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January 12, 2009 - GERTI speaks her mind!
Hi Group,
After a lengthy gestation period, and no small thanks to Ian Wasey and Roy Hodder, we finally spanked her bottom and she sung out most mightily! She starts easily and runs very smoothly, even before fine adjustment of the secondary ignition timing. There are no leaks, apart from the breather(Ian?). Tickover is also very reliable and quite slow, in contrast to my Rotax 912. Just need the correct prop now and then reassembly at the strip. I'm so chuffed!
The secondary timing is what was causing the nil start situation. In the end, we placed the prop at 28deg btdc, then moved the pickup till the spark occurred on the plug, secured it all and it fired right up.
Chips von Schmirk
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February 15, 2009 - Towing dolly and next project!
Hi Group,
After many clever designs,worrying at night,and fruitless cadging,here is the towing dolly with which I took my Flitzer fuselage to the hangar at the strip today(hooray!)
As you can see,the simplest ideas seem to work best.The bag truck cost £11-50 at B&Q.The drawbar is scrap from the dump,and the hitch came off my motorcycle trailer.With four AN4 bolts/nuts,and a scrap castor minus its wheel,the tailwheel was removed from the Flitzer,and the skid was bolted to the upturned castor.It towed easily at 20mph,the 2 mile drag to the airfield,and is now installed awaiting the wings .
Meanwhile,the workshop Vacuum has been filled for a short rebuild of my JZR,which has been waiting patiently for 10 years!!!
Pix attached. Sorry,My camera battery went flat before I could take any of the Flitzer on tow!
Planning! Doh!!!!
Chips von Schmirk
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It's a JZR with a Honda CX650 V-twin, shaft drive to single rear wheel, water cooledand great fun to drive, in the dry! It's a fill-in task while Lynn is drawing up the C200!
For some wierd reason, the colour of the JZR has come out completely washed out! It is actually a rich Apple Green!
Chips
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February 27, 2009 - GERTI gets close to signing off!
Hi Group,
Today, in the hangar, Gerti's coming together at last. She's been together before, but it's amazing how things change in the few weeks since she came apart last time. The strut holes needed reaming to get the bolts through!
Putting all the nuts and washers on now, then the interplane javelins and all excuses are then invalid!
More pix when she's outside, too windy today.
Chips von Schmirk
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March 1, 2009 - First pictures of the Z-21B fully rigged
Group,
I proudly present the first full-rigged picture of the Flitzer Habicht. I love the details of this machine and the paint scheme works superbly. The deeper fuselage is very noticeable and is offset by the taller gear.
Perhaps I might be forgiven if fantasise about a powerful radial engine being fitted in the course of its life, as its 'Gamecock-like' appearance from the rear is very evident.
Well done, Chips. Very well done indeed!
Lynn
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March 15, 2009 - Today,in Lincolnshire!
OK, Flitzer Builders, the fun has really started! After a short training course, dearest First Wife Nicky removed the chocks, and using the wingtip handholds, guided G-ERTI onto the strip for her first trot. She tracks straight and true, and a wide turn was made using brake and rudder before backtracking for another run with a little more power, to 20kts. Visibility was no problem looking down the sides, and I can hardly wait to give her the full nine yards!
Chips von Schmirk
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October 4, 2009 - First Flight!
Group,
Here's the aeroplane airborne for the very first time. Ray reported nose-heaviness which was to be expected as it was built for Bernard's personal weight, so the dimensional reduction in the forward fuselage was not effected and the engine mount is of the standard length. However, this can be countered with two small foam wedges taped to the underside of the elevator for the remainder of the test flying, and these can be removed when Bernard is at the controls. It is not worth adjusting the tailplane angle (which would also mean re-adjusting the elevator cable lengths) for the purposes of the test flying period.
Ray reported delightful handling and a good view in the air and on finals, with a small amount of skid applied. Mixture control is something to be monitored to get the best from the machine as it appeared to be a little choked on this twenty minute flight. I find the same thing wth the Z-1 prototype, that the mixture needs to be fine-tuned during the actual take off run, and as it sweetens up the power really comes on.
Many congratulations, Bernard, on building such a fine aeroplane and an excellent example of the Flitzer marque.
Cheers,Lynn
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 A happy test pilot! |
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