It's not as dramatic as a "First Flight" announcement, but it sure is satisfying....
Tonight at about 1900 local, I ran out of things to do on the plane to prepare for first engine start, so we rolled her out on the pad and started the big fan for the first time. We had to crank it with the lower plugs out for just a little over thirty seconds to get oil pressure, and then she started on the third blade. Total run time was about ten minutes, spread over three runs, with leak checks in between. Cycled the prop on the third run, and that worked well too.
The Mattituck TMX-360 was smoother than any piston engine I have ever sat behind - I couldn't believe it! (Many thanks to Mahlon andht efine folks on Long Island!) Not only did she run beautifully, but every aircraft system that I checked was working correclty - a big tribute to the constant integration testing and system burn-in that we've have been doing since power first got on the main bus. I cannot recomend this strongly enough for people building all-electric airplanes - buy yourself a good 12 volt power supply and connect it up early inthe wiring process. Run it every time you are in the shop, and check each item as it gets installed - by thetime you reach the point I'm at, you'll have hundreds of hours on the system, you will have fixed each little problem as it arose, and there will be few surprises.
Except, of course, how surprisingly good it feels to be sitting in your project with the prop turning on a fine evening while the sun sets.....
Paul Dye
Turning to the hundreds of details before inspection...
Tonight at about 1900 local, I ran out of things to do on the plane to prepare for first engine start, so we rolled her out on the pad and started the big fan for the first time. We had to crank it with the lower plugs out for just a little over thirty seconds to get oil pressure, and then she started on the third blade. Total run time was about ten minutes, spread over three runs, with leak checks in between. Cycled the prop on the third run, and that worked well too.
The Mattituck TMX-360 was smoother than any piston engine I have ever sat behind - I couldn't believe it! (Many thanks to Mahlon andht efine folks on Long Island!) Not only did she run beautifully, but every aircraft system that I checked was working correclty - a big tribute to the constant integration testing and system burn-in that we've have been doing since power first got on the main bus. I cannot recomend this strongly enough for people building all-electric airplanes - buy yourself a good 12 volt power supply and connect it up early inthe wiring process. Run it every time you are in the shop, and check each item as it gets installed - by thetime you reach the point I'm at, you'll have hundreds of hours on the system, you will have fixed each little problem as it arose, and there will be few surprises.
Except, of course, how surprisingly good it feels to be sitting in your project with the prop turning on a fine evening while the sun sets.....
Paul Dye
Turning to the hundreds of details before inspection...
