Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Vulcan For Lunch again
A beautiful day here for another flight. Off to Vulcan again with a short walk across the golf course to the club house for very good food. Flight outbound was at 5500 feet and the temperature around 20 degrees celcius. Flight home to Springbank airport (CYBW) was at 6500 feet and the temperature had risen to 27 degrees. I had great company with Alan and Tina in their recently completed HATZ biplane and Alan in his newly aquired Murphy Elite. Looking forward to doing it again soon.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Flight Test 1 of Passenger Carrying Capability
On this day of August 9 2017 I decided it would be a good time to do a test of weight carrying capacity for a passenger. This I planned will be in stages with increasing weights to see if I could carry a passenger. If carrying a passenger is feasible then I would need to figure afterwords what weight in fuel could be carried.
My Q2 thus far has been used only as a single seat airplane and has proven a real fun and sporty aircraft to fly. When I bought this plane it was located at Abbotsford BC Canada and two of us flew in it many times. My weight was 165 and the other pilot was about 180 pounds and we had no trouble flying locally from the elevation of 195 feet. Fuel carried in the main tank was usually around 5 gallons.
Present airport elevation CYBW is: 3965 ft.
Empty weight of aircraft: 626 lbs.
Pilot weight: 165 lbs.
Flight was just for one circuit. The take off roll was a non event, the climb was noticeably shallower than what I have been accustomed during the single seat operation. The landing was also a non event and went smoothly.
Summary: I was not happy with the climb rate but it was what I was expecting for takeoff from this altitude. This is why I limited my passenger weight to the 77 lbs. for my early stages of weight carrying. I was not in a position to read the VSI since my eyes were always outside for visual reference. I will do a second weight test when temperatures are cooler and see what performance is like with the same weight. If all goes well I will gradually increase the weight I carry to see what passenger and fuel load I can safely carry at various temperature and pressure values.
For now it will continue as a fun single seat aircraft.
My Q2 thus far has been used only as a single seat airplane and has proven a real fun and sporty aircraft to fly. When I bought this plane it was located at Abbotsford BC Canada and two of us flew in it many times. My weight was 165 and the other pilot was about 180 pounds and we had no trouble flying locally from the elevation of 195 feet. Fuel carried in the main tank was usually around 5 gallons.
Present airport elevation CYBW is: 3965 ft.
Empty weight of aircraft: 626 lbs.
Pilot weight: 165 lbs.
Misc. baggage wt. 10 lbs
Fuel weight carried: 54 lbs (this is full header tank and 2 gallons in main)
Passenger seat sand bag and lead: 77 lbs.
Outside air temperature: 22 degrees C
Barometric pressure: 30.18
Total weight 932 lbs.
Fuel weight carried: 54 lbs (this is full header tank and 2 gallons in main)
Passenger seat sand bag and lead: 77 lbs.
Outside air temperature: 22 degrees C
Barometric pressure: 30.18
Total weight 932 lbs.
Flight was just for one circuit. The take off roll was a non event, the climb was noticeably shallower than what I have been accustomed during the single seat operation. The landing was also a non event and went smoothly.
Summary: I was not happy with the climb rate but it was what I was expecting for takeoff from this altitude. This is why I limited my passenger weight to the 77 lbs. for my early stages of weight carrying. I was not in a position to read the VSI since my eyes were always outside for visual reference. I will do a second weight test when temperatures are cooler and see what performance is like with the same weight. If all goes well I will gradually increase the weight I carry to see what passenger and fuel load I can safely carry at various temperature and pressure values.
For now it will continue as a fun single seat aircraft.
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