Earthstar Forums

My eGull is flying! Mark had an opening in his very busy schedule and drove
up in his Insight. Arrived Sunday evening last week just in time for
(vegan!) dinner, and we went out to Twin Oaks for what I thought would be
an airworthiness inspection, but he saw no issues and took the Quark up for
it's first flight. We had fairly strong wind, and it was eerie to see him
over the field throttled back in the headwind, standing absolutely still,
like a helicopter. I was worried he might have a tough time landing on the
rather narrow runway, but he greased it.

Next day, we tightened the elevator cables a bit, adjusted the trim range,
and - with a fresh charge, Mark flew the Quark over to McMinnville, where
the runways are wide and long. After a few laps around the airport, I
caught up by car, and we worked on calibrating the Cycle Analyst (to show
the energy flow correctly). Then it was time for me to do some fast taxi
testing on one of the taxi ways. It took some time to get used to the
interaction between rudder / nosewheel, brakes, and elevator, but
eventually, I went to the spare runway and did some crow hops until the
battery ran low enough to prevent full "throttle". I had done enough
transition training for Mark's sign-off in my logbook, and I am now on my
liability insurance with First Flight as authorized pilot.

The folks at the MMV FBO were really helpful providing a spot in one of the
large hangars close to an outlet and we recharged the battery overnight.

Next morning, we drove back to MMV and Mark flew the Quark back to Twin
Oaks. He says it flies perfectly, hands-off, with just a very slight
tendency to turn right. Then he got back into his car for the long drive
back south (with car problems, sorry to say).

I have since taken care of a few squawks, like a little too much play on
the nose wheel and one of the mains axles, a rattle from the cowl, and a
strobe that had come unglued from its base. But I cannot seem to get my
radio to transmit (FlightLine FL-760). This is keeping me grounded for now
- the pattern at Twin Oaks is pretty busy, especially when the weather is
good, and I don't want to compromise safety just because I am impatient.
I'll start another thread explaining the radio problems and asking for help.

Neat; why do Gulls have a 3"+ gap between the panel top and the windshield?

was wondering how a panel with the top flush with the lexan, as a silverback mirror coating would look aesthetically; like a bit of a flying mirror reflecting rays at times

rc

Neat; why do Gulls have a 3"+ gap between the panel top and the windshield?

was wondering how a panel with the top flush with the lexan, as a silverback mirror coating would look aesthetically; like a bit of a flying mirror reflecting rays at times

rc

One of the things that attracted me to the Gull was the amazing view out
the windows. The panel and glare shield are shaped to not interfere with
the view down over the nose. And the glare shield (as the name suggests) is
kept flat black to cut down on reflections.

Mark's design philosophy has always been to optimize flying qualities AND
ergonomics - all in the pursuit of "flying like a bird" and "happy flying",
as his tag line says. The eGull makes another huge step in that direction
with the quiet, vibration-free, easy to manage electric power train.

all true, everything about the eGull. Just wondering the glare shield would absorb heat in hot climes, attracts dust, with quite a few cubic inches of empty space that one could maybe leave a map or jacket on. Maybe it can be done with larger fonts with the panel further out, lower and flush with the lexan, a larger flatter horizontal hood, without sacrificing visibility with a little lean forward by the pilot. guess will figure out after sitting in one.

Congratulations on your completion and flight certification. Was your heart
thumping when Mark left the ground? What was your first flight like?

It looked easy when Mark took off. I don't think he made a max rate
climb-out (in an untested airplane), but the climb angle was still
impressive.

I made a few changes since, while waiting for good weather (no wind), and
could not get my panel-mounted radio to work yet. Rather than run out of
good flying weather this season, I bought a handheld radio. So, finally,
yesterday the stars were aligned and I took the Quark up for my first real
flight. After 20 minutes of getting a feel for it, I came in for a landing.
Knowing that the nosewheel steering and brakes would be difficult to manage
at high speed, I came in fairly slow and ran out of airspeed at 4 ft over
the runway, but the plane took it well and roll-out was uneventful and
short. I was probably too concerned about the variable crosswind and wanted
to get on the ground before getting blown off the centerline. Next time,
I'll carry a little more speed. Also, my instruments are not well
calibrated yet, so I went more by feel.

I did not think I had another take-off in the battery, and the wind had
started to pick up, so I stayed on the ground.

I took the nose cover off and improved the way my 14 lb of ballast is
secured (it had shifted during the landing). I also installed a 12- hour
timer parallel to the "ignition" switch, since power needs to stay on
during charging, and I did not want to leave power on (and the key in) for
days in case I did not make it back to the field the next day.

I'm still on an adrenaline high (tough to focus on work!), but my first
impressions were,
1. rather squirrely (compared to Cessna 150 / yoke)
2. louder than I had expected during anything more than cruise power, but
amazingly quiet when throttled back to 6 or 7kW. Noise is mainly from
rattles - balancing the prop a bit better may help.
3. no wing drop and very little altitude loss during stall in landing
configuration
4. have to learn how to make flap adjustments without banging my head, but
once disengaged, forces on the handle are easy to apply and modulate
5. amazing visibility!

I need to spend more time learning and calibrating the EFIS. And - at least
for now - I'll use my headset with the handheld - with all there is to
learn, it is easy to get distracted and ignore incoming calls from the
handheld's speaker.

Most of you are used to flying low-wing loading planes - I still have to
get comfortable with flying like a butterfly.

Sounds like an unforgettable thrill.
I'd love to be able to hear rattles in my plane. All I can hear is engine
and prop noise.

come now :), squirrels pack a lot of power, especially the mandibles. rescued one with a towel some years ago, trapped in a backyard of a vacant house behind ours, with hi walls. nearly got bit without drawing blood, after eats&drinks, while giving her a medicated bath, a couple days later..

would love to able to read about your experience with the eyes, ears and hands coordination during an active phase in flight, for a few minutes. It's alright if the text gets a bit lengthy

which component needs to kept powered on during charging, other than the charger and wires leading to battery? does the battery pack have a battery management system that draws power from the avionics bus?

rc

So Martin, what is your true take-off weight? My 20’ wing Gull has right at 700 lbs with full fuel, and at 95 square feet of wing it’s about 7 lbs/square ft which makes the plane not as kitey as lighter wing loading. A C-150 is 159 square feet and 1600 lbs giving it about 10 lbs/ square ft. With your 28’ wing and lighter take-off weight I suspect the bumps and gusts are more noticeable. What I’ve learned about our hershey bar wing is that you have to carry speed all the way down to a few feet, as they develop a high sink rate rapidly and you have to push the nose down more. I still love the way these things fly, even if mine is a bit chunky its really solid in flight and hands-off flight is a cinch.