What comes after a DA40?

[rwtucker]

Thanks for the PIREP Antoine. It sounds like you have acquired a diamond of another kind. I hope you will continue to keep us posted.

[Colin]

Antoine,

If you look at the dashboard of a Saab from the mid 1980s (and many early and a few later) you will see the section of the dash with the environmental controls is tipped toward the driver, so that their fingertips, which follow an arc with the center point at their shoulder) are always equidistant along that surface.

As long as you are making a new panel, if you have the 750 in there you might want to tip it out 5% or so. (Some Twin Bonanza's had a sub-panel that was titled toward the pilot like this.)

[Antoine]

Thanks guys.
Colin, you just lost a friend. My navigator (aka girlfriend) wants me to call you Mr Summers from now on for coming up with the idea of turning HER tools away from her

And I love the old Saabs!

[Erik]

Hi Antoine, Sounds like quite a machine. The EA400 looks like a real lesser known find. Super!

You forgot to say the time to climb in your reported data.

Also - really? 185IAS at 4500ft....so about 197TAS? That is VERY fast down low.

[Colin]

I had no idea you had a navigator on board. I think the Navigator's tools should be turned toward the right seat, then. That way you won't be alarmed by what you are steering toward.

[Jean]

Hello Antoine,
Made a night flight to Antwerpen last week (see report 9177,9178).
Had a thought about your new bird while taxiing along the hangars !
Thanks for your piprep. Eager to read the next episode !

[Antoine]

Hi everyone. Thanks for your nice words.

Erik: lol don't take my numbers too seriously. G1000 guy trying to read steam gauges!!!
I THINK it was 185, but I also THINK we were level and I am CERTAIN I was hand flying...
And we were on max continuous power - 37.5 inches and 2500 RPM.
I checked: the POH number is 195 KTAS so it is not out of the question, but honestly...
We didn't climb high enough to report time to climb. I'm told cruise climb is 800 ft/min.

Colin: lol!

[Erik]

Ooooh - at 37.5 25000 that's a very high power setting. I don't know about your engine, but mine that is ~95% power - too high for cruise but yeah it sounds very plausible that you were doing 185IAS~197TAS at that setting at that altitude - especially with that super smooth carbon skinned body. My 100% setting is 38'' 2650 (downgraded from 38'' 2700 in other installations of the same engine). And "cruise climb" is 35'' 2500 called 88% which is the highest I generally run it sustained and only in climb just for durability reasons. I try to keep her 31'' or 30'' at most generally for sustained cruise for durability. But they say - if its cooler then 380CHT then you are probably in the ballpark - but I wonder what that means for your liquid cooled engine.

BTW, rocket engineering made exactly 5 of a "liquid cooled rocket" which was a conversion of the failed mooney porche engine collaboration - the mooney pfm. Porsche and Mooney just couldn't get their acts together to make the porche engine work properly in the aviation setting. Anyway, rocket engineering came a long with an stc for a tsio550L (liquid cooled just like yours) conversion. I have read it was rated either at 335hp or 350hp. I have read that this airplane is significantly faster than my mooney m20k rocket conversion with the 305hp tsio520nb from the cessna 340. Anyway I have read that it has a top speed of 260TAS and can cruise at 240 - so fast that they even strengthened the airframe by adding gussets at all leading edge joins between wings and fuselage (which are chromoly steel tup frames so the gussets are added to the tubular frame - a lot of work).

ANyway, one of these rare liquid rockets mooneys is for sale right now (I don't know anything about it)- http://www.aso.com/listings/spec/ViewAd ... &dealerid=

and I believe it shares the same engine as you EA400 Antoine. I always admired that engine - very cool - a bit more modern than most of our air cooled beasts.

[Antoine]

Sitting on my island and enjoying El Nino weather I thought I would try to do a few paint schemes for the Extra 400 . This is the starting point. The aircraft looks like it could be the illegitimate child of a tuna and an albatros.

And here's my favorite design so far. if possible, I'd like to strip the lower part if the fuselage right to the carbon skin and then just put a clear coat of lacquer on it. It will save weight and probably look quite nice.

I am aware of the risk of being the proud owner one of a total of 28 Extra 400... But this thing is like a dream come true in the certified world. Dreams are worth some risk taking to me!

[greg]

I am aware of the risk of being the proud owner one of a total of 28 Extra 400...

Antoine, make sure that you include an extra 15 minutes in your flight plan time for "showing off your plane to anyone else on the airfield" - an extra cost for having a unique aeroplane. Even after two years of owning my DA40, I'm still getting other pilots wanting to have a look at her.