Yoopers Rocketman's Lancair

[Yooper Rocketman]

4 hours ago, daver328 said:

Btw ... maybe I missed it ... it that a PT- 6

As Jim noted, it's a Walters 601D / 724 HP

[Yooper Rocketman]

3 hours ago, takair said:

I’m curious, is this to flex the body work to reveal any potential cracking?  Love the plane!  

 

Pretty much.....yes.   We don't expect any more issues, and repaired the spots I had with a pretty sure fire fix.   It might be more for my painter to buy some time before I drop it off.  I have plenty of little items I can address before dropping it off for paint anyway.  And I sure don't mind having to fly it some more.  

Tom

[MyNameIsNobody]

On 11/22/2017 at 4:08 PM, daver328 said:

Thanks for sharing Tom. 

To say I’m just “blown away” is an understatement ... 

I was just looking on the LASAR site yesterday wondering if a 201 Windshield Mod was worth the trouble for another 3 knots, and wondering if Sabretech’s going to get around to 65 Cs ... for his cowl mod ... and thinking I’m so far upside down in an old C, maybe I should just stop and fly it as it is? Makes my little world seem small, very small.

+1 (and do the cowl) Thumbs up to that.

[Yooper Rocketman]

Well, I did a trip to Florida this weekend and was able to get a feel for the level of improvement from my speed mods.  It appears the oil cooler door was not worth the work.  It must close off the air good, as I can only close it 70% at altitude, even when -41 degrees C, without taking the oil temp out of the green.  Even closed 100% (which takes about 15 minutes for the oil temp to climb) I'm lucky if I gained a knot.

The flap closures were another issue though.  My average TAS appears to be 3-5 knots faster.  I recorded my highest True Air Speeds ever in 180 hours.  Taking my highest and lowest, averaging them, it appears I will be able to bump my filed speed to 305 knots.  I think I'll wait for a few more flights, but I saw all ends of my normal flight parameters (altitude, outside air temp, etc) flying from the U.P. to central Florida.  For a TKS equipped Lancair, I am definitely in the higher end of the performance envelope and am clearly happy with it. 

And yes, my camera works for both the tailwind flights and the HEAD WIND flights.

In another month I'll be a full blown Mooniac again though.  The Lancair will be going for paint and the Rocket will get the cobwebs dusted off it, using it for several Florida trips this winter.

Tom

[takair]

Nice. More than twice what my bird does.  I’m curious, what’s going on with the standby attitude?

[Raptor05121]

Very nice, Tom.

Let me know if/when you bring the Rocket down. My girlfriend would love to come visit Spruce Creek (read: the restaurant) again.

[steingar]

Huge congrats.  You built a small airliner in your garage with your own two hands.  Color me mondo impressed.

Of course, I could make snarky comments that there's nothing else to do in the UP, but I honestly think it one of the most beautiful places in America. 

[bradp]

Tom I can’t get over 34 GPH of Jet at with a TAS of 305. That efficiency astounds me.  A TBM 850 (granted you’re probably half the weight) - needs 65 GPH for a TAS of 320 at a max FL-310.  

[Raptor05121]

I wonder if its too late to saw the tail off, flip it around and slap on some bondo?

[Yooper Rocketman]

On 12/4/2017 at 5:58 AM, takair said:

Nice. More than twice what my bird does.  I’m curious, what’s going on with the standby attitude?

The heading has always been off about 10 degrees, but the flight plan imports from the G3X so it will give me the right flight plan headings to continue in the event of main PFD / MFD failure.  I have to be honest though, never looked at the instrument much to notice the attitude seeming to indicate climb?  Will look into that so thanks for the sharp eye!  I really need to fly with my local instructor on that instrument only so I'm comfortable with it.  Out of 178 hours, I might have 1.5 hours of IMC and no night flight.  With the safety record of this bird, I'm avoiding as much IMC as I can until I'm completely up to speed.

I REALLY wish the G5 would have been available when I built my panel.  It was introduced about a year after the panel was completed.

Tom

[tigers2007]

N994PT is by far the coolest, smoothest, and nicest aircraft I have ever flown in. I can’t wait to see what the paint looks like. I still tell people how the takeoff acceleration, that plants you into your seat, lasts almost two minutes.


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[mike_elliott]

On 12/3/2017 at 11:00 PM, Yooper Rocketman said:

Well, I did a trip to Florida this weekend and was able to get a feel for the level of improvement from my speed mods.  It appears the oil cooler door was not worth the work.  It must close off the air good, as I can only close it 70% at altitude, even when -41 degrees C, without taking the oil temp out of the green.  Even closed 100% (which takes about 15 minutes for the oil temp to climb) I'm lucky if I gained a knot.

The flap closures were another issue though.  My average TAS appears to be 3-5 knots faster.  I recorded my highest True Air Speeds ever in 180 hours.  Taking my highest and lowest, averaging them, it appears I will be able to bump my filed speed to 305 knots.  I think I'll wait for a few more flights, but I saw all ends of my normal flight parameters (altitude, outside air temp, etc) flying from the U.P. to central Florida.  For a TKS equipped Lancair, I am definitely in the higher end of the performance envelope and am clearly happy with it. 

And yes, my camera works for both the tailwind flights and the HEAD WIND flights.

In another month I'll be a full blown Mooniac again though.  The Lancair will be going for paint and the Rocket will get the cobwebs dusted off it, using it for several Florida trips this winter.

Tom

I gotta get me one of those....

[Steve Dawson]

Holy mackerel Tom, Even more amazing, 

[Yooper Rocketman]

6 hours ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

Amen. What amazing performance. Can you burn fuel oil or kerosene in that Walters or is Jet A the only practical  option?

Jim

It IS a multi fuel engine but it's recommended to only run Jet A through it.

Tom

[Yooper Rocketman]

7 hours ago, tigers2007 said:

N994PT is by far the coolest, smoothest, and nicest aircraft I have ever flown in. I can’t wait to see what the paint looks like. I still tell people how the takeoff acceleration, that plants you into your seat, lasts almost two minutes.


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I had fun flying with you this summer.  We'll do it again after paint and interior!

Tom

[Yooper Rocketman]

Had a real nice flight today, leaving -18 temps in the U.P. of Michigan to landing just under 3.5 hours later, 1231 nautical miles south, just south of Daytona Beach at Spruce Creek Florida where a T-shirt was comfortable.  I know it's not a Mooney, but it WAS a Mooney driver.   

It's soooo cool I built this animal in my garage and it flies faster than certified planes costing 5 times or more than I have in this one.  

Now if xcrmckenna Can hook up with me in Florida I can get another Mooney Space member a ride in this magic carpet.  

Tom

[xcrmckenna]

Had a real nice flight today, leaving -18 temps in the U.P. of Michigan to landing just under 3.5 hours later, 1231 nautical miles south, just south of Daytona Beach at Spruce Creek Florida where a T-shirt was comfortable.  I know it's not a Mooney, but it WAS a Mooney driver.   

It's soooo cool I built this animal in my garage and it flies faster than certified planes costing 5 times or more than I have in this one.  

Now if xcrmckenna Can hook up with me in Florida I can get another Mooney Space member a ride in this magic carpet.  

Tom

That is awesome!!! And I’m definitely doing what I can to clear out my schedule....


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[Marauder]

Had a real nice flight today, leaving -18 temps in the U.P. of Michigan to landing just under 3.5 hours later, 1231 nautical miles south, just south of Daytona Beach at Spruce Creek Florida where a T-shirt was comfortable.  I know it's not a Mooney, but it WAS a Mooney driver.   

It's soooo cool I built this animal in my garage and it flies faster than certified planes costing 5 times or more than I have in this one.  

Now if xcrmckenna Can hook up with me in Florida I can get another Mooney Space member a ride in this magic carpet.  

Tom

Every time I see one of your photos I am jealous right up to the point I see the fuel burn.

What does the NMPG work out to? I think I see Stinky Pants posts something in the 15 range running LOP.


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[Hank]

6 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Every time I see one of your photos I am jealous right up to the point I see the fuel burn.

What does the NMPG work out to? I think I see Stinky Pants posts something in the 15 range running LOP.
 

 

Me, too!

Using this picture,  34.8 gph and 356 knots gives 10.2 nmpg.

My C generally returns 15-16 nmpg ROP. I would expect a J running LOP to be ~20.

[Yooper Rocketman]

13 minutes ago, Marauder said:

 

Every time I see one of your photos I am jealous right up to the point I see the fuel burn.

What does the NMPG work out to? I think I see Stinky Pants posts something in the 15 range running LOP.


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I'm usually between 10 & 12 NMPG.  IT was pretty cold out thus I was getting more performance and a higher fuel burn.  I didn't build it to pull the power back but could get higher MPG if I pulled it back some.  

Remember, Jet A is cheaper at the pump too.   My actual trip fuel costs are almost the same between the Rocket and my Lancair, but quite a bit less time in the Lancair.  

Tom

[Yooper Rocketman]

I flew the Lancair down to Milan TN to my paint shop yesterday.  Just did my last flight in primer; pretty exciting!  My next flight in that bird will be with new paint.  Steve, my hangar partner and best friend, flew the Rocket down for me to fly back home with.  Took 3.5 hours each way in the Rocket, 2 hours in the Lancair going down.  I DID enjoy the Mooney though coming home.  A bit more relaxing and less work during cruise at 120 knots slower.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N1017L/history/20180119/2230Z/KTGC/KIMT

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N994PT

When we got back Steve commented "our hangar is a Mooney Hangar again!"

Tom

[MIm20c]

On 12/28/2017 at 10:57 AM, Yooper Rocketman said:

Remember, Jet A is cheaper at the pump too.   My actual trip fuel costs are almost the same between the Rocket and my Lancair, but quite a bit less time in the Lancair. 

Many people talk about a fuel card to receive substantial discounts on jetA even at larger airports. I wonder what the stipulations are and if that would be advantageous for you?

[Skates97]

52 minutes ago, MIm20c said:

Many people talk about a fuel card to receive substantial discounts on jetA even at larger airports. I wonder what the stipulations are and if that would be advantageous for you?

I'm not sure about JetA, but I get cash back using my Citi Visa card from Costco. We get 4% on fuel up to $7,000/yr and 1% after that. I think it depends on how the vendor is listed, not what product you are buying. There have only been one or two airports where we didn't get the 4%, can't make any rhyme or reason why not, but we still get 1% on everything anyway. If the card company sees it as a fuel vendor I would think it should generate the reward even for JetA. For us we use that card for just about everything and get a check back for about $1k every year. 

[Browncbr1]

18 minutes ago, Skates97 said:

I'm not sure about JetA, but I get cash back using my Citi Visa card from Costco. We get 4% on fuel up to $7,000/yr and 1% after that. I think it depends on how the vendor is listed, not what product you are buying. There have only been one or two airports where we didn't get the 4%, can't make any rhyme or reason why not, but we still get 1% on everything anyway. If the card company sees it as a fuel vendor I would think it should generate the reward even for JetA. For us we use that card for just about everything and get a check back for about $1k every year. 

Nice..   I have the sams MasterCard that gives cash back on fuel, but the fine print says not for aviation fuel purchases.  So I just use my Marriott visa and get hotel stay points.  We’ve been thinking about getting a Costco membership.  I’ll have to check it out.   Sometimes I notice airport fuel purchases either listed as shell or phillips66 or the name of the airport or city.   My hangar rent comes up as phillips66.   Hmmmm

Edited January 20, 2018 by Browncbr1

[amillet]

42 minutes ago, Skates97 said:

I'm not sure about JetA, but I get cash back using my Citi Visa card from Costco. We get 4% on fuel up to $7,000/yr and 1% after that. I think it depends on how the vendor is listed, not what product you are buying. There have only been one or two airports where we didn't get the 4%, can't make any rhyme or reason why not, but we still get 1% on everything anyway. If the card company sees it as a fuel vendor I would think it should generate the reward even for JetA. For us we use that card for just about everything and get a check back for about $1k every year. 

I shredded my Costco Visa after I got my first statement and found they were charging interest from the date of purchase.  The fuel rebate may make up for it but it is the principal. Every other card I have is no interest if paid by due date of statement