Wednesday, November 25, 2015

More hovering and thrust engine test

Thanks to all the help from Tudor we got in another flight test!

We started out with hovering out of the garage.



Two things were clearly identified from the tests. One is that we have more weight at the back then at the front. Secondly the garage has a defined slope to the left as you enter.

Then we tested the newly mounted thrust engine.



It was great to get the 2nd engine running. We didn't go anywhere since there were several things identified that should be reinforced. And we only had 3 feet of runway ahead of the vehicle.

The engine mount needs a little bit more reinforcement especially torsion around the vertical axis. And unfortunately the screws in one of the newly mounted lifting handles backed out a little bit. They apparently had a little bit of play and were not backed into the epoxy.

And of course the rudder system is not fully functional yet. But it's mostly for a lack of controls now. The whole system at the back should be basically there.

Finally we gently hovered back into the garage.



It's amazing how easily it slides. You can see Tudor's barely pulling on the ropes.