wally
Well-Known Member
A friend who has an S-1S Pitts similar to mine flew N13WK for a little while Sat morning.
The flight went just fine. He came down after about 15 minutes since the cilinder head temp and oil temp were both staying kinda high. I expected that would be the case since the engine is not completly broken in and I thought I may need to open the cooling air outlet a little more.
I think he said cruse was about 115mph. His plane is about 15 mph faster mostly because of his canopy and wheel pants. I plan to add them to mine eventually.
I was amazed how steep it climbed. I forgot to ask how high he was when he turned into the pattern but after takeoff to about 2500 ft down the runway, he had gotten high. It looked like he was going up at about 30 to 40 degrees! Lateral trim was fine and he said it was just a bit nose heavy - he is a lightweight guy and thaat was also expected since he was flying at the forward CG limit. There is no elevator trim. Another thing to add later.
Another thing - the straight exhaust pipes were very audible - and sounded really sweet to me.
When he taxiied back, I though there was a big oil leak since I saw the top of the lower wing was wet. I opened the cowl and the engine was clean and dry. Then we looked closer at the wing and it was just wet grassy dew from the runway!
Now I need to get myself ready to fly it!
Take care and best wishes,
Wally
The flight went just fine. He came down after about 15 minutes since the cilinder head temp and oil temp were both staying kinda high. I expected that would be the case since the engine is not completly broken in and I thought I may need to open the cooling air outlet a little more.
I think he said cruse was about 115mph. His plane is about 15 mph faster mostly because of his canopy and wheel pants. I plan to add them to mine eventually.
I was amazed how steep it climbed. I forgot to ask how high he was when he turned into the pattern but after takeoff to about 2500 ft down the runway, he had gotten high. It looked like he was going up at about 30 to 40 degrees! Lateral trim was fine and he said it was just a bit nose heavy - he is a lightweight guy and thaat was also expected since he was flying at the forward CG limit. There is no elevator trim. Another thing to add later.
Another thing - the straight exhaust pipes were very audible - and sounded really sweet to me.
When he taxiied back, I though there was a big oil leak since I saw the top of the lower wing was wet. I opened the cowl and the engine was clean and dry. Then we looked closer at the wing and it was just wet grassy dew from the runway!
Now I need to get myself ready to fly it!
Take care and best wishes,
Wally
