B-Model Conversion first flight

[Lbrandt]

Today was the day for N393SX to become an airplane again.
Winds were about 13 from the NW at Lodi so runway 27 with the trees at the end was the chosen runway at Lodi Lakeland Airport 9WN5.
The UL Power 260IS ran beautifully for the 30 minute flight.
With the wind and all the little hills around the airport the flight was pretty rough but tolerable but horrible for trying to check straight and level flight. I think my right wing was a little heavy so I must need to take a couple turns out of the flap rod end. All controls were adjusted as per plans but a couple turns on the rod end might still be needed. I had a heavy left wing on the Legacy.
I’m restricted to 3000 rpm for the first 5 hours on the new engine so I was pretty careful on adding power but I did see 3100 on take off before I backed it down a little but I still lifted off easily from Lodi’s 2500’ (long grass) turf runway.
I know I saw 112 mph by the time I passed over the end of the runway at a few hundred feet.
When I got into a straight and level flight for a bit I saw 130MPH which I thought was pretty good for having the power pulled back cause my EGTs were in the high 1300s. But I need to reset my caution parameters in my Enigma because mid to high 1300 is good.
All in all it flew like it’s going to be a whole lotta fun when I get things tweaked a little.
The electric flaps are very nice. Of course they’re not as quick as pulling the lever but they move pretty quickly. My vernier throttle has a nice lock so it’s easy to hold the flap switch for up or down.
I came down final at 60 and pulled the power just prior to the end of the runway and when I did she dropped like a rock. That quick descent I do not remember from my earlier airplane.
Might be that except for getting a Biannual on Sunday I hadn’t flow since July 18, 2016.
Probably should have left someone else fly it but I hate to miss the excitement.
I did have my seat bottom converted from a dual to a single stick but the newly created center stick opening is too short so I removed the bottom cushion and sat on the bare aluminum.
The machined center stick has a pretty good sized bump on the back so it needs a pretty deep opening.
It’s going to be fun next spring unless I can find somewhere to store it on a paved runway for the winter flying.
This was a lot of rambling and I’m sorry for that.
Thanks
Leroy Brandt
N393SX for the second time around



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[MichaelFarley56]

Congratulations on getting your Sonex back in the air! I'm glad to hear you're flying, and your initial impressions on the UL are positive. Please do us all a favor and keep us up to date on how things go, what performance numbers you're getting, etc.

Great job sir!

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi Leroy,
So good to hear you had a successful and safe 'first' flight again . Looking forward to your future posts.
Cheers to you!

WaiexN143NM
Michael

[thomas]

Hi Leroy,

Thank you for sharing the excitement! I would love to know where your empty weight landed after the conversion.

Thanks,
Paul

[Lbrandt]

Hi Leroy,

Thank you for sharing the excitement! I would love to know where your empty weight landed after the conversion.

Thanks,
Paul

Paul
I weighed my B-Model today and it ended up weighing 717lbs. My Legacy weighed 700 lbs. mostly because of paint I think. My painting skills are lacking so I had to put more on.

Nothing changed except for the wider B parts plus the UL engine with its accessories on the firewall and the computer in the cockpit. I have the same amount of equipment in the panel plus the leather interior from the Legacy airplane. I had door panel already so I didn’t use the ABS side panels.
I have the Odyssey 625 battery so the Earthx battery would have saved a bunch. Is it nine pounds less?

Thanks
Leroy


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[thomas]

Thank you, Leroy. It always amazes me when I hear how much the paint adds! Paul