First Flight - Monday 03October2016 4:25pm
First Impressions in Flying the HM14/360 the First Time
N41/Waterbury Airport, Plymouth, CT USA MON 03OCT2016 4:25PM
Takeoff: I pushed forward the throttle all the way and picked up ground speed fast. I could feel the tail become light and then raise. I went on a few seconds more and gently eased back the stick to rise into ground effect. I kept going but true to Msr. Mignet's report, I was still "mushy" so descended back into ground effect. Then I picked up speed and climbed out easily, turning left.
One curious behavior was this: when I went to turn (after left-hand climb out and on downwind leg), the plane felt like it wanted to bank more sharply than I intended, so I backed off and just made a big turn by taking it in small steps. I think all of this was simply my lack of experience with adverse yaw. I wanted to go right, so when I yawed left, I instinctively added more right so when the plane finished it's left yaw, it reacted to my additional input and that surprised me. So I tried to remember "small inputs" and be more patient. I am sure the aircraft was in all cases doing only what I asked and In the end I was able to circle the field and line up on the runway and land. CONFIRMED: Just received response from another Flea pilot that this is indeed the behavior. In fact, he felt like he was going to tip over in the bank. Then he went flying with one of Mignet's relatives in a Balerit and he just cranked right over, scaring my friend to death. But everything was OK. I'll have to ease into that one! ADDITIONAL NOTE: One thing I just remembered- as it yawed around, I can certainly attest to the fact it yawed around the CG, which is pretty much in line with the top of my angled dashboard- and that is really a weird feeling, like you are essentially on a spindle rotating back and forth- and of course, me not being used to the Flea's characteristics, I was spindling a good bit..
When reducing throttle, the nose rises! I think this is a measure of how much lift the lower wing receives from the prop blast, so when the prop blast is reduced, so is some lift on that lower wing, and the upper wing keeps doing what it already was- it will be interesting to feel how the sense of control changes at various speeds. I'll change the thrust line from -2 to -1 and see what happens. I may also considering putting a 10lb dumbbell weight under my feet that I can slide fore and aft to see if the sense of control changes. I know my CG calculations and have some experience there, so know they are correct and everything is spot on between 25-26% MAC. Still, curious....
Finally, landing: you really want to be setup properly on final. Dealing with adverse yaw 100' above the ground on descent isn't desirable. Also, Msr. Mignet was right, reduce throttle and you know you are not in a glider. I like short field approaches personally (they are the only ones you will absolutely need one day) but I need to boost the power earlier to better flatten out the approach at the end. I did do this but prefer to see the effect before the last foot above the grass. I had a small bounce that was not bad, maybe 2 feet high but everything was controlled- my front shock absorbers/springs were perfect and the Tailwheel's spring and directional control were flawless.
I should have another opportunity this week to try again and see what behaviors were specific to that flight, or constitute a pattern. Oh, and firewalling the throttle got me up to 70 MPH airspeed, so I guess I know that now. When I am up again, I'll see what RPM that was as well.
Takeoff: I pushed forward the throttle all the way and picked up ground speed fast. I could feel the tail become light and then raise. I went on a few seconds more and gently eased back the stick to rise into ground effect. I kept going but true to Msr. Mignet's report, I was still "mushy" so descended back into ground effect. Then I picked up speed and climbed out easily, turning left.
One curious behavior was this: when I went to turn (after left-hand climb out and on downwind leg), the plane felt like it wanted to bank more sharply than I intended, so I backed off and just made a big turn by taking it in small steps. I think all of this was simply my lack of experience with adverse yaw. I wanted to go right, so when I yawed left, I instinctively added more right so when the plane finished it's left yaw, it reacted to my additional input and that surprised me. So I tried to remember "small inputs" and be more patient. I am sure the aircraft was in all cases doing only what I asked and In the end I was able to circle the field and line up on the runway and land. CONFIRMED: Just received response from another Flea pilot that this is indeed the behavior. In fact, he felt like he was going to tip over in the bank. Then he went flying with one of Mignet's relatives in a Balerit and he just cranked right over, scaring my friend to death. But everything was OK. I'll have to ease into that one! ADDITIONAL NOTE: One thing I just remembered- as it yawed around, I can certainly attest to the fact it yawed around the CG, which is pretty much in line with the top of my angled dashboard- and that is really a weird feeling, like you are essentially on a spindle rotating back and forth- and of course, me not being used to the Flea's characteristics, I was spindling a good bit..
When reducing throttle, the nose rises! I think this is a measure of how much lift the lower wing receives from the prop blast, so when the prop blast is reduced, so is some lift on that lower wing, and the upper wing keeps doing what it already was- it will be interesting to feel how the sense of control changes at various speeds. I'll change the thrust line from -2 to -1 and see what happens. I may also considering putting a 10lb dumbbell weight under my feet that I can slide fore and aft to see if the sense of control changes. I know my CG calculations and have some experience there, so know they are correct and everything is spot on between 25-26% MAC. Still, curious....
Finally, landing: you really want to be setup properly on final. Dealing with adverse yaw 100' above the ground on descent isn't desirable. Also, Msr. Mignet was right, reduce throttle and you know you are not in a glider. I like short field approaches personally (they are the only ones you will absolutely need one day) but I need to boost the power earlier to better flatten out the approach at the end. I did do this but prefer to see the effect before the last foot above the grass. I had a small bounce that was not bad, maybe 2 feet high but everything was controlled- my front shock absorbers/springs were perfect and the Tailwheel's spring and directional control were flawless.
I should have another opportunity this week to try again and see what behaviors were specific to that flight, or constitute a pattern. Oh, and firewalling the throttle got me up to 70 MPH airspeed, so I guess I know that now. When I am up again, I'll see what RPM that was as well.
Second & Final Flight - Thursday 06October2016 4:25pm
N41/Waterbury Airport, Plymouth, CT USA THU 06OCT2016 4:25PM
On this day I went up to the airport to fly my HM14/360 for the second time. I took off with the intention of exploring more of the flight performance envelope and do some touch and goes.
After perhaps 30 minutes, my engine quit and though I was able to restart it, it was too late and I crashed into the trees. The damage to me was substantial. You can read about below:
The aircraft was destroyed and I spent 8 weeks in the hospital. My recovery will take some time.
It is important for me to say that the design of the aircraft is, I believe, sound. It does handle differently than many aircraft due to its short coupling, literally spinning around its CG when turning, and turning took a little practice to get the roll angle just right, but all in all, it went where I pointed it and I was looking forward to flying it a good bit.
I would have no hesitation to again build this aircraft or recommend the design to anyone interested to build and/or fly it.
On this day I went up to the airport to fly my HM14/360 for the second time. I took off with the intention of exploring more of the flight performance envelope and do some touch and goes.
After perhaps 30 minutes, my engine quit and though I was able to restart it, it was too late and I crashed into the trees. The damage to me was substantial. You can read about below:
The aircraft was destroyed and I spent 8 weeks in the hospital. My recovery will take some time.
It is important for me to say that the design of the aircraft is, I believe, sound. It does handle differently than many aircraft due to its short coupling, literally spinning around its CG when turning, and turning took a little practice to get the roll angle just right, but all in all, it went where I pointed it and I was looking forward to flying it a good bit.
I would have no hesitation to again build this aircraft or recommend the design to anyone interested to build and/or fly it.
