Today's Message Index:
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1. 07:54 PM - Gap Seal Experiment Final Day (hopefully) (Brian Whittingham)
2. 09:21 PM - Re: Gap Seal Experiment Final Day (hopefully) (Charles Dewey)
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| Subject: | Gap Seal Experiment Final Day (hopefully) |
Hey everybody,
I just thought I'd share the latest developments. I have done some
preliminary data reduction for a baseline on N323AL for comparison with
tomorrow mornings flight tests. If everything goes well I'll be heading to
Arkansas to stay a night with my parents before heading on to Houston.
Today I modified the plane with gap seals on the tops and bottoms of the
ailerons, the underside of the flaps, and the underside of the elevator.
After literally months of planning the best course and safest course of
action it was time to see if it would work. At a little after 5:00 p.m.
this afternoon Nick hopped in the plane and took off on runway 36 for about
a half hour flight. The gap seals withstood the speed tests. He reported
that it didn't make the plane any more sensitive in either pitch or roll,
but that it seemed like the climb was really better and that he got a good
speed. I won't really know for sure until I run the numbers sometime within
the next week, but I have a feeling that we'll get a little. Some
discussion today went into how to attach these for a permanent installation,
how to improve fit and finish on these things, and what is practical. The
aileron gap seals seem to be great, but the flaps have an issue. Right now
they're overhanging the flaps and simply bend when the flaps are deployed.
They are only attached to the wing though, not to the flap and they vibrate
with flaps down. It would be possible to simply shorten them so that you're
not covering up the whole opening, but just part of it. Reducing the size
of the gap, but probably eliminating the annoying noise. A post flight
inspection revealed they are all still very much attached and in good shape
for tomorrow morning's run.
In other local news, Mr. Hubbard's plane went to have a canopy painted this
afternoon and with any luck the wheelpants might be finished tomorrow.
Rick's plane has 39 hours total time on it and in a couple of weeks he'll be
out to take her home. They touched up his paint today and I am hopeful to
fly the last hour before the 40 mark tomorrow after the flight test
experiment.
Here's a couple of pics for you all:
1. Not the greatest look, but functional. If you did a permanent install
I'm thinking adhering them with some kind of glue to the inside of the wing
gap might be an option. For this temporary installation I laid down a strip
of double sided carpet tape just ahead of the aileron on the wing, then
placed a mylar gap seal, cut out to the length of the gap, and then put a
layer of 100mph tape over the top. In this pic you can see the three
layers, the top is the speed tape, the carpet tape can be seen in an outline
underneth and the gap seal can just be seen at the rear. There's also a
mylar rub strip so that it doesn't wear the paint down on the aileron.
2. A little hard to see, but the flap gap seals are larger and clear. Made
out of duralar. I attached them in the same way. This does create some
problems as I couldn't get it perfectly straight and therefore it is a
little wrinkled. Perhaps a slightly thicker strip or some way to put it on
straighter can be devised.
3. Nick after the first successful flight with a sealed up Lightning.
Reports everything good. It is interesting watching from the side of the
runway and the plane flies just overhead. In the air with the gap seals it
looks like just a solid wing, no ailerons, no flaps.
Just thought I'd give an exclusive, top secret glimpse into the "Polecat
Works" latest and greatest. I'll post some of my more interesting findings
on here as I, well, as I find them. Also, huge thanks to Nick for taking
the time to fly this experiment with me to keep me from having to fly and
take data at the same time! Big thanks to Pete for giving me a chance to
fly the various models of Jabiru, the Esquals, and the Lightnings and for
giving me the chance to use the company's assets in order to perform tests
for my thesis. Thanks again to Buz for loaning me the supplies. I'll leave
the box with Nick next time you're around Buz.
Brian W.
_________________________________________________________________
PC Magazines 2007 editors choice for best Web mailaward-winning Windows
Live Hotmail.
Message 2
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| Subject: | Re: Gap Seal Experiment Final Day (hopefully) |
Brian, Great work. Thanks for all you have done to
help improve performance. Can't wait to see the final
numbers- good or bad. It'll be a sad day when you
leave for Houston. Charles
--- Brian Whittingham <dashvii@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hey everybody,
> I just thought I'd share the latest
> developments. I have done some
> preliminary data reduction for a baseline on N323AL
> for comparison with
> tomorrow mornings flight tests. If everything goes
> well I'll be heading to
> Arkansas to stay a night with my parents before
> heading on to Houston.
> Today I modified the plane with gap seals on the
> tops and bottoms of the
> ailerons, the underside of the flaps, and the
> underside of the elevator.
> After literally months of planning the best course
> and safest course of
> action it was time to see if it would work. At a
> little after 5:00 p.m.
> this afternoon Nick hopped in the plane and took off
> on runway 36 for about
> a half hour flight. The gap seals withstood the
> speed tests. He reported
> that it didn't make the plane any more sensitive in
> either pitch or roll,
> but that it seemed like the climb was really better
> and that he got a good
> speed. I won't really know for sure until I run the
> numbers sometime within
> the next week, but I have a feeling that we'll get a
> little. Some
> discussion today went into how to attach these for a
> permanent installation,
> how to improve fit and finish on these things, and
> what is practical. The
> aileron gap seals seem to be great, but the flaps
> have an issue. Right now
> they're overhanging the flaps and simply bend when
> the flaps are deployed.
> They are only attached to the wing though, not to
> the flap and they vibrate
> with flaps down. It would be possible to simply
> shorten them so that you're
> not covering up the whole opening, but just part of
> it. Reducing the size
> of the gap, but probably eliminating the annoying
> noise. A post flight
> inspection revealed they are all still very much
> attached and in good shape
> for tomorrow morning's run.
>
> In other local news, Mr. Hubbard's plane went to
> have a canopy painted this
> afternoon and with any luck the wheelpants might be
> finished tomorrow.
> Rick's plane has 39 hours total time on it and in a
> couple of weeks he'll be
> out to take her home. They touched up his paint
> today and I am hopeful to
> fly the last hour before the 40 mark tomorrow after
> the flight test
> experiment.
>
> Here's a couple of pics for you all:
>
> 1. Not the greatest look, but functional. If you
> did a permanent install
> I'm thinking adhering them with some kind of glue to
> the inside of the wing
> gap might be an option. For this temporary
> installation I laid down a strip
> of double sided carpet tape just ahead of the
> aileron on the wing, then
> placed a mylar gap seal, cut out to the length of
> the gap, and then put a
> layer of 100mph tape over the top. In this pic you
> can see the three
> layers, the top is the speed tape, the carpet tape
> can be seen in an outline
> underneth and the gap seal can just be seen at the
> rear. There's also a
> mylar rub strip so that it doesn't wear the paint
> down on the aileron.
>
> 2. A little hard to see, but the flap gap seals are
> larger and clear. Made
> out of duralar. I attached them in the same way.
> This does create some
> problems as I couldn't get it perfectly straight and
> therefore it is a
> little wrinkled. Perhaps a slightly thicker strip
> or some way to put it on
> straighter can be devised.
>
> 3. Nick after the first successful flight with a
> sealed up Lightning.
> Reports everything good. It is interesting watching
> from the side of the
> runway and the plane flies just overhead. In the
> air with the gap seals it
> looks like just a solid wing, no ailerons, no flaps.
>
> Just thought I'd give an exclusive, top secret
> glimpse into the "Polecat
> Works" latest and greatest. I'll post some of my
> more interesting findings
> on here as I, well, as I find them. Also, huge
> thanks to Nick for taking
> the time to fly this experiment with me to keep me
> from having to fly and
> take data at the same time! Big thanks to Pete for
> giving me a chance to
> fly the various models of Jabiru, the Esquals, and
> the Lightnings and for
> giving me the chance to use the company's assets in
> order to perform tests
> for my thesis. Thanks again to Buz for loaning me
> the supplies. I'll leave
> the box with Nick next time you're around Buz.
>
> Brian W.
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
> PC Magazines 2007 editors choice for best Web
> mailaward-winning Windows
> Live Hotmail.
>
http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396546091
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