Has anybody used the EAA's experimental Test Cards and task Based Phase 1 testing for their certified aircraft? I just put a rebuilt engine in my Maule and had it flowed and ported. LyCon put it on the dyno after the build and this O-360-C1F put out 203 Hp and that's before a full break-in. Maule doesn't have performance charts in the POH, and even if they did, I think this new engine is likely to beat anything Maule has published for my MX7-180C. I'm thinking about buying EAA Phase 1 Task Based flight testing program and using it to generate a custom performance profile for my plane. I'm just wondering if anyone else has gone through this process and feels it is worthwhile. Will the end result be useful? Before doing this, I'm seriously considering having the aircraft weighed again. It's been 22 years since it was built and each change to the plane has been documented on the W&B, but I've lost confidence that the cumulative calculation of W&B is accurate. Maybe I'm being too detailed here. Thoughts? Experience?

You suggested to me Lowrey's Bootstrap method for computing V Speeds back in 2022. Why not follow that?
https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/meas ... ance-26364

Could also try Jeff Schultz's Method: http://sonex604.com/flight_testing2.html

Hopefully in the next few weeks I should have a new prop and a modified wing on my 170. I plan on following Schult'z spreadsheet and seeing what sort of numbers I come up with. Keep us posted if you go forward with quantifying your Maule Performance. It would be fun to compare notes.

-Hayden

I would definitely do a fresh W&B.
I've only owned 4 airplanes, but three of them had the W&B screwed up by someone in the past--
one due to using the wrong arm (mis-measurement), another just a plain old arithmetic error.
The error on my current 180 was 30 years ago, when a shop was replacing the 470A with a K--
they got the engine weight difference correct but forgot to figure in the lighter prop.
I just went back & recalculated it with the correct numbers--
the weight difference was only 13#, but (more importantly) the CG difference was .8".

I'm pretty sure there is at least one set of scales on our airport.
I've weighed several airplanes, & would be glad to assist you.
You'll need a level, plumbbob, chalkline, square, & long tape measure,
all of which I have.

Or just have a mechanic shop do it.
I imagine Tim has a set of scales.

Maybe weigh it properly but unofficially first. Fly the airplane off of that calculation. You may be surprised by the result and want to stick with a computed WB as far as the books go. Once it’s in the logbooks it is what it is.

SmokeyTheBear wrote:You suggested to me Lowrey's Bootstrap method for computing V Speeds back in 2022. Why not follow that?
https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/meas ... ance-26364

Hayden: The bootstrap method seems best for planes with fixed pitch props. The adjustments for constant speed props just seems wonky to me. I may wind up doing both and comparing the results. It would be so much easier if I could just push a button on my EFB and have it spit out results from past fights where I included W&B data.