REFLECTOR: Update on 444DX

[John Dibble]

On 6/7/2012 7:58 AM, Scott Derrick wrote:
> David,
>
> sounds like you are making great progress on your shakedown phase.  It 
> really feels good when things start clicking.
>
> I'm not sure about your stall work and John's comment about deep 
> stall. With a single pilot and not much fuel, and if your a light 
> weight that speed doesn't seem unreasonable. I'm assuming you did a 
> thorough W&B? There are characteristics to a deep stall entry that I 
> can't remember off hand? Maybe somebody could chime in?

First of all, set up at straight and level flight at 80 kn.  Then pull 
back on the stick.  As the nose rises and speed decreases, if the stick 
pressure starts to decrease, that is the onset of a deep stall and one 
should add full power and push the stick forward immediately.

John


>
>
> Don't you just love autopilots!   They are the single pilots best friend!
>
> When remounting your main axle, I'd just clean the hole real well and 
> fill with flox.If you have room a few layers of bid wouldn't hurt. I 
> think the main stress within the axle flange area is side to side so 
> fill it tightly, probably a good idea to clamp it real tight during 
> cure to insure the flox is compressed as the inner core of the leg is 
> during construction.
>
> Scott
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: REFLECTOR: Update on 444DX
> From: David Ullman <ullman at robustdecisions.com>
> To: reflector at tvbf.org
> Date: 06/06/2012 10:06 PM
>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>