Hey guys, well, she finally flew. UC+ s/n 130 registered N17NB took to the air today with me at the controls. I still have the reserve tanks to finish and install, but flight testing has begun. After the tanks, painting will be next. I am planning on flying it to Sun n Fun and Oshkosh next year. Hope to see ya all there.

September 5 around 12:30pm I flew my UC+ to an altitude of a little over 10,500 ft at an avg climb rate of 500 fpm. This is not the ceiling, in fact it was still climbing at 300 fpm when I leveled out and went to cruise. I estimate the ceiling to be somewhere between 13 to 14k ft and dont plan on finding out due to FAA requirements at this time. A 200 rpm drop was observed from ground level top end and 10k, from 3200rpm to 3000rpm. The cabin was cool but not uncomfortable, but cabin heat is something that should be considered if you plan on flying at that alt for very long. btw the view was awesome!!

Hiflier,

Please tell us more about how your airplane is flying! Cruise speed, does it have a tendency to climb, etc., etc.

Thanks.

Hi Ron, so you want the gory details lol, well ok. The clean stall speed is 35knts, 30 knts with full flaps (37deg down deflections with extended flaps). Top speed is 103knts so far with no fairings or wheel boots. May get 5 to 10 knts more with fairings. Originally I had a spring dampened steering in the nose which suffered from a bad shimmy condition at around 20knts, either slowing down or maintaining 20knts but not accelerating through. I removed the spring centering system and ran a solid link to the steering column and the shimmy went away. Ground control is smooth and crisp. Braking is with a differential hydraulic disk system which is effective but the new disk brake system that Hummel offers now is just as effective but a lot lighter. The brakes will keep the wheels locked down, but that 2400 cc 85 hp engine will drag 800lbs of aircraft and me, across the ramp leaving skidmarks at 3/4 throttle. Gross takeoff wt is 850lbs. Climb rate is between 500 and 750 ft/min depending on density altitude. Now for the juicy details. The plane is very well behaved. No abnormal or unusual handling characteristics have been observed other that the plane lacks elevator authority to force a low speed stall to occur. Instead the plane enters into a 300fpm sink that is very controllable and "recovery" is a simple matter of releasing the back pressure on the stick an the nose drops, the plane gains speed and your in business. I make the approach at 55knts gradually slowing to 40knts as I cross the threshold. You fly the plane down to the runway and hold it within two feet of the surface, easing out of the throttle as you round out. Allow the plane to sink slowly while holding it off the runway as long as possible. When she is done flying, you will know. DO NOT FLARE THIS AIRPLANE! It will balloon up easily over 5ft from surface, slow rapidly and sink hard onto the runway. If you do flare and balloon off, bring the nose to level and add throttle between 1/4 to 1/2 to retard the sink then either reduce throttle and try again or increase throttle gradually and go around. Resist quick throttle ups at low speed. It takes a lot of rudder to keep the plane straight at full throttle and low speed, so the p-torque may cause the plane to roll left in an uncontrolled roll. I dont plan on testing the theory so just be aware of the possibility. First time it took me two passes before I made the landing. Eight flights later and I can grease the landings. Once you learn not to flare, just hold a nose up attitude before touchdown and landings are a breeze. Fuel consumption is 5.5gph at full throttle and 4.4gph at cruise. I can get the fuel consumption down to 2.2 gph flying at 55-60 knots which is as slow as you want to fly and be able to maneuver safely. Flap deployment at 70knts or slower to prevent damage to the flaps. Roll response is quick with the shorter ailerons, without being over sensitive to stick movement. gotta go now..more later

Great report Hiflier! I'm glad it's flying!

Well Ron, I got the fuel tanks in and things were looking good on the leak checks then the left wing started leaking like the Titanic but in reverse. Had 4 leaks, 3 minor ones that were easily fixed, the fourth was on the fuel level sender that was leaking around the signal wire connection. Had to order a new one. The odd thing is this plane sat for three days with full tanks and no leaks. The leaks showed up after the engine was run for a half an hour and the plane stored overnight. The engine vibration must have exposed the weak points. Had planned to fly it that day but ran out of daylight. Whew! The right side is sealed up tight with not a drop of fuel leaked. The sides are mirror images of each other...guess you just never know.
Oh, almost forgot, the fairings are on the main gear struts and a cowl flap was installed to control the engine temp. I hope to get some cold air flights in soon and will let you know the results.

PS. Looks like Im not going to make Sun n Fun this year but Oshkosh is a go so far.

Well guys 130 flew to Oshkosh Airventure 2010 and back home. Approximate 8 hrs flight time and about 800 miles, haven't checked the flight log for the exact numbers. Here are some pics.

http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae10/Hiflier35thCAG/2f295cd3.jpg
http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae10/Hiflier35thCAG/45b87267.jpg

Thanks for bringing your plane to Oshkosh, I enjoyed seeing it! I went looking to build a Mustang II but after seeing the two H5s, I changed my mind and ordered H5 plans. Thanks again for sharing your beautiful plane.

Thanks Flyfast and welcome to the "family". Steve, Mike and Terry are great guys so if you have a question dont be afraid to call them, they kept me out of trouble....So far. hehe.

FlyFast thanks for posting the pictures,your plane looks good. The Plus is a nice plane,it's a shame it has been phased out.
The pictures give me an idea what a nose wheel might look like on a H5.
By the way does anybody have a picture of a H5 with a nose wheel?



Chris

Hi jc674...the Plus is just being phased out in name only. The H5 is the Plus with more options and cleaner lines, and some improvements that make it easier to build. The H5 is more versatile depending upon your needs. You have a choice now of canopy styles, landing gear configuration, standard or clipped wing, reserve fuel tanks for long hauls are now available, that and the Plus name kept confusing people into thinking the Plus was the UltraCruiser ultralite with some extra's when it wasn't even close. So the name change was needed.



Plus nosegear, just imagine it with the other canopy.