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Phase 1 update...N427DK

Hey Jim,

Look at the replies over on the "engines" subform. I'm going to try to get some fuel flow data with the GAMI spread method.

I don't recall the EGTs ever going above 1500, even LOP. My cylinder No. 1 is always the hottest, but that could be the result of how close the sensor is to the exhaust port. Offhand, I can't remember where I put it on the header....will have to check next time the cowl is off.

Cutting the dam back didn't really reduce EGT, just CHT.

Here's data from today's flight. At 8500', about 2530 rpm, OAT of about 50 degrees F, and leaned about 75 degrees ROP:

1) 1394
2) 1325
3) 1308
4) 1299

I flew 3.1 hours...longest flight yet! I did a couple landings at Apple Valley, and tried a midfield entry to the downwind for a change. It was a pretty calm day, but on the way back to Cable, the turbulence in the pass was the worst I've experienced. At least I'm getting used to it, so it's not the white knuckle ride that I had in the early hours. Can't wait to do a nice calm flight along the coast from, say, Dana Point to San Diego. :):)

I doubt the bumps ever exceeded 1g, but I'm a bit of a turbulence wimp. Maneuvering speed, you are my friend!!
 
Almost there! Another 3.1-hour flight this morning, with four landings at Apple Valley. Met a super nice guy there named Joe, who came over to pay me a compliment on my RV. As I was taxiing toward the restrooms, I saw his plane, a really pristine Cessna 180, as he was taking it out of the hangar. It is so nice to have people recognize the sweat and blood we put into our aircraft. Sometimes, now that I'm flying my RV, I'll look back at it when it's parked and think to myself, "Did I really build that?" Even though it's only been a few months, the days of riveting, sanding and deburring seem like they were years ago. A rip in the space/time continuum?

I was going to get some GAMI spread numbers, but I'm not yet familiar enough with the leaning page on the EFIS to do this. Instead, I just fooled around with LOP mixture while in steady state cruise. The fuel flow really does come down....maybe 30 degrees LOP at 2450 rpm and I was seeing 6.1 gph. Crazy how it rockets to 10 or so with a really fat mixture. I'm still not trusting the fuel flow numbers completely, but it does provide relative numbers at least. I topped off with 20.2 gallons, so overall it works out to about 6.5 gph.

So two more longish flights ought to get me to 40 hours, but I'm thinking two medium long flights, plus 30 minutes at sunset to hit the number. I'll have a new product PIREP after the next flight....I just got a Faro G2 ANR headset to replace my cheapo passive one. The (fake?) leather ear cushions are great, the top cushion is nice and plush, it's pretty light, and the price is right at $350.
 
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A free man at last!!

Today, I hit 40 hours and change:



I went for a marathon flight yesterday (3.7 hours) and another 3.2 this a.m. to hit the magic number. A perfect calm morning for a final "Thanks for the memories" tour of the practice area. It was very serene just cruising around; now that the engine is broken in, I was happy to relax at about 5.4 gph doing 128-ish KTAS.

So in the spirit of delayed gratification, she's going to the paint shop next week. When I stretch her legs to a fly-in or whatever, she'll be painted and presentable. Those comments about the pink cowl get old fast!

I'm loving the new Faro ANC headset. I was a little concerned with a crackling noise I heard at run-up, but it disappeared completely once airborne. I mounted the battery box on the cap strip with velcro, a nice out-of-the-way location.







I don't have much basis for comparison, but back in 2009, I bought a top-line BOSE ANC headset for use in the plane I was renting, and came away disappointed. It cut the noise alright, but emphasized the metallic sound of the engine, sort of a perpetual rod knock chorus that was disconcerting to say the least! I sent it back. Not a ding on the BOSE stuff...it might have been particular to the plane I was flying, intercom system, etc.

But the Faro is great....takes much of the low-frequency boom away, but no metallic sounds. It really does help reduce the fatigue level on a longer flight.

Thanks to everyone for the valuable input on this thread. I have learned a TON! :):) I'll definitely post a pic or two of N427DK with its shiny new paint.
 
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Congrats

Congratulations. Thanks for sharing. I went through your entire build posts last night. You are an inspiration. I loved reading your latest flight reviews. You seemed to have built in record time. I hope I am half as fast. Good Luck with finding all those wonderful places to visit in the southwest. Maybe you will be our west coast Vlad??
 
Woo Hoo! Who's getting the first ride? We will have to meet up sometime and do a breakfast/lunch flight.
 
Thanks, Bruce and John!

Bruce, by all means. It'll be fun to do a "flight of two" in loose formation somewhere...preferably to a place with a good restaurant and cheap 100LL! I think my friend Anthony will be first pax; he helped with the wing fitting.

John, so glad you got something meaningful from my posts. Good luck with your build. I'm honored that I'm even considered for the position of West Coast Vlad. :D:D
 
I called the paint shop today and they have a considerable backlog, so it looks like I'll be flying a while more with the Pepto cowl. :) I think I'll meet with them next week and put down a deposit to get my rock in line.

Bruce, I'd do the Ramona fly-in in a heartbeat, but I have a golf tournament that day. :(:D [mixed feelings emoticons]
 
For the record, N721WD passed 40 hours on April 2, 2016.

I am still trying to sort where I am in my Flight test/POH data.
I had two engine break-in periods and one Red Cube failure in the 40 hours. My personal flight test program will extend into the next flight hours.

Engine YO-233-EXP 115hp @ 2800 rpm
Cruise ~140 mph @ 5,000 ft @ ~ 4.7 gph.
Stall clean 55 mph
Stall Landing 47 mph
Empty Weight 1005 Lbs
 
For the record, N721WD passed 40 hours on April 2, 2016.

I am still trying to sort where I am in my Flight test/POH data.
I had two engine break-in periods and one Red Cube failure in the 40 hours. My personal flight test program will extend into the next flight hours.

Engine YO-233-EXP 115hp @ 2800 rpm
Cruise ~140 mph @ 5,000 ft @ ~ 4.7 gph.
Stall clean 55 mph
Stall Landing 47 mph
Empty Weight 1005 Lbs
 
I'm past Phase 1, but I'm still in "test-n-tune" mode. Happy to say that I finally removed the air dam in front of cyl. No. 1 entirely, and it made a considerable difference, even though it was only extending up the fins about 3/8". No. 1 & 3 temps went from 15 degrees F hotter than 2 & 4 to about 10 degrees cooler, a 25-degree delta!! No I have to cut down the other dam to even things out...it's currently about 5/8", so I'll try cutting it down to 3/8".

The relative temps look good, but the real test will be a climb-out on a super-hot day. On Monday (before this modification), I flew in 94-degree ambient heat, and shortly after takeoff, No. 1 hit 445 F and 3 hit 435!! :eek::eek: I quickly reduced climb to about 6 fpm and made sure I was indeed full rich (I was) and the temps came down, though not as quickly as I would've liked. For extra insurance, I've trimmed the cowl exit back by about an inch, so in profile the bottom lip of the "pod" is forward of the firewall. Originally, it was overhanging the firewall to the rear a little.

Credit to BruceH, who said I should probably leave the air dams off from the start in this hot climate...or make them easily removable so you could stick 'em back on for cold days. I think if I ever pull the baffles off, I'll countersink the angle that the air dams rivet to, and JB Weld some #6 screws in there facing forward. Then, you could simply install the dams and secure with nylock nuts.

So glad to be making progress here.
 
I think if I ever pull the baffles off, I'll countersink the angle that the air dams rivet to, and JB Weld some #6 screws in there facing forward. Then, you could simply install the dams and secure with nylock nuts.

Or just slap some aluminum tape on when you need to warm them up more.
 
Or just slap some aluminum tape on when you need to warm them up more.
Agreed. What I will also share from my experience is that my CHT's don't remain consistent (relative to each other) across wide OAT spreads. For example, flying a particular power settings on 60 degree days will leave my CHT spread pretty close, but on 80 degree days, the same power setting will result in my #3 heating up quite a bit more than the others. I'm not sure why that is, but for me it means that making air dams (tape or otherwise) is either a waste of time or highly dependent on whatever the OAT is.
 
Good insight, guys. It's rare here to have a day that gets down into the 40s, so tape it is!

I'm sure I'll learn more nuances about the CHTs as I build up the Hobbs time.
 
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Guys,

This is N721WD.

I am at about 43 hours. So far, in the first 43 hours, I have had one engine failure, one Red Cube failure and last week my GDL 39 quit receiving.


i-KMD53nx-XL.jpg
 
It finally worked, I posted an image.

Doug,
When you removed the from air dams did the climb CHT temps drop? In your post before you reached 445 on #1. any improvements?
 
Engine Failure? Oh Yes!

Search for posts by whd721 titled "Do not stray far in Phase I". I posted a several page write up in ~ July 2015.

I started Phase I in Dec 2014 and finished Phase I this month. Two first flights and eight months AOG for engine replacement......

This is a learning experience.
 
Whd721, I love your paint (decal?) scheme! You are certainly very unlucky to have that much misfortune in 43 hours. My only scare was some rough running at altitude, because I was so intent on running the engine hard for break-in that I forgot to lean!!

To answer your question, yes, climb temps were down after removing the air dam, but I've only done one flight since and it wasn't a definitive test. It was a far cooler day, and I departed the airport to the south, which requires staying below 2700 ft for quite a while (Ontario airspace). I'll update here on a hot day going to the east or west, where I can do a hard climb to 7500 ft or whatever. In cruise, relative to cyl. No. 2, No. 1 is now about 10-15 degrees cooler where it used to be 10-15 degrees hotter. It's amazing how much of a difference removing a 3/8" lip of metal can make.
 
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