Let's get high.

Took the airplane up to 16.5K today to see what she'd do and have my first
experience sucking oxygen. It is truly satisfying to sit back and watch the
airplane hold 800 FPM all the way up.

Performance was a bit better than book: 164 KTAS at 27" and 2400 RPM, 14.6
GPH, 50 deg. ROP.

I'm in love with this airplane; it's a dream to fly and performs beautifully.
Heading back to Mobile, I took the headphones off, turned off the autopilot
and enjoyed the unusual 60+ mile visibility as I banked left and right all the
way down to 1,000 ft. over Dauphin Island.

Jeez, I love flying.

--
Dan
T-182T at BFM

In article ,
"Dan Luke" wrote:

Took the airplane up to 16.5K today to see what she'd do and have my first
experience sucking oxygen. It is truly satisfying to sit back and watch the
airplane hold 800 FPM all the way up.

Performance was a bit better than book: 164 KTAS at 27" and 2400 RPM, 14.6
GPH, 50 deg. ROP.

I'm in love with this airplane; it's a dream to fly and performs beautifully.
Heading back to Mobile, I took the headphones off, turned off the autopilot
and enjoyed the unusual 60+ mile visibility as I banked left and right all
the
way down to 1,000 ft. over Dauphin Island.

Jeez, I love flying.

Sounds like fun Dan.
How long did it take to climb up to 16.5K?
How long to descend?
How did the controls feet at 16.5K? Did the airplane feel like it was
balancing on the tip of pin, or solid like it does down low?
Did you do any steep turns or stalls?

"john smith" wrote:

Sounds like fun Dan.
How long did it take to climb up to 16.5K?

I don't know; I didn't do a max performance climb.

How long to descend?

Didn't time that either. I was having too much fun swooping back and forth
and enjoying the almost crystal clear view -- we very seldom get that down
here.

How did the controls feet at 16.5K? Did the airplane feel like it was
balancing on the tip of pin, or solid like it does down low?

I didn't notice any difference.

Did you do any steep turns or stalls?

Great idea. I'll do that next time. If I spin it, there should be plenty of
room to recover. ;^)

--
Dan
T-182T at BFM

On Sun, 1 Jul 2007 17:52:14 -0500, "Dan Luke"
wrote in
:

I'm in love with this airplane

Would that be an '83 C-172RG?

"Larry Dighera" wrote:


I'm in love with this airplane

Would that be an '83 C-172RG?

Nope. The '84 Cutlass is long gone.

--
Dan
T-182T at BFM

Jeez, I love flying.

I'm with you, Dan.

Today, after another sold-out weekend with not one, but TWO family
reunions at the inn (one of them Mary's family!), it was time to get
some air beneath our wings.

We had already eaten a huge family brunch (made by Mary's pro-chef
brother), so we didn't need to find food (for a change!). Thus we
aimed to visit some little-used, out of the way airports.

West Union, IA and Cresco, IA became our 54th and 55th Iowa airports
we've visited, respectively. Both are old-fashioned relics from the
1960s, with hand-painted signs that have long-since faded, written by
men from my father's generation who no-doubt thought others would
follow in their footsteps.

They were wrong, but we were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor
today. The sign-in book in Cresco was poignant -- we were their
first transient visitor since May.

After announcing our intention to land from ten miles out, another
pilot queried us to see where we were coming in from. (Very
unusual!) We told him Iowa City, and he excitedly announced that he'd
be landing in Cresco shortly, too.

After touching down and stretching our legs, a cherry Cessna 150 soon
landed on the grass runway, and taxied up to the hangars near where we
were stopped. The pilot almost *ran* up to shake our hand -- he was
based there, and it seemed like he hadn't seen anyone land in a very
long time!

We enjoyed a good long chat -- as we had done earlier in West Union
(with a Quickie home-builder who admitted to having the airport pretty
much to himself nowadays) -- and then headed over to Prairie du Chein,
WI for their marvelous Sunday Prime Rib special.

The air was still, the visibility unlimited, and the temperature was
in the mid-70s. The four of us flew home, stuffed to the gills and
totally decompressed after a VERY hectic few days.

Flying is life, and July is simply the best.

Glad you're enjoying your new plane, Dan!

(Still no cancellations for the Pool Party -- but I'm trying! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:



(Still no cancellations for the Pool Party -- but I'm trying! :-)



Maybe FEMA could loan you some trailers. ;^)


--
Dan
T-182T at BFM

Dan Luke wrote:
Took the airplane up to 16.5K today to see what she'd do and have my first
experience sucking oxygen. It is truly satisfying to sit back and watch the
airplane hold 800 FPM all the way up.

Performance was a bit better than book: 164 KTAS at 27" and 2400 RPM, 14.6
GPH, 50 deg. ROP.

I'm in love with this airplane; it's a dream to fly and performs beautifully.
Heading back to Mobile, I took the headphones off, turned off the autopilot
and enjoyed the unusual 60+ mile visibility as I banked left and right all the
way down to 1,000 ft. over Dauphin Island.

Jeez, I love flying.


Just for grins, did you happen to notice your OAT? Any problems staying
warm?

What did you use? Cannula? Mask? Any conserving devices?

We are doing initial engine runs/tests on our auto conversion velocity,
and once everything is sorted out, We intend to equip for flight as far
as the low flight levels.

Dave

"Dave S" wrote:


Just for grins, did you happen to notice your OAT? Any problems staying
warm?

2 deg. C, IIRC. No prob' staying warm, just turned down the vents (oh, man;
what an improvement over the old Cessna orange juice cans!) and let the
sunshine do the rest. I wasn't up there long enough for my feet to get cold.

What did you use? Cannula? Mask? Any conserving devices?

Cannula with a Precise Flight conserver.

We are doing initial engine runs/tests on our auto conversion velocity, and
once everything is sorted out, We intend to equip for flight as far as the
low flight levels.

What engine?

--
Dan
T-182T at BFM

Dan Luke wrote:
"Dave S" wrote:

We are doing initial engine runs/tests on our auto conversion velocity, and
once everything is sorted out, We intend to equip for flight as far as the
low flight levels.


What engine?


Used Mazda RX7 rotary engine, 1989-1992 year range. 4 port/Turbo block.
Estimating 180-200 hp normally aspirated, and we will
turbocharge/normalize it as things progress.

I bought 3 imported j-spec engines off Ebay, condition unknown from a
private seller for $700 USD and got 1.75 useable engines. This was a
gamble that paid off.

Rebuilt and hand ported by moi. After much research and study.

Used the factory manual and haynes manual for specs.
Used a video from Bruce Turrentine in North Carolina for the rebuild
itself - its a great bargain.
http://www.actechbooks.com/mazda_overhaul_13B_dvd.htm

The entire rebuild kit came from him too, about $1100 in seals, springs
and gaskets. As long as the metal is within wear specs, this is the cost
of a rebuild. A brand new engine can be had for $4-5,000 USD. But it
still has to be opened to make some mods that optimize it for
racing/aviation use. Best bet is to get a 1st run JDM engine, or a
wrecked car (not a burnt one, in the case of the RX8)

Using PSRU (2 amu), Engine Controller (1 amu) and Engine Monitor (1 amu)
from Tracy Crook's Real World Solutions, in Florida. he also sells the
rebuild kits. http://www.rotaryaviation.com

Have a cast aluminum intake from Mistral in Switzerland. 2.2 AMU, after
having tried several other homebrew attempts. Its a beautiful,
engineered work of art. Mistral is graciously providing parts support to
the rotary homebuilders, since their engine is heavily based on the same
core concept - the 4 port 1992 mazda block. http://www.mistral-engines.com/

Using engine mount from Fred Breeze from Conversion Concepts.
Unfortunately Fred has been unable to deliver on work for quite a while,
and I hear he's heading for bankruptcy. Lots of guys lost their deposits
with him, and are out $$$. The Cozy Girls are picking up this market
http://www.cozygirrrl.com/


Runs VERY VERY SMOOTH. The plane doesnt shake rattle and roll when
starting (like a horizontally opposed piston engine). Had an air leak in
the MP sense line causing it to run over-rich. Didn't detect that on the
first runs because it was un-instrumented at that point, but with the
engine monitor online with a partial sensor package connected, its
running smoother than ever. When we plug in the oxygen sensor, we will
tune the engine controller to stoich as a baseline for ground and flight
test.

Prolly much more than you wanted to hear about.. but hey.. its our
baby.. And not a whole lot of new innovation on our part. We are
following in the footsteps of other trailbrazers.

Dave