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prkaye

Well Known Member
Question - how soon after your fist flight did you begin test flying the airplane farther than gliding distance from your field? The reason i ask is the following: I have only put between 5 and 6 hours on my plane so far (almost 1.5 months since first flight) - it is difficult for me to get the time to get out to the airport. Now that fall has arrived, the Air Cadets have started their glider operations at our airport on weekends. When this is going on, the gliders and towplanes use right hand circuits while everyone else does left hand circuits, so there is no "dead side" for me to do my test flying within gliding range. I'm wondering whether it would be unwise to go up at this early stage of test flying while gliders are operating and conduct my flights farther away from the airport.
I haven't flown in nearly two weeks because I was busy with guests over the long weekend, and the weather this week has been bad :( The forecast for Sat looks good, but the gliders will be operating...
 
Test flight

prkaye,

Certainly can't fault anyone for using a cautious approach to test flying.
However, you now have 6 hours on your well tested design. (factory testing)

Its been a few years since the first flight in my 8 and only the first flight was made within gliding distance of my home base. After that, I made it to the next closest airfield that was not busy.
Unless you have an underlying problem with your installation, you should feel confident to take her out a bit further. Make a 2 hour flight, climb to 10000 feet, cruise for an hour and head back. Note temperature and engine behaviour. Unless you are testing an alternative engine installation and have not observed any unusual flight or engine characteristics its time to leave the nest. Good luck.
 
Make a 2 hour flight, climb to 10000 feet, cruise for an hour and head back.
Click to expand...
As much as I'd love to take her to Kingston or somewhere else, I'm legally on a 25NM leash during the first 25 hours (Canadian regs). But maybe now that the engine temps seem to be coming down I could take her up a bit higher and start doing some more testing (slow flight, climb rate, etc).
 
Fly early in the day before the thermals come up and the gliders are out.
 
Fly early in the day before the thermals come up and the gliders are out.
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The Cadets start early. They actually don't do any thermalling. I was trained as an Air Cadet Glider Pilot. They aren't allowed to do any thermalling... the priority is to get as many cadets through short famil flights in a day as they can. They typically tow to 2K and casually glide back down for landing. I seem to remember their typical flights being on the order of 15-20 min. They operate 2 gliders, so this means there is almost constant activitiy on the ground (launching and recovering) all day long.
 
Hey Phil

I'd say you're good to go away from YSH now. I started flying down there from YRP after about 3 hours. I actually did almost all of my test flying out towards Perth/Lanark/Arnprior. It is Class E airspace so with a transponder you should be good for just about any altitude.
 
Flight test progression

I just finished my 40 hr flight test program this past Friday, taking 6 wks to complete. I have an "0" SMOH engine and Hartsell prop. The engine shop reccommended break-in procedure (first 10 hrs) had to be incorporated into what I could do. First 5 hrs was to operate 2" of manifold pressure greater than RPM.... so for example 25" and 2300 RPM. Hrs 5 to 10 was to operate at least "Squared". After that, you're "free". So I didn't do any climb rate or gliding work until after the 10 hrs.

I spent the first 5 hrs at 3500 ft within gliding distance of the airport. After that, I worked 5500 to 7500 ft (7500 allows 23 Sq). After 5 hrs, I traveled up to 20 miles away figuring that if I had no suspecious behavior in the first 5 hrs, then the likelihood of serious problems was low. After about 15 hrs I traveled to outside edges of my test box (up to 50 miles away, but I did it at over 10,000 ft to give me more landing options).

If you're "squawk free" at this point, I'd venture to say you're in pretty good shape, risk wise. But as ALWAYS, keep the "back door" open.
 
I spent very little time over the airport. First flight was around 15 mins. Second flight after checkout, was 100 miles to the next airport. This was mostly over open desert and freeway, which was actually an advantage because of being able to run the engine stronger, and much less populated areas below. My test area was that 100 miles in one direction, and 45 miles in another. Most flights ended up being these cross country type, rather than hovering over the airport. All went well.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
Hey Phil,

You and I started flying at about the same time...I have been limited on time as well to get some flying in, but I do have 11 hours on mine now. I stayed above the airport (within 3-4 miles at 6500) for the first 6 hours, and ran a bunch of tests that could be done without climbs or descents. After my first oil change (did it at 5.5 hours), I did a lower level "fun flight" to a buddy's strip 14nm away. Since then, I have been flying within 15nm of home base at all altitudes, testing climb, descent, and glide. I will probably start visiting airports with 30nm of home by hour 15, and stretch to the outer edges (50nm) after 25 hours or so.

Just some data points for ya...:)
 
Isn't Brockville within the 25nm limit for you...then again, the EOGC starts gliding there from September 25 to October 11....great spot, little traffic and a long enough runway for ya...

Cheers

Don
 
Phil... No idea what Canadian (or US) regs state.

However, in the UK the rules are not overly prescriptive. As a practical approach, I aim on a 1st flight to climb at full power, trying to remain in gliding range - I am led to understand that the 1st power reduction is when a failure is most likely. The remainder of the 1st flight (only ~20mins) within gliding range if possible, but not essential.

Post 1st flight a review of the findings, including cowlings off and closely examine for heat, wear, leaks, abrasion. In the UK, we are checking here the "aircraft is fit to leave the circuit (area)".

We have a 5hr minimum test phase in the UK ;) and it does require a 2hr flight. Given the usual break in requirement, the 2nd flight as the 2hr one is a common plan... Whilst the LAA typically restrict you to 25NM from one airfield, this can be extended, and is not for the pure "engine failure / gliding" case, but more general problems and avoiding a long transit.

Summary - aside from the 1st flight, I would not treat "within gliding distance" as a significant factor over and above normal flying.

Andy
 
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