SM-Trial

Come hell or high water I had set the test flight for this day as getting our Bluntie in the air was starting to turn into something of a saga.

Earlier in the week Tarquin and I had set about checking everything out in preparation for the big day and as you can guess things started turning to custard right from the start. We did an engine run to set up the new settings on the TCU and whilst spooling up a dreaded "screech" from the normally perfectly behaving KJ appeared so a hasty shut down and inspection was done. Fearing a rear bearing had packed it in we removed the compressor and shaft to find the rear bearing in good health (replaced it anyway) but noted a compressor rub on the front cover. Decided to re-shim the compressor but the compressor clearance now became a bit high (.005 = 120 deg) and the elevated temps kept putting the TCU in hold mode, agghhhhhh!

Turned out the screech was the starter bendix packing a sad so decided to go with a hand starter (kindly supplied by Graham on a quick trip over the preceding Saturday) and returned the compressor shim to the original and all was back on course……..well not quite! The following engine run saw the lubrication restrictor line blow out of its tubing (NEVER happened before) squirting a lovely stream of kero everywhere and of course causing the engine to dead cut, unperturbed we now set about totally refitting the entire plumbing from the pump to ensure security.

A range check on the new Rx (JR R1000) showed that when we turned the TCU on range dropped by around a third, prepared for this possibility I had on hand a whip aerial which once fitted returned range to normal……..Pheww! however whip aerials look great but where the heck do you mount them on a scale model when you are limited by the length of aerial wire from the Rx to the whip base…. no sweat we build an internal mount to bring the whip thru just behind the canopy….Great! but another few hours disappears.

Finally at 6pm on Wednesday night everything is working, engine runs done, ramps set and looking very good EXCEPT the weather forecast for Nelson and the west coast the next day is ghastly and it looks like another postponement is immanent. A quick call to Graham Smithson and we decide to review things at 7am the next morning. Well I put on the 6.30am news the next day to be greeted with the fact that Westport has had major flooding and with Nelson not far north it can't be good. Graham confirms at 7am that whilst it looks OK right now an hour down the track may not be so good…..Buggar It! we're going to load up and call Graham back at 8.30am for a final call.

Well 8.30 arrives and it's looking OK so we arrange to meet at the sandspit strip at 10am (it's an 1 hour 20 minute drive for us) Graham and Dave Hills (official Video man) are waiting for us and onto the airfield we go. It's overcast and blowing about 20 Km/Hr but OK so Tarquin, my daughter Sarah and I assemble Bluntie. About now the u/c selector valve decides it needs 20% more ATV on the down side to work reliably and I sit pondering the "why after having worked perfectly" syndrome it chooses this very moment to change. Meanwhile Graham walks the take-off run checking it for debris and deciding on which track to take. Surprisingly about now the sun comes out, huge patches of blue sky appear and suddenly the whole occasion has a very nice feel to it.

Fuelled up and ranged checked the engine starts well after a couple of starting gas blow outs caused by a fresh starting battery and a moderately shaking Tarquin. Graham and I have decided to do a couple of fast taxi runs to check the nose wheel tracking and general handling followed by a range check with engine running and then shutdown prior to flying. Checks go well and the taxi runs have really got the adrenalin starting to flow. The 80 ozs main tanks are now down to about 60 ozs so while Graham disappears for a nervous one Tarquin and I start up for the test flight.

Taxi out and line up, a quick power check and we're off down the strip straight as a die, looking and sounding fantastic. With about half elevator being held in she rotates at around the 70 metre mark and with a slight right wing drop (due to wind more than anything else) climbs away effortlessly. Gear goes away on que and 2 years of work and 22 years of dreaming has finally reached a conclusion.

The aircraft performs beyond my expectations and is very smooth and positive in control response, Graham on one pass has it banked at 70%+ and she sits there like a well trimmed pattern ship rather than a 30Lb scale Jet Trainer. A small amount of aileron trim is required but apart from that she's straight. The plan is for a couple of circuits to trim followed by a low pass and then the landing approach keeping the initial flight time to around 4 minutes. The low pass looks just outa this world and a turn into the down wind leg gets us lined up for landing. As everything up till now has gone so well I get quite a surprise when all 3 undercarriage legs come down and appear normal and she gracefully comes around onto final line-up with the strip. The approach is done without flap and tends to stretch a little but looks great and touch down is 3 point (well close) the video shows the mains about 50mm behind the nose which is followed by a small bounce caused by a little to much speed and gusty conditions, finally settling a little further up the strip. The second touch down is a little heavy and the right wheel strikes a tussock grass causing the 6mm ply break away u/c plates to crack away from the wing box (excellent feature Ewan, worked perfectly) causing no damage what so ever to the wing. We carry her back to the pits and congratulations all round followed by a strong cup of tea (yes I know it should have been champers but I'm a miserable buggar)

Any changes? well no not really. Airframe wise the incidences, CofG, airfoils, seemed to be right on the money. We used full power at take-off and for the entire flight but I did have the engine set at 114K (about 1.1bar) I will wind her up to 120K and gain around another Kg of thrust but is not totally necessary. I have the option to fit a JG100 but don't feel that much extra will be gained as the KJ gives a very scale like speed. The 900mm long tailpipe has EGT at 670deg which I would like down around 600deg so will play around with pipe position to fine tune.
We had to put 2.5Lb of lead in the nose to achieve the correct CofG (dry weight is 25Lb 3ozs) and I hate carrying useless lead! all batteries etc are right in the nose but attention must be placed on weight in the tail. The tailpipe can't be changed but the servos in the tail (all 3) could maybe be lighter (I used Hitec 945 coreless) and skinning, glassing ect should be carried out with emphasis on keeping it LIGHT. In flight the main leg struts when the gear was down looked "stalky" but a simple door attached to the strut will fix that, and a couple of pilots in the "green house" will look the part. My intentions with this aircraft were always to be a practical, easy to fly, scale jet for everyday flying. It has the scale potential to be dressed up to the very best if the owner so desires but the detailing will be up to the individual.

So there we have it, a dream had whilst working on the "real thing" in the late 70's finally comes to pass. Every project needs a "dreamer" and I can proudly say I played my part well! this project has been very much a team effort due to my limited physical abilities and it is only fitting that I end it with a tribute to the people involved in my "dream".

Designer/Constructor
Ewan Galloway whom without, this project would probably never have happened. Your expertise in taking this from a concept to a working reality is indeed a superb achievement. The innovative technology used to produce the complex mouldings to such high standards and your attention to detail is in my books second to none.

Test Pilot
Graham Smithson for performing a task which at the best of times is difficult, but with a project like this such an unknown quantity, carrying the task out with professionalism and expertise, achieving the end goal, retaining it in one piece.

Engineers.
Tarquin Brooks/Lew Woods
For doing it my way (even when I was wrong) and getting the whole internal fit-up to work . Lew with the electronics fitment, tanks, nose section and that damn nose leg! and Tarquin for all the engine work and patience to set it up.

Modellers
To all the guys out there (you know who you are) who supported the concept and
helped with advise and ideas.

Gentleman I salute and Thank you !