Ok guys, I maidened my T-28 today!!! It was exciting as most maiden days are. It went well enough and I got in two flights, but I am not going to gush about how good the plane flies yet, because mine doesn't fly that well YET! I got it home in one piece and that makes it a good day, but I have some work to do to make it fly like I want it to. I'll just list the main points to report:
1. The Saito 82 is my first Saito and it runs like a top. I think the main problem people have with starting any engine is to make sure it is wet enough. I pinched the rubber exhaust extender shut and hand cranked the engine a good ten times at full throttle to get the plug wet, and it started pretty easily at high idle with a backward flip after energizing the plug. Not on the first flip each time, but it was easy enough. I have to say this engine idles better than any of my OS FS engines, but I still love em anyhow. This engine provides an abundance of power for this plane.
2. I built in a down thrust ply shim on the firewall. It is 3/16" at the top and tapers to paper thin at the bottom of the wedge, and is just slightly larger than the GP 40-70 engine mount. My protractor and calibrated butt says it adds about 3 degrees downthrust on the stock firewall. I think it is about right. At full bore and trimmed per #3 below, she stays level.
3. My plane still needed about 9 clicks down elevator to fly level. At this trim, the bottom of the stab and elevator are pretty flat (used my ruler to check). I am thinking the decalage of the ARF is a little off, and if I could do it over, when trimming the stab saddle in the fuse, I would sand it in such a way to drop the trailing edge of the stab just a smidge...maybe 1/16".
4. The plane flew real floaty like. Mine balances on the recommended CG. I am going to move the battery under the fuel tank near the fire wall. It is currently behind the bulkhead where the rear of the tank is located. If that is not enough, I will add a couple ounces lead to the front of the engine mount or get a brass prop nut.
5. I have new Tower TS-126 digital servos in the plane (except for throttle) and I think they might be slow...either the plane wanted to tip stall or the ailerons were moving too slow. Not sure, so I am going to make them faster by going to a 6V battery. That will help me in the CG department too, by adding another cell ( about an ounce per AA cell) to move behind the firewall. I checked my wings and they are flat to me, so any tip stall is not caused by wash-in. Just to be safe, I am going to warp in a little washout in each wing with my heat gun. I had to fly with six clicks of right aileron trim, and that could effectively create wash-in on the left wing. I am going to mechanically trim each aileron to be up perhaps 1/16" at neutral on the stick. Hope that makes sense.
6. The hinges that I used to hold the landing gear door to the wing...one of them cracked in flight due to vibrations in the air or landing gear flex on the ground. That door was flapping in the wind, which I did not notice till I landed the first time. I took both doors off for the second flight. I am going to use some tin sheet to replace the hinges. Gotta have them doors on, the plane looks so cool with them!
7. I applied flaps when I was a couple mistakes high, and they gently lifted the nose. Not too much down elevator will be needed to land with flaps, I think. I noticed the plane yawed a little to the right with more flap deflection. I think they move equal amounts, but I will figure that out later, since the plane lands so slow without flaps as it is, so I did not use them on landings today. Try to land with some throttle and speed since I think my plane was starting to tip stall on landing. It also seemed to be tip stalling a little in mid throttle tighter turns. That is another reason why I want to add some wash out and also trim the ailerons up a little.
8. The plane rolled pretty axially at WOT. That was good!
9. One cowling screw backed out about 1/16" after one flight. Others not as much. Re-tightened all for 2nd flight and they didn't loosen anymore.
10. Main wire gears are pretty weak. I didn't bend them on landings but I could see them really boinging around on all taxiing on our grass field. That may have contributed to breaking the hinge I used per #6 above. Next struts will be stiffer, IF I wreck the stock ones.
11. Testors Acrylic paints seem at least partly fuel proof to me. I got raw fuel and burnt fuel on the Robart landing gear covers (esp the nose one), and when I wiped them with a paper towel, no paint came off. That was good too!
12. I was disappointed to see a few wrinkles show up on just the black Oracover, and of course some are inside the canopy!! Argh.
13. There is probably something I missed, and will report on later, haha.
All in all, it was ok for me and it was promising, but I expect the plane to be better each time I fly and trim her out more and more. There is nothing that cannot be figured out and fixed. And she is still a real BEAUTY! Here are some pics at the field! Jon
