Fourth Cross Country Test Flight (Canada)

Saturday October 22/16 we organized a trip to Medicine Hat Alberta (elev 2350 rwy 5000 ft) for lunch.  This would be my fourth and longest cross country trip  so far and would give me an opportunity to test out the Q2 for a longer engine run time.  For this flight I also would be carrying more fuel and this would allow me to test at higher weight and enable another fuel consumption calculation.  Empty weight is 628 lbs with all my regular travelling items on board..  My airplane gross weight is listed at 1100 lbs but that I believe is not practical for our 4000 ft elevation so I am using 1000 lbs as my realistic gross weight, (aircraft was originally from a sea level airport).   This flight had my full weight at 913 lbs and the fuel on board would allow 4.0 hours flight time and still have 30 min reserve remaining.  Later flights will test the actual weight carrying ability by gradual increases of sandbag weight.   I departed Springbank CYBW (3960 ft) and after a standard departure procedure I was able to have a requested flight altitude of 7500 ft.  Two other aircraft flew nearby in radio contact to watch over me and this once again made me feel very relaxed.  Air flight time on this trip ended up being 1.4 hr to Medicine Hat and 1.7 hr returning.  I was very happy with the performance of the engine since top overhaul and again I was happy to see temps and pressures staying in the normal range.  A new bug to fix since this flight is my wind sealing around canopy edges.  Outside temp I am guessing was +1C at 7500 ft and I got cold air coming in, the new cabin heat I  installed worked very well but the outside air leaks will have to be weather stripped.  Of course I knew this would probably be required but I like to torture myself a bit first.  Flight home was at 6500 ft and enjoyable at a slower ground speed as I plodded directly into the headwind.  Cockpit was warmer in the afternoon and occasional direct sun really warmed up the cozy little space.  This flight fuel consumption I calculated at 4.1 gal per hour including all start up and taxi use.  I am not leaning aggressively as I want a little fuel cooling of the cylinders during ring seating. 

We had a fabulous turnout for lunch with fourteen great people and eight airplanes.

C-195 Brian, Cherokee 235 Bob, Citabria Logan, Cavalier Stu, Bushcaddy Glen, RV3 Alan, Cozy MK4 Joel.

Third Cross Country Test flight

September 29/16 I made another cross country test flight in C-GMBK and once again it was to Red Deer Alberta.  On this flight my primary test was to check out the MGL V6 radio since getting new settings advice from MGL and from a forum group.  The new settings worked perfect and have eliminated my excessive background static type noise. Both groups informed me I needed to set my mic. Gain to -10.5db and one other setting change.   MGL and the forum also informed I needed to set my radio to VOX and not VOG if using a ANR type headset.  The VOG is a proprietary setting offering many adjustments for “Voice Automatic Gain Control”  and is used primarily to give passive headsets the ability to have quieter sound as found in ANR headsets.  The changes recommended have totally cleared all background noise I was encountering.  The sound was actually engine and cockpit noise amplified in the “Sidetone” circuit creating high ambient noise.  I still have a snapping noise that has been isolated to the magnetos and is likely the capacitors in the magneto, cost $300.00 for two.  My plan is to put that money toward installing a electronic ignition.

Now to  the flight, it was outbound at 6500 ft and I found my groundspeed up at 145mph.  This was due to a 15mph tailwind which was giving me a push.  The engine ran like a charm and I was very pleased to see all engine parameters staying once again within normal ranges.  Not like the last flight which was a clear day, this day had a solid cloud layer at about 7000ft.  I really enjoy the cloud cover as I don’t get the greenhouse effect in the cockpit which can make it a bit to warm at times.  Air ventilation is working fine and because this test flight was at 11 degrees “C”,  I had to close off the eyeball vents.  I can feel some cool air coming in through the open spaces around my canopy frame and these will be closed with weather stripping soon.   This airplane is so much fun to fly, it fly’s hands off and needs only light finger tip control on the center stick.  This is so much fun and a great reward for the three years rebuilding CGMBK.  The bonus is, I now have the pleasure of cleaning bugs of my own airplane.

Track my plane at:  http://aprs.fi/cgmbk

Web page:  http://calvinthorne.blogspot.ca

Second Cross Country Trip

On September 14/16 I flew my Q2 C-GMBK for its second cross country trip.  This time each leg was a bit longer than the last trip which had three legs.  This time we headed from Springbank (CYBW)  to Red Deer Alberta (CYQR), the flight to get there was 42 minutes flying time.  The airport elevation is 2970 ft and we used the 3400 ft runway.  Alan in his RV6a was kind enough to accompany me on this flight as my safety aircraft.  We went for a lunch at the "Hangar Pub" which is only 2 blocks from the airport tower and then did the return trip home.  Flight outbound was at 6500 ft. and my airspeed seems to be at a pretty constant 125-135 mph.  Power was at full most of the time showing 3000-3050 rpm but I reduced to 2800 rpm at times.  Temperatures and pressures were steady and in the normal ranges.  Visibility out of my new canopy provided a spectacular viewing platform and I had more time to look out and enjoy it this time. The aircraft is flying hands off with only fingertip control required on the centre stick.  There is no tendency to roll and the roll trim mechanism into the stick works great.  Pitch trim is controlled from the T-tail trim and this is working fantastic, I can control climb, decent and minor cruise pitch changes with small amounts of twist into the vernier control (my design).  Landings are good and I am now trying to make them shorter.  I am still enduring background static on my MGL V6 radio but have just received some good advice on changing settings from a Forum and from MGL.  I will relay any improvements in a later posting.
 Flight tracker at:  http://aprs.fi/cgmbk

Below are aircraft from Airspray Firefighting and Buffalo Airways Maintenance facility at Red Deer airport Alberta.

First Cross Country Trip

September 3/16
It's official I finally got away for my first cross country trip.  A friend in his Cozy Mk 4  and another friend in his RV3 joined me as safety aircraft for the trip.  This flight was just a short one departing our home airport of Springbank CYBW and going to Olds/Didsbury then Three Hills then returning home to Springbank.  We all made a stop at each airport so I could check my engine compartment for any oil leaks.  At Three Hills we were lucky to have arrived for their monthly coffee and muffins and stayed for a couple of hours.  We chatted about lots of airplane stuff and received a tour from Dennis Fox of his brand new RV8 that just came back with a beautiful paint job.  Thanks to everyone!

The plane ran like a charm and there were no oil leaks at all.  First leg I kept power off a bit an saw 125 mph.  Later on I let it have full power and saw 135 mph and a rpm of 2950-3000.  All temperatures and pressures were normal.  My two friends had to really pull back on their power because they are much faster than the Quickie Q2 with its small Revmaster engine.

Total distance on the trip was 130 miles and I logged 2.1 hours in the air.  What a great day this was for me finally.  The time spent on this project has been all worthwhile.  This is the second 100% rebuild of this Canadian aircraft.

 

Flight Testing the Stall

On a beautiful morning at 10:30 I was able to get out for a test flight to find the stall characteristics of my rebuilt Q2.  We took off on runway 26 in calm air and headed north for about 30 miles.  My friend Jeff alongside in his Citabria acted as a safety pilot in case of issues.  I felt much comfort having him along to watch over me.  As we headed north and out of the control space of Calgary, I began a series of forced stalls at various power settings.  The plane is behaving as it did when I purchased it, stall speeds were a constant 68-70 mph.  The characteristics were also as expected where the forward wing would just mush downward then pick up a few mph, rise and repeat over and over.  Very little wing drop would occur and it could be controlled with rudder and some aileron.  This is just as the canards are supposed to behave and this one is no exception.  My purpose was to find out exactly when the canard was loosing lift and control.  This test would show where my absolute minimums on landing in the flare should be.  I am very pleased with my results.  Our return trip southbound allowed for some more stall tests with a following wind and confirmed previous numbers.  I probably completed over 20 stall tests on this day, a very good day.  Total flight time was 1 hour in the air and all temperature and pressures stayed nicely within limits.  I have a radio static noise problem still occurring and found a small leak from one valve cover which will need a new gasket.  Short flights with accompanying aircraft will be recorded as I spread my wings further from home base.

Flight Test after Rear Wing re-Alignment

Yahoo...Yahoo...10:00 am I had all things checked and rechecked on the Quickie Q2 with all paperwork in order.  It was time to test fly my plane once again after resetting the angle on the back wing.  The flight of one circuit using the 5000 ft runway at Springbank Airport (elevation 3960 ft) went fantastic and I could not be happier with the results of my modification.  It flew hands off the stick with only slight adjustment to the pitch trim.  The moment arm of the T-tail being so far back offers super adjustment to pitch in takeoff and landing profiles as well as cruise.  It should prove to be very effective at adjusting for different weight loading options.  Next step is to do a one hour flight over the airport and check pressures, temps, rpm and stall speed characteristics.  Following flights will be circuits to practice landings and experiment with heavier loading.

Aft Wing Bonded In Place and Surface Finishing

Day 28: The plane is now being put back together.  All linkages and cables have been reconnected. Only the engine re-install remains and it is time to test fly it again.

Day 26: All surface finishing around wing cutout and turtle deck have been completed as well as about 12 other blemishes that I was not happy with on other areas of the plane.

Day 19: Aft wing is bonded back in place with the new angle.
The turtle deck above the wing has been modified and is back in place.  Surface finishing of all areas around the wing cutout have to now be completed.  The drive tubes for the ailerons have been adjusted in length as a result of this wing modification.

Aircraft Aft Wing is being Re-Angled

Day 6:  The aft wing has been cut free.
I have been busy daily at the hangar working to correct my problem.   With help from a local fellow here in Calgary that also has a quickie (not yet flying), we were able to determine the root of the problem is the wing angles.   I did major reading on the Quickie forum and found out a few others have had the same problem when building to the level lines in the drawings.  This angle reference between the two wings is called decalage.    We measured the angle of degrees many times and found I am out by three degrees.  The front canard wing should be set to climb at + 1 to +1.5 degrees if the aft wing is considered to be at 0 degrees.  This is as a result of, my incorrect rebuilding using the level lines.   You may know that I had the fuselage completely cut in half at one time and when I re-assembled I did not get the angles correct.  We took a bunch of angle measurements on my airplane and then did the same on my neighbors Quickie Q2 aircraft, his is correct with his Canard about +1.5 degrees.  My rear wing was lifting by around +2 degrees over the Canard if the canard was considered at 0 degrees.  This was backwards to what it  should have been.  Some early builders had the same problem building to the 0 level lines.  My decision was to re-angle the aft wing which would be easier than doing the front canard.  In six days I have completed cutting away the aft wing, it is now rotated -3 degrees, this will result in a decalage of +1 to +1.5 on the Canard (forward wing) if the aft wing is then considered to be at 0 degrees.   The wing was then flipped and the underside sanded in prep for the bonding and fiberglass tape,  Then there will be surface repairs and turtle deck repairs to complete.

When I bought the plane it was flown with 2 people on board and about 1/2 fuel.  My ferry flight home which ended in an engine outage and damaging forced landing on the highway did allow me to note the aircraft was trimming for level flight very well.  Many of these planes are active with most having the larger 100 hp (heavier) engine, some are also racing on a regular basis so my nose heavy attitude was really confusing me.  But hey, building is as much fun as flying.

Test Flight #2 of Q2 C-GMBK

May 17/16  Springbank Airport elevation 3960 ft using the 5000 foot runway.  After much calculating of weight and balance and reading of others who have had the similar problem I decided to test fly again with more weight in the aircraft.  My first flight was with 5 gallons of fuel in the header tank which is ahead of the instrument panel and only my personal weight of 160 pounds. This had me nose heavy flying on the forward edge of the "Centre of Gravity" envelope.  On this second flight I would have 5 gallons in the header tank and 2 gallons in the main fuselage tank, 58 pounds of sand in the passenger seat, 25 lbs. of lead in the baggage compartment and my weight of 160 pounds.  I took off with and initial one circuit to see if all was going well, it was and I climbed to 6000 feet for orbits off to the unused side of the airport.  I remained aloft for 55 minutes and found that I could not trim the aircraft for level flight and my pitch trim was always at maximum for nose up attitude.  Some constant aft pressure was still required on the stick but much less than previously.   I came around an landed a much better landing this time.  More calculating is required to identify this problem.

Test Flew Quickie Q2 C-GMBK

May 11/16 I test flew the Q2 for one circuit at the Springbank airport west of Calgary.  The test flight showed that I had a  much to forward C of G or something else was causing the nose down attitude.  I could not trim out the aircraft and had to hold lots of aft stick pressure.  I kept the circuit high and had 1000 feet on final for good forward speed of 90 on final.  A two bounce landing had me rolling out and wondering what was wrong.  I had to hold full up elevator in the ground effect and I  was probably three feet high causing the bounces before rolling out.  Another serious look at aircraft loading is in order.

Taxi Practice

April 21/16. An exciting time getting back working on my Quickie Q2 after 4 months off. Beautiful warm days allowing me to get the airplane out in the sun. Yesterday was overcast and the airport quiet. I got the airplane out for taxi practice for 20 minutes on the unused Runway at Springbank. The plane performed well doing s-turns, braking, 360's and straight runs. Last week I had to fix a radio interference problem and also found the starter had a loose wiring connection. Just a few more items to tune up. I found the brake sensitivity lacking and the right wheel still needed adjustment. The weather is staying rainy and cooler for a few days so I can give these attention inside the hangar.