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Small planes DON'T fly alike!

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Just reading some test flight reports from a web-page detailing a homebuilt (experimental) aircraft's test phase. Two interesting paragraphs caught my eye, regarding carb heat & use of elevator during the turn. Perhaps some of you would be interested. Carb Heat Engine stumbles and hesitates during application of full throttle during power off stall recovery. It did this every time with all flap settings. Several people thought that I was creating a negative "G" closing the float needle and causing the stumble. I tried again and was careful to not push the stick forward but just gently released back pressure at the stall, the engine still stumbled. Then someone asked if I had carb heat on during the stall and if so, try leaving it off. I tried it and it worked great. No hesitation and no stumble with carb heat off. I noticed during the stalls that no air comes in the side vents just before the stall. The angle of attack is high enough the that airflow stops. I assume it probably stops or slows significantly into the snorkel and the cowl. Interestingly, the Lycoming Operators manual suggests that you don't use Carb Heat during the landing approach or whenever you might be adding full throttle (like stall recoveries or a go-around). During my flight training in 1974, the instructor constantly drilled into my head to have the Carb Heat on any time the RPMs were less that 1900. It became so ingrained that I have a difficult time not pulling out the Carb Heat every time I do stalls or come in for a landing. Problem Solved. Elevator in turns Anyway, after take off, I level off at 1,000 ft to check top speed and leave the throttle full. I find that I keep having to push the nose down more and more as the speed increases. With the nose below the horizon so much it seems like I should be in a dive but the VSI says I'm climbing at 200 FPM and the Altimeter is now at 1,300 feet. More nose down and she finally levels off. Wind calm and look down at the Airspeed indicator which says 195 MPH. The RPM is past the 2700 Red line by 200 RPM. I leave it there and let things stabilize as the ground seems to whiz by and I realize I have traveled further from the airport than I had thought and I am now over the Gulf of Mexico (out of my test flight box) Whoops, a slight left movement of the stick and I'm immediately in a 30 degree bank to the left. I have finally gotten used to not pulling back on the stick in turns (like in Cessna 172's). It is so ingrained in my muscle memory to pull back on the yoke in a turn to maintain altitude that I do it automatically. If you do this in an RV, you will rapidly climb. I find that no or very little back pressure or rudder input is needed in this slick little plane. Roll to the left and it turns easily.The aircraft is a Van's RV6A----- which is what I'm "trying" to complete. The website this article came from is:http://ericsrv6a.com/My RV6A is in the following pic. Lycoming 0360 (180HP) & C/S prop. Sliding canopy is done....... but sitting on the rack near the ceilingL.Adamson

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Ohhhh.Looks like there is a higher population of cleos than last time :)Things are progressing.I wish you ALL the best in completing your dream.Who's bucking for you? It fell on me to do that chore on a family friend's HB Plane. It seems I was "just the right size" to fit into the hard to reach spots. :) :) I did NOT like it, but it was an experience.

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Kathy,My wife & son have bucked rivets as well as using the rivet gun. I finally found that it was best for me to do the "bucking" to be able to control the "shop head" on the rivet. Out of 12000+ flush rivets, only the forward skin ahead of the panel still needs to be riveted. And that's a real tight, uncomfortable spot! :) Screws & nutplates will go where the visible clecos are now.L.Adamson

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James, I have not counted the hours, but I started late in 1996, with a few years off to get into a new house. L.Adamson

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Hi again Larry.I just looked closer at the photograph.Is that a 0-360? The color seems off but the config is right.Also, a C/S on the front???...WOW! I'm impressed. The performance on that bird is going to be great!edit: oops...never mind....I never made it ALL the way to the bottom of your text were you stated the above. I thought the Lycs were more light gray.

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Looking Good! I envy you. At least it looks somewhat like an airplane. And I for one like bucking rivets! I am going to start building a Lancair sometime this year. I am not looking foreward to working with composites but I am looking foreward to cruising with the jet crowd. Of course that is so far away I may as well put it out of my mind for a few years. Good luck!Ken

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I use to do Test and Evaluation of Avionics Systems for the U.S. Navy. I had to install a modification to a moveable electronics rack which required adding extensions to the rack. Since I was an Electronics type (Tweetybird as we were called), I got the metalsmiths to make the hardware mods but I helped with bucking the rivets. I got bruised hands from holding the bucking bar. Moral - I DON'T like bucking rivets!:-lol

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Interesting story Bill.I did not mind bucking in the open, but when you are deep inside the tail section along with sharp aluminum edges, a few of those little corkscrew shaped pieces left-over from drilling holes that really hurt, and the noise (oh, the noise), well, that is the part I do not like.I will help work on any plane if I get a chance to fly it or ride in it.

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