Well after 5 1/2 years of SPARE TIME it went skyward with ease. I had
our local test pilot Lee Olmernik do the honors. A short fight of about
20 min. showed no problems except some one who kept telling him to check
gear. I had my Propriety Software AOA operating with out hooking up the
wing ports. Lee was a bit puzzled at who was talking to him. I had him
land it and pulled the fuse and launched him again for about thirty min.
During that flight, oil temps were good due to a separate opening in the
cowl under the spinner just for it. The coolant temps were only 170
degrees F so it was running cool. The local temps were about 90 degrees
F. I attribute this to my custom ducting which is just for the
radiator. It is smooth in its turns and is properly faired in the inlet
transitions to get the air into the ducting.. The inlet that Europa
provides is to large. It should be at least 1/3 smaller. I will do some
testing and reduce the opening size to get a better pressure drop. Other
than that, it flew great. Lee reported that is was doing over 130 K but
I forget at which rpm. Its early and much time to be flown off. It was
worth the wait and little things that had to be done before it flew.
Details you know. Tomorrow Lee will fly it again to do a stall series
and check it for any nastys during those moments. Don't rush, do the
details and it will be a non event. Just smiles and congrats from a
small group of friends who "just" showed up at that particular moment. I
tried to keep it to only two of us but someone told someone else and
volia- 5 people showed up to watch it go. Europa's are such fun to
watch. Quiet but verrry nice flyers.
Jim Nelson
N15JN
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