Savannah Karl

Well the Savannah is flying and the engine is just humming along. So far and I've on got a little over 5 hours of flight time on her, I think I've made a great choice for my engine. That viking 130 really kicks you in the butt when you add power for takeoff. The climb is unbelievable and I still don't know what the top end speed is yet. I did do some slow flight and power off stalls to verify handling characteristics before going in to do landings. She is as docile as can be. I saw 29 mph during a clean "stall" and the airplane never broke. She just kind of settled in that nose high attitude perfectly controllable. To come out of that I just ease the stick forward a tad and we were flying again. The speed may be somewhat different than what I am seeing as the pitot system cannot be very accurate with that high angle of attack. In the pattern I have done quite a number of landings with very predictable results. The airplane just handles so well. Kind of point and go. As I get some performance numbers i will post them here but so far I have to say I am very happy to have built the Savannah and to have chosen that Viking engine. Starts and shutdowns are smooth and quiet. No nasty vibration and none in flight either. Flying again in the morning, can't wait!!

Ok I’ve been busy finishing up a couple of things. I’ll try to get your questions answered. The cowling is a modified 701 cowling that came with the firewall forward kit from Viking. I had to do some work on it but I think the end product will work well. It’s very solid on the airplane now, I just have to the “pretty work” yet. As far as the weight goes I just added the ELT and a nose wheel spacer (I was unhappy with the prop clearance) and the nose wheel weight is 238.4lbs. The total weight is 778 even.

Some of the extra weight is of course that engine and radiator but I have added a lot of what I call lard. Extra fuel tanks, center pedestal, glove box, carpet everywhere, 2.5 gal. header tank. I think the engine by itself is about 45lbs heavier that the 912.

Here is a video from today, first taxi. Sorry about the video and audio timing guys but my phone does not make a very good camera. Thanks for the heads up about the nose gear and CG. (Chalk and Cheese) First_Taxi.mp4

No it's a single ECU. I did the first taxi today. Trying to upload the video.

Okay guys I know it been quite a while for me but I just wanted to get you all updated on progress being made. We did a thrust test today and here are the results. 545lbs of thrust with a Viking 130 and a 68” whirlwind spinning at 5700 rpm. I obviously have to adjust for a bigger bite but man that engine just sings. That’s a lot of thrust for a 770lb Savannah S. I know that sounds a little heavy for a Savannah but I’ve gone a little overboard on all the “extra” things I wanted. Glove box, self designed center pedestal, extended range fuel tanks among other things. I wasn’t as concerned with the final weight as some. Im very happy with the number that came in. I also figured the balance today and with no ballast were right at the forward limit of the cg assuming a 200 lb pilot (me on a good day?.) I purpose built the airplane to avoid ballast. Don’t let anyone tell you the Viking is too heavy. Great day today. /monthly_2019_03/BAE7250F-94D3-401A-9A8D-06B703430817.thumb.jpeg.9ad477a22d9d1030889abbf4b5f78dcb.jpeg 338DA743-58DE-4C91-B6F6-312DFE4A6B2D.MOV 338DA743-58DE-4C91-B6F6-312DFE4A6B2D.MOV

We're getting there.

Hey guys I apologize for not keeping up with this but yes some progress has been made. I'm better at building than typing. The wings have been attached to the fuse and much of the avionics have been installed. I'm planning to install the transponder today or tomorrow. We will be doing a thrust test soon just to see if we can generate the kind of number that Jon has shown on the Viking forum site. I have not completed the cowling yet. We had to move the whole production a few weeks ago to allow for space for assembly. We're at the airport now so taxi and flight testing is hopefully not too far away. What do they say, 90% done only 90% to go:) I'll let you know as soon as I get the weight and balance numbers. Pictures to follow.

The FWF kit that comes from Viking includes the 701 cowling. The new cowling from ICP will not work. I'm using the 701 cowling but I haven't started that yet. I have layed the top 701 cowling on the installed engine and it looks like it's going to work well. The ICP cowling is wide enough but not tall enough.

Hey Eighty,Thanks I did a lot of research to make sure about this before i bought the viking. As it turns out the Savannah fire wall is exactly the same as the 701 as far as the engine mount points are concerned. So I bought the 701 FWF kit from Jon at Viking. Everything has bolted up nicely with the "normal" amount of wrenching. I did beef up the engine mount Jon sent me by adding some steel angle to the bottom.