N1BZRich(at)aol.com
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 Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 8:25 pm Post subject: July 4th in SYI |
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Hello Lightning listers,
I flew N31BZ, my Esqual LS (lots of Lightning Stuff), back to "home plate" (Shelbyville, TN) today. The purpose of this trip is three fold: first, I am going to once again attend the Jabiru engine seminar this weekend (I attended once before and it was great, but I thought a refresher might be good for me), second, I need a small paint flaw corrected by the one and only master Lightning painter, "Chad the Amazing", and third, I am finally going to get a chance to fly and evaluate the new demonstrator Lightning (N323AL). I flew the Lightning prototype about a year ago (my write up is probably still in the Lightning list archives) and now I will write a flight report based on my experience with the prototype. Since it is a production kit and is built by the same folks (Nick, Mark and Mike) that help customers with the builders assist program here in Shelbyville, it represents exactly what a builder can expect his Lightning to be. I look forward to the evaluation flight and will fly about the same test profile that I used when I flew the prototype. I actually flew a short flight this afternoon in the demo Lightning, just to get used to the airplane, but the weather was not really "ideal" for a full evaluation.
As a bit of additional information on what you can expect from your Lightning, I had a nice flight from Virginia this morning in 31BZ although I did have about 10 to 12 mph of effective headwinds until I got just north of Knoxville, then mostly a cross wind on in to SYI. Total flying time from brake release at Williamsburg to turning off the runway at Shelbyville airport was 3 hours and 32 minutes - so even with the headwinds my average ground speed for the 550 miles was 156 mph. Fuel burn averaged 5.9 gph. I initially started the trip at 6,500' but soon had to climb to 8,500 and then on up to 10,500 to stay VFR. The remainder of the flight was "on top" with the auto pilot on. I am currently using a wooden 64ZK55 Sensenich, but this prop is still not the optimum for the most efficient cruise as it still allows my engine to over speed when at 5000' and full throttle. Nick will have more to say on the best prop for the Lightning when he completes testing with a new blade profile on a slightly shorter diameter prop with several more inches of pitch. Don't bug him with questions just yet, let him complete the testing and he will publish the results. Blue Skies,
Buz
See what's free at AOL.com.
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