N371EM is Flying

[mhcrowder]

After 9 long years of building, my build partner and I have a flying airplane. When we started our project we talked with Troy about making a good cruising Highlander. We opted for Nose gear for cheaper insurance. Troy recommended various options from leading edge wrap to Grove landing gear. He also recommended enclosing the gear to reduce drag. We also decided on using the Rotax 912iS Sport engine even though it added weight. We came in a little heavy at 825lbs empty with the CG at 10.85 inches. We did add Steve Henry's leading edge cuff and SpeedSTOL VGs. We are progressing though our Phase 1 flight testing now, but we're thrilled with the performance so far. We had hoped for a good 100mph cruise and it looks like we are going to exceed that. We're using a eProp Durandal 3 bladed prop, and we've pitched it for about 5500 RPM WOT. We're still early in our testing but we're thrilled with how it's performing.

Items of note:
Nosegear
Rotax 912iS Sport Fuel Injected Engine
Grove Landing Gear
Garmin Avionics
Steve Henry Leading Edge Cuff
Steve Dentz Molded Windscreen
SpeedSTOL VGs on Wing and Horiz Stabilizer
Replaced Foam in Seats with Green/Blue/Pink Memory Foam stackup
EarthX Lithium Battery

Michael Crowder
Ed Bodette

N371EM_1080p.jpg

[mhcrowder]

Photos

DAR_Inspection.jpg

FirstFlight.jpg

FirstFlight2.jpg

TaxiBack.jpg

Left_InstrumentPanel.jpg

Right_InstrumentPanel.jpg

TowBar.jpg

[kenryan]

Congratulations. Good job of sticking with it.

[Tralika]

Congratulations Michael and Ed. Nice looking plane. Have fun, you earned it!

[danerazz]

Nice job!

I bet it feels like you really accomplished something great…

…because you have! As many people who build a plane and actually fly it, it’s not really that many.

[gkremers]

Congrats on getting her in the air!!

[BucF16]

Outstanding Gents! I've very much enjoyed following your progress through your build Log.