A new Nynja in the area

[Mike Gearon]

I notice bare feet on the rudders 🙂 Much better than my thick sole runners! Beautiful countryside you fly over. 

[Blueadventures]

On 10/01/2022 at 7:05 AM, Mike Gearon said:

I notice bare feet on the rudders 🙂 Much better than my thick sole runners! Beautiful countryside you fly over. 

Mate, Crocs are in the parcel tray behind the seat.  Always have footware, water, first aid kit etc on board as never know when I'll need to walk out and my feet are soft souled. Cheers.

[pmccarthy]

I think I am soft souled too.

[Blueadventures]

Same 

7 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

I think I am soft souled too.

 

7 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

I think I am soft souled too.

Same my feet arn't good like the barefoot bushmans.

[cscotthendry]

Hi Mike

Saw your plane in the latest email from RA Aus😊

[Blueadventures]

1 hour ago, cscotthendry said:

Hi Mike

Saw your plane in the latest email from RA Aus😊

Thanks Scott, I read their email last night but did not download the images.  That's at Poolies Island near Carmilla south of Mackay.  I sengt the image in years ago for one of those photo comps.

Cheers

 

[Blueadventures]

Took the bird for a fly, been fitting in the 100 hourly (302 hrs now) and not flown since 8 January 2022 and needing to do bfr after maintenance finished.  Our big rains cleared last week so can get active again.  All flying and running great; now ready for some short and long trips when the rain season has passed.

 

[Garfly]

 

 

[Garfly]

Nicely set up panel by Harry from Iceland:

 

 

[Mike Gearon]

That’s so detailed. He’s done an extraordinary job including the LED lights for flap indication on dash.

radio up high has given him space on the dash for iPhone and iPad. Brilliant!

 

I like the pilot and passenger heaters. Prob not needed in Australia if we aren’t flying winter in southern states. Just more water hoses and electrics to have potential problems. Iceland different story!

 

I heard him mention thermostat. I have no idea if we have water or oil thermostats in 912. I just know they take ages to heat up and I do runups facing away from wind and opposite to what I’d do in air cooled engines. Learned to start the engine before doing anything else. Start then close door, seat belts and checks. Even then it’s just wait and wait for temp before takeoff.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike Gearon]

I’ve just noticed the other clever thing Harry from Iceland has done. The stock Skyranger throttle setup is in the way for entry/ egress. It’s easily bumped wide open by yourself or passengers and I’m probably not alone in finding it doesn’t hold TWO on it’s own. 
 

Harry has it solved. Throttle is retained at idle and isn’t in the way and can’t be bumped open. Throttle arm weight is downward and probably as such nicely balanced. Either that or he pegs it wide open. 😳 I’m pretty sure it’s idle.

 

it’s probably the result of those 24 hour days and 24 hour nights and lots of thinking time. I’ve been to Iceland. Nice place to visit but….

 

[Blueadventures]

3 hours ago, Mike Gearon said:

I’ve just noticed the other clever thing Harry from Iceland has done. The stock Skyranger throttle setup is in the way for entry/ egress. It’s easily bumped wide open by yourself or passengers and I’m probably not alone in finding it doesn’t hold TWO on it’s own. 
 

Harry has it solved. Throttle is retained at idle and isn’t in the way and can’t be bumped open. Throttle arm weight is downward and probably as such nicely balanced. Either that or he pegs it wide open. 😳 I’m pretty sure it’s idle.

 

it’s probably the result of those 24 hour days and 24 hour nights and lots of thinking time. I’ve been to Iceland. Nice place to visit but….

 

That's the push to full and pull to idle setup in the image.

[Blueadventures]

Fitted eprop onto the Nynja's Rotax 912 ULS ready to torque and fly tomorrow all going well, rain to stay away.  Needed to extract the prop lugs and used a 'C' clamp first then a sash clamp was best. 

[Kyle Communications]

What is the size. 175?

 

 

[Blueadventures]

Yes 175 and 20mm spacer is perfect, same clearance as the DUC had between backplate and cowl.

[Blueadventures]

1 hour ago, Kyle Communications said:

What is the size. 175?

 

 

Hi Mark  FYI Paul at Flylight just sent me this info from his testing on a Nynja;-

 "I have been testing one, we have put in for French approval for it and working towards U.K. approval - I will be interested in how you find it.

It has a strong ‘constant speed effect’ - it’s a bit like an automatic gearbox - allowing high RPM at low speed in the climb without high cruise RPM.

It achieves that at the expense of some blade efficiency at the lower speeds ( it’s a kind of aerodynamic slipping clutch thing) but the idea is that it allows the engine to release more power and give a net gain.

A prop without this effect might be more climb efficient if set to fine pitch, but would then be revving too high for the cruise. The answer of course is an inflight variable pitch / constant speed prop, but they are very expensive, complex and normally heavy too.

It’s a very smooth prop, which is nice, and doesn’t have any annoying harmonics ( unlike some others we have tried that claim similar effects), and is super light which means lower rotational intertia and a nice soft stop. But re do your weight and balance after changing - it might throw you out if the aft limit if a parachute is also fitted!

I have mine (912ULS) set so it pulls around 5300 in the climb at 75mph. An interesting effect is that if you pull the nose up and slow down to 60mph the ‘clutch slips’ and it revs up to 5400 or more - but you can feel vibration then from the stalled blade flow. At 75 it’s super smooth.

If I leave it at wide open throttle and put the nose down to level off, the RPM stays at 5300 all the way up to 115mph or so and only after that starts to rise hitting just under 5500 at 130mph.

Cruise around 4000 RPM for 85 - 100mph at around 4400.

Kievprop takes a lot of beating for a very economical good performing prop. ( and we really hope they can survive the war and continue)

This slots in at a higher spend level but with some interesting features and enhancements that unlock some advantages."

[Kyle Communications]

Is Flylite the Ninja manufacturer?

 

[Blueadventures]

Yes, Flylight Airsports in UK bought the company a few years back when Phillipe's family sold it after his death.  They were already building them and not have factory build certification.  They are now awaiting the final sign off for the 600kG variant. They have a webb site.   Very good to deal with.  Only small crew so personal service with slight delays when busy.  Never had a problem with their service.

[Mike Gearon]

9 hours ago, Blueadventures said:

Hi Mark  FYI Paul at Flylight just sent me this info from his testing on a Nynja;-

If I leave it at wide open throttle and put the nose down to level off, the RPM stays at 5300 all the way up to 115mph or so and only after that starts to rise hitting just under 5500 at 130mph.

5500rpm and  130mph  or in our flying language……113knots…. I’ve left the Nynja exactly as Vince had the Boly ground adjust prop set. Climbs out nicely and WOT 5400-5500rpm is a very consistent 105kn.  

[Blueadventures]

Did fit in an hour flight in the Nynja this morning. My findings were that I'm very happy with the E-Prop propeller. It was set with the three blades at 24.9, 25 and 25.1 degrees; being within the 0.3* I decided to leave as is and fly to evaluate. Ground static rpm was 5,400. First flight climb 1,400 f/m (better than DUC never much over 1,000 one up) Noticed had to put in right rudder (was perfect with DUC and the rudder input was more than acceptable) also during taxi to take off point noticed low rpm was a faster travel speed, also runway is bitumen sealed. 4,500 rpm 85 kts; 5,250 gave 108kts (quickest with DUC was 105 kts at 5,500 rpm). Landed and moved rudder bungee 6mm to port. Take off climb 5,250rpm and 1,250 ft/m OAT 24*C. Only slight need of right rudder (certainly acceptable) so will move rudder bungee another 2mm to port. Will before next flight re-pitch for 5,500rpm static. There is wild weather coming so will be a week or so before flight.

[Blueadventures]

For information the main development of the E-prop can be attributed to drone requirements in the area of 'Extended Speed Range' ERS design.  

 

Extract from manufacture of the drone.

 

Propeller

For the R^2 UAV, a specific propeller was designed by Hélices E-Props (French carbon propeller manufacturer) to maximize the overall performances of the engine at the various required UAV air speeds.

The propeller designed for the R^2 UAV belongs to the 3rd generation of propellers. Due to mechanical performances of the carbon fiber, new aerodynamic designs have become possible: high CL profiles, narrow chords, big diameters, special positions of the blades…

Those type of propellers present a strong ESR effect (Extended Speed Range effect). The term ESR effect is used to define a fixed pitch propeller (or ground adjustable pitch one) which behavior is near from the behavior of a variable pitch propeller.

This ESR effect has the following characteristics: it causes very small gap between the static RPM and the flight RPM, this allows to keep a strong power at take-off. It seems that the max throttle RPM stays nearly constant.

The ESR effect can improve the performances at take-off, because then the engine is running very near of its max RPM, and provides all its power during take-off.

Thanks to their geometries and their profiles, the E-Props propellers as the one developed for the innovative UAV R^2 have a very strong ESR effect, which allows to improve the performances of the aircraft at take-off and in cruise, in comparison with a standard fixed pitch propeller.

Due to the assisted launch and recovery options, the maximum propeller diameter was a design driver as well as the necessity of having a folding propeller.

Seven innovations can be found on the propeller designed for the R^2 UAV, compared with a standard propeller. The obtained performances are exceptional.

The combination of these state of the art airframe, engine and propeller results in a unique and optimal airborne platform for UAV applications.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Blueadventures

[Mike Gearon]

I was concerned looking at that claim of 130mph/ 113kn and how that could be achieved. Reviewed the extensive tests JG has done. I’ll list them here.
 

E prop at the time was very similar. They’ve obviously been developing since. 

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

No they have not been doing any development at all the design is the same. The prop JG tested I gave to him it was a 175cm prop but he did not test it how he should have...yes you can test the props all different ones to a type but that is not how these are to be used. JG is testing the prop wrong. His tests are based on how you test a constant speed prop not a ground adjustable fixed pitch. The Eprop has been designed to take advantage of the Rotax engine properties and is modern design with modern materials not something the Wright Brothers used. You set the prop up as per the manufacturers specs not what you think if you want max performance. The drone article posted by Blueadventures basically says it all

 

[Blueadventures]

49 minutes ago, Kyle Communications said:

No they have not been doing any development at all the design is the same. The prop JG tested I gave to him it was a 175cm prop but he did not test it how he should have...yes you can test the props all different ones to a type but that is not how these are to be used. JG is testing the prop wrong. His tests are based on how you test a constant speed prop not a ground adjustable fixed pitch. The Eprop has been designed to take advantage of the Rotax engine properties and is modern design with modern materials not something the Wright Brothers used. You set the prop up as per the manufacturers specs not what you think if you want max performance. The drone article posted by Blueadventures basically says it all

 

Mark having done two flights yesterday, total 60 minutes I am rapt in the E-prop and its performance yesterday exceeded my expectations and that is at 5,250 rpm WOT S&L so when pitch altered to deliver 5,500 rpm I will be further impressed.  Happy to have my information added to your testimonials for E-prop performance as a satisfied customer.  Cheers.

[Mike Gearon]

4 hours ago, Kyle Communications said:

No they have not been doing any development at all the design is the same. The prop JG tested I gave to him it was a 175cm prop but he did not test it how he should have...yes you can test the props all different ones to a type but that is not how these are to be used. JG is testing the prop wrong. His tests are based on how you test a constant speed prop not a ground adjustable fixed pitch. The Eprop has been designed to take advantage of the Rotax engine properties and is modern design with modern materials not something the Wright Brothers used. You set the prop up as per the manufacturers specs not what you think if you want max performance. The drone article posted by Blueadventures basically says it all

 

At the end of the day it’s climb out FPM and cruise TAS showing consistently better figures over the old prop. Sounds like this is what is going on.