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Q-talk 146 - First Flight Advice from the Pros!

[EDITOR’s NOTE: Sanjay Dhall received the Special Airworthiness Certificate for his project on April 6th 2011. Below is the exchange that occurred on the Q-list about preparing for first flight. I am copying the exchange here, so that others nearing first flight will have an archive of “good advice” from more experienced Quickie Builders and Flyers.]

Sanjay's great looking Q-200


My Q-200 has passed inspection. Today I have my signed logbooks and other paperwork back along with Special Airworthiness Cert, Operating limitations, and Repairman Cert.

The inspection was done by a local FSDO Airworthiness Inspector. Really a very nice guy. He spent a lot of time, and looked at every system, all moving parts, use of AN hardware, wear and heat based failure parts, made several helpful suggestions and recommendations, also looked at the construction logs, plans, and quizzed me about various systems and how they would react to various conditions. I sensed in him a healthy blend of caution, and admiration for this very unique design of aircraft. His parting words were "You have done a very nice job" and "be careful, don’t bend it!"

With a break in weather I intend to get in more taxiing. Following which, of course, comes the first flight, followed by the dreaded first Q landing. I intend to look into the X-plane simulator. Have you had a fair assessment of the simulator in terms of control sensitivity correlation to real flight?

My concern lies with overcorrecting due to the very short moment arm of the joystick on the Q, and general sensitivity of the pitch control as I recall from experiencing Sam [Hoskin’s] plane. Riding in Bruce [Crain's] plane the pitch appeared to be a little less sensitive.

Have you observed major differences in pitch sensitivity based on fwd/aft CG locations?

Did significant roll correction seem necessary right on takeoff on your first flight, other than to compensate for pilot left seat bias? I have gone through all the first flight reports I could find.

Thanks to so many of you for your continued help and advice to get me to this point. Thank you all for your words of encouragement. Now it’s off to the next step!

Thanks again everyone,
Sanjay Dhall


Sanjay,
forget screwing around with the X-plane simulator. This is the real world. Find a Decathlon or Pitts and get at least 10 hrs. of takeoffs & landings.

Sam Hoskins


Sanjay,
I don't have as much time as Sam, but I agree with him. I had about 30 hours on my plane when I tried to fly X plane. It was waaaaay too sensitive, and I crashed a lot. Good thing I had already flown. I would probably have been too afraid to fly it after my X plane experience.

Your mileage may vary.

Good luck,
Kevin Boddicker


Good day Sanjay,
Good advice Sam. I would also throw in a couple hours in an American Yankee, for pitch, sensitivity, and landing speed.

Make sure all your controls are working 100% no compromises! The plane should track straight down the taxiway/runway. The brakes should hold the engine on a full run up, 1700 RPM. When applied together the main wheels should brake evenly and stop the plane straight.

Your plane will fly just fine with out belly board or reflexor, don't mess with that stuff yet. Landing a Quickie is a piece of cake. In fact, my first landing was probably better than the next five.

With a standard or pumped up O-200 be prepared for a left wing low once you break ground. DO NOT OVER REACT TO THE INPUTS, just maintain level with the stick. Climb out straight ahead and start your first flight over the airport so you have some place to go if the engine quits.

Watch very carefully for correct oil pressure, temps and CHT. The temps will run high to begin with, don't worry just try to keep it under 220 degrees. High CHT's and low oil pressure are unacceptable.

Begin your test procedures. When you set up for landing just remember it doesn't land like a standard tail dragger. If the approach seems too fast go around and try it again. Try to slow the plane to about 75-80 knots and get the tailwheel on first. Keep the wings level and hold the stick back to bleed off excess elevation. Your bird should settle in nicely. Let it roll out, Don't over brake on your fist landing.

Good Luck......................You can't have more fun, even with your clothes off. Contact me off line or give a call, if you would like to talk.

Regards,
Jim Patillo
N46JP Q200


Woo Hoo! Congratulations Sanjay! I know we are all looking forward to seeing it fly! Take your time and have fun - this is the best part!

Paul Fisher


If you can do "wheel" landings in a Pitts, then you can do what Jim recommends for landing (tailwheel on first, smoothly, at 70+ knots). Jim Masal gave some good advice once (and I think Jim P. also told me this): Start taxi testing by setting the throttle at a fixed low level all the down the runway. See how fast you taxi at this setting. Now go back and do it again increasing the setting slightly and see how much faster you go. Keep doing this with each taxi run, keeping the throttle setting so your taxi speed is BELOW liftoff speed. This will get you totally comfortable with the airplane on the runway before you finally are ready to push the throttle full for a first flight. It will also give you a chance to check on hints of CHT and oil pressure problems that Jim mentioned, while still on the ground.

Cheers,
Jay Scheevel
Tri-Q still building


Sanjay,
I have a Dragonfly and a Super quickie. I have never flown a Q2, but when I flew my Dragonfly for the first time I was aware of the pitch sensitivity from reading other flight reports. The critical thing is that on takeoff you don’t get Pilot Induced Oscillations. The pitch control inputs need to be small until you get used to it. Don't try to climb out too quickly.

Hopefully your weight and balance is on the button, but it may not be and you may need to hold in some stick, if you run out of trim.

Other than that, if all is well, fly for a while. I don't mean ten minutes, I mean a long while. It's amazing how you can get used to an airplane doing circles above the field. When you come in to land, set up for a long final and fly it on the runway, then simply hold it off so it doesn't fly. It will then kinda’ land by itself. Then you do the pedal dance and it's all history. This is how I do it in my Dragonfly and the

Super Quickie is a bit the same , but I can plant the tail wheel down at the same time as the mains. Have fun.

Canada Chris


Barry Weber (former Q200 pilot) gave a talk at Livermore a few years ago about first flight plan and prep. He suggested some high speed DOWNWIND taxi runs so you could get used to taxiing at high speed without fear of accidental liftoff. He also talked about the way the handling changes when you suddenly retard the throttle near liftoff speed, an area to investigate for a possible aborted liftoff.

This plane does land fast.

Mike Perry