Testflying means starting on the field. When testing the engine at home it soon became clear that a single jerk on the propellor would not work.
A 220 V handdrill was converted into a starting motor and that worked fine. Clearly the initial speed was too low for ignition to produce a firm spark.
Several alternatives were pondered: starting cord; converting of a car starting motor; 1000 meters of extension cord to the nearest farmhouse...
Eventually the solution was quite simple: grab the prop with both hands as close to the hub as possible. That way you can generate more speed than when you grab it at the tips.

Monday 2008-04-07
All of a sudden spring was here; no wind and a nice sunshine. With a small team (Hans de Vries; Tiem te Velde and Otto Rodenburg) out to the testlocation near Zwolle.
Under the watchful eye of the landowner, his wife and personnel the first hops were made.
The third and last one was the best by far. It lasted 17 seconds and when the plane passed us by the illusion was complete. This was just like the real thing. Even the sound was right.

Saturday, 2008-05-03. 
First attempt at flying a circuit, again on the MVCNOV field. After the first lefthand turn power seemed insufficient to sustain a longer curve and so back into the wind again and a safe though far landing in the opposite field after 29 secs.
It took much longer than that to bring it back!
A few more hops were made afterward up to 350 meters length.

Wednesday , 2008-05-20
Photo shoot session for FlugModell und Technik, a leading German magazine on model airplane building and flying.
In the morning a closer look of the big Bleriot on Lelystad and later on photographs of the model near the Aviodrome.
At the end of the day 3 starts from the testlocation in Zwolle.

Started building a new engine.

There was a weak eastern wind and the field was in perfect condition and so the tests could be resumed again, watched carefully by some invited persons.
First an RC test to see if everything functions as it should and then a short hop to get an impression of the available power. This proved to be more than sufficient.

A last inspection and the first circuit is about to begin. After some 50 meters the plane is aloft and in the second left hand turn it's on 20 meters altitude, enough for the gascontrol to be taken back. 
Turn 3 and 4 with decreasing gas control and decreasing altitude in a controlled manner, time to prepare for landing.
With a tiny bit of extra gas the model touches down right in front of us.
3½ years after this project started, a perfect circuit at last and of course as proud as a peacock.
The crew can wipe of all the oil to their heart's content. They didn't bring their wiping rags for naught either.

Photosession: Bert Scheffer

Saturday, 2008-09-27
Twice a single circuit, no oil leakage this time, and then a 5 minutes flight.
This time the plane was equipped with a GPS receiver, strapped to the pilot's leg, which enabled us to read all the flight data afterwards.

GPS data of testflights on 27-09-08
Track (click for fullsize)	colour	duration	distance (m)	speed  (km/h)	Profile (click for fullsize)
	yellow	1'26"	1000	43
	green	1'18"	959	44
	blue	5'25"	4200	46

Saturday 2009-04-11
Two circuits are planned: a 5 min. checkflight followed by a 15 min. flight to establish the fuel consumption.
The model is flying remarkably stable and Henk feels free to take his hands of the transmitter every once in a while.
De curves are gradually flown tighter which the model accepts just fine.
Halfway the second circuit there is a change in engine sound; afterwards we find that the silicon tube connecting two exhaust pipes is not as heatresistant as it should be. It has simply given way.
Below are some impressions.

1st circuit (5 minutes)

Ready for take off	and right after it	Nice turn	Unique appearance

2nd circuit (15 minutes)

Second start with full tank	Worried frowns: the sound has altered	the flight appearance is unaffected, beautiful as ever.		And the landing is strictly by the book.

Monday 2011-03-14
After the ditch in the Channel a new set of wings had to be built and several repairs carried out.
Furthermore the engine was thoroughly overhauled and improved to prevent such a mishap from occurring again.
A testflight was neede to ascetain whether the plane behaved as well as it did before and monday morning the conditions for this task were nothing short from perfect.
The team had not forgotten how to assemble the model, the engine responded on the first tug on the starting cord and ran like the proverbial sewing machine.

Functional test of the control system	Didn't I mention we have a new pilot?	Full blast before take off	Out of the suspension...	and we're off!	Flies like a dream.

The plane easily climbs to a safe altitude but after half a minute the power drops. Henk takes no risk at all and turns in for landing, even though the engine runs happily again.
We cant't find any disturbance and when the engine runs smoothly again a second takeoff is carried out.
Again the power drops but it picks up right away, only to drop off again after a short while. Once more the plane is set in a close landing curve and lands gracefully. The picures below go to prove just that.

landing approach		flare out	touchdown	and stop.

After some investigation we manage to pinpoint the problem to the control system: the gasservo consistently cuts the throttle after some 25 seconds. 
Eventually the receiver turns out to be at fault, but by then the model is back into its storage again.
We've been extremely fortunate though: what if this disturbance had manifested itself in the elevator control...
Either way, we now know that the model flies even better than it did before and that we have plenty of horsepower at our disposal, all in all a very useful testing session indeed.

 

last update 11/03/16