I had more problems than expected getting the throttles adjusted to where both engines would come to idle together. This took the majority of the ground time at the field. I also had steering problems which were corrected by switching back to direct cable pull-pull linkage for the nosegear steering. I had inserted some springs in the linkage which made it too mushy. I also angled the main struts backward by putting spacers in the front retract mounting rail. The combined affect of these changes was dramatic -- I now have very positive steering control even at low speed.
When I ran out of excuses, I topped off the tanks, taxied out and off she went!!! I took the LG doors off because I had no intention of attempting gear retraction on the first flight. I decided to follow the full scale flight test regime :-) Take off was uneventful. The plane was out of trim, with a little left and a lot of down required for straight and level flight. The "down" part is probably partly because of the tail-heaviness.
Click here (or "shift-click") to download the takeoff video (1464 kb - 1.46 MB)
I made three or four circuits of the field, until the trim felt right, then one low-ish pass for the camera.
Click here to download the flyby video clip (498 kb - 0.49 MB)
After the flyby I went around to approach for landing. It went so well, I decided to set her down. Unfortunately I didn't realize how far "out" I was until it was almost on the ground. I ended up a few feet off the runway. In the video you can see the left wing rise - this was my attempt to correct :-) The nosegear hit a bump which sheared the pivot pin! You can see the nosegear strut and wheel flying up behind the plane in the video. Fortunately the broken pivot pin (just a piece of 5/32 music wire) was the only damage apart from a small bend on one of the lower cowl flaps.
Click here to download the landing video clip (542 kb - 0.54 MB)
Even with the indignity of the piss-poor landing I was ecstatic that the plane finally flew and was undamaged. I went home one very happy man!!! I hope you've enjoyed following this project as much as I've enjoyed publishing it and getting great feedback from alot of you. I will be posting periodic updates as the flying program continues. As always, questions and comments welcome!
=Gary