wrote:
Hey Bill, Sounds scary! Glad you are OK. Although it was years ago ( fir
st off I'm NOT a trained test pilot ) I was involved in some actual flut
ter problems involving a Midget Mustang I built by a friend and latter d
id flutter tests in a Mustang II built by another friend. When we experi
enced the flutter with the MM I ( at about 180 mph ) we consulted an ol
d friend who knew Dave Long ( the designer of the MM I ) and picked his
brain. One thing he said is if you experience flutter you have mere seco
nds to SLOW DOWN and the best way to do that is to reduce power and pull
the airplane up ( I noticed you dove and increased speed but got out of
it ). This procedure helped us with the MM I. What we found with this a
irplane was an accumulation of built in slop in the aileron control syst
em. This system was all push rods and bellcranks and the builder had jus
t drilled all the holes ( did not ream ) and used AN Standard bolts. I f
ound this quickly by haveing the builder grasp one aileron while I moved
the other aileron up and down better than a 1/4" at the trailing edge.
Remeber this is a 200 mph plus airplane. We went to NAS and oversized bo
lts and tightened up the slop. This DIDN'T cure the flutter though. What
we found then was that when he filled the counterweight tubes that were
mounted forward of the hinge line with lead, he didn't get the tubes fu
ll as the lead solidified as he poured it in and left many air spaces in
side the tube. We corrected that and the flutter problem went away. Prob
ably both problems contributed to the flutter. In the Mustang II we were
doing flutter test in the 225 230 mph range by increasing the speed by
1 mph increments and never had a problem, but we were ready to slow it d
own if one did arise. I know John from AMD tested for flutter when he di
d your test flight and he said nothing about it when he landed. You migh
t call him and ask what max speed he uses when testing. Not being an aer
odynamicist ( spelling? ) I don't know the cause for your encounter but
just maybe it has something to do with the fact that we don't use balanc
ed controls on these Zenith airplanes and a weird air pattern that you e
ncountered because of the heat from the power plant. I've flown over lar
ge fires on the ground, as I'm sure you and others have in the past and
experienced some pretty rough air but not FLUTTER. In your case, if it
was unbalanced controls, it seems that when you dove to 170, it should h
ave made it worse. Do the "grab one aileron and try to move the other te
st" and see what you find. Otherwise, DON'T fly near the power plant any
more! I've been tempted to fly over to that same place but since 9-11 I
stay away from all power plants. Let me know if I can help and also wha
t you find. Jim Hoak ----- Original Message ----- From: JAPhillipsGA@aol
.com To: zenith-list@matronics.com Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 1:31
AMSubject: Zenith-List: 601XL Wing Flutter
Dear Thread Friends, I went flying this afternoon. Took a fellow with me
and just wanted an hour in the clear blue. Conditions were perfect, cle
ar, cool and only a slight wind. The only big thing around much to see n
earby is Lake Juliette which has a big coal fired power station in the m
iddle. Three huge steam towers that look like a nuclear power station. W
e flew around the lake about two miles away at 5000 feet so my pal could
get a good look see. On the down wind side we flew into an invisible ki
ller. We were doing above 140 when we flew into it. Instantly the left w
ing fluttered at a fast pitch, aileron and all and it looked to be movin
g maybe two inched up and down. I figured a couple seconds would break i
t off. I didn't have time to look around the passenger to see if the rig
ht wing was fluttering, but I suspect it was. I chopped power and did a
hard diving wing over to the left and out of it. The flutter sound was g
reat even over my Lightspeed AN system and the whole thing probably last
maybe 5 or 6 seconds. I regained control out of the snap dive, maxing a
bove 170 and flew slow and easy back to the field before I tested the co
ntrols. Everything felt okay and I could see no wrinkles in the top skin
so I landed. Didn't really have much choice. Upon inspection I found no
sign of stress, no skin deform, no paint cracked around rivets, nothing
. I will take off all inspection panels for a close inspection this week
end and check bolts, controls, etc., but I cannot believe such a prolong
ed violent movement of the wing did not damage something other than my p
ride. Two things learned. Don't fly anywhere near a power station. Even
at 5000 feet and miles away the invisible heat rises and is most extreme
. Maybe intensified in cold weather. The other thing is the XL is very,
very tough. Oh, there is a third thing. How could I have been so stupid
not to know the first thing !! I am interested though in knowing why th
e wings fluttered in this thermal? What theory of air dynamics would cau
se this extreme reaction? Was is just the level of heat and speed the in
visible air was streaming past? This was my 90th flight in her and she m
ade me proud again. Best regards to you all,
Bill of Georgia
N505WP
601XL-3300 href="http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List">http:
//www.matronhref="http://forums.matronics.com">http://forums.matronics
========================
========================
========================
========================
========================
=
Control flutter is a function of speed, If I ever encounter it
I will pull off the power and instantly climb to bleed off excess
speed. I am curious why you dove and sped up??
do not archive
Ben Haas
N801BH
www.haaspowerair
.com
-- "Jim Hoak" <planejim@bellsouth.net>&
nbsp;wrote:
Hey Bill,
Sounds scary! Glad you are OK. Althou
gh it was years ago ( first off I'm NOT a trained test pilot ) I was inv
olved in some actual flutter problems involving a Midget Mustang I built
by a friend and latter did flutter tests in a Mustang II built by anoth
er friend.
When we experienced the flutter with
the MM I ( at about 180 mph ) we consulted an old friend who knew
Dave Long ( the designer of the MM I ) and picked his brain. One thing h
e said is if you experience flutter you have mere seconds to SLOW DOWN a
nd the best way to do that is to reduce power and pull the airplane up (
I noticed you dove and increased speed but got out of it ). This proced
ure helped us with the MM I. What we found with this airplane was an acc
umulation of built in slop in the aileron control system. This system wa
s all push rods and bellcranks and the builder had just drilled&nbs
p;all the holes ( did not ream ) and used AN Standard bolts. I foun
d this quickly by haveing the builder grasp one aileron while I mov
ed the other aileron up and down better than a 1/4" at the trailing
edge. Remeber this is a 200 mph plus airplane. We went to NAS and overs
ized bolts and tightened up the slop. This DIDN'T cure the flutter thoug
h. What we found then was that when he filled the counterweight tub
es that were mounted forward of the hinge line with lead, he didn't get
the tubes full as the lead solidified as he poured it in and left many a
ir spaces inside the tube. We corrected that and the flutter problem wen
t away. Probably both problems contributed to the flutter.
In the Mustang II we were doing flutt
er test in the 225 230 mph range by increasing the speed by 1 mph i
ncrements and never had a problem, but we were ready to slow it dow
n if one did arise.
I know John from AMD tested for flutt
er when he did your test flight and he said nothing about it when he lan
ded. You might call him and ask what max speed he uses when testing.
Not being an aerodynamicist ( spellin
g? ) I don't know the cause for your encounter but just maybe it has som
ething to do with the fact that we don't use balanced controls on these
Zenith airplanes and a weird air pattern that you encountered because of
the heat from the power plant. I've flown over large fires on the groun
d, as I'm sure you and others have in the past and experienced some pret
ty rough air but not FLUTTER.
In your case, if it was unbalanced co
ntrols, it seems that when you dove to 170, it should have made it worse
. Do the "grab one aileron and try to move the other test" and see
what you find. Otherwise, DON'T fly near the power plant any more! I've
been tempted to fly over to that same place but since 9-11 I stay away f
rom all power plants.
Let me know if I can help and also wh
at you find.
Jim Hoak
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007
1:31 AM
Subject: Zenith-List: 601XL Wing
Flutter
Dear Thread Friends, I went
flying this afternoon. Took a fellow with me and just wanted an hour in
the clear blue. Conditions were perfect, clear, cool and only a slight w
ind. The only big thing around much to see nearby is Lake Juliette which
has a big coal fired power station in the middle. Three huge steam towe
rs that look like a nuclear power station. We flew around the lake about
two miles away at 5000 feet so my pal could get a good look see. On the
down wind side we flew into an invisible killer. We were doing above 14
0 when we flew into it. Instantly the left wing fluttered at a fast pitc
h, aileron and all and it looked to be moving maybe two inched up and do
wn. I figured a couple seconds would break it off. I didn't have time to
look around the passenger to see if the right wing was fluttering, but
I suspect it was. I chopped power and did a hard diving wing over to the
left and out of it. The flutter sound was great even over my Lightspeed
AN system and the whole thing probably last maybe 5 or 6 seconds. I reg
ained control out of the snap dive, maxing above 170 and flew slow and e
asy back to the field before I tested the controls. Everything felt okay
and I could see no wrinkles in the top skin so I landed. Didn't really
have much choice. Upon inspection I found no sign of stress, no skin def
orm, no paint cracked around rivets, nothing. I will take off all inspec
tion panels for a close inspection this weekend and check bolts, control
s, etc., but I cannot believe such a prolonged violent movement of the w
ing did not damage something other than my pride. Two things learned. Do
n't fly anywhere near a power station. Even at 5000 feet and miles away
the invisible heat rises and is most extreme. Maybe intensified in cold
weather. The other thing is the XL is very, very tough. Oh, there is a t
hird thing. How could I have been so stupid not to know the first thing
!! I am interested though in knowing why the wings fluttered in th
is thermal? What theory of air dynamics would cause this extreme reactio
n? Was is just the level of heat and speed the invisible air was streami
ng past? This was my 90th flight in her and she made me proud again. Bes
t regards to you all,
Bill of Georgia
N505WP
601XL-3300
href="http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List">http://www.ma
tronhref="http://forums.matronics.com">http://forums.matronics.com<
/A>
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">http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith-List
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tronics.com
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