Sierra 100 Kit Build Underway

[Camel]

WOW, they must be a really hard aircraft to fly when even the manufacturer expects an accident in 3 out of 4 first flights !Seriously, how can you expect to sell any with this sort of claim ?

The Morgan Sierra and the Cougar are great aircraft to fly, I have over 60 hours in them and like them very much, the characteristic i.e High cruise speed, low stall speed and great handling makes them an easy and safe plane to fly, I'm sure any first flight in any home built is dangerous as I'm sure anyone knowledgeable in aviation would be aware of.

 

The Morgans have castoring nose wheel and is difficult for some pilots and students to master, also with any aircraft with fuselage tank the weight and balance is very critical.

 

The Morgan aircraft are safe, strong and great handling.

 

 

[Garry Morgan]

Its not our aircraft ,pilots that come for training on type, just are not current enough to fly, and as for test flying after you have built is just asking for trouble, you are also very nervous up tight and maybe not having the right airfield to do test flying. I was asked to do 25hrs in a month to test fly an aircraft when i am already current. sound a bit much .I think not, there is so much going on to check when doing a fast taxi run to feel the aircraft what it wants to do , most people are holding the stick far to tight not allowing the aircraft to talk to them.And a lot of people just think they are just seeing how it fly s this is just doing it all wrong. One pilot through he was 2-3 feet off the ground when his mate told him he was 10-12 feet of the ground on the first t/o and stalled. yea he needed a new nose leg ,but what else can one expect. most people don't realise how much experience is needed.

 

 

[kgwilson]

My Sierra is now in its final finished form. Now it needs a Rego & complete check over & torquing of all nuts & bolts etc before engine start, final inspection & fitting of wheel spats. Then it is test flight time. This is it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest asmol]

Looking Good !

 

Is that the trim wheel between the seats on the arm rest ?

 

Its got to be really hard on your arm and then how do you adjust the trim with one hand on the stick ?

 

Maybe its electric and moves by itself - i dont know. All your shots have the nosewheel facing backwards and it looks funny, better remember to turn it the right way before the BIG photoshoot before first flight !

 

 

[kgwilson]

It is the trim wheel & it is manual. I trim hands off but it is in easy reach of my left hand if necessary. It might be hard for a fatty with a huge gut but that isn't me. It trims the whole stabilator so is sensitive & doesn't need a lot. The stabilator is fully mass balanced. The nosewheel is castoring & I didn't kick it around when taking the photos. It is always the wrong way when I winch the plane into the hangar. It has to go up hill as the floor is much higher than the surrounding area which floods.

 

 

[Virago]

Hi Kevin, Looking fantastic and will be watching eagerly for your first flight reports. Sadly, mine hasn't been touched since my domestic situation changed nearly a year ago but I now have my house on the market and looking for a smaller place with a large shed. Saw one today that excites me ... just have to get a nibble at my present house!

 

 

[graham brown]

Looks Great Kevin. I like the Blue and White. Have you run the motor yet? I will be starting mine this week. I have had the Daughter here and the grandkids come first of course. They have gone to Adelaide for a week so I will make the most of it. I will apply for the rego this week too. Won't be too long before we get in the air.

 

Graham

 

 

[kgwilson]

Looks Great Kevin. I like the Blue and White. Have you run the motor yet? I will be starting mine this week. I have had the Daughter here and the grandkids come first of course. They have gone to Adelaide for a week so I will make the most of it. I will apply for the rego this week too. Won't be too long before we get in the air.Graham

No I haven't started the engine yet. I picked up some Aeroshell 100 run in oil from Archerfield the other day as no-one had any around here. The price of Aviation oil has ridiculous mark ups by resellers. The pilot shop there wanted $19.00 a quart but buying it from Shell on the Airfield cost $7.38 a quart. Go figure.

 

 

[jpreou]

My Sierra is now in its final finished form. Now it needs a Rego & complete check over & torquing of all nuts & bolts etc before engine start, final inspection & fitting of wheel spats. Then it is test flight time. This is it.

Nice. I still haven't ruled in or out the Morgan. It's neck and neck with the RV-12 for a future build though; once I've had stick time, that is, to confirm I actually like/want/need the flying qualities.

 

I'm also considering 'upgrading' my NZ M/L license to an RPL and going down the RV-7 path; I like the idea of a higher cruise speed to I can 'go places'.

 

In any case, looking forward to seeing your first flight and subsequent 'flying reports' in here.

 

Cheers

 

 

[Garry Morgan]

Hi Kev Good to see it painted, it looks great it wont be long now

 

 

[kgwilson]

Now ready for the final inspection.

 

 

 

[magishme]

Awesome Kev, can we have some inside shots?

 

 

[kgwilson]

Awesome Kev, can we have some inside shots?

See post 103. Here is the panel. The centre blank space is reserved for a removable tablet with navigation software (Avplan, Oz runways, Easy VFR). I haven't decided on which yet. When this photo was taken a few touch ups were required as well as some wiring tidied up. The switch on the left is for the Flaps & this is on the side of the throttle housing. The carb heat is below the throttle so these are in easy reach with my left hand while the right is on the stick.

 

 

[eightyknots]

See post 103. Here is the panel. The centre blank space is reserved for a removable tablet with navigation software (Avplan, Oz runways, Easy VFR). I haven't decided on which yet. When this photo was taken a few touch ups were required as well as some wiring tidied up. The switch on the left is for the Flaps & this is on the side of the throttle housing. The carb heat is below the throttle so these are in easy reach with my left hand while the right is on the stick.[ATTACH=full]39508[/ATTACH]

Very nice.

 

 

[kgwilson]

Well I can't place you Sig Sid but the Sierra is close to flying. I went to Taree & did 8 hours in Garrys Sierra in late November & then the silly family season hit. It has been off the ground for short hops. It took me from January till late April to get the RAA conversion completed with the FTF so busy that when a session was cancelled due to weather the next session was a week or 2 away. Anyway that is complete but I have had a bunch of other issues (nothing to do with the plane) to deal with so it's been on the back burner for a while. Hopefully I'll get back to the test flight in July.

 

I've had some radio interference noise to deal with and a miniscule leak in a wing tank to fix. That was really hard to find. I took the wing off (only a 10 minute job) but had to remove the lower rear inboard skin. Filled the tank & there were no leaks. It took ages for the leak to start & before I could pinpoint it the bottom of the tank was damp. Eventually found it with some talc on the bottom as it spread out & I marked it with a texter & glassed it with vinyl ester & woven cloth. Refilled the tank with 35 litres (full to the top) & left it for 2 days. No leaks. The lesson there was test a tank with fuel & not compressed air & soapy water as I did because that method didn't show the leak before the tank was installed.

 

 

[kgwilson]

My Sierra fly's beautifully with no vices. The first flight was uneventful and even though it was an unstable day with plenty of bumps all went well though the landing left a bit to be desired. Fly's hands off straight so no need for any trim tabs. The 4 degrees of offset which looks horrible when the cowl is off means the rudder is hardly used & not at all on takeoff. Climb out with just me on board is around 1300 fpm at 80 knots. I have only had one minor issue & that was not being able to raise the flaps after I'd put a bit of araldite on the up limit micro switch tang which was prone to coming loose & had come off a couple of times. It tested OK but after leaving it for a day or so it stuck on. Easily fixed & good now. Still flying off the 25 test hours.

 

 

[graham brown]

Terrific Kevin sounds really good. I got board with the 25 hours as not much went wrong. Had to 5, 10, 15 hour tightening of cylinder heads and checking of tappits. Undercarriage bolts also needed tightening after a few landings. I also lowered the nose a bit to help with landings on the mains and giving a little clearance for the nose wheel. Since then the the landings are a breeze. Enjoy and we will come up and see you soon.

 

Graham

 

 

[Guy s]

Flew down to S grafton yesterday for a lazy flight only to have met kev for the first time in unfortunate circumstances and helped him out with his beautiful looking Morgan, folded nose leg but everything else looked ok.

 

 

[microman]

I have already pointed out on this forum the shortcomings of the Sierra - and the earlier model - in terms of the weak noseleg and the difficulty pilots have experienced in flaring due to the main gear being too far back - we have modded two of them here to fix these problems, and although Gary Morgan continues to deny that there are issues which need to be addressed, the evidence is there - as noted above. Despite that, as I have said, the Sierra is a fine aircraft with excellent performance.

 

Interesting that Graham Brown (Post #121) has shortened the nosewheel to fix the problem. Somehow I dont think that will be a permanent fix.

 

 

[graham brown]

Mine has front suspension and was nose high on the ground so it needed to be shortened to take it back to where it suppose to be. Best to get the mains on first and then a bit of back stick left to keep the nose up. I was finding the nose wheel was touching shortly after the mains with a lot of back stick and I wanted a bit more. Has not been an issue since. Landings have been on both sealed and unsealed runways. I have nearly 30 hours in it now.

 

From my weight and balance my Sierra has 24% on the nose wheel. The passengers weight will reduce this and the fuel weight will increase it. I don't there is a great problem with this distribution. More to do with landing technique I suspect. I''m use to tail draggers so I don't like the nose going down!

 

Kev's problem was a soft wet (muddy) runway I hear.

 

 

[skeptic36]

Sigmet, I can't decide whether you are a tactless, inconsiderate, thoughtless friend, or an a55 hole trying to take the pi55.

 

I hope it's the former.

 

Maybe it's time to shut up and let Kev deal with it in his own time and his own way.....

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Your old pal, SIGMET.Sid.

Even a minor incident can be scary, upsetting and heartbreaking that none of us would wish on someone, even a forum nemesis (if there's history there), so just slow down a bit thanks.

 

 

[colred]

Kev, Kev, where are you? Are you ok? You are known to be a voracious reporter of all things aeronautical on this forum, yet now you are deadly silent. Why? Don't let it get you down. Take heart and remember the old saying "Any one you walk away from is a good one"! When I flew in to Wings & Wheels I noticed the runway was solid bitumen with an extension of grass/gravel underlay and no soft wet muddy patches anywhere. You guys have got the best of the best! Witnesses said on social media that you landed too fast and too far up the runway, on the nose wheel, and bunny hopped along like a flying wheelbarrow. That couldn't be true, could it? If so, your pride and joy must be some beast to land. Thinking of you in this current mess. Go buy a big bucket of Araldite and glue the thing firmly to terra firms before it turns you into a statistic. Your old pal, SIGMET.Sid.

Sigmet,Noted that you visted our latest Wings and Wheels day.I hope you enjoyed your day out and your flight to south Grafton.As the meet and greet person I was wondering which aircraft you were flying.I have good photos of all the aircraft and thought you might like one forwarded to you.Do you have any suggestions on how we might improve the day for next year.Col.

 

 

[Camel]

I was at wings and wheels at Sth Grafton and enjoyed it, it was perfect,

[kgwilson]

I thank skeptic36 and bexrbetter for pointing out to me the error of my ways, however Kev and I go back a long way - in fact to the days of us both hang gliding and being active at Waikato Aero Club. My comments were only intended as friendly banter between two old mates, and for this I apologise. Kev may be out of the air for some considerable time, as I have heard his damage could be quite significant. Sadly, this precludes any aerial combat and seeing whose aircraft flies fastest thru the Kilmore Gap Will it be the plastic fantastic or the Sierra 100 with the bigger than big donk up front?To colred I would say that the only person to "meet and greet" me at Wings & Wheels was an elderly gent on a red quad bike who told me to park at the end of the taxiway near the runway. It was a long walk to the clubhouse, and when I got there I noticed an old bloke sitting alone and moaning and groaning that he was feeling the day to be too much for him. I asked someone who he was and if he was waiting for Old Nick to come and get him. They said he was the official "meet and greet" person!

 

You ask for my suggestions for the next Wings & Wheels - fire the "meeter and greeter" and bring on some topless barmaids with a tray of cold ones instead!

 

Looking forward to the next Wings & Wheels!

 

SIGMET.Sid

When a person declares another as a "Mate" one would expect that the two are known to each other. You have failed to identify yourself even after I queried this in post 117. Your latest posts are full of inaccuracies and innuendo with a smattering of sarcasm thrown in. I have a fair idea who you are and it is not who you say. The term "Internet Troll" comes to mind. You are on my Ignore list.