Shaun Evans

Hi,

Shannon and I maidened this Y/A F-18 the other day. Fun and interesting flight! Again, I have the worst luck with video, but pretty good luck with maidens on OPJ's (Other Peoples' Jets).

The bird was built from a kit by someone else, but when I turn-keyed it, there were some significant corrections that had to be made in order for the plane to be airworthy. We got that done, and installed a Kingtech K-170. Like many people, the customer had been convinced that the plane needs a P-200/Olly/Etc., but we assured him that the plane is better overall with a K-170/P-180 type.

With this K-170, the plane is very light. The difference in top-end between this bird and the big-block ones I've seen or flown seems like about 10 mph. The difference in landing speed and general low-speed handling is night-n-day. Due to an unfortunate miscommunication (Shannon yells, "You got 10 seconds of battery left!" and I think he means on the jet, so my gear pass turns into a landing. He meant on the camera, so he turns it off to save it for the 'actual' landing) you don't get to see the landing, but she landed like a Goldberg Eagle II in the slight headwind we had. The vertical was pretty much unlimited when we burned off some fuel. We set the timer for 6 minutes and landed at about 6.5. The tanks were at just under half.

Anyway, enjoy the video if you can. You see more sky than jet, but you get the point....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMQdyTRIzuc[/youtube]

Ro

nice maiden shaun.

Shaun Evans

Hey,

Thanks, man! How've you been, Ro?

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

Awesome Shaun!

IMO still the best F-18. Wish I had the time to build anything these days.

Super smooth landing (I assume).

tp777fo

My Feedback: (28)

Hey Shaun, for a good a builder/test pilot as you are....you suck at producing maiden videos. JK. Nice job as usual. It's nice to still a have a source of top quality kits for guys that still like to build.

ww2birds

My Feedback: (14)

Nice work Shaun! When you say "very light" .. what do you mean? I have one with a Behotec 180, she's 44# dry .. but does have some bells + whistles.. just curious to compare the dry weight to yours.

And, in case you know the answer to the great mystery: how do you keep the wheels from hitting the back gear doors??? Seems there is no way to set it up where it retracts cleanly and misses the doors on full compression of the gear. "Make every landing perfect" is a good answer .. but I hope not the only one. I have seen a few guys have the back gear doors re-close after gear down to get them out of the way .. that's clever but not scale...maybe I am missing a trick here?

thanks
Dave McQ

Shaun Evans

Dave,

Yeah, there's a trick. It's easy. There are two ways I've done it. One is to use a little bead of Hysol under the arm of the door hinge, such that it impedes full opening of the door. Once it's cured, you just trim the glue away with an x-acto knife until you get the degree you want. You don't have a wide envelope between having the door open enough to allow the wheel to pass by, and it opening just shy of being in the way of the wheel when you smack it down.

The second way is easier, but less clean. You simply glue a little shaped piece of hardwood to the missile indentation in the fuse. The door will strike it when opening and you trim that to adjust how much the door opens. The idea either way is to prevent the door from opening enough to hit the wheel.

Ron101

My Feedback: (22)

Nice Job Shaun!
What a great plane.... I've been plugging away on mine. Can't wait until the day comes to fly mine!!

great work bud

ww2birds

My Feedback: (14)

Thanks Shaun, I've tried that .. but when you get the door to open so that the wheel clears it on full compression of the strut with the gear down, the wheel won't retract without hitting something (I forget if it's the door or the fuse opening), that's the part I must be missing. Sigh...

Again, interested in the range of dry weights (actually, I mean with UAT full .. mains empty) you have seen in your experience .. what is light and what is heavy .. relatively.

Thanks

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Nice one Shaun. Great flight!

Beave

Shaun Evans

Dave,

I've never not been able to find that sweet spot. The door might be on the inside of the tire by only 1/16", but it still clears wheel when retracting. Hmm... As for weights, I haven't weighed this one yet, but I have to for shipping. I kit built one for twin P-120's that came out at 37 or so pounds dry. My guess is that this one is probably 33 pounds. I'll tell you when I weigh it, though.

Beave and Ron,

Thanks!

Ro

Hi Shaun,

All is well Bro. I have not done any flying in a long time. Singapore is not the most ideal place to fly in my opinion.
Looking forward to chatting with you soon.

The Yellow F-18 twin is always impressive!

very best,
Ro

VF84sluggo

My Feedback: (55)

Very nice, Shaun! As an added plus, I love the "Bones"...but even after all these years I still can't get used to seeing VFA-103 as the squadron At least the -103 guys resurrected the "Jolly Rogers" name and bones logo when VF-84 was decommissioned!

Sluggo

Gripenflyer

You should come fly with us every Sat! We drive across to Malaysia. The field is about 10 mins after the second link. PM me i'll get in touch with you.