This is the same post as I made in the I'm going flying thread in case you've already seen it.
Well after more than 3 1/2 years since the day I glued the first pieces together, my scratch build project "Miss Moana" flew today!!!
When I got to the field this morning the wind was barely blowing. I assembled the airplane and the second I hit the switch on the
fuel pump to fill the tank the wind started blowing. By the time I rolled it out to the starting area the wind was blowing pretty good. A bunch of people had showed up to see the maiden, so I decided I was at least going to start it and let it run for a bit and wait for the wind to die down. It took forever to start. Way harder than usual for a DA50. We flipped and flipped for quite a bit and finally it popped on the choke. Turned the choke off and flipped and flipped and flipped and it just wouldn't start. My partner in crime Tony suggested we let it sit for awhile, so we stopped for a few minutes and rested our weary arms. When I turned everything back on and he gave it a flip, it started right up. Crap like that only happens when you have an audience.
We let it run for awhile and it seemed to run just fine. I shut it off and we were standing around talking when I noticed the wind had died down. I asked Tony what he thought and he gave me the nod so I told him lets give it a try.
It started right up and seemed to be running great, so it was time. I taxied out and pointed it into the wind and started to roll on the throttle. I let it take off when it wanted to, since it weighs as much as a small anvil and horsing it off the ground could possible go badly. It took off just fine and wasn't horribly out of trim which was nice though it did need some right aileron and a click or so of down.
In the air it's a bit elevator sensitive, so it could be a bit tail heavy, but I forgot to do the 45 degree inverted climb test to see. After flying around for awhile I decided to make a few approaches and see how it felt. After the first slow pass I decided since the wind was picking back up again I shouldn't push my luck and go ahead and land. I came back around and made my approach . When I got it lined up I slowly came off the throttle and and it settled in nicely until it was about 3 feet off the ground and it just kept floating with all that headwind. I didn't think pigs could float that well.
It finally made a nice smooth touchdown and I was a very happy camper.
I wasn't all that nervous before the flight, but my thumb was a bit shaky after takeoff, but that went away after I could tell it was flying well. But after I landed I could barely get the pin flag back in the hole to shut it off.
It was pretty windy so I only flew it once, but I was very happy with how it did. There are so many things going through your mind on a project like this. Did I get the thrust right, the incidence, the balance and a hundred other things when your the guy that designed it.
There are a few things I need to look at. I need to take a look at the wheels because it really doesn't roll all that well for some reason. I had several clicks of right aileron trim in it, but it still needed a little more. I looked after I landed and you could barely tell I had put any trim in it. I was expecting to see a lot. The trim steps must be set pretty small in the transmitter. It needs more expo on the ailerons and elevator.
All and all I'm extremely happy with how today went. It flew well and nothing blew off.
I have no video, but a friend did take some in flight pictures that he's going to email me, so I'll post them when I get them. Here is a before and after picture , I'm very happy that they look so much alike.
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