look good in a tux.
The 12 does bounce around quite a bit because of it's light wing loading. I had no difficulty keeping it on course, but let's face it: it is an LSA, and it's going to have a greater reaction to the wind than a heavier machine would.
Pitch sensitivity is moderate but light, but with positive dynamic stability. Small pulses were dampened immediately, and I did not try any long term phugoidal oscillations due to the limited time we spent airborne. Steep turns are a piece of cake, with just a bit of rudder required. Mike set the flaps at setting one and we set 4500 rpm, slowing to 65 knots for a slow flight demo. The electric trim button on the panel was easy to use, but offers no tactile feedback. It is also very quick, so a few quick "blips" was all that was needed to set the stick force to zero.
Roll control was a just a little bit more sluggish with flaperons extended, but still very acceptable and light stick force. Pitch sensitivity remained moderate, and it was very easy to maintain altitude. We then retracted the flaperons and did a power-off stall straight ahead. I did not check out the airspeed at which the aircraft stalled, but the break was clean and straight ahead. There was no warning otherwise. Releasing the stick about three inches was all that was needed to break the stall, and I was deliberately slow in adding power to see how quickly the aircraft recovered. With only 200 feet lost (at most), the airplane was flying just fine. I think the production 12 model has a stall warning vane on the left wing, so I think you'll get ample warning.
Recovering back to Plant City, we cruised at about 5200 rpm and 110 knots, but of course your speed will vary in the production models.
We flew downwind at 1000 feet and 70 knots, base at 65. Mike landed the aircraft on runway 10 with about 60 knots on short final, and even that was excessive. He played the speed off during the entire last half mile, and touched down at about 50 knots indicated. Nose attitude was a bit lower than expected at touch down. Roll out was very smooth, no doubt aided by my large grin and slobbering.
Gets hot with that canopy down during roll out! Even with the sun shade in place, without the engine running or airflow, it gets stuffy quickly.
Shutdown is easy--no mixture to pull, no mags to check. Just pull in and shut down the ignition switches and turn off the master.
So--that's my impression. What did you other guys think?
