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On April 8th 2000, a milestone event took place when my helicopter lifted away from the earth under it's own power for the first time, shortly after inspection and certification by the FAA.
The inspector arrived promptly at 9:30am. The inspection took about an hour. At approximately 11:40am, the ship flew flawlessly for the first time. I had the honors of PIC/test pilot on the maiden flight.
I'll be posting more photos as well as reporting on my ship's specific flight characteristics as well as any adjustments or problems I encounter.
For now, here's the only pictures of her first flight. Photos are courtesy of Mike Gunn, friend and fellow aircraft builder.
Lifting off the ground sooooo gently. Needless to say even with all the preparation and concentration, I was nervous. I had at least an hour or two with the ship light on the skids, progressively getting closer and closer to actually flying - but this was still the first. I've got the helmet on and Nomex suit and took every precaution I could think of. The waiting was over and it was time. Lifting off was completely uneventfull, although there was a bit of right cyclic required to counter the forces of the translating tail rotor. Also, I noted slightly less control pressure required on my ship (compared to the factory built ones) especially on the tail rotor control, which was nice.
You can tell by the windsock that the wind is about 15kts. It did pick up very quickly so I kept this first flight to a minimum. Her nose was always into the wind and I simply flew forward and backward. The flight lasted about 15 minutes with the first set down a little on the shakey side. Oil and coolant temps stayed well into the green and all seemed smooth and precise.
After I set it down, I let her cool off a bit, let myself catch my breath and then I picked it up again in a slightly higher hover. Everything was going so well I decided another set down. Much smoother this time! Another pickup, hover and set down and I decided to shut it down and call it a successful first flight! Mike congratulated me, we put the wheels back on and pushed her back to the hangar. After Mike left, I locked myself inside the hangar and jumped around screaming "YAHOO!!! YEEHAA!!" for about 20 minutes. Really...I did.
July 10th, 2000
Sorry this has taken so long, but I have had several reasons as to why I hadn't posted any new information to my site. Firstly, I have undergone several international business trips. Secondly, I have been flying my ship as often as I can (which hasn't really been that often). So between work and fun, I haven't had much time for documentation.
As of October 10, 2000, I have just about 45 hours of flight time on N162KS. I have tested the ship to 6000' MSL and at speeds up to and including Vne (115MPH indicated). I have rechecked many critical adjustments (like blade track/lead and lag, etc.) and found some minor problems that were rectified very quickly.
Below are some pictures (yes, finally) of the past few months of flying. I am planning to add some video and some air-to-air shots soon. So far everything has gone very smooth and I am very happy with the performance of the ship. Obviously 45 hours is not a great deal of time so, time will tell.
Approach to landing at Ramona Airport. I love going out here after work. The sun isn't too intense (we've got prevailing westerly winds and the runway is 27/09). There are always cool planes and helicopters to see and when it's quiet, plenty of wildlife.
Sweet little hover. This thing is rock solid. I guess I can't speak for the others, but my machine is very smooth and solid and it is very easily kept in a "puppet hanging" hover.
Riding off into the sunset for another pattern.
Doing some pedal turns here.
A different day here. There is plenty of room in front of my hangar to just wheel her out and take off and recover from right in front of the hangar doors. There is about 30' between the doors and the tips of the blades. This makes it very convenient for me when it comes time to put her away after a flight.
Another shot of a different approach...
Note the light between the skids and the pavement. It's clear here to see that even with my 25lb balast weight and my 180lb body weight that the ship still lands with the right skid just a tad lower than the left skid and with both skids slightly toe high.
I think this is an excellent shot of the termination of a quick stop. About 3' off the ground and finishing the push-over to a hover.