Manie se Raven

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Wallaby
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Wallaby » Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:28 pm

Dis nie reën nie, dis die seisoen van die Kaapse winde. En hy waaaaaaai sommer erg.
Life- I did it my way.....
The world is not enough!
- Manie Rossouw
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Goose
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Goose » Thu Oct 22, 2015 7:56 pm

Wallaby wrote:Dis nie reën nie, dis die seisoen van die Kaapse winde. En hy waaaaaaai sommer erg.

O nee dankie hou daai maar daar ons het van dit hier, ons soek reen :twisted:

Hoop julle kry gou kans om die vliegtuig lug toe te vat (^^)

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Wallaby
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Wallaby » Wed Oct 28, 2015 7:48 pm

Finally looked like the first good day for test flying with the available test pilot. Got to the airport at 06h00, but suddenly the fog came rolling in :? :? . After checking airplane again, wait and wait and wait for the fog to lift. Fog lifted enough to do a couple of runs on runway and just lifting of and fly above runway, playing with the power to keep it airborne. All handling was as expected. Then wait again for fog to lift. By 11h30 it lifted enough to do a circuit.
Johann took off into the wind and climbed out at 110mph. Turning downwind he throttled back to 4600rpm and airspeed 120mph......Okay, this aerie obviously does not fly to slow. Johann did a couple of turns over the runway to test handling. Handling is excellent with a very good roll rate. Pitch is not as sensitive as other Ravens, probably as pointed out by Induna, because I have lengthened the control stick for my arms. The plane also handles very good in the wind. All temps and pressures was in range with no abnormalities.
Johann says it flies like a jet fighter (^^) (^^) . That's good enough for me vhpy vhpy (!!) . He then came in to land because the ceiling did not permit to go higher for more tests. Now we wait for the next good weather day.....which is not close by :cry: .
But as far as the speed goes, the aerie will definitely cruise comfortably at 125mph. Does not have the stall speed yet, but it lifted of at 70mph at 4900rpm with the Rotax 912uls.
Flight test.jpg
At 120mph with throttle halfway forward in quadrant. 4600rpm.
Life- I did it my way.....
The world is not enough!
- Manie Rossouw
justin.schoeman
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby justin.schoeman » Wed Oct 28, 2015 8:20 pm

Excellent! Now the fun begins ;) .

If you don't have VGs yet, get Boet to make you a set. With VGs on, you will just scrape by as a LSA. Without them, it will be PPL category. Not sure what license you have - but registering it as LSA will improve resale value.
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Induna
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Induna » Sun Nov 01, 2015 10:14 pm

Post nog fotos!! Is nuuskierig om die aerie te sien!! Ons twee gaan lekker formo saam vlieg met ons Ravens..!

Ek moet net vir n slag tuis wees... :)


Jacques
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Wallaby
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Wallaby » Thu Nov 12, 2015 10:47 am

So far I had three short test flights in the aerie. Still have some issues with slight vibrations. Cowling was catching at the bottom of silencer and also where the tail pipe curved out of the silencer. When speeds of excess of a 95mph is reached the vibration starts. At that speeds the bottom of the cowl push up towards the silencer. I have changed that by making the bottom scoop a little bit bigger.
The last 2 test flights was done with a AUW of 505kg ( MAUW 540kg ) and the aerie had a ground run of 120-130m and climbing out at 95mph IAS and 1250-1320fpm. Had a stutter in engine about 400ft AGL with the extreme climb angle, but the fuel pump was not switched on and by reducing the back pressure the stutter went away. Once on the ground we did find that two front cyl spark plug caps also wasn't fitting as tight as it should be and I've ordered 8 new caps and will fit them this weekend so that everything is right. Also will fit the cowl with the new scoop and check that all the clearance necessary is there.
The weather however is still making test flying a challenge. Wind is not letting down so we are waiting for another perfect day.
Life- I did it my way.....
The world is not enough!
- Manie Rossouw
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Wallaby
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Wallaby » Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:35 am

Just for an update on the flying. So far I've done 18,2 hrs on the aerie. All in all the aerie is great. After a few hours I've realized that my indicated airspeed is showing way more than it's suppose to. Did some GPS tests on a cool day with no wind. Indicated found to be over reading by 16mph. Obviously the static ports was in an area of low pressure. I moved both static ports back towards the rear of the fuselage. Did the same tests again and found the airspeed to be more realistic. With no wind the airspeed indicator reads 2mph slower than actual speed. Will tweak the static ports a bit to get these values as close to each other as possible.
The Warp drive prop is adjusted with the tips of the blades at 13,5 deg. Most people fly the warp drive closer to 18 deg on the blade angle. At this stage I get about 5100rpm in the climb and can't go WOT in level flight because the engine will go over 5500rpm. So I can adjust the pitch more towards 18 deg. At 450kg gross I climb out at 1300fpm and 75mph. At 525kg I get about 1000-1100fpm. Cruise is 112-114mph indicated at 5000rpm with the prop as it is now.
Take off run at 440kg is around 75-100m, depending on the wind and temperature. At 525kg it is anything from 130m-175m, depending on the wind and temperature. Landing roll is around 350-400m.
So far I've worked out the fuel consumption to be around 14lph. Every time I fill up, I use a measured container of 5 liters to get an accurate reading on the filling of the tank.
So, do I change the pitch of the prop or leave it like it is? I get good climbing performance as it is and cruising is good enough for sea level flying. TAS will be around 133mph at 9000ft. That is good enough for me.
The short wings really handle the hot gusty conditions very good.
Life- I did it my way.....
The world is not enough!
- Manie Rossouw
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Wallaby
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Wallaby » Fri Jan 08, 2016 2:10 pm

Had a 1.6hr flight this morning. Flown at 75% power (5000rpm) for the whole flight and fuel consumption worked out at 15.5lph over the 1.6hr flight. This includes 3 take offs and landings. Distance flown was 169 miles which give me an average of 105,6mph.
Life- I did it my way.....
The world is not enough!
- Manie Rossouw
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Induna
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Induna » Sat Jan 09, 2016 5:10 pm

Manie, ivm die prop pitch, moet dit nie nog stel nie. Rotax het n SB uit vir die ULS wat se jy moet nie minder as 5200rpm kry met WOT by best rate of climb speed. Volgens hulle kan jy die engine te veel "load" en detonation veroorsaak.

Jy sit mos een van die dae die CS op, so dan kan jy klim teen 5800rpm en cruise teen 5500...
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ZU-RHT | Magni M18 Spartan
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Wallaby
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Re: Manie se Raven

Postby Wallaby » Fri Sep 09, 2016 4:06 pm

This aerie is still going and I now have a 112 hours on it. A constant speed propeller was fitted at 48 hours and it made a huge difference to the aircraft's performance. This is a very fun aircraft to fly and the handling is absolutely superb. When cruising at 6500ft at 24inch MAP and the prop set to 4900rpm the fuel consumption is under 14lph and the TAS is 133mph.
Apart from sorting out a few cooling problems and engine settings, there was no problems with the aircraft. The short wings are a absolute delight in bumpy turbulent weather and also handles crosswind landings easily.
Life- I did it my way.....
The world is not enough!
- Manie Rossouw

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