REFLECTOR: Interesting Angles -- Fuel Venting & Prop Strike

[Brian Michalk]

On my first flight, I climbed at full throttle, and used pitch to 
control engine RPM until I reached 1000 feet AGL.  I had an engine 
failure at 900 feet, and using the altitude, and landmark, I calculated 
after the flight that I was climbing at 19 deg.

That was purely for flight testing.  I may or may not have been venting 
fuel, but that is a different issue.  For my current needs, I want to 
reproduce the conditions of my first flight, so I've been looking at all 
of the problems associated with doing that.

Due to the chatter here on the list about fuel venting, I went ahead and 
made those changes ... it's just a sort of related sidebar.

Thanks for the confirmation on the climb angle.  I didn't know if that 
was possible, seeing the plane in the hangar at such an angle, I can 
scarcely believe it was at that attitude on first flight.  How many FPM 
do you see at 19 deg?


On 11/27/2011 09:08 PM, Bob Jackson (Jax Tech) wrote:
>
> Brian,
>
> Your 19 deg climb out angle is correct (according to our GRT EFIS data 
> dumps) for a 100 KIAS climb.  For a more normal 120 KIAS climb, the 
> angle is about 13 degrees.  Our typical extended climb is at 160 KIAS 
> (to help with cooling), and it is about a 7 degree climb angle.
>
> Why do you want to climb out at 19 degrees, Brian?  Unless you're 
> unusual, I think you're going to have cooling problems at that 
> attitude, especially for extended climbs (to 10 Kft or above).  For 
> first flight, you will also probably only have ~1/4 fuel, so you 
> should be able to climb out at almost any angle you want without 
> venting fuel.
>
> Bob
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] 
> *On Behalf Of *Brian Michalk
> *Sent:* Sunday, November 27, 2011 9:48 PM
> *To:* Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
> *Subject:* Re: REFLECTOR: Interesting Angles -- Fuel Venting & Prop Strike
>
> How timely!
>
> I am trying to figure out how to do some full power runs with the 
> airplane at 19 degrees.
>
> I'm SE/FG with Franklin/IVO.  At 10 deg, the prop touches the floor.  
> To get to 20 deg, I need to raise the wheels 23 inches, plus a bit for 
> safety.
>
> Why 19 degrees?  That's what I calculated to be my climbout on first 
> flight.  Yesterday, I also added a vent loop that goes up along the 
> ceiling.
>
> On 11/27/2011 08:18 PM, Bob Jackson wrote:
>
> A little while back we were talking about how fuel is vented from the 
> Velocity in steep climb angles when the fuel in the front part of the 
> strake tank is higher than the vent loop normally routed to the top of 
> the inside of the engine bulkhead  I'm interested in this because we 
> periodically do smell a little fuel in the cockpit, and I think we are 
> smelling wisps of the vented fuel, coming back in the main gear leg holes.
>
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