essai de video avi

essai en vol du Melmoth 2

[April 3, 2011]

I had a request from a French blogger, Xavier Cotton, for some observations about Melmoth's flying qualities. Cotton, who is a private pilot and an air traffic controller and obviously passioné des avions (crazy about airplanes), has a very nice site featuring pictures and descriptions of lots of interesting planes. Even if you don't understand French, the pictures are worth a visit.

When I began writing something for Cotton I realized, first, that I have never given much of a description of Melmoth 2's flying qualities here, and second, that it is difficult for me to do so, in part because I take them for granted and in part because they are -- I believe -- not particularly unusual. Nevertheless, here goes -- though this is less about qualities than procedures.

Taxiing is conventional, using nosewheel steering; if the CG is far aft, however, the nose strut extends fully, nosewheel steering disappears, and I am reduced to steering with brakes. This is very easy, fortunately.

I usually use 34/2,800 for takeoff, but I have up to 41 inches available. (The engine is rated at 200 hp at at 41/2,575; it probably puts out 230 hp or so at 41/2,800.) Acceleration is rapid (about .25 G) and I rotate at around 70 kias. I retract the gear, climb iniitially at 85 kias, and reduce power to 30/2500. After flap retraction, which takes a while because the flap has such a long way to go, the speed automatically settles at 95 kias. I am at 1000 agl by the time I turn from crosswind to downwind; I normally use the downwind departure at Whiteman because of Burbank Class C.

Once cleaned up, I lean the mixture to 50 degrees lean of peak and trim for a cruise-climb at about 110 kias and 8.6 gph (this does not make much sense; I should climb at a higher power setting, but still lean of peak). Rate of climb at this setting is 500 fpm when I'm alone in the airplane. I set the cowl flaps as required to hold the CHTs below 200 C. I tend to cruise high, climbing to 11,500 or 12,500 for any trip of an hour or more. A typical cruise power setting is 27/2,300, or about 55%, which gives 8.4-8.8 gph and 135-140 kias for a true speed around 170-175 ktas. On a standard day, the cowl flaps are fully closed. Handling is straightforward, with little adverse yaw and somewhat heavier roll forces than you would expect from such narrow ailerons; but the sidestick is very short. Roll-yaw coupling is satisfactory, and the airplane can be steered with rudder alone in smooth air without the ball getting very far out of center. Hands-off stability in smooth air is good; in turbulence, however, the high roll forces are fatiguing.

I usually cruise with the autopilot coupled to the GPS; it can also be coupled to either VOR. Ventilation is good, and I have never felt uncomfortably hot despite the bubble canopy. When roll trim is neutral, usually quite soon after takeoff, I turn on automatic fuel tank switching. The two fuel tanks switch automatically every seven minutes. In such an automated environment, the main challenge is to stay alert.

I usually begin my descent quite far out, reducing power to 20/1900 and descending at 500 to 800 fpm. Around three miles out, I turn off the fuel tank switcher, open the cowl flaps (in case it is necessary to go around) and deploy the airbrake (if it is not already out). At 100 kias or below I lower the landing gear and set 10 degrees of flap. The airbrake produces a nose-up trim change that more or less cancels the flap's nose-down one. Approach speed is around 75 kias, but I rely on the angle of attack indicator rather than the airspeed indicator for approach attitude guidance. On half-mile final I set full flap. I carry about 17-18 in Hg on final. I reduce power and begin to flare fairly high to bleed off speed, because the airplane likes to float. In ground effect I hold it off for as long as I can; the nose gets quite high, with the stall warning bleating during the final seconds before the wheels touch at around 50 kias. Stick forces are light during the flare and landing. When the mains touch I pull the stick all the way back to hold the nosewheel off -- with variable success. Once the nosewheel is down I brake firmly; the 3/8-inch thick brake pads provide good energy absorption and deceleration is quite strong. The airplane stops in a few hundred feet.

So that's about it; basically, it feels like a normal airplane.

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