The  whole incident, from start to finish  consumed about 3500 - 4000
  feet of
  the  6000 foot runway.She was off the ground before the 2000 foot
  marker.
  And today  was not a standard day -- DA this afternoon was about  8300
  feet.
  So yeah -- plenty of get up & go.

  Agree on  the slower  warm-ups vs blasting down the runway at full
  power...

  Live & learn  I suppose...

  Mark


  Mark,
  You might not need to make any more  high speed taxi tests, but a good
  suggestion was made by a friend of  mine. Run it without the wings on
  until
  you're ready to fly. You can  go as fast as you want without unexpected
  aviation.
  Bill  jEPSON


  On a canard airplane, if you take the wings off, be _sure_  to take the
  canard off too.  If not and you accelerate to near  rotation speed, the
  aircraft will likely flip over uncontrollably due the  center of lift
  being so far forward..  An early Varieze or Long EZ was  significantly
  damaged because of  this.


  Regards,

  Matt-

  Matt, et al,

  Other than to test the engine, what is the purpose of the high speed
  taxis sans wings? Do you have any concern about torque roll on the
ground?
  You should  be able to get a good idea of tracking with slow taxi tests.
  Your brakes will  not be as effective at the weight which will be much
  liter since
  there will not  be much weight on the wheels (skidding).

  If your plane is ready to fly, do graduated speed runs aiming for a
  particular target airspeed, chopping the throttle and bringing the stick
  back. 5
  mph (K) increments would be good. At a given point, the nose will raise
  off
  of  the ground and allow you to gently put it back. (don't yank the
  stick back, but  give it just a little tug.) Because the thrust is now
0,
  the nose
  should settle  back.

  However, be prepared to fly the aircraft in case of a malfunction.

  This will give you some numbers as well as confidence handling the
  aircraft
  at takeoff speeds.

  If you use too much of the runway in this exercise, your runway is too
  short.

  Rich


  I'm not a fan of high speed taxi without the complete control system
  installed and functioning.  I think it's generally a dumb idea..  I
  was just making a comment about one of the (possibly not so obvious)
  hazards of doing so..

  I think ground running is a tough question..  You'd like to run the
  engine enough to gain confidence that it will function well, but you
  end up exploring areas of operation which are often irrelevant to how
  an airplane will be used - high power with zero airspeed isn't
  required of a normal airplane.  On a reciprocating engine you may
  cause a condition which makes it difficult to properly seat the rings
  on the freshly honed bore.  I don't know if that concern exists with a
  rotary - do the apex and side seals "seat?"

  Rather than extensive ground runs, I'd prefer that new engine installs
  be tested at an airport where landing after an engine failure or burp
  or hiccup is basically expected, and where damage because of such an
  event is unlikely..  A big airport with runways crossed in a triangle
  would be ideal..  Expecting a failure and being surprised by continued
  operation will help you be in the right mental state for dealing with
  whatever happens.

  Rich, your suggestion for how to sneak up on a first flight seems like
  a good one.  It's essentially what Rutan suggests, and is the method I
  used for checking myself out in my Varieze.  Gaining recent experience
  in the same type of airframe prior to first flight with a new engine
  setup should be just about mandatory in my opinion.  Or at least
  recent experience in airframes of several different types will be
  good.  Go get some glider, some tailwheel, some retract, some Cessna,
  and some RV time.  Spend some time transitioning back and forth
  between slow flight and cruise flight, both turning and level.  If you
  get glider time, practice rope-break exercises, and in a powered
  airplane, practice engine failures.  It will sharpen your flying
  fundamentals and get you used to dealing with the variety of control
  feel and responses you can encounter.  It will make it less likely
  that you will suffer PIO or porpoising..  Make sure the new airplane
  has zero control slop and friction in the elevator (for the same
  reason).


  Regards,

  Matt-


  If one has great concern about handling the aircraft they just built on
  initial flight testing, perhaps they should consider getting someone
else,
  who is very experienced, to perform these preliminary flights.  Or, at
  least, get experience in a similar plane so that you don't end up
testing
  your flying skills at the same time you're testing your aircraft!

  Georg Lasik

 Paul & Group -

 I got this from flightglobal.com
 Begin quote :-
 A Handley Page Victor bomber aptly nicknamed "Teasin' Tina" gave shocked
  onlookers more than they bargained for when it accidently took off
during
  the Cold War Jets day at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome. The Cold War bomber
  apparently took off as the co-pilot (who was an engineer and not a
pilot,
  cue the "engineers can never be pilots" jokes) accidently hit the
throttle
  when the aircraft was meant to just taxi down the runway for a photo
shoot.
  The saviour came in the form of a retired RAF Group Captain Bob Prothero
  (cue the "RAF are the best jokes") who grabbed the controls and steered
the
  bomber back onto the ground, where it eventually came to a stop at the
end
  of a runway.
 End Quote
 Fly & Build Good -
 --
 Mr Bryan Wilkinson In England
 07895 178 924


That story seems tough to believe - I have seen it floating around the
web recently..  Turbojets are so slow to accelerate and heavy jet
aircraft even slower to accelerate that it would seem to take a quite
sleepy Captain to allow a takeoff to occur.  This sounds like a
"Spruce Goose" type story..

However, here's reference from Wikipedia to that event:

"On 3 May 2009 during a "fast taxi" run at Bruntingthorpe, XM715 made
an unplanned brief flight (YouTube video), reaching a height of
between 120-130ft before being landed. The aircraft does not have a
permit to fly.[7] The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated that they
will not be conducting an investigation.[8] The causes have been
identified as the co-pilot failing to reply to the command 'throttles
back', thus resulting in the pilot having to control the throttles
himself, resulting in a brief loss of control of the aircraft, causing
it to rise. No legal action is to be taken by the CAA against either
of the crew aboard XM715 or the operators of Bruntingthorpe
Airfield.[9]"

OK..  Maybe not a Spruce Goose story, but possibly too much
bureaucracy in the cockpit.  Argh.


Matt-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F369UqjlJ2w

John