Monday, April 23, 2012 The End of Part 1 of the Long, Long, Trail

The Quality Inn was comfortable, but in spite of that I laid awake again most of the night, much as the night before. I did not know why I am suddenly having problems sleeping, but at about 6AM when I finally got up, I was very tired. It seemed to rob me to some degree of the excitement of the significance of this day.After a quick breakfast, I arrived at the airport a little before 7AM, the time of our agreed arrival. Larry was a little late, which did not break my heart since I could have a few moments to doze in the car. When Larry arrived, we opened the hanger and got the JW carriage and wing out to get it assembled and ready to fly. The carriage was pretty much ready to go, but the wing is another matter. It is a major undertaking that takes some time so spreading the wing, positioning the battens, tensioning, positioning the wing to attach to the carriage, and raising the wing into place took about an hour. Other than a couple of times I had spread the wing to do repairs, etc. the previous year, I had not actually set up the JW to fly, so for that reason, we took what seemed to be a inordinately long time to get set up.But it was finally done by about 8:30AM or so. The wind was still calm and the temperature was cool in the 40’s, I would guess. Larry got his coat and gloves, we started the engine, and out he went to the taxiway. He had decided to take off to the south on the hard-surface runway, and land on the short turf runway which parallels the main runway. I trotted out to observe and videotape the flight. After a moment I heard him apply full power and off he went. It seemed like he was off the ground in about 10 feet. The JW leaped off the runway with an attitude that said, “Why did it take so long!?!” and headed seemingly straight up, which is Jetwing’s normal takeoff attitude. Larry pulled back on the bar and started the normal climb to pattern altitude. The climb was not overly impressive but adequate to get to pattern altitude. At the end of the runway he turned on to crosswind and upwind, continued on past the end of the runway to the practice area, and did some shallow turns and other mild maneuvers. Eventually he descended and set up to land. He did a touch-and-go and again made a circuit around the area and the second time and finally did a full-stop landing.I was exhilarated! The culmination of my work had ended in success and the JW had flown. After Larry taxied over and stopped, we began the debriefing. He said everything had mechanically worked very well. The controls, balance, and general piloting experience seemed to indicate the JW was mechanically sound and flew much the same as his own JW, the only frame of reference he had. There was one exception, however. He said he thought the engine power was deficient. He had monitored the RPM on the tach, and even at full power, he could only achieve 4800RPM or so. We knew because of the 2:1 reduction drive the RPM would not be 5500RPM which is what that engine should produce, but it was a major disappointment.During the discussion, we tried to figure out how to diagnose the problem. Larry suggested we take the air filter off so we could see if the carburetor was allowing full travel of the throttle control. Larry had used the foot feed exclusively rather than the hand throttle control, so we thought maybe the foot feed was controlling things differently than the hand throttle, but that proved not to be the case. The foot feed was allowing full travel of the throttle. Larry even suggested that as I am about 70 pounds heavier than Larry, that he doubted whether the JW would climb very well with me as pilot, which was a disturbing thought.It was then that I noticed something. The plug in the fuel tank air vent had not been removed and was still pushed in. That might have impacted the fuel flow, so we removed it and I threw it away. It does not need to be in place at all times and can easily be overlooked, as it had this time. We fired up again and Larry went out again. This time as he came back, he was much more satisfied with the way the JW climbed and performed. He saw higher indicated RPM’s, maybe as high as 5150. The ultimate compliment came as he said my JW performed at least as well as his. He said he was very impressed with the climb rate.By this time, it was almost noon, and the wind gusts had again made themselves present, apparently typical with this airport. Larry said he would not recommend that I try to make my initial flight in the JW since that last flight was challenging for him because of strong gusty crosswinds close to the ground. I was disappointed, but agreed with him that I did not need to tempt fate. The main goal had been accomplished since we proved that the JW had flown and flown well and the rebuild project had proved successful.We packed everything up, loaded the trailer, and I headed for home, happy with the experience. I did not fall asleep at the wheel, a not-unthinkable situation given my lack of sleep, and I was home by about 2PM.One thing I learned today (and already knew); I am too old to routinely load and unload the trailer, assemble and disassemble the plane each time I want to fly, so I will try to find a hanger nearby to store the JW and keep it assembled all the time. That’s the goal for today.So whether or not this is the final entry in this blog, I am very happy with the outcome of this adventure.

Sunday, April 22, 2012 Travelling to Luverne

Shortly after our latest cancellation of the trip to Luverne, Larry Miller and I conjectured that Monday, April 23rd might be the next day that shows decent weather, particularly positive wind conditions. So Larry and I agreed that I would come down on Sunday, the 22nd and try to fly the JW early on Monday, when the winds should be calm.Whether thinking about the trip or what, I did not sleep very well the night before the trip, so I was already tired as I loaded up and attached the trailer to the car and took off for Luverne Sunday afternoon. There were some rain and dark clouds as I departed from the Minneapolis area and I was hoping the weather was not representative of what it would be like down there.Gladly the weather did clear and the sky was mostly sunny as about 5PM I pulled up outside of Larry’s hanger at the Quentin Aaronsen airport. He was there tinkering with his newly-acquired toy, an RAF 2000 gyrocopter. He was trying to get the engine started but was having some problems with that. But he immediately turned from that to give his full attention getting set up to get the JW unloaded and rearranged things in his hanger so everything could be stored in it overnight.I wanted to get the engine going and do some taxiing. This time I will not make the same mistake as I had that let to my accident two-and-a-half years ago and will not have the wing attached when I taxi. Essentially the only thing that needed to be done was to raise the mast and attach the side rails and downtube and start the engine. We got the engine started without any problem, and I’m gratified that I think I know now how to start the engine when in both cold and hot conditions. I had asked Larry to videotape my taxi tests, so after strapping in I added some power and started taxiing around the tarmac and down the taxiway of the runway. I was exhilarated as I experienced impressive power and thrust. I did not have the courage to give full power, but at about 2500 RPM, it was impressive and moved very well. The Halls indicated as high as 25 MPH or so and that was fast enough for me. At one point, as I was on the taxiway, my foot slipped and the JW immediately skewed into the scrub between the taxiway and the runway before I could shut down the power, providing some alarming moments. But overall I was very pleased with the experiment.It was heading toward dusk as Larry and I stored away the JW, closed the hanger, he went home and I started the search for a place to stay for the night.

Monday, April 16, 2012 Will I Ever Make it to Luverne?!?

By looking at the weather forecast in the Sioux Falls area, particularly at the Luverne airport, I am able to monitor the conditions, especially the wind. On a number of occasions this past month or two I have scheduled with Larry Miller to come down and get the Jetwing flying. The latest was early this week. On Monday and Tuesday this week, the winds were forecast to be light so we scheduled the trip. I was to leave on Sunday afternoon (yesterday) so we could fly Monday and possibly Tuesday. But every time we schedule, the weather turns bad. There was even some tornado activity in southwestern Minnesota and South Dakota this past week-end, and some extreme weather in other parts of the Mississippi River Valley.

So again we were met with disappointment. I really hope that when we finally take this trip, we can accomplish our purpose in one day. That purpose is to first have Larry again inspect the aircraft and then for him to do an initial test flight to ensure it is stable, airworthy, and safe. Then, second (assuming Larry’s flight is in all ways successful), I want to fly the Jetwing myself. I will be happy with a single take-off and landing, or maybe a series of take-offs and landings, or possibly even some touch and go’s. After I do that under Larry’s supervision (I should not call it “supervision”, since he is not a CFI yet, but at least his observation), I will feel confident that I can fly it here and develop techniques and skills I will need to be an accomplished Jetwing pilot.

In the meantime, I have been doing some other stuff. Just for fun, I have been doing some flight planning for short trips around the area here if (and when) the Jetwing is able to be flown. Even though I know the Jetwing is not a real cross-country airplane, it is fun to go through this exercise, reading charts and planning trips.

I have even been playing around with John's old Garmin 295 GPS to learn what it can do. It does have an altimeter function, which I don't have on the airplane, and can of course give speed and tracking information. That will be good to have.

So we wait.

Saturday, April 07, 2012 Get the Engine Started

Today’s task is to try to figure out the starting technique so the engine will cold-start. I had put the charger on the battery all last night so there should be plenty of juice. The first thing I found after unloading the carriage, was to discover that the in-line fuse holder for the starter had broken. So I had to make a quick trip to the local auto parts store to get a new fuse holder. I saw the fuse was 15A, which seems a little wimpy to me, but it won’t hurt to use a lower amperage one than a heavier one; the worst that can happen it that it will blow easier.

So after returning from the parts store, I wired the fuse holder in and then attached a rope from a post in the garage to the axle of the carriage, just to be sure to prevent a runaway. Richard Schmidt had e-mailed me a suggested cold-start procedure and I will try that. He said that since small 2-cycle engines had the tendency to load up and flood, he suggested that the throttle should be closed until the engine started. So here’s the procedure: 1) throttle closed, 2) choke on, 3) push primer bulb until you feel resistance (indicating that the carburetor bowl is full), 4) switch on and starter engaged. After doing this, the engine cranked but did not start. But after a few seconds of rest, I tried again and the engine roared to life, albeit missing and sputtering. Not surprising for the 2-cycle with choke on. I turned the choke off and gave a little gas and the engine ran and continued to run smoothly.

That is the extent of my task today, so I’m pleased. I should be able to replicate the starting procedure when I go down to Larry’s in Sioux Falls next Tuesday night so we can fly early Wednesday morning when the winds will be hopefully light.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Working on the Wing

The JW has been languishing in the garage for several weeks now. It’s comforting to know it’s there and not stuck in the hanger 45 minutes away. We’ve been able to easily negotiate the car in and out of the garage with the JW there and, except for a bunch of stuff crammed into the front that’s destined for the church rummage sale in May, the garage is surprisingly clear of clutter.

Last week I hauled the trailer down the driveway so that I could unload the JW and work on little things on my list. I worked on adjusting the pip pins so they would work easier when assembling, improved some of the wiring, etc. Getting the JW on and off the trailer is a pain, and can be improved by possibly adding a winch similar to a boat winch so I can dismount the JW by myself. Have to think about that. Right now, I just tilt the trailer up, jam a 2x4 to hold up the front, and use a rope around the front of the trailer to load and unload the JW, which works OK for now.

Today I dedicated myself to tinker with the wing. There’s a number of little things needing work, such as adding a strap tie that was missing to the nose, attaching the washout struts, smoothing the fabric to improve the airflow, etc. I had to do all this in the back yard and the door from the garage was blocked with stuff, so I had to carry the wing all the way around the house. My back was killing me afterward! But I’m pleased with the outcome.