March 2013
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Another summer has come and gone and project is nearing completion.We haven’t done much work since last October when we started the engine for the first time as we have been flying our gliders.
It is very hard to get enthusiastic about working in the workshop when the thermals are going off.
Anyway it is now March and now we have some time available again. Let me fill in the last few months:
October: With Hornet final assembly completed we carried out the aircraft weigh.
Good friend of the Beaufort Gliding Club Joe Luciani helped out here.
It ended up slightly heavier than we expected at 516kgs and with a slightly aft CofG.
We confirmed our results with Ole and he said we are still ok.
We are packing a lot into a small airframe. Next we started the engine for the first time and after a couple of false starts it roared into life.
This was a big moment for us and all of us had big smiles on our faces.
The next few runs we discovered a couple of leaks, but that is what leak checks are for, just had to fix them.
We also carried out some testing of the fuel system. Using a pressure gauge we testing the fuel pressure regulator on the engine.
We wanted to know if we could leave both pumps running at all times so the tug pilot doesn’t has to worry about it. This proved successful also.
November: No Hornet work at all just glider maintenance and then Orange Week at Waikerie.
I did have a one great flight and flew the DG400 home to Bacchus from Waikerie, great fun!
December: No Hornet work as my kids finished school, free time goes to zero.
The other members of the build team were flying at the State Comps in Bacchus Marsh. Then came Christmas....
January: The odd day working on the Hornet but mostly nothing.
I assisted Chris Trewern in spraying the rego letters on the lower wing surface.
Peter flew in the Multi Class Nationals in Standard Class in Benalla.
During this time I was able to catch up with Darren Barnfield and Brian Ham from the SAAA.
I had hoped to get some paperwork ready for them to look over but I was not fully prepared.
I still had some work to do. Darren was able to get me pointed in the right direction so it was a very helpful visit.
February: Horsham Week Gliding Comp is compulsory in my club.
So that had all of us flying our gliders in the first week of Feb. Afterwards we managed to make some progress.
With the propeller installed we were able to carry out some taxi trials.
During this testing we found some other issues like the alternator not working. Simple fix by checking the wires connected properly.
Testing the fuel system found a weep leak which looks like it was coming from a manifold we made.
We are going to try another compound on the AN fittings. All the placards are installed finally and it was worth waiting for.
They turned out very professional.
All for now, regards Jack
- Man hours to date:
- 1310 hrs
