We
have marked the ASI with the appropriate coloured rings, now that we have the
calibration information and can mark the speeds (specified as CAS) as indicated
airspeed.G-UFOX - Permitted
It has finally been granted - we have a Permit To Fly for our plane.
Now we can dispense with filling out the "Certificate Of Clearance For Flight Test Purposes" for each flight we make and we are also not restricted to the airfields that we nominated in the application. To be honest, this restriction has not been an issue for us as yet. Still, it's good to know that it is now officially "complete"!
A few things have happened in the meantime.
We had a bit of a problem with the engine occasionally flooding. This was caused by vibration making the float chamber needle valves bounce around and let too much fuel into the float bowls. This then lets fuel run up the breather tube into the airbox, which then gets ingested into the carb, makes it run rougher and induce greater vibration - and hence it just gets worse. This has now been fixed by replacing the needle valves.
We
have marked the ASI with the appropriate coloured rings, now that we have the
calibration information and can mark the speeds (specified as CAS) as indicated
airspeed.
We have also remembered to get our radio licence .
We have also had to learn to fly her. None of us have experience of flying a taildragger, so not only do we need familiarity with this aircraft, but also the new skills involved when there is a little wheel at the back.
There is also a clause in the terms of our insurance that insists that we do at least 15 landings with an instructor (given that we have no tailwheel experience).
Mac Smith of the Microlight Aviation Club (of which we are all members) and Airbourne Aviation is one of the founding microlight instructors and has kindly agreed to teach us for the conversion. For this reason we have left her at Popham. For me this was a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated - you have to be quicker and more precise with your reactions. George finished his conversion first, followed by Ian. I was a little later due to a holiday (although I didn't actually complete until the 13th). Just Tom to go then!
Post note: After a while, you wonder what all the trouble was.
I have also given the engine its 25 hour service - already!