Hi,
Pleased to share a quick report on results achieved with my WM Dago Red using info found in this thread
1) Setup
- YS1.10
- APC 13x11
- 3 1/4" Dave Brown aluminium spinner with a "Long" adapter
- no pilot figure
- had to use 60g (2.2 oz) of weight even when battery packed is placed just past the wing bolt position. Published weight of YS1.10 is 730g (26.3 oz)
- dead weight of empty bird: 3.1kg (7 lbs)
2) Achieved 9900 RPM on the ground with stable idling at 2100 RPM
3) Flying field is well mown grass
4) Did not do taxiing out
5) No nose-over on all 3 take-offs (applied up-elevator from stationary to initial roll)
6) In the air
- straight and level fast rolls
- Big Big inside loops
- unlimited vertical (well, almost)
- achieved 8 torque rolls (rolls on vertical climbs). To do this, I only needed full throttle on level flight just before entering climb. No pre-veritcal diving required.
7) 1st landing - came in too much speed, not enough flare, landed on front gear only. Result: flip over
8) 2nd landing - reduced speed, still not enough flare, still landed on front gear only. Result: nose over
9) 3rd landing - reduced speed further (about 2 clicks from idle, coming to about 3 feet height, then full idle), more flare than 2nd landing. Achieved 3 point landing. Let it roll a bit more to slow down, then applied full up elevator. No nose over. Bird came to full stop in upright position
Adjustments planned for next flight, objective is to optimize the bird for more speed and lesser climb (I think I don't really need 8 torque rolls with this bird).
a) to move fuel tank closer to servo tray, away from firewall
b) to move battery pack further back to see if how much of the 60g (2.2 oz) weight can be removed. I am not sure if this is worth it. 60/3100 is less than 2% weight saving.
c) Not sure if I should change prop to 12x12, or even 12x13 to trade the excess vertical for even higher speed.
d) Not sure what else should I do to further reduce the dead weight. I can't think of any except converting the retracts to a fixed, translating to weight saving of perhaps another 2%
Would a 2% - 4% weight saving translate to significant gain in speed? Any comment, suggestion or advice will be very much appreciated!
cheers,
p.s. Dave, thanks for your tips on the landing approach. I believe my Dago was saved from damage by your advice on coming in with power. Another guy doing maiden flight with his war bird (not sure which model, but larger one) got his bird stalled when coming in for landing, and had to carry the plane back in more than two pieces [
]