Experimenter

May 2013

Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.

Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/126719

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F li g h t Te s t in g Te c hn i q u e s immediately rather than discovering them after your test flight. Your attention will be focused on the horizon while your co-pilot performs see-and-avoid duties. If you don't have a co-pilot, you may want to perform clearing turns prior to each test. Perform the tests in an order that keeps you near your original level flight altitude. Follow a climbing test point with a descending test point. You may have to perform two descending or climbing test points in a row to remain near the desired altitude. That's okay. You could return to your original altitude between tests, but this takes time and may force you to adjust power. Remaining within plus or minus 1,000 feet of your starting altitude should keep your data consistent. It's okay to abort a test and re-fly it for any reason. After flying a few test points, you'll know when you nailed it and when you didn't. Making some kind of quality remark for every test point on your data card can help explain a data point that doesn't fall on the curve. If the not-so-high-quality points don't fall on the curve, you'll already have a good idea why. Avoid changing the power settings between tests, if possible. It's nearly impossible to re-establish the exact power setting after you've changed it. While the particular power setting is not significant, the fact that it remains constant for all the tests is. Finally, remember the flight test safety mantra—aviate, navigate, communicate, evaluate. Fly your plane first. Airspace boundaries, collision avoidance, engine temperatures, and many other considerations have higher priority than getting these data. Next month we'll massage the flight test data in Figure 2 a little and construct the flight path stability curve. Ed Kolano, EAA 336809, is a former Marine who's been flying since 1975 and testing airplanes since 1985. He considers himself extremely fortunate to have performed flight tests in a variety of airplanes ranging from ultralights to 787s. rgettable s for an unfo one of the ence aboard orthy B-17s maining airw B17.org for world. Visit ons, and to airport locati your flight. A Hayward, C ort Executive Airp 2 | Hayward Bend, OR icipal Airport 1 | Bend Mun at ance and oper cover mainten B-17 tour help e nues from th ying" – Reve "Keep 'em Fl raft rimental Airc © 2013 Expe 44 Inc. Association, Vol.2 N o.5 / M ay 2013 ercast r Aluminum Ov ions costs fo .

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