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QuickTalk 20 - QUICKIE PILOT REPORTS

STATUS OF NEW QUICKIE CANARD

Dealer Lanny Rundell in Louisiana has been working on a carbon spar, new airfoil Quickie canard for about a year now. It has been built and test flown at least twice and so I recently asked him about it.

"The half dozen or so runway flights and one trip around the pattern (cut short by rough engine) indicate a great improvement in slow speed handling. Lift off was about 45 mph indicated compared with 60-65 on the old canard on this particular airplane. Rudder seemed less sensitive and the nose could be raised and lowered at will at low speed. The old canard only slowed down when the stick was pulled back at the same airspeeds.

Gene's (Sheehan) main concern with the new canard is slow flight and stalls. He's not sure what will happen if the canard continues to fly after the main wing stalls. This has to be explored at high altitude with a parachute and jettisonable canopy. So far I have not had the time to modify the canopy or the nerve to try it."

Early in March Lanny wrote: "Talked to Gene last night. Business as usual he says. I guess I'll get out the old Quickie and dust off the new airfoil now. Oh yeah, AED is supposed to be at Lakeland with some new engines for the Quickie and Q-2." Lanny has been doing lots of work with the AED engine on Quickie airframes. Another builder reported that someone up north is working on an AED Q-2 installation.

Jim Masal, Editor


From Robert Godbe #397

At about the 160 hr. mark, I noticed that the tires on my Quickie were about worn out. As I was in L.A., I flew over to Mojave and asked Gene if he had new ones in stock. All he had were McCreary tires (I got Goodyear's with the kit). He said "McCreary's were slightly larger in diameter, but should work fine." I bought them, took them home and tried to put them on. They wouldn't fit - no way! I returned them; bought 2.80 - 4 Goodyear's from my local dealer and was soon flying. I recommend that builders who received Goodyear's with the kit stick with that tire only.

There have been a couple of comments in recent QUICKTALKS about Quickies having a bad habit of departing the runway on landing. This has happened to me twice in the last 3 months. The first time I have an excuse - strong gusty winds.

The second time it was dead calm, I was down and rolling with brakes on (such as they are), when suddenly the plane wanted to go 30 degrees right. I hit full left rudder and aileron, and it started to correct, but with only a 65' wide runway at Palo Alto, it was too late.

Damage both times was the same - had to refinish and balance the prop and dig about a ton of impacted mud out of the wheel wells.

I believe I know what happened the last time: The tower had cleared another plane for a touch and go as I was turning final. I landed into his prop wash. Now when I fly, I make darn sure that I space myself well behind other traffic, and when the tower tells me to "close it up", I ignore them.

In refinishing my prop, I have had good luck using plain Varathane from the hardware store (Urethane varnish). After it dries, I wet sand with ultra fine sand paper, then buff with 2 grades of compound to a satin finish. It looks good, and seems to hold up well.

I now have 200 hrs on my Quickie (75 Onan, 125 Koenig). The Koenig engine remains somewhat underpowered for my plane though not as bad as the Onan, but has proven itself utterly reliable. I take the cowling off once every 40 hrs to change plugs - if I feel like it! I have flown it as far as 20 mi over open water (Los Angeles to Catalina Island and back) and you don't do that with an engine you don't trust. Koenig is working on a 50 hp engine, but it's not ready yet.

ED. NOTE: Ron, how do you get parts and support? Are these engines available anywhere in the US or close?


From John Hicks, N401JH

I now have about 175 hours on my Quickie. No damages due to flight operations whatsoever. Several months ago a tornado blew in the hangar doors, but no great damage.

The little anemic Onan (20 hp heads) has never missed a beat. I use 1.5 gal. per hr. no matter how I run it. Summer and winter mixture settings are quite different! I use regular auto gas and I think I do see some signs at times of epoxy leaching - very slight, and I keep an eye on the filters always. I will cut out the top of the tank soon and paint on several coats of epoxy and put a light bulb in to post cure it for a day. At the same time, I'll fix the float fuel gauge which hasn't worked since early on (dowelling may have swelled too much, so I'll use a fibreglass fishing rod piece).

I did get quite a thrill twice, each time 50 to 100 miles away from home base. One of the trim springs broke on the down elevator side. The "eyes" had not been re-bent by me, but one failed with a "big bang!!!" and the bird lurched up in a climb. I thought, "Oh God, the engine mount broke" reduced power to idle and headed for a nearby runway. After a half-minute or so, I found what had happened. It happened on another occasion also, so Quickie fliers should be alert to this possibility. (ED. NOTE: Ray Anderson had a hacksaw trim blade fail once, and N1V immediately went into a steep pitch down. Fortunately he had the altitude to recover.)

I applaud the Hubin article (June 84 issue) 100%. My experiences have been much the same, starting with the lawnmower tailwheel story.

Inasmuch as the Quickie will not fly in or near rain in this Florida climate, I do not have the carb heat hooked up--No trouble. [ED. NOTE: Gene Sheehan has advised us that one function of the carb heat box on top is to contain the fuel mist that comes out of the carb, thus preventing the possibility of an engine fire from that cause. We have heard of others operating without carb heat and reporting increased RPM. Don't ignore the hazard from the misting fuel, however.]

In March 84, I talked to Sheehan at Lakeland about only being able to make consistently good landings by avoiding attempts at "three pointers" and sticking to powered wheel landings a la C-47, C-45's etc. Gene gave me a GOOD tip only seen one place since. He advised to jack up the trailing edges of the ailerons 1/16 inch. It made all the difference in the world. I can now make three pointers or even tailwheel first landings with no problem. At Oshkosh he suggested trying 1/8 inch up aileron for possibly more improvement. I guess he hasn't published this because he would rather talk with those who have particular flying problems.

I have a motorcycle trickle charger for my aircraft battery. When I don't fly for 4-5 days, I put this charger on for 30-45 minutes before I fly - no sweat. When I'm away a week or more, I'll trickle charge it overnight at home before flying. I've used the same FUSA battery for over a year now with no problems. Thanks to your QBA articles on the subject.

Another thriller- my fault: on one takeoff, I noticed I left my car trunk open. I decided to go around and land to prevent a tool rip-off etc. Good thing! After shutdown I noticed oil all over the left side and bottom of the aircraft. With the cowling off, I noticed the dipstick an inch up off its setting - why, I don't know as it hadn't been touched that day. In one pattern it had thrown all but a cupful of oil out. I rigged a safety wiring hold down on each side of the filler tube and make double sure of security before each flight.



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