Reklaw Fly-In, October 2013

The Reklaw Fly-In is hosted every October by David & Marcia Mason at their Flying M ranch located in the piney woods of East Texas. www.reklawflyin.com/

This year was my first trip there. A group of us from Angleton flew & drove up and camped together under the wings of our planes. Dave Turner flew his Taylorcraft, Lee Jordan flew his Piper Cruiser, & I flew the 750 up. It's about a 2.5 to 3 hr flight depending on winds, about 230 miles from Angleton.

"Camp Angleton"

I'll try this. Long night for a wus.

There must have been 400 plus planes there of almost every design short of jet powered. the weather was great on Friday & Saturday, but was predicted to deteriorate  overnight & early Sunday with rain moving in. We all decided the smart thing to do was break camp & book-out Saturday PM.

It's a cool display of what's great about America to go to something like this. Ingenuity and creativity are abundant in Experimental and General Aviation. Think about it,  we can jump in a plane we built, fly it across the country and gather with like-minded people without having to do anything but just go do it. No government clearance, TSA lines, baggage fees, flight plans etc., just go. Pretty cool and precious in my opinion.

Friday night I found that a Gin Martini tastes pretty good out in the country under the stars. They help you sleep on the ground, provide relief from the cold, and they make you really smart. The last discussion I remember dealt with the structure of the Universe.   :-)

Here are a few shots of the Fly-In:

August 2013 update:

I have been flying N75ZX for 1 year now. I had the first annual inspection done on the plane this weekend, everything checked out fine. Compression check on the engine showed 79-79-78-78/80 which is excellent. I've made a couple of weekend trips to the Dallas area this summer and quite a few Texas area fly-ins this spring. As of 8/03/13 I've got 215 hrs. of flight time on the plane. Fuel burn is averaging around 5 - 5 3/4 gal per hour.

The 750 is very easy to fly. I've gotten comfortable with all the different landing configurations such as no-flaps, full flaps, no power, power on, crosswind, downwind, etc. Stall speed is around 36-40 mph, depending on weight and air density. The stall turns into a "mushy wings level sink" with no nose drop like most aircraft, which I assume is due to the slats on the leading edge of the 750's wings. I typically cruise it at around 2200 -2300 rpm & this produces around 78-84 mph. Maximum continuous cruise rpm of 2470 rpm produces 88-90 mph, and redline 2625 rpm gets it right at 100 mph. I like the lower rpm settings. It's not stressing the engine at all, better fuel economy, and at the higher rpms the extra 5-10 mph is just not worth the effort.

One of the trips to Dallas I encountered some bad weather. I took off on Sunday around 12 noon after a pretty serious line of T-storms had moved through the Dallas area that morning. Later that day, I ended up catching up with the squall line from behind just NW of the Houston area. I detoured to Navasota, landed, and took a nap under a covered fueling area while waiting for the line to clear on out. About an hour & a half later I took off and flew her on in to Angleton. Here are a couple of photos of the back-side of the squall line as I approached it from behind.

Here are a few other photos from earlier this spring:

Early February of 2013, nice cool weather.

Mustang Beach Airport at Port Aransas, TX, late April

Ft. Parker Flying Field near Mexia, TX in late March.
The fellow that lives in the house on the hill hosts a few
Fly-ins each year. A lot of older, classic light planes are
 showcased such as Taylorcrafts & Cessna 120 & 140's. 

Next month on the weekend of Sept. 20th & 21st, I plan to take a week off from work and fly to the Zenith Factory in Mexico, MO.  http://www.zenithair.com/   Each year they hold an "Open Hangar Day" event where builders fly their planes in. Looking forward to it!

Dec. 2012 Update:     N75ZX now has over 112 hrs of flight time and she continues to perform beautifully. The only change I have made since the last post is an adjustment to the prop to gain more climb power. Since I have a ground-adjustable prop, I "flattened" the pitch approx. 1.5 degrees which allows the engine to reach it's maximum-rated 2625 RPM in straight & level flight, which produces more power, just like downshifting in a car. 

I took a great 3 day cross-county trip from Angleton to Fayetteville AR in mid November. In total I flew about 1175 miles, taking 15 flight hrs, and burned 82 gal of fuel. Here are some photos of the trip: 

Just NE of Dallas, all #'s in the green.

My friend Frank who lives in Fayetteville & is building a Zenith 701.  I heard he flew it in mid-Dec.! This photo was taken in mid-Nov.,, just one month prior to his 1st flight.

Some of Frank's buddie's hangar @ Weddington Woods Field.

N75XZ frosted-in on the early morning of Nov. 16th.

SE Oklahoma's Washita Mountains just south of Poteau, OK

Oct. 15th update:  I now have over 45 hours on the 750. She continues to fly and handle very nicely and I am getting more comfortable with her everyday I fly. In addition to standard airport pattern work, I've now done a lot of full-flap landings (which can be very short into the wind!) and practice engine-out landings,  along with both downwind take-offs & landings. I've had a couple of minor issues come up with the plane, and seem to have both of them solved now.

The first was a broken bungee cord after only 2.5 hrs. of flight time. The bungee acts as a suspension system for the front nose gear and I apparently was shipped a defective one with the kit. I've had the new one on for over 42 hrs now and it seems to be holding up well.

Second issue has been my oil temps. They started out getting too high, 225 degrees and climbing, & would exceed the temp. limits if I did not back off the throttle. It was in the upper 90's when I began the test flights plus I was breaking in a new engine, both factors that contributed to high oil temps.  I have made cowling modifications to improve & increase the airflow around the engine and I now have the oil temps in a managable range of 197-212 degrees, depending on how hard I'm running the engine. 

I've got to re-paint the cowl to make her presentable in public again. After that, I plan to take a week off from work in November, throw a tent & sleeping bag in the plane and move about the country a while. I may end up in Kentucky, Missouri, & Arkansas if I've got the time and the winds are favorable. This has been one cool thing to do, so glad to be flying now & fortunate to have the opportunity. I want to get involved with the EAA Young Eagles program to help introduce young people to flying. As a kid, I always loved aircraft & the world of aviation, but never really had a chance to go up. Now is my opportunity to do something about it.

August 10th, 2012:  First Flight

Since this was my first experience at being a test pilot, I took the day off from work so I would have zero distractions. I picked Friday because I did not want anyone at the airstrip other than my two building buddies. No need for an audience, just a couple of dependable friends in case of an emergency. Danny and Dave were at the hangar when I arrived at 6:30 am and already had N75ZX rolled out. I went through my preflight inspection and climbed in the cabin. She started right up, and right at this point it was all beginning to sink in that I'm about to try & fly in a machine that I built that has never left the ground. I knew this was going to happen, and I had replayed it in my mind in the previous few weeks prior. I would remind myself that I've built a proven design, the same design has flown on many previous occasions, and this is what I signed up for. This is the mountaintop, the finish line, the time to put it to the test.

I taxied out to the strip, nodded to Danny and slowly put the power in. The plane surged forward and the engine roared to full power. at about 400 ft. of roll out and a little back pressure on the stick she lifted off so smoothly. It was right at this point my plan was to check for any abnormal control issues and abort the take off if things were goofy, but I pretty much knew within a fraction of a second the plane was handling very well. I continued to climb out and get the speed up, and I turned left at 500' AGL to stay in the traffic pattern over the airstrip. After getting up to 1800', I kept the engine rpms at 2250 -2300 for around 45 minutes to break the engine in while I marveled at what I was in the middle of doing. Looking around the cockpit, smelling the paint cooking off the engine and the aroma of new upholstery, seeing the gauges working in response to the plane flying, well all I can say is it was just one great feeling of accomplishment. 

Monday, July 30th:  Today the FAA designated airworthiness rep (DAR) was scheduled, a very nice guy named Brian Ingraham. Brian works on helicoptors and other aircraft as an A&P and constantly travels all over the USA and overseas in his work and can be hard to get a hold of.  We met at the hangar after playing telephone tag over the last week or so. He spent about an hour going over the plane and asked to see the paperwork, which I somehow managed to have in order. After reviewing the Operating Limitations with me, he handed me the pink copy of the Airworthiness Certificate which makes the aircraft legal to fly! I have to fly off the first 40 hrs. solo and stay within a 100 mile radius of the home base, which is a pretty generous chunk of real estate. Now I need to get 3 hours of dual time in another 750, get the insurance in place, and go fly!

Sat. July 21:   Today I pulled the 750 out of the hangar for the first time in a completed state. I needed to do some run-ins on the new engine, and the plan was to follow engine break-in proceedures spec'd by ECI, an engine parts manufacturer from whom I purchased most of the new engine components. The proceedure is to run the engine up to 1200 rpm for a couple of minutes and then let it completely cool down. Next you run it up to 1800 rpm for a couple of minutes and let it cool down again, never letting the cylinder head temps go over 400 degrees or the oil temp over 200. The last test is to tie the plane off and run it up full power to see if it makes proper RPM of 2150 -2250. She made 2250, so the required power is there for flight. From this point on there will be no more engine runs until the first flight, as the engine must be broken in while flying to provide maximum cooling until the rings seat. All I'm waiting on now is the Airworthiness Inspection scheduled for this upcoming week. Once I get that, I need to log 3 hrs. of dual time in another Zenith 750 to satisfy the insurance company, then it's time to fly. It was a great feeling getting her outside and run that engine good and hard. She looks better than ever outside in the sunshine, and needless to say I'm a little pumped up. I doubt if I'll sleep very soundly tonight.

July 7 & 8, 2012:   Completed the installation of the doors and hardware. Painted the doors. Added some "L" stiffeners at the antenna mount thru the roof. Installed the belley pan. Had some fiberglass work done on the engine cowl to smooth the airflow thru the inlets. Re-installed the cowling and laid out for painting. Will paint the cowl later this week.

I'm basically done now and ready for the FAA inspection. I have a call in to the D.A.R. inspector trying to arrange my Airworthiness Certification inspection.     12 hrs, 1011 total hrs. to date.

The month of June, 2012:

Sat., 6/9:  I had Curtiss Scheutzberg, a local builder-assist contractor, come down & help me fabricate & install the cooling baffles for the front air intakes on the engine. Curtiss did most of my engine and instrument panel work last year, and I have no problem asking for help when I feel I need the expertise. We spent a couple of days making & trimming aluminum baffles & rubber trim to create a nice air-tight baffling system for the air-cooled C-90 engine. 12 hrs.

Sat. & Sun. 6/17 & 18: Started on the installation of the doors and latching hardware. Trimmed both doors to fit the fuselage opening and laid out for the hardware fastener holes. got the pilot side door finished after 2 days of work as there is a ton of detailed measuring and fitting to do. 12 hrs.

Sun. 6/24: Continued work on the doors. 6 hrs.

Sat. & Sun., 6/30 & 7/1: Filled the fuel tanks with 20 gallons of Avgas and found my fuel gauges are not reading properly. After a lot of head scratching we came to the conclusion something is wrong with the fuel sending units in the tanks, and this is not easy to get to. I should have checked the operation of the sending units and gauges before I ever closed up the wing skins and put the wings on the fuselage, so now I get to fix it the hard way. Pulled the fuel sender out of the passenger side wing and found the angle on the float rod was not bent at the correct angle. I had bent it to 105 degrees instead of 125. All of this is boring detail, so let's just say I spent all weekend removing, repairing, and re-installing the fuel senders and now all is good. 13 hrs,  999 total hrs. to date.

Sunday, June 3:  Installed cowling. Worked on baffles for engine, still have to work out the baffle design for the bottom of the engine case & cut holes on lower cowl under prop. I put 20 gallons of fuel in the wing tanks and had no leaks. My fuel gauges are not registering the actual level of the tanks, and I'll have to do some adjustment on the fuel level sensors, or "senders" as they are called to get that fixed. Did a start up while sitting in the plane & let the engine idle a couple of minutes. At that point, I realized the airplane is for the first time capable of being rolled out the hangar and flown. Everything necessary for flight is on the plane, but I still must go through the regulatory process of getting an Airworthiness Certificate from an FAA examiner and a lot of loose ends need to be wrapped up before I'll plan my maiden flight. 

6 hrs. today, 956 total hrs.

Sat. June 2: Installed the wings, struts, and flaperon/ailerons on the plane. Everything fit up well, though it should have since it had all been done before prior to painting. The only thing I was concerned about was the fit of the inboard wing skins where they meet the new skylight, as that was all new work and had not previously been fit up. The fuel lines and electrical connections to the wings also tied in nicely and are now hooked up. Still need to hook up the pitot/static lines and the aileron control linkage.

6 hrs, 950 hrs total to date.

May 12th thru May 28th:

5/12:  I re-installed the tail sections, connected the rudder & elevator cables and set proper tesion with the turnbuckles. Safety wired the turnbuckles and now the tail section is permanently mounted. I wired up the elevator trim servo with "Molex" connectors, a type that allows for quick & easy disconnect should the tail sections ever have to be removed for service or inspection. 11 hrs, 901 total hrs.

Sat. & Sun., May 19th and 20th: Received the new windshield and Version 3 skylight from Zenith, along with an upholstery kit. Fitted skylight to cabin & installed new ribs that support the airfoil-shaped skylight. Fitted the new windshield to the cabin & drilled pilot holes through windshield into the cabin frame. Moved over to the wings where I had to remove the existing root ribs to be replaced with a larger size rib that fits to the new skylight shape. Got both wings done including the installation of new root skins. 17 hrs, 918 total hrs.

Sat., May 26th: My friends Danny & Ivan made a custom baffle for the lower part of the engine that cools the case and oil tank while I completed drilling and fitting work on the skylight & windshield.
7 hrs, 925 total hrs.

Sunday & Monday, May 27th & 28th:  Danny painted the pilot side wing earlier in the week. I completed all drilling out for windshield top & sides. Fitted weatherstripping up to windshield. Removed the old aluminum arch that was for the Version 1 roof. Painted the top & side trim pieces for the windshield. Re-assembled windshield & skylight, riveted both in place with soft aluminum rivets. The plans called for sheetmetal screws to hold the windshield to the cabin frame, but after many attempts the screws just were not self-tapping into the cabin frame well enough. I'm confident Zenith will end up changing this fastening system to something else, but in the meantime rivets will work just fine. Cleaned everything up and began fitting the doors to the cabin. Layed out cut lines on both doors to fit behind the windshield and riveted the door hinges to the cabin frame.  14 hrs, 944 total hrs to date.

Sunday, May 6th:  Today I re-installed all of the control linkage. I had it out for the last 3 weeks while I was riveting up the seat pans and working in the control tunnel area, and it took a good 2 hrs. to get it all back in. I ran into a problem with the wiring going from my push-to-talk buttons through the stick and to the panel. The elevator control rod was hitting the wiring harness when I had the stick full back and left. I struggled for a while to determine a fix and after a few discarded ideas I simply clamped the harness with a cable clamp held with a machine screw in a way that kept it clear of the rod and still able to have the flexiblity it needs to move with the control stick. A homebuilder spends a lot of time figuring out crap like this. The plans only take you so far, so you are constantly having to improvise. That to me is where a lot of both frustration and satisfaction occur, frustration when you identify the problem and satisfaction when you solve it.

Next I installed my seat belt attachment brackets and the seat belts. Took longer than I thought it would. Danny had painted the cowl top and had it laying in place when I got there this morning. It really looks good. I found out it will be another two weeks before I get my new windshield. That is going to slow down the progress a bit because the doors & wings can't be completed until the windshield and skyroof go on.

I can sense that I am closing in on the completion of the plane, and it feels good.

7 hrs today.