January 22, 2007 I started to build a Sportsman 2+2 at Glasair Aviation
in Arlington, WA. Only 11 long days later with Glasair's "turbo
charged" program and with me running at "red line" it was ready to fly.
On Friday February 2 we did a run-up and taxi to burn in the brakes,
check all the systems and confirm no leaks. The next day we folded the
wings and put it on a trailer behind our pick up and drove it to
Wisconsin. The next two and a half weeks I completed FAA paperwork
(N531DF), received the airworthiness inspection and did all final
checks. On Feb 22 one month to the day I started the plane I did the
first test flight. Other than a minor adjustment of the vertical trim
tab it was perfect! N531DF is a tail dragger with a 210 horsepower 390
Lycoming engine, 80" Hartzell Prop and full IFR glass panels with 430
and a 530 GPS/NAV/COM Garmins, Advance Flight Systems AF 3500 and 3400
EFIS & EMS flat screens and TruTrac Autopilot. It is a rocket with
vertical climb rates up to 2000 feet per minute. I plan to put it on
floats this summer. I'm nearly complete the 40 hour test flight time
required and have enjoyed every minute. Even crosswind landings have
been easy to learn in this stable tail dragger.
Here are the performance results at 8500 feet with the wheel pants off:
Cruise speed 147 knots TAS with 2500 RPM and 21.5 MP which
burned fuel at 10.8 gal/hour.
Cruise speed 126 knots TAS with 2350 RPM and 18.8 MP which
burned fuel at 7.4 gal/hour.
Not only did I get the satisfaction and incredible in-depth knowledge
that comes with building your own plane; it feels like I got the bush
plane on steroids I hoped for! Kent Forsland |
