Dale De Klerck / Experienced pilot / First flight in a HM293
In this report Dale talks about his first experiences with the HM293. Dale is a experienced pilot and he made just a single error. He thought "this one is just another airplane". Read this excellent report and avoid making the same mistake. Enjoy
The flea at her first public appearance at Orient during the Children's Flight. November 2020
I have a total of 6100 hours of which over 3000 is on conventional undercarriage. (Tailwheel). As I have done over 450 hours of test flying and in excess of 32 maiden flights, I was confident that I could handle this one. Because of the uniqueness of this aircraft and the enthusiasm of Mike and Roy, this was an opportunity to give back some of what I had received. I did quite a bit of research by contacting the few pilots around the world that had flown a Flea. They all warned me that it was unconventional. Not like anything else I had ever flown.
Overhead FAKR
Just to put everyone in the picture of "Unconventional"
The Flea has no ailerons nor elevator. It does have a joystick and a set of pedals.
The pedals are connected to the tailwheel and are only used for taxi purposes. The tailwheel has no effect once more than 50% power is applied.
The joystick is connected to a very effective rudder. So your directional control is manipulated by the joystick once you apply power. The joystick is also connected to the front (Main) wing and controls a pitching moment of this wing. The rear wing is fixed.
So, the three axis of control are:
Yaw.
Which is controlled by the joystick via the rudder.
Roll:
Which is controlled by the secondary effect of rudder.
Pitch:
The airframe doesn't really pitch. Only the main wing changes angle of attack and gives more lift or less lift. If you change the throttle setting there is a slight pitching moment.
The Flea has no ailerons nor elevator. It does have a joystick and a set of pedals.
The pedals are connected to the tailwheel and are only used for taxi purposes. The tailwheel has no effect once more than 50% power is applied.
The joystick is connected to a very effective rudder. So your directional control is manipulated by the joystick once you apply power. The joystick is also connected to the front (Main) wing and controls a pitching moment of this wing. The rear wing is fixed.
So, the three axis of control are:
Yaw.
Which is controlled by the joystick via the rudder.
Roll:
Which is controlled by the secondary effect of rudder.
Pitch:
The airframe doesn't really pitch. Only the main wing changes angle of attack and gives more lift or less lift. If you change the throttle setting there is a slight pitching moment.
Landing approach to FAKR
I started with some high speed taxi exercises on a very long and wide grass runway. Contrary to popular belief, "High speed taxi" is never higher than the stall speed of the aircraft. Although we had not determined the stall speed on this aircraft, we had some documentation on others that had flown. As far as I'm aware, only about four more, world-wide. This process was already quite daunting. My natural instinct was to try and steer with my feet as any good pilot would. But the pedals (Tailwheel) had absolutely no effect whatsoever. With my brain now in overdrive, I soon learned to keep directional control with the stick. As I increased the speed on every run, I could feel the aircraft getting lighter and lighter. (Wanting to get airborne). Now again my instincts told me to lift the tail. But again, the stick had no effect as there is no elevator. And by pushing the stick forward only creates a negative angle of attack on the main wing, keeping you firmly on the ground. I then tried to keep the stick as neutral as possible until she started flying. The first hop was only about one meter high and no further than 10 or 20 meters, as I shut the throttle. I did a few more, every time stretching the distance by keeping just enough power on. This gave me a chance to feel the effect of the controls and how she reacted to very small inputs. She would tend to yaw to the right under power. This has to do with the thrust line of the engine to counter the torque and slipstream. At first, I kept trying to correct this but then the secondary effect dops the wing. Eventually I just let it yaw a bit but kept the wings level. The hops got progressively higher and longer. Because there are no brakes, you need to land with enough stopping distance ahead. On one of these hops, I was so busy checking control inputs verses the effect that I ran out of runway. I was now airborne and forced to do one full circuit. It felt like about 15 minutes but probably wasn't more than 5 or 6.
Almost there
The approach was uneventful as it was a very calm day. The fun started once I had touched down and my instinct was trying to steer with my feet again. Fortunately, my brain went into overdrive again and I caught it with the stick before getting totally out of control. Once down to taxi speeds, the tailwheel took effect again. Fortunately, lockdown was implemented and that gave me a year to ponder about what had happened. I have now done some more hops, more circuits and a flight from Orient to Krugersdorp. The take-off's are still challenging but once straight and level, she is quite docile. The real challenge comes when you encounter any turbulence. The aircraft doesn't have a slip ball because you wouldn't be able to keep the ball in the middle anyway. But when she drops a wing, the only way to pick it up is to apply rudder with the stick which gives you a yaw effect and the secondary effect is roll, which lifts the wing. All good and well, but now you're pointing in a different direction! This becomes especially relevant when on final approach at FAKR. A narrow runway and inevitably, turbulence on short final. Your left wing drops. You pick it up with right rudder but now you're heading off to the right. So, you apply left rudder to line up but your left wing drops! The only way to counter this is to keep turning left through the centreline, then coming back to the right to pick up the wing. Problem is, you tend to get into a left, right osculation. And that's not good on a narrow runway. It's going to take a lot of time and many take-offs & landings before I get comfortable.
All smiles after the maiden.
The bottom line is that your instincts should not come into play and you need to be wide awake when flying this little plane. I would imagine the it will get better with practice."
Jim Bruton / first flight in his HM14/360
In this report Jim tells about the remarkable differences between what he knows in steering "normal" airplanes and his own HM14/360. It is really worth reading. It will warn you about specific behavior which you might find odd, but are very usual in Flying Fleas.Enjoy Jims first adventure.
"N41/Waterbury Airport, Plymouth, CT USA MON 03OCT2016 4:25PM
Takeoff: I pushed forward the throttle all the way and picked up ground speed fast. I could feel the tail become light and then raise. I went on a few seconds more and gently eased back the stick to rise into ground effect. I kept going but true to Msr. Mignet's report, I was still "mushy" so descended back into ground effect. Then I picked up speed and climbed out easily, turning left.
One curious behavior was this: when I went to turn (after left-hand climb out and on downwind leg), the plane felt like it wanted to bank more sharply than I intended, so I backed off and just made a big turn by taking it in small steps. I think all of this was simply my lack of experience with adverse yaw. I wanted to go right, so when I yawed left, I instinctively added more right so when the plane finished it's left yaw, it reacted to my additional input and that surprised me. So I tried to remember "small inputs" and be more patient. I am sure the aircraft was in all cases doing only what I asked and In the end I was able to circle the field and line up on the runway and land. CONFIRMED: Just received response from another Flea pilot that this is indeed the behavior. In fact, he felt like he was going to tip over in the bank. Then he went flying with one of Mignet's relatives in a Balerit and he just cranked right over, scaring my friend to death. But everything was OK. I'll have to ease into that one! ADDITIONAL NOTE: One thing I just remembered- as it yawed around, I can certainly attest to the fact it yawed around the CG, which is pretty much in line with the top of my angled dashboard- and that is really a weird feeling, like you are essentially on a spindle rotating back and forth- and of course, me not being used to the Flea's characteristics, I was spindling a good bit..
When reducing throttle, the nose rises! I think this is a measure of how much lift the lower wing receives from the prop blast, so when the prop blast is reduced, so is some lift on that lower wing, and the upper wing keeps doing what it already was- it will be interesting to feel how the sense of control changes at various speeds. I'll change the thrust line from -2 to -1 and see what happens. I may also considering putting a 10lb dumbbell weight under my feet that I can slide fore and aft to see if the sense of control changes. I know my CG calculations and have some experience there, so know they are correct and everything is spot on between 25-26% MAC. Still, curious....
Finally, landing: you really want to be setup properly on final. Dealing with adverse yaw 100' above the ground on descent isn't desirable. Also, Msr. Mignet was right, reduce throttle and you know you are not in a glider. I like short field approaches personally (they are the only ones you will absolutely need one day) but I need to boost the power earlier to better flatten out the approach at the end. I did do this but prefer to see the effect before the last foot above the grass. I had a small bounce that was not bad, maybe 2 feet high but everything was controlled- my front shock absorbers/springs were perfect and the Tailwheel's spring and directional control were flawless.
I should have another opportunity this week to try again and see what behaviors were specific to that flight, or constitute a pattern. Oh, and firewalling the throttle got me up to 70 MPH airspeed, so I guess I know that now. When I am up again, I'll see what RPM that was as well."
Takeoff: I pushed forward the throttle all the way and picked up ground speed fast. I could feel the tail become light and then raise. I went on a few seconds more and gently eased back the stick to rise into ground effect. I kept going but true to Msr. Mignet's report, I was still "mushy" so descended back into ground effect. Then I picked up speed and climbed out easily, turning left.
One curious behavior was this: when I went to turn (after left-hand climb out and on downwind leg), the plane felt like it wanted to bank more sharply than I intended, so I backed off and just made a big turn by taking it in small steps. I think all of this was simply my lack of experience with adverse yaw. I wanted to go right, so when I yawed left, I instinctively added more right so when the plane finished it's left yaw, it reacted to my additional input and that surprised me. So I tried to remember "small inputs" and be more patient. I am sure the aircraft was in all cases doing only what I asked and In the end I was able to circle the field and line up on the runway and land. CONFIRMED: Just received response from another Flea pilot that this is indeed the behavior. In fact, he felt like he was going to tip over in the bank. Then he went flying with one of Mignet's relatives in a Balerit and he just cranked right over, scaring my friend to death. But everything was OK. I'll have to ease into that one! ADDITIONAL NOTE: One thing I just remembered- as it yawed around, I can certainly attest to the fact it yawed around the CG, which is pretty much in line with the top of my angled dashboard- and that is really a weird feeling, like you are essentially on a spindle rotating back and forth- and of course, me not being used to the Flea's characteristics, I was spindling a good bit..
When reducing throttle, the nose rises! I think this is a measure of how much lift the lower wing receives from the prop blast, so when the prop blast is reduced, so is some lift on that lower wing, and the upper wing keeps doing what it already was- it will be interesting to feel how the sense of control changes at various speeds. I'll change the thrust line from -2 to -1 and see what happens. I may also considering putting a 10lb dumbbell weight under my feet that I can slide fore and aft to see if the sense of control changes. I know my CG calculations and have some experience there, so know they are correct and everything is spot on between 25-26% MAC. Still, curious....
Finally, landing: you really want to be setup properly on final. Dealing with adverse yaw 100' above the ground on descent isn't desirable. Also, Msr. Mignet was right, reduce throttle and you know you are not in a glider. I like short field approaches personally (they are the only ones you will absolutely need one day) but I need to boost the power earlier to better flatten out the approach at the end. I did do this but prefer to see the effect before the last foot above the grass. I had a small bounce that was not bad, maybe 2 feet high but everything was controlled- my front shock absorbers/springs were perfect and the Tailwheel's spring and directional control were flawless.
I should have another opportunity this week to try again and see what behaviors were specific to that flight, or constitute a pattern. Oh, and firewalling the throttle got me up to 70 MPH airspeed, so I guess I know that now. When I am up again, I'll see what RPM that was as well."
Christy McCormick (HM14 builder and pilot)
"I built and flown an HM-14. It was a very stable a/c in longitudinal control. Lateral control was very stable and with the large rudder coupled with dihedral , it had a very secure feeling in bank control. I dident build it per the original plans due to the issues with c/g, wing overlapin which after wind large scale tunnel testingfrom the British air league, they discovered it need some changes to make it safe. I lengthened the fuselauge 12 inches longer,and lengthening the vertical fwd wing spar support from 600 mm to 800 mm. It gave me superb horizontal and vertical seperation as far as no wing overlap. If you decide to build the hm-14 ,it is a VERY SAFE airplane as long as the safety measures are adhered to.. .im in construction of my current HM-14 because it is one of the safest airplanes i have ever flown. I hope in the near future more people will get interested in building this great flying ship., but do it safely."
