4140 crankshaft modifications - propeller hub build

[phaxtris]

Cool....air brakes huh....

well one brake works...it turns real nice to the right, turning to the left needs a scary amount of throttle in tight quarters to get that rudder working

if i knew it was going to take such a long time i would have had another thread "taylor monoplane brake retrofit" and put something a little more common on there....but, at this point, according to a/s they are on the truck to them....that was 2 weeks ago, ack, oh well, what can you do!

 

[Tom O]

Look what finally showed up! the propeller from Ukraine i ordered, i dunno, 8, 9, 10 months ago ? well at least its beautiful, once i get some numbers from the barnstormers prop ill have to swap this on and compare

now if aircraft spruce would get me the brake parts i ordered 6 weeks ago i might actually get a flight in this summer, did i mention i took it for some taxi testing, and one of the brakes doesn't seem to grab well enough to steer, needs new shoes

View attachment 65819

A fidget spinner!
Isn’t there a brake religning shop around you?

 

[phaxtris]

A fidget spinner!
Isn’t there a brake religning shop around you?

im sure there is, but when i ordered there was bad weather on the horizon so it wasn't really a big deal to wait 2 weeks, i didn't expect it to drag out this long. I have never had an order from A/S take more than 4 days to my door. Now im so long into the wait, do i find someone to re-line some old shoes only to have the a/s order show up?

and now the smoke is rolling in hard. so it may be bad flying weather for a bit again

 

[Susquatch]

one of the brakes doesn't seem to grab well enough to steer,

At first I thought huh? I didn't know they had separate brake pedals....... Then I realized they must be coupled to the rudder.

How does that work? How does it maintain good feedback in the air while still providing variable braking on land? Or do the brakes only start to engage at full rudder?

 

[phaxtris]

At first I thought huh? I didn't know they had separate brake pedals....... Then I realized they must be coupled to the rudder.

How does that work? How does it maintain good feedback in the air while still providing variable braking on land? Or do the brakes only start to engage at full rudder?

your first thought was correct, the brakes are controlled separate from the rudder

this little plane has the older style of "heel brakes", small pedals/levers actuated by your heels, the more common setup is to have "toe brakes", an extra set of pedals/levers connected to the top of the rudder pedals. Those are still actuated separately from the rudders, them being connected to the pedals just makes it easier to use the brakes and the rudder at the same time

I have flown aircraft with a castering nose wheel before and had no problem getting them to turn on the ground with just rudder and throttle, but i suppose those being nose wheel aircraft the rudder is directly in the propeller blast making it much more effective, not so much in the tail dragger (the other tail draggers ive flown had tail wheel steering, this one does not)

These are just some photos i took off the internet for example

 

[Susquatch]

this little plane has the older style of "heel brakes", small pedals/levers actuated by your heels, the more common setup is to have "toe brakes", an extra set of pedals/levers connected to the top of the rudder pedals.

Thank you!

Human/machine connections are fascinating.

 

[phaxtris]

Well I didn't die!

I had intentions of "crow hopping" with the plan of going around if it didn't feel right, well it didn't feel right, got a little squirrelly when i touched back down so i went full power and out, I think im in the 'no crow hopping' camp now, at least on the pave

I would have taken it to the grass, but its quite marshy from all the rain lately

it is very, very pitch sensitive, the first landing attempt ballooned on the flare so i opted to go around, the second attempt was ugly, i ate up most of the run way and drifted pretty far right paying to much attention to the flare, but i did get it set down, i was likely coming in to hot as well (60-70 mph) its going to take some practice and figuring. The right brake is dragging slightly so that will need some attention next time im out there.

wife made a little montage with the insta360 video clips and pictures

and here is the full flight with my attempt at insta360 editing

 

[jorogi]

Good show old bean. She looks great and should be a ton of fun.

Coming down final on that first landing you had me pumping my toes, not sure what your Vs is but I would guess 40 would be a good approach speed.

If I could make a hopefully positive criticism (intended as such, for sure). Thighter circuit, you don't know that engine and if that fan stops blowing it would be nice to hit a runway.

When I trained we had an 800' circuit. One circuit, 5 minutes. One school figured get it moved to the 1000' standard. New circuit 6+ minutes. Then they figured PWA used an 8 mile gate and shot 3 degree ILS approaches, good enough, 12 to 14 minute circuits. This is how you get a 120 hour PPL. Maybe I have a bit of a phobia about being low over icy cold water SE. 4 SE forced landings to date and touched down on the numbers every time.

On the flip side every square inch of your place out there is ideal for a forced landing, except short final (some one had to have planned that). Plus you probably logged x-country on that flight.

 

[jorogi]

If you haven't already check your toe in (tail low and tail high). If you have any toe out hopping can get quite interesting ( ask me how I know).

 

[phaxtris]

i will double check, but stall is noted at 37, i came in both times around 60-70, i agree, that is likely to hot, ill need to get it out of the pattern for some stalls to see where the stall is indicating currently, i think approach at 40 would be to slow, maybe more like 50-55, that would give me some margin of error, and a bit more glide if the engine quits on final just before that pond

I will cut the circuit down to 800, i have no problem doing that, its pretty quiet there so there shouldn't be any conflict

like you mentioned lots of opportunity's for forced landings, the only poor choice is that retention pond on approach for 35

unfortunately i didn't get much info from the previous owner, he was pretty quiet, i dont think he was in great shape (physically or emotionally). I have emailed him with the links, hopefully if he is still around he will reply, maybe now that the sting of selling his pride and joy is long faded he might open up more

 

[YotaBota]

Congrats, any landing you can walk away from . I've got a few Luscombe 8F hours and they are also heel brakes, you don't stop dancing the pedals until your feet are on the ground. lol

it is very, very pitch sensitive

Is there any adjustment on the elevator control horn? It may be to short making it over sensitive.

 

[YotaBota]

It'll take a few hours of burning holes in the sky to get the low speed control sorted out, you'll get there.

 

[phaxtris]

Congrats, any landing you can walk away from . I've got a few Luscombe 8F hours and they are also heel brakes, you don't stop dancing the pedals until your feet are on the ground. lol


Is there any adjustment on the elevator control horn? It may be to short making it over sensitive.

they are known to be pitch sensitive, i dont know of anyone changing the throws to settle it down, i think it has to do with how short coupled it is

another thing to get used to from on the mains to 3 point is not much height difference, Ive done all of my tailwheel in a citabria, that tail comes up (and goes down) a long ways and is quite noticeable

It'll take a few hours of burning holes in the sky to get the low speed control sorted out, you'll get there.

for sure, once i have some time and the approach speeds nailed down i think it wont be so bad

i also haven't really flown in 6mths, so im likely a little rusty myself, felt great to be up in the air PIC again though! ill try to get out there again this week for some more flying, see how the winds are, it gets pretty windy out there

 

[jorogi]

stall is noted at 37,

Really, I would have thought lower, 48 to 50 would be good then, 50 being an easier reference point. Looks like it will float in ground effect quite well so power back in or before the flare might be handy.
A steady 10 to 20 knots down the runway will certainly help to grease them on. X wind less so.

 

[phaxtris]

Really, I would have thought lower, 48 to 50 would be good then, 50 being an easier reference point. Looks like it will float in ground effect quite well so power back in or before the flare might be handy.
A steady 10 to 20 knots down the runway will certainly help to grease them on. X wind less so.

its heavier than it should be, plywood wings vs fabric, possibly fir in places instead of sitka spruce, i did cut out some weight, i think it was in the 10lb range, i would have to look at my w/b, but it is still quite a bit porkier than the design

i found the note in the logbook, installation of VG's put the p-on stalls at 39 and p-off at 41, before that its noted as p-on at 43-44 and p-off at 45-47