| Author | Message | ||
     Jim Ward New member Username: Jehward Post Number: 52 Registered: 02-2000 |
Just wanted to announce that my Wheeler Express CT flew on Tuesday morning 9:15 am Pacific time from the Cottage Grove Oregon airport, with Shawn Kelley at the controls. DAR signoff was accomplished this past Saturday, and weighed in at 1989 lbs. The first break in the rain came Tuesday morning. Still some minor squawks (electronics) to sort thru, but she sure looks (and sounds) pretty in the air! Jim  | ||
| Gary Markwardt New member Username: Gmark Post Number: 42 Registered: 12-1999 |
Jim: CONGRATULATIONS! Plane looks great. Nice to see the number of flying Express' increasing in spite of the defunct factory support. Fly safe. Gary N713GM | ||
| Hans Georg Schmid New member Username: Hgschmid Post Number: 35 Registered: 02-2001 |
Congratulation to a job obviously very well done! I wish you always tail winds and clear skies. All the best from Switzerland HG Schmid | ||
| David Rowe New member Username: N12ex Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2005 |
Congratulations! I know you must be proud of her... I want your cargo door. :^) | ||
| Tom Ware New member Username: Thomas Post Number: 8 Registered: 11-2005 |
Congratulations !!!Jim looks great! and sound like it flies Great! its an encouragement to us CT builders that are still lagging behind in their building | ||
| Shawn kelley New member Username: Skelley Post Number: 6 Registered: 01-2004 |
Hey! Hey! Hey! 997HP is flying! Just took her up for a 1.3 hour flight around the airport. Some figures at 3500' and everything full she was doing 160 knts flat out. Left wing is still heavy and the rodios will not work with my Peltor noise cancelling headsets, but do work with all others. (my Peltor non noise cancalling ones too ) Weird? When I fly off the remaining hours and ferry it Livermore Ca. It will be my second Express build. If anyone would like to have me finish up their Express CT, S-90, 2000 or need repair. Give me a call 541-767-0391 home 541-968-9328 cell. | ||
| Carter A. Smith New member Username: Carter_smith Post Number: 30 Registered: 07-2004 |
Jim, that's fantastic. She looks beautiful! Congratulations! When will you fly her home? Carter | ||
| Werner Maag, CH8174 Stadel, Switzerland New member Username: Wmaag Post Number: 24 Registered: 01-2003 |
Hello Jim, Congratulations from my side as well for your truly fine bird with the sexy tailfeathers! I still remember my first flight this summer, and after some 10 hours of thorough testing I can promise you will be very pleased with the flying capabilities and much more relaxed to enjoy the third dimension. Werner Maag, Switzerland Q: how many Express' are flying now! Any figures? | ||
| Rob Jordan New member Username: Rob_jordan Post Number: 13 Registered: 02-2003 |
Great Job! so good to see another CT in the air. | ||
| Jim Hurd New member Username: Jim_hurd Post Number: 10 Registered: 02-2005 |
 N625J and I took to the air November 13th (Friday) for the first time.For those who do not Know the history, 625J was crashed at an air show in Canada in 2004. I purchased in March 2005. Wayne Norris, Ted Gaston, John Kee, and many others I would like to thank. All went well with the ride. | ||
| Shawn kelley New member Username: Skelley Post Number: 7 Registered: 01-2004 |
Hey! Hey! Hey! Just put aonther 1.2 hours on her today. Still have a heavy left wing. I mean a real haevy left wing. had 10 gallons in the left main none in the Aux with 25 in the right and none in the right Aux and still no differecne. Very heavy Put 12% of flaps down and that seem to fix it. Any answers? Shawn | ||
| Charles M. Robinson New member Username: F15epilot Post Number: 52 Registered: 02-2004 |
For the heavy left wing, I'm assuming you have electric trim and are having to trim the left wing up. Suggest checking the following potential culprits. 1) Since putting the flaps down affected the trim, check the flap positions in flight under air loads. I'm guessing you've got one lower than the other (free-play in the flaps?). Check that to see if the trim changes as the flaps are lowered/raised. A good way to check is to trim the plane up 'hands off' with a constant power/altitude/attitude. Then, lower the flaps a set amount. Reset the flaps, accelerate/decelerate, re-trim (called a trim-shot), and repeat the flaps down. Each time, note the roll induced, if any. If there is a bit of roll induced, then flaps are the culprit. 2) Assume you've got a flight control out of trim. Again, establish a set altitude, airspeed, and power. Do a trim shot, focusing on roll more than anything. Then, add power to speed up, but do not add/subtract aileron. If speeding/slowing changes the roll trim, you've got a surface out of trim in roll. If you note the trim ball on the turn-slip changing, it's likely your rudder. If it stays centered, you've likely got an aileron out of trim (or a flap). 3) Check the wing tips are both on symmetrically. It's a bit more of a long shot, but they are a 'long' way from the centerline; any variance can impart a good amount of roll. Just some thoughts. Chuck | ||
| Doug Clancey New member Username: Dclancey Post Number: 2 Registered: 09-2005 |
For a heavy wing on a Beechcraft Sierra the flaps are adjusted down on the heavy wing side. | ||
| Jim Ward New member Username: Jehward Post Number: 52 Registered: 02-2000 |
Chuck: Thanks for the ideas. Shawn did some measurements, and it appears that one wing is lower than the other (at the tip?) by about 1.5 inches. The wings were pinned at the factory, but that doesn't really mean they were done perfectly either. No electric roll (aileron)trim in this plane, so we'll have to do the trim-shot without it. I think Shawn told me that even with 90# less fuel in the left wing, it was still heavy. Still thinking about how to handle it. Thanks again for the ideas. Jim | ||
| Louis Addessi New member Username: Ljagn Post Number: 2 Registered: 11-2006 |
This is a computer question. Often the text runs off the screen & I have to slide the screen back & forth to read the comment. I know I could change the resolution but that is inconvenient. | ||
| Tom Hutchison Board Administrator Username: Admin Post Number: 15 Registered: 04-2002 |
Lou, The reason is when someone uploads pictures, they don't reduce the size down to about 640x480 pixels which fits nicely on the screen. When a picture larger than that is uploaded, your browser is forced to scroll horizontally to show the entire picture and all text above and below it. Tom | ||
| James Butler New member Username: Jim_butler Post Number: 8 Registered: 09-2005 |
Congratulations Jim and Jim on jobs well done. Jim Butler | ||
| wayne norris New member Username: Wayne_n Post Number: 2 Registered: 09-2003 |
My EX2K is rt wing heavy. I have checked the incidence at the roots and tips, they are the same both sides, same with the Hstab. I installed a 4"x1.5" tab outside of the rt aileron next to the tip and bent it down. this helps some but I end up burning fuel out of the rt wing first. 5-7 gal and it is neutral. I built the plane here at home and checked the whole thing for square everyway I could. 30 years of model airplane building taught me something. I do know for sure that the airfoil shape is slightly different on each wing. As they came pre-molded I couldn't do much about that. They both did not fit the wing saddle/craddles that I made using the factory paper templates. So I am guessing that one side is making more lift than the other. Using fuel for balance would probably be less drag than displacing ailerons. That works on short flts and till you use all the gas in the heavy side. An interesting note: when I fly light/farward CG I need left rudder to center the ball. Heavy and aft CG takes right!!. I re-shimmed my Hstab nose down a degree so now the elevator flies faired in cruise flt. with pax, 7500' 23"/2300rpm 14.7gph and 165kt true. |