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By the way Martin is no longer an AP, so you'll probably have to approach Dave Tenant. Cheers |
She FLIES! And quite nicely too!
After 4 years, 9 months and 19 days building, Aurora Australis was awarded her registration, but I then had to wait several more weeks for a combination of good weather and kids-in-daycare to be able to perform the first flight.
Other than a few EMS alarms (high current, EGT and Fuel Flow) the flight went beautifully. These alarms will be reset to more appropriate values before the next flight. The high-current was due to me setting the redline at the 30-amp rating of the PP alternator, that I now understand will output slightly more than 30 amps at times. EGT was due to the #2 cylinder being much higher than the others, even during idle, so I'm going to swap the probe to #4 to see what happens, and FF was higher than expected for the O-340, and I didn't have enough margin in the setting there. Handling wise, she flies slightly left-wing-low, it is a little nosier than expected so I now understand why the VAF cap sits higher on my noggin' than The Motherships cap (to clear the headset cups in case you're wondering...watch the video, you'll see), but overall it was a much nicer handling aircraft than the Tecnam, it felt much more stable airborne, and went like a scalded cat. Without any fairings on, I was seeing 120-130MPH most of the time, but without an accurate FF indication, can't say exactly what % power that was, though it was usually at 23/2400RPM. Max RPM at 4,000 was ~2500RPM, which looks to be on track for a 2700RPM rating at 8000, so hopefully I won't need to change the prop setting. Here's the YouTube video. I had the GoPro on the tail, a DashCam I've riveted to the rollbar and our camcorder tucked under the canopy. Because I'm an idiot, I forgot to turn the GoPro on before the takeoff roll, so the only footage I have of the liftoff are from the two internal cameras. :mad: |
Awesome...a huge congrats!! Great job on the video too. I can relate to that last deep breath you took after run-up. It's about having unshakeable confidence in both the quality of your work and Van's design when you take the runway for the first time.
You're gonna love it with the fairings in place...it feels supercharged. :D |
HUGE congratulations!!!!! Welcome to the Flyin' Nines!!!!! The more you fly it, the more you'll love it. :D
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Congratulations Rob! Enjoy!
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Congratulations, that first flight is a wonderful feeling
Cheers |
Congratulations
And great/entertaining video, although you are sitting one the wrong side of the aircraft;)
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Enjoy
Congratulations. What an achievement. Thanks for sharing. Hope to see it somewhere soon.
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Any events in July?
Greetings from San Diego. My wife and I will be in the neighborhood looking at airparks and I am wondering if there are any organized events in July that we could attend and learn a bunch more about flying in Oz. I have an RV-3 and a C170 and only the RV will be coming with us.
Thanks. Mark |
Congrats! Have a safe Phase 1 and enjoy the ride.
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