DeltaRomeo wrote:"130mph on 6.5gph is pretty cool though"

With my O-360 I get about 8 gph at 130; 6.5 gph at 90 mph. Thats really good fuel burn rate for an O-470 Whee!

He actually has a continental IO-360. Still great fuel burn numbers though!

Earlier this week I took the plane up with the goal of accomplishing some test flying; stall speeds were the topic of this flight. I was quickly distracted and started to make my way towards the Grand Tetons while also looking for a buddy that was out with his jet boat on the river.



After a while, but before finding my friend or making it to the Tetons, I overcame the distraction and did some stall testing.

Power off stalls were uneventful with non exciting numbers. 3 notches of flaps gave me 49mph IAS stall speed.

What was exciting, for me at least, was the full power flaps up stall I attempted. At 49mph, ~19deg nose high, and still climbing at ~600fpm I chickened out.

Whee,

Ya might want to keep that ball centered, especially in that flight regime!

Kurt

Hey Jon

In that first picture it looks like your cowl doors on either side are bowed out. Is that the case, or is that an optical illusion? I know I had to reinforce the oil door on my RV-8 cowl because it would bow out in flight and I am wondering if I need to do the same kind of thing with the Bearhawk cowl doors....

Also, I would have chickened out on that full power stall test too!

G44 wrote:Whee,

Ya might want to keep that ball centered, especially in that flight regime!

For sure! That ball is constantly all over the place; I have no faith that it is accurate. I’m currently looking for a small inclinometer that will fit a open spot in my panel.

rv8bldr wrote:Hey Jon

In that first picture it looks like your cowl doors on either side are bowed out. Is that the case, or is that an optical illusion? I know I had to reinforce the oil door on my RV-8 cowl because it would bow out in flight and I am wondering if I need to do the same kind of thing with the Bearhawk cowl doors....

Also, I would have chickened out on that full power stall test too!

The front of my cowl doors are bowed out but it’s not from air pressure; they do it all the time. When I made the doors they fit tight but something is settling causing the bow. I’ll have To make new doors in the near future.

whee wrote:
What was exciting, for me at least, was the full power flaps up stall I attempted. At 49mph, ~19deg nose high, and still climbing at ~600fpm I chickened out.

It can go a lot steeper than that...

When the plane is dead empty, full power climb out at 60 kts is at least 6 degrees steeper maintaining a steady climb at about 2,500ft/min.

Once you can, I would recommend getting an experienced instructor and doing some advanced stalls, in level flight and then stalls in a steep turn - the steep-turn power-on stalls were a real eye-opener for me. Nothing bad happens - it's just amazing how tight you can spin a Bearhawk around when all the chips are down.

I've been terrible at taking pictures lately; too much fun flying I guess. Maybe its that my windows are so bug covered that the pics turn out terrible...

Headed out to central Idaho for a day trip following a friend of mine that has a cool 180hp straight tail 172. Saw goats, antelope and deer. Had a great breakfast and a fantastic time following each other around the mountains.

I apologize for the highly contaminated pictures. My windows are very dirty and I discovered my camera lens is trashed...


Somewhere over the Middle Fork of the Salmon


Sawtooths




White Clouds


Pioneer Range


My favorite picture of the day. If you look close you can see my buddies plane trough all the bug guts. Seems to epitomize the way the day felt as we winged our way through the mountains.

whee wrote:
Pioneer Range

Looks like you're having a blast! keep the pics coming. I hiked into that lake a couple summers ago, love that corner of the state.

Nice scenery whee! Oh, if you didn't notice...there are a few bugs splatter on your windshield.

Wow, I didn’t realize how long it had been since I posted anything in this thread. I barely flew at all in 2020 and didn’t really do any flying till late summer this year.

A few weeks ago I put a set of used Bushwheels on my plane. Prop clearance was a significant issue, or the lack of prop clearance, but it isn’t anymore.


The increased AOA during takeoff and landing totally changed my airplane. The required ground rolls are significantly shorter and I’m pretty far from maximizing the performance.

Last weekend we flew to Wyoming for my kid’s soccer tournament. 1.5hrs if flying beats 4.5hrs of driving. It was a really nice flight both ways. Leaves are changing.


I was kinda wishing I had gone with smaller tires because I hate to loose speed for something I don’t really need. However, I can’t complain about the performance. I know it’s hard to believe but there really was no wind in WY.

Awesome to see you are up and running again Whee.

The last couple weeks have been the best flying all year in our area, almost NO smoke!

Finish up those longer Hoerner wingtips and you will love the takeoff performance even more. It might help the cruise speed too, it certainly didn't slow me down.

Wow!!!! You did good----I'd still be scratching my head thinking about the project.

Whee, I know you posted about having some engine issues a while back.
Are you still running the IO360 Continental?
And what prop did you settle on?

Thanks guys! It is good to be back flying. It's been a really smoky summer with plenty of flights in crappy viz. I love flying in the fall and with the smoky conditions improving it is getting better and better.

Battson, I do need to finish the hoerners but I don't want to take the plane out of service during the prime season. I do look forward to seeing any difference they might make in performance.

hotrod, I'm still running the Conti IO360 and the 88" Mac. I've been very happy with the performance, sufficient power and easy on fuel.

Nice work, whee!