Maiden flight of my first Norvel .061
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1/2A Airplane Engines 049-074
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TOPIC: Maiden flight of my first Norvel .061

Maiden flight of my first Norvel .061 11 years, 4 months ago #136

  • RknRusty
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I got my first Norvel engine this Summer, an .061 Big Mig that looks like a new old stock engine from Russia. I fretted over getting it cranked the first time but finally got it pretty well bench-run-in. I'm going to fly it this weekend on a plane that I built just for it. It should be a screaming little hotrod and I'll take the video camera to catch the action. Hopefully it won't need much trimming.

About two years ago I built a Goldberg Li'l Jumpin' Bean, 21" wingspan to learn to do stunts with. It went through hell and back as I figured out how to do loops, 8s, wingovers, etc., all the time with a Black Widow and then a Medallion. It finally became so demolished it was impossible to repair. Especially when the bellcrank broke loose and gutted the inboard wing.

I finally cut off everything but the center of the fuse around the wing root and rebuilt it from scratch. All new ribs, wingtips, relocated the bellcrank and added a beam mount and two tail booms like a Li'l Satan. I also increased the wing area with static flaps to give it better wing loading with the more powerful Norvel.

Here's what it looks like now:




It ought to be a hot little stunter with the .061. I plan to take it out this Sunday.

Hopefully I'll have some entertaining flight video soon. I've been working on that old Jumpin' Bean for a couple of months now and I'm really looking forward to flying it. I renamed it the Refried Bean.
Stay tuned,
Rusty

Re: Maiden flight of my first Norvel .061 11 years, 3 months ago #140

  • RknRusty
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I forgot to post this. I took it out last Sunday. Never having flown a Norvel, or this plane, I tamed the engine with a 6" prop. It flew great and looks like I hit the CG right on the mark with no balancing weight. Pretty lucky.

So anyway the first flight was the best. This engine has a venturi that refuses to seal, so I had Permatexed it. Don't ever do that. The RTV started melting after the first run, and I found later it had formed a deposit on the glow coil. I videoed a flight though and you can hear the venturi leaning it out a few times. I have that fixed now for the next excursion, along with a smaller prop, but here's what I got my first day out:

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Last Edit: 11 years, 3 months ago by RknRusty.

Re: Maiden flight of my first Norvel .061 11 years, 3 months ago #141

  • victor
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Not bad at all. But I especially liked the landing :-)

Re: Maiden flight of my first Norvel .061 11 years, 3 months ago #142

  • RknRusty
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Yeah, I knocked some of the pretty off the canopy and bent the fine thread needle with that inverted landing. The next time out, this past Sunday, I sealed the venturi with a ring of latex bladder tubing and put a shorter 5.5x3 prop on it and it didn't bog any more. It was not happy with the 6" prop the first time out. I don't know why NV Engines recommends that size.

This time I launched at 22,300rpm. It screamed around the sky with a death wish. I really had my hands full. I think I better add a few more feet of line to tame it. It was a wild flight. Luckily I could stand still and do loops and 8s to get my balance back. The Norvels sure do blow the wings off my Tee Dees. A club member has given me two more Big Migs and I have another Baby Flite Streak that's going to get one.
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