Once more into the breech. I gotta tell ya, I'm getting sick of climbing out over the area due west of Fitchburg, out toward Gardner and Orange. I think I know every tree for about 30 miles. There is one backyard with the words "God's Wisdom" planted in large bushes (or trees) southwest of Gardner, but I'm usually at 5K feet or more out there, so I don't get too good of a look.
Anyway, Friday I hit the airport early (early for me is 9 AM) and set up for the rear CG climb test. I took 10 lb. out of the nose, put it in the front seat (without any other ballast) and filled the tanks with 51 gallons (give or take). This put the plane at 102" at 1650 lb. I did two flights - first the 130, 120, and 90 mph runs, and then the 110, 100, and 80 mph runs. On the last descent of the first run, I stopped off at 3500 ft. to do the 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 banked stalls.
With the CG in the back, it flew pretty much as it did with the CG in the middle - I couldn't notice much of a difference. The stall speeds were not vastly different - maybe a couple mph less. Climb wasn't much different either.
One thing interesting about these climb tests is that it's a lot easier to get valid data up high, where the air is a lot smoother - above 3500 ft. seems to be the number around here. Below that, I hit thermals, ridge lift, general bumps, and difficulty holding speeds to within 4 mph. Above, it's like glass, and I can hold speeds to within 1 mph easily. I think that affects the accuracy of the data.
There's no Protocol for this flight - see Flight Test Protocol 10.
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