Mission accomplished
Here is the 1st day after it was transported to Tommy's Airpark, where she will reside.
Well, Today is the BIG DAY!
CLEAR!
Call the Ball!
It First Flew on Aug 10th..3 trips around the patch, with 3 take-offs and landings. Airspeed indicator would not work correctly no matter what I did to the static and pitot...including removing the ASI completely and banging it on the bench! Unbelievably, it flies perfect! I had trim tabs ready to attach when I figured out which way it might pull, but threw them back in the box..she goes straight as a string! All temps normal...only thing on the gripe sheet is the ASI. After installing a new ASI,.(which worked perfect)..5 more takeoff and landings and about 30 minutes worth of cruising ..stall testing and such. Life is good!
"Around the Patch Video"
Here is a link to a video I made from the seat of the FireFly..it is just a takeoff and around the pattern once and a landing. But for all of you who wonder just how the FireFly handles, let me give you a brief. Takeoff on Runway 36, wind 20 to 22 from 270, (thats right, strong 90 deg crosswind, check the windsock at the begining) View in large screen mode for the full effect! The Video is at the bottom of the page.
http://www.dgmodels.rchomepage.com/index.htm
Thanks to my brother Dave for putting this up on his website.
I must acknowledge all the help I received from members of the Kolb list. This Forum is a very active group of Kolb builders and Flyers, and their help and advice over the past 10 months undoubtedly contributed greatly to a perfect 1st flight!
Special Thanks to John Hauck, who dropped by my local airport to give me a check ride in his 2 seat Kolb, look over my aircraft and discuss its flight characteristics.
Thanks to Roger Zerkle at ZDE for his good advice and the use of his test stand to get that Cuyuna in perfect tune prior to installation
Thanks To Tommy Georges at American aero for his advice, flight instruction, and providing a place for my creation to roost.
Somewhere in these pages I hope that the reader might find a small bit of assistance. Whether you are building a Kolb, or trying to decide if you might, or even building any aircraft of typical aluminum an fabric construction, my intent is only to give you a small preview of what you might have to do, and maybe give some small enlightenments on work/builder technique. If in fact someone, somewhere might glean any info here that her or she needs, or previously did not know, then my reward is complete!
I wish you all smooth air and Blue Skies!
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