buzzypeterson
Well-Known Member
I need advice please, The plane is the same old flaglor scooter that has been a pain in the kuester. Here is the whole story from the begining as I remember it, unfortunately my memory is very selective but I will do my best.
when finished recovering the flaglor scooter we did a weight and balance, she was nose heavy but within the envelope. I flew it... the takeoff was long... took every inch of runway... and she flew tail low the whole time and was extremely sluggish. Landing required a lot of power to keep from dropping in. and anything less than full power and she was in a dive.
We realized the plans for the landing gear were not left to right so we had the gear 3 inches to far forward. We moved them to where they were supposed to be. I put on a different prop that turns up a little faster. She got off better... still ate up a lot of runway though. Elevator was still very sluggish and I bounced a landing because there just wasn't anything there when I tried to flare...
Over the winter we took the fuel tank out and cut it to be shorter (fuel tank is in the nose) it was approximately 8 gallons and is now is 4.5 gallons... eliminating the most forward part. We did another weight and balance and were now right where we were supposed to be. I flew her and she did slightly better but still would not glide, flew tail low and had very little up elevator. I didn't have enough elevator to hold the nose up at anything less than 100% full power.
We changed wheels to a little heavier wheel... I know not a good choice, but it was what we had. and they aren't all that much heavier... maybe 5 to 10 lbs heavier for both of them including brakes. previously I didn't have brakes. After asking suggestions we raised the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer about 1/4 inch which made it even with the wing. I ran it back and forth about 15 times and it wouldn't even get off the ground. So I took the shims out and put them on the back of the horizontal stabilizer which raised the back of it 1/4 inch (the opposite). I filled up the gas tank (2 gallons more fuel) and ran it back and forth unable to get off the ground at quite high speed. Finally I ran her the whole runway length and got her off the ground in the last bit. Climb was absolutely terrible, there was no elevator except at full power.
The density altitude was higher than previous flights, the wheels were heavier, 2 gallons more fuel, and I probably gained 5 lbs. Tell me what would you do? this thing is basically a primary glider she should glide all day long shouldn't she?
One last thing, If a glider guy has been kind enough to read this far could you tell me, In the plans Ken Flaglor says that it will fly poorly without gap seals. the gap seals in the ailerons and elevator are like what a pietenpol uses. it's in the middle of the aileron and attatches to the bay. On other ultralights I have used duct tape over the top and bottom. Will the seals on it do the job or could that be part of the problem?
second last thing
the ailerons are maybe 1/8 of an inch low, do you think raising them might help?
when finished recovering the flaglor scooter we did a weight and balance, she was nose heavy but within the envelope. I flew it... the takeoff was long... took every inch of runway... and she flew tail low the whole time and was extremely sluggish. Landing required a lot of power to keep from dropping in. and anything less than full power and she was in a dive.
We realized the plans for the landing gear were not left to right so we had the gear 3 inches to far forward. We moved them to where they were supposed to be. I put on a different prop that turns up a little faster. She got off better... still ate up a lot of runway though. Elevator was still very sluggish and I bounced a landing because there just wasn't anything there when I tried to flare...
Over the winter we took the fuel tank out and cut it to be shorter (fuel tank is in the nose) it was approximately 8 gallons and is now is 4.5 gallons... eliminating the most forward part. We did another weight and balance and were now right where we were supposed to be. I flew her and she did slightly better but still would not glide, flew tail low and had very little up elevator. I didn't have enough elevator to hold the nose up at anything less than 100% full power.
We changed wheels to a little heavier wheel... I know not a good choice, but it was what we had. and they aren't all that much heavier... maybe 5 to 10 lbs heavier for both of them including brakes. previously I didn't have brakes. After asking suggestions we raised the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer about 1/4 inch which made it even with the wing. I ran it back and forth about 15 times and it wouldn't even get off the ground. So I took the shims out and put them on the back of the horizontal stabilizer which raised the back of it 1/4 inch (the opposite). I filled up the gas tank (2 gallons more fuel) and ran it back and forth unable to get off the ground at quite high speed. Finally I ran her the whole runway length and got her off the ground in the last bit. Climb was absolutely terrible, there was no elevator except at full power.
The density altitude was higher than previous flights, the wheels were heavier, 2 gallons more fuel, and I probably gained 5 lbs. Tell me what would you do? this thing is basically a primary glider she should glide all day long shouldn't she?
One last thing, If a glider guy has been kind enough to read this far could you tell me, In the plans Ken Flaglor says that it will fly poorly without gap seals. the gap seals in the ailerons and elevator are like what a pietenpol uses. it's in the middle of the aileron and attatches to the bay. On other ultralights I have used duct tape over the top and bottom. Will the seals on it do the job or could that be part of the problem?
second last thing
the ailerons are maybe 1/8 of an inch low, do you think raising them might help?
