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Q-talk 92 - TriQ First Flight

Dave Chalmers Redmond, MM

Tri-Q200 N4016G (0.6 hours!)

Yesterday, the weather was excellent; Tri- Q200 4016Ghad nothing obviously wrong with it so I decided to fly. First, I did some high-speed taxis, accelerated to 80-90 mph, pulled back and nosed up to see how it felt as it decelerated.

When I got comfortable holding the nose up and doing small hops, I added a little more power and floated longer distances. Eventually, I flew half the 5000 ft runway at about 20 ft., trying to gradually set it back down. Some people think this practice is dangerous but I found it very useful. It allowed me to see what it looked like in a flare and I knew I could land it. With the Tri-Q, ground handling and staying on the runway centerline is a no-brainer.

Dave Hiatt was kind enough to help me with the first flight. We checked the airframe over one last time and then it was time to fly. On the runway, I gave it full throttle and held it there. It accelerated to about 80 mph, I pulled back gently and it started to lift off. I had to release backpressure a little to stabilize the climb at 100 mph initially and then 120 mph. All of the temps looked good. Ascending to 4000 ft. over the airport, I did some turns. I had already adjusted the roll trim 1/4" inch down on the left elevator but added a little more to lift the left wing. I suddenly realized I was looking down at the earth from the pile of fiberglass that had been in my garage for the last 15 years. Wow!

Next, I tried slow flight and a stall. I could feel slight turbulence through the elevators but nothing happened except an increasing sink rate. The stall speed was about 70 mph. The max speed during the flight was 140 mph. I had the reflexor near neutral and the elevators were neutral. The canard waterline is mounted at + 0.5 degree.

After 20 minutes of flight, it was time to land. I put the belly board down and descended at 100 mph, 500 fpm, into the pattern. I reduced the speed to 90 mph on final and did a go-around. In a second attempt, I flared a little high but held it off and did a gentle landing. Total flight time, 35 minutes. The airplane performed perfectly. The only complaint I had was engine vibration. It seemed harsh compared to Steve Kulczycky's Revmaster Q2.

Now all I need is good weather to expand the envelope and to get the hours flown off. I really hope to do some serious flying this year.



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