---------------------------------------------------------- Zenith601-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Sat 07/23/11: 3 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 05:32 PM - Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. (Paul Mulwitz) 2. 09:27 PM - Re: Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. (Peter W Johnson) 3. 11:43 PM - Re: Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. (Paul Mulwitz) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 05:32:23 PM PST US From: Paul Mulwitz Subject: Zenith601-List: Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. I completed the first 5 hours of flight test yesterday and flew another hour today. The weather is finally cooperating. I now have all the instruments and avionics working properly. Most of it worked from the beginning, but there were a few hold-outs. I had the squelch set wrong on my Garmin SL-30 so I wasn't hearing many radio calls. Also the intercom function wasn't working on the SL-30 because I had not grounded the required pin on the rear connector to enable it. The LRI worked fine when I finally got the air tubes hooked up correctly (they were reversed). I fixed a problem with the Dynon tachometer input by adding a 27K resistor in series with the input line - as recommended when I called Dynon. It was working at low and high RPMs but went crazy at mid-power settings. The airframe has performed remarkably well. I discovered today that the elevator trim runs out before lowering any flaps on approach for landing. I plan to add a fixed trim tab on the other side of the elevator to fix this problem. Perhaps I will adjust the horizontal stabilizer rigging some time in the future, but I am reluctant to mess with that. My plane has no tendency to lower the left wing as many have reported. This is probably because I canted the engine to the right as suggested in Bingellis' book. I have found the "Nicest" takeoffs happen with 1/2 flaps and landings work best with full flaps. I'm confident the landings will be even better when I don't have to hold the nose up against the pitch trim. The engine has performed without any noticeable flaws. It is a new Jabiru 3300A with hydraulic lifters. I have had issues with cooling that show up mostly in cylinder head temperature on #3, but also have seen some high oil heat in extended climbs. These have been solved by reducing power until cooling works satisfactorily. I use full power on takeoff, but extended climb and cruise are done at around 2700 RPM (red line is 3300) and 90 KIAS. I will probably try to get the engine to run harder after cleaning up the trim problem. Perhaps extra lip on the lower cowl will be the first step. Eventually I hope to find the energy to install "Internal pressure recovery" air intake ports for the cooling ports and maybe for the oil cooler intake port as well. These fancy ports have an expanding cross section as the air moves in from the front so the airspeed is reduced and pressure increased. You see them on most new high performance cowls (they have small round intake holes in the cowl instead of the larger square-ish ones). One oddity with the engine has to do with "Air Starts". I stalled the engine while idling it for an approach and discovered it just wouldn't start again by adding throttle. One twist of the starter key got it going again. I was prepared for this by the documents that suggested you just can't get this engine started without the starter - even with a turning propeller. The biggest problems have been "Pilot shortcomings". I really would have benefited from a good checkout. Unfortunately, with much of the fleet still grounded and none in commercial service I was unable to do that. For anyone in the future who can get a good checkout before entering flight test my advice is to go ahead and get the training first. Paul Camas, WA N773PM in flight test. ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 09:27:25 PM PST US From: "Peter W Johnson" Subject: RE: Zenith601-List: Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. Paul, Nice to see things are progressing. I too run out of elevator trim with full flaps, especially when flying solo. I added a sheet of ally to the existing elevator trim tab increasing its area a bit and that made a lot of difference. I used a piece of scrap sheet and double sided tape to try it out. Its still there. After a few hours, I added the aileron trim tab. I fly with and without passengers and always seem to be trying to trim with the fuel selector, using fuel out of the heavy side first etc. The trim tab made for much more relaxed flying! I have an O-200 with the Zenith supplied engine mount, check out the off set:- http://zodiac.cpc-world.com/pages/IMG_1163_JPG.htm I had a check out with our local agent in Bendigo's 601 before my first flight. It was definitely worth the time and effort. Allan's 601 has a Rotax and is a bit different in W&B that my O-200. Still better that flying "green" though. Have fun Peter Wonthaggi Australia http://zodiac.cpc-world.com -----Original Message----- From: owner-zenith601-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-zenith601-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Paul Mulwitz Sent: Sunday, 24 July 2011 10:27 AM Subject: Zenith601-List: Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. I completed the first 5 hours of flight test yesterday and flew another hour today. The weather is finally cooperating. I now have all the instruments and avionics working properly. Most of it worked from the beginning, but there were a few hold-outs. I had the squelch set wrong on my Garmin SL-30 so I wasn't hearing many radio calls. Also the intercom function wasn't working on the SL-30 because I had not grounded the required pin on the rear connector to enable it. The LRI worked fine when I finally got the air tubes hooked up correctly (they were reversed). I fixed a problem with the Dynon tachometer input by adding a 27K resistor in series with the input line - as recommended when I called Dynon. It was working at low and high RPMs but went crazy at mid-power settings. The airframe has performed remarkably well. I discovered today that the elevator trim runs out before lowering any flaps on approach for landing. I plan to add a fixed trim tab on the other side of the elevator to fix this problem. Perhaps I will adjust the horizontal stabilizer rigging some time in the future, but I am reluctant to mess with that. My plane has no tendency to lower the left wing as many have reported. This is probably because I canted the engine to the right as suggested in Bingellis' book. I have found the "Nicest" takeoffs happen with 1/2 flaps and landings work best with full flaps. I'm confident the landings will be even better when I don't have to hold the nose up against the pitch trim. The engine has performed without any noticeable flaws. It is a new Jabiru 3300A with hydraulic lifters. I have had issues with cooling that show up mostly in cylinder head temperature on #3, but also have seen some high oil heat in extended climbs. These have been solved by reducing power until cooling works satisfactorily. I use full power on takeoff, but extended climb and cruise are done at around 2700 RPM (red line is 3300) and 90 KIAS. I will probably try to get the engine to run harder after cleaning up the trim problem. Perhaps extra lip on the lower cowl will be the first step. Eventually I hope to find the energy to install "Internal pressure recovery" air intake ports for the cooling ports and maybe for the oil cooler intake port as well. These fancy ports have an expanding cross section as the air moves in from the front so the airspeed is reduced and pressure increased. You see them on most new high performance cowls (they have small round intake holes in the cowl instead of the larger square-ish ones). One oddity with the engine has to do with "Air Starts". I stalled the engine while idling it for an approach and discovered it just wouldn't start again by adding throttle. One twist of the starter key got it going again. I was prepared for this by the documents that suggested you just can't get this engine started without the starter - even with a turning propeller. The biggest problems have been "Pilot shortcomings". I really would have benefited from a good checkout. Unfortunately, with much of the fleet still grounded and none in commercial service I was unable to do that. For anyone in the future who can get a good checkout before entering flight test my advice is to go ahead and get the training first. Paul Camas, WA N773PM in flight test. ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 11:43:22 PM PST US From: Paul Mulwitz Subject: Re: Zenith601-List: Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. Hi Peter, Your offset looks a lot like mine. I started trying to set 3 degrees to the right, but after running the engine it settled in at perhaps half that amount. I installed aileron trim in my original build. It does seem to help. Today I played with it a bit and found it is more of a hint at controlling the roll than a direct order. The large dihedral angle probably makes shifting the roll position of the plane a bit difficult. I'll keep your idea in mind about extending the elevator trim. I thought about a fixed trim tab because I always seem to trim in the up direction and never in the down direction. It is "Up" trim that I need more of for flying with flaps. Best regards, Paul On 7/23/2011 9:22 PM, Peter W Johnson wrote: > --> Zenith601-List message posted by: "Peter W Johnson" > > Paul, > > Nice to see things are progressing. > > I too run out of elevator trim with full flaps, especially when flying solo. > I added a sheet of ally to the existing elevator trim tab increasing its > area a bit and that made a lot of difference. I used a piece of scrap sheet > and double sided tape to try it out. Its still there. > > After a few hours, I added the aileron trim tab. I fly with and without > passengers and always seem to be trying to trim with the fuel selector, > using fuel out of the heavy side first etc. The trim tab made for much more > relaxed flying! > > I have an O-200 with the Zenith supplied engine mount, check out the off > set:- http://zodiac.cpc-world.com/pages/IMG_1163_JPG.htm > > I had a check out with our local agent in Bendigo's 601 before my first > flight. It was definitely worth the time and effort. Allan's 601 has a Rotax > and is a bit different in W&B that my O-200. Still better that flying > "green" though. > > Have fun > > Peter > Wonthaggi Australia > http://zodiac.cpc-world.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-zenith601-list-server@matronics.com > [mailto:owner-zenith601-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Paul Mulwitz > Sent: Sunday, 24 July 2011 10:27 AM > To: zenith601-list@matronics.com > Subject: Zenith601-List: Summary: 5 hours of phase I flight test. > > --> Zenith601-List message posted by: Paul Mulwitz > > I completed the first 5 hours of flight test yesterday and flew another > hour today. The weather is finally cooperating. > > I now have all the instruments and avionics working properly. Most of > it worked from the beginning, but there were a few hold-outs. I had the > squelch set wrong on my Garmin SL-30 so I wasn't hearing many radio > calls. Also the intercom function wasn't working on the SL-30 because I > had not grounded the required pin on the rear connector to enable it. > The LRI worked fine when I finally got the air tubes hooked up correctly > (they were reversed). I fixed a problem with the Dynon tachometer input > by adding a 27K resistor in series with the input line - as recommended > when I called Dynon. It was working at low and high RPMs but went crazy > at mid-power settings. > > The airframe has performed remarkably well. I discovered today that the > elevator trim runs out before lowering any flaps on approach for > landing. I plan to add a fixed trim tab on the other side of the > elevator to fix this problem. Perhaps I will adjust the horizontal > stabilizer rigging some time in the future, but I am reluctant to mess > with that. My plane has no tendency to lower the left wing as many have > reported. This is probably because I canted the engine to the right as > suggested in Bingellis' book. I have found the "Nicest" takeoffs happen > with 1/2 flaps and landings work best with full flaps. I'm confident > the landings will be even better when I don't have to hold the nose up > against the pitch trim. > > The engine has performed without any noticeable flaws. It is a new > Jabiru 3300A with hydraulic lifters. I have had issues with cooling > that show up mostly in cylinder head temperature on #3, but also have > seen some high oil heat in extended climbs. These have been solved by > reducing power until cooling works satisfactorily. I use full power on > takeoff, but extended climb and cruise are done at around 2700 RPM (red > line is 3300) and 90 KIAS. I will probably try to get the engine to run > harder after cleaning up the trim problem. Perhaps extra lip on the > lower cowl will be the first step. Eventually I hope to find the energy > to install "Internal pressure recovery" air intake ports for the cooling > ports and maybe for the oil cooler intake port as well. These fancy > ports have an expanding cross section as the air moves in from the front > so the airspeed is reduced and pressure increased. You see them on most > new high performance cowls (they have small round intake holes in the > cowl instead of the larger square-ish ones). > > One oddity with the engine has to do with "Air Starts". I stalled the > engine while idling it for an approach and discovered it just wouldn't > start again by adding throttle. One twist of the starter key got it > going again. I was prepared for this by the documents that suggested > you just can't get this engine started without the starter - even with a > turning propeller. > > The biggest problems have been "Pilot shortcomings". I really would > have benefited from a good checkout. Unfortunately, with much of the > fleet still grounded and none in commercial service I was unable to do > that. For anyone in the future who can get a good checkout before > entering flight test my advice is to go ahead and get the training first. > > Paul > Camas, WA > N773PM in flight test. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message zenith601-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/Zenith601-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/zenith601-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/zenith601-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.