mstull
R.I.P.
I finished my self designed, scratch built U/L biplane and flew it on Tuesday. It is very easy to fly and land. I did about 12 landings, and a few stalls. It weighs in at 206# dry, including the BRS parachute. That's 72# under the legal limit... amazing.
The trim came out very close to perfect. I could fly it hands off on the first flight. The 4 ailerons are wonderfully powerful, with a spectacular/aerobatic roll rate. Adverse yaw is slight. The elevator and rudders work fine. There is not a hint of flutter, even when I try to wiggle the controls back and forth.
It stalls at 30 mph indicated, with the flaps up. It doesn't drop a wing or the nose in a stall. It just shudders and sinks, and recovers instantly when I push the nose down. Bumps of wind feel gentler with the higher wing loading.
This plane has a lot of drag, and the wing airfoil is less efficient than my monoplane. So it takes more power in climb and cruise. The glide slope is pretty steep too. It flies most efficiently between 40 and 45 mph. It has too much drag to fly much over 50 mph. The engine vibration is much less in the cockpit than my monoplane.
I plan to install larger 5 by 5" aircraft tires so I can land on rough fields. There are only a few other minor adjustments needed. I'll probably upgrade some of the flying wires to the next size larger, since I have so much weight to play with.
It took only about 2.5 months to build this all aluminum plane, powered by a stripped down MZ201 running direct drive.
The trim came out very close to perfect. I could fly it hands off on the first flight. The 4 ailerons are wonderfully powerful, with a spectacular/aerobatic roll rate. Adverse yaw is slight. The elevator and rudders work fine. There is not a hint of flutter, even when I try to wiggle the controls back and forth.
It stalls at 30 mph indicated, with the flaps up. It doesn't drop a wing or the nose in a stall. It just shudders and sinks, and recovers instantly when I push the nose down. Bumps of wind feel gentler with the higher wing loading.
This plane has a lot of drag, and the wing airfoil is less efficient than my monoplane. So it takes more power in climb and cruise. The glide slope is pretty steep too. It flies most efficiently between 40 and 45 mph. It has too much drag to fly much over 50 mph. The engine vibration is much less in the cockpit than my monoplane.
I plan to install larger 5 by 5" aircraft tires so I can land on rough fields. There are only a few other minor adjustments needed. I'll probably upgrade some of the flying wires to the next size larger, since I have so much weight to play with.
It took only about 2.5 months to build this all aluminum plane, powered by a stripped down MZ201 running direct drive.
