REFLECTOR: Update on 444DX

[David Ullman]

I now have about 27 hours on 444DX.  Getting things sorted out.  I have been
to 10,500 ft and over 200kts (in a dive).  I have done both low and power-on
mushes.  I cant call them stalls as it doesn't.  Around 50 kts it just
mushes.  I still have roll and yaw control all the way down.  Overall the
plane is very easy to handle at any speed.  I hate the thought that this may
be due to the vortex generators.  I just cant intellectually get past the
fact that I have put vortex generators on a laminar flow surface.  Anyway, a
very easy pane to fly.

Playing with stalls today as I was trying to calibrate the Angle of Attack
sensor in the Dynon.  I couldn't get it to calibrate.  I need to check my
plumbing.  It compares the pressure on the AoA port with pitot and static
ports.  They are both working fine so I need to see if the AoA line in
clogged or ????

Yesterday I turned on the Autopilot for the first time.  I went to 9,000 and
tried altitude and the heading.  Both worked with the Dynon settings and I
was able to dial in heading and altitude changes.  Pretty cool.  I used it
again today.  Seems to work as I expected.  I have never flown a plane with
an autopilot before so my expectations were pretty ideal.

My squawk list is getting shorter.  One that I need to do, is remount one
wheel.  I have fixed gear and the wheels were mounted at the factory.
Before I bought the kit the previous owner paid for some work to be done by
Velocity.  I didn't realize that I had a problem until after I had assembled
the plane for the first time in a hangar (not my garage).  I was working on
the rudders and realized that I could reach the top hinge on one side and
not the other.  It was a "what?" moment.  After measuring, one wing tip is a
good 2" lower than the other.  The only real problem is that I cant top off
the tanks as fuel will flow to the lower tank.  After careful measuring, I
need to raise one wheel by .6".  I am a little concerned about the extra
holes in the strut, but I suspect it is not a big deal.  I wish it had been
done right the first time.  

All-in-all I am really enjoying shaking out the issues and almost have a
machine that I can trust.  In July I will be doing some calibration
measurements and will report on the results of these tests.

David Ullman
N444DX
President EAA 292
541-754-3609
david at davidullman.com