Here is the second post about my day. Towed it to the airport.
Unloaded from trailer.
Opened wings.
Then I had to fight the right wing to get the rear attachment in but finally got it figured out and managed to get both wings up and struts all attached.
Next was getting control linkages connected.
Horizontal stabilizer then went on.
Checked all the bolts a couple times and had it put together after an hour.
Got helmet on but the headphones didn't want to work with my radio so I just went without it on.
Then I got the motor running, got in and then taxied down the grass between the road and the runway, turned around then headed onto the runway. I taxied to the south end turned around and then did a half runway taxi at a slow speed, barely a jog. Turned around and went back to the south end, turned around and taxied again at a bit faster speed. Made it to about half way and turned around to go back.
I powered it up for my next taxi and got the rpm to about 4000. The FAA circular says to do a light pull back on the stick to pull the nose up a tiny bit and then set it back on the runway. I did the pull back and the plane jumped into the air. I was not trying to fly and you can see it happen below.
Honestly the crash felt almost exactly like a paragliding hard landing. The sensation was the same and the visual experience nearly the same. The only damage to the flight surfaces was the very outer edge of the right aileron where it slid on the ground.
When I was a kid in the early 90s I spent many days at the drag strips in California. Bakersfield, Sacramento, and the "home" track of Fremont. One time at Fremont we watched Don "The Snake" Prudhomme who had his NHRA funny car at the track for test runs. They rolled the thing out onto the line and the sound was incredible. It rumbled louder than thunder and the smell of the nitro methane fumes burned my sinuses. The car left the line at the green light and it sped down the track. Right around the lights the top of the car pushed up as the engine exploded. It was a 6 second run at over 200 mph but the car had let go. My Dad grabbed me and we ran over to their pits as the car was wheeled back in. The shell was lifted and the look on all of the faces of the crew was like their mother's had died. This was the body style they were running then and possibly the chassis they had there that day.
As I walked away from my Damselfly to get the truck and trailer I felt EXACTLY the way they did and fully remembered that experience. Only my fuck up is not a $50,000 motor like they blew up. Okay, it was ~1990 so it was likely a $25,000 motor.
So now after the emotions have subsided I have found the brighter side of this ordeal. The welds on the main landing gear axles were really not good and I have a feeling that if I would have flown the plane and landed a little hard at all they could have done the same thing only I would have been at a lot higher speed. Now having the plane taken apart I am finding more things that require repairs, cleaning, or alterations. The costs of these repairs are not going to be immense but it is far less than injury or worse and I'm happy to be finding them now.
^Affiliate/Referral Link^
Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce
All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.
If you find this post useful or entertaining, your support is greatly appreciated by upvoting, following, and sharing!
Bitcoin : 1C6idTJBJ3CJJt9kHoKi4av1XLzg8eQ7rv
