Finally got to take my plane up for her first flight, mostly uneventful except that I’m only getting 5400 rpm at full throttle on the Rotax.

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Comment by Jerry Latimer on September 25, 2017 at 6:04pm

Congratulations Paul.  Now the fun begins.  LIke others have said, you will have to experiment with your prop setting.  I have my 912 set so that I get 5500 WOT in level flight.  Seems to be a good compromise between climb and cruise.  I chose 5500 so that if something happens with the throttle cables and then throttles go wide open, the motor will not exceed the 5600 redline.

Comment by Paul Sanders on September 25, 2017 at 5:47pm

I don't know why I didn't see this post earlier http://www.zenith.aero/group/stolch750/forum/topics/prop-pitch-adju... but I see he has his set to 12 degrees, far off of my 16. Maybe I'll take it down to 13 and see, though he is at 3000 feet and I'm below sea level if that matters. Yes, all part of the fun, though it is more fun when you know what you are doing :)

Comment by Jimmy Young on September 25, 2017 at 5:36pm

You'll just have to experiment with the prop setting on the Warp Drive to get it dialed in, as the effects vary on different types of planes. But, that's part of the fun of being an owner-builder.

Comment by Paul Sanders on September 25, 2017 at 5:23pm

Thanks Jimmy. You know I hadn't noticed the wind sock at the end there, it was dead calm when I took off and it looks like the first wind sock at the end of the runway is low so maybe that wind came up at the end? I had some directional issues on final but I think they were caused by me not being familiar with how my rudder pedals were feeling, rather than the wind. But I am glad to have done it.

I've got my prop set to 16 degrees, so do you think taking it down to 15 would help? I already went from 17 to 15.

Paul

Comment by Jimmy Young on September 25, 2017 at 5:08pm
Way to go Paul. You picked a heck of day to make a first flight in, with that 90 degree crosswind! I do not have a Rotax 912, but I have had one before on a Kolb Kolbra. I always set my pitch so I got 5500 rpm straight and level flight, even though they are rated to go to 5800 for 5 minutes. That worked well for me.

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