FIRST FLIGHT!
Today was the day. First Flight. All went well. Here is a link to a short video
https://youtu.be/gOC8upPFNpU
Here are a few pics too.
I know folks will want details but honestly, I only did 2 takeoffs and 2 landings for a total of about 0.6 hour. It was a fairly low ceiling so not much room to play. I honestly cannot answer most of the obvious questions like how fast did it go. So not much to report on performance at this point.
I was quite impressed with the thrust on take off. Very noticeable speed gain on roll out. I am using a 72" ground adjustable, 3 bladed solid carbon fiber prop made by Warp Drive.
I did see some the temps rise up to 198F on full power (5000rpm) climb out. My radiator inlet is small and the radiator lines take up a lot of the square inches of that opening, but I can easily enlarge it if needed.
I think I saw about 35" of M.A.P. at 4800 rpm. I thought it would be slightly higher but I am happy with this. I have no desire to push things at this point in the development of this set up. ( I am using a T3/T4 60/63 turbo).
I did feel a slight stumble on the 2nd take off which disappeared after a few seconds. Not sure about that. I will spend some time tomorrow looking over the engine area to see if anything looks amiss.
I also saw about 180-190f temps on the gearbox. That seemed a bit high but I will have to get with the manufacturer to see what they think.
As you will see in the pic, I have what I affectionally call "big feet" on the plane. I have 6.00 x 6 tires on the mains. No leg fairings or wheel pants. As you can expect, at this point this is not a machine intended for speed, per se. But I really like the view and stability those tires provide. Love them. I know some will gasp at the thought of those tires but I really like them.
That being said, I am very very happy with the flights.