REFLECTOR: IT FLYS!

[Greg Poole]

In a word; WOW! - looking forward to some performance specs as they come to hand ....take off landing rolls, cruise speed etc.

Congrats from DownUnder!

Greg in Sydney.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tom Martino 
  To: reflector at tvbf.org 
  Sent: Monday, February 07, 2005 8:48 AM
  Subject: REFLECTOR: IT FLYS!


  On Saturday, February 5, 2005 at approximately 3:30pm MST, Test Pilot-AP-Instructor Steve Murphree ... took off from Front Range Airport (Watkins, Colored) in my Velocity 173 Elite RG featuring an IO-540 300hp engine, dual electronic ignition and an MT four-blade prop.  

   

  Steve gave me a lot of good news and some very interesting observations:

   

  He said it flew "hand off" ... smooth, straight, tight, powerful and fast.

   

  No flutter at all.  No nose shimmy, and no vibration on braking.

   

  And here's what I found VERY interesting considering recent discussions here regarding weight & Balance.

   

  We put a minimum amount of ballast in the front seat with Steve - just enough to put the CG almost full aft (in the approved envelope).  The result?  The plane was nose heavy.  We are still experimenting ... but it appears so far that the plane needs very little ballast (despite the heavy engine).

   

  The is perhaps because of landing gear placement, together with the fact that the engine closer to the firewall than usual (due to a special mount).  In other words ... the BIG engine has not made it unstable, light in the nose, nor unsafe as speculated here.

   

  In fact ... it recovers quickly from stalls, lands like a dream, ground rolls perfectly and rotates exactly as it should.

   

  So far, this is only the second Velocity 173 Elite RG in this exact configuration flying.  It is nice to have the actual numbers and flight impressions to see exactly what the big engine does to this plane ... rather than the frightening speculation that preceded the test flight.

   

  By the way ... Steve is a great asset to the Velocity community.  He does a thorough inspection, makes adjustments and repairs as needed, flies it and can check out owners.  He is worth every dime of his fees as twice the price.

   

  I hope Marion Sparrow is smiling (he originally bought this kit and poured his heart and soul into the early stages of this Velocity).

   

  I realize this is just the beginning, so for the next 50 hours ... I will be carefully learning the ins, outs, ups and downs of this fine aircraft.

   

  I hope to see you all in Oshkosh.  I could have NEVER gotten this far without the input and expertise of the members of the Reflector!

   

  Tom Martino

  N173EX

   

  www.troubleshooter.com

   

   

   

   

   



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