PROJECTS

Robert "Bob" Smiley

Information on the Lancair by Bob Smiley : (The Complete Story)

The plane was purchased, partially built, from a John Salvini from the LA basin area.  He determined that it was the wrong time in his life cycle to take on such a project after putting in about 1,500 hours of very meticulous workmanship (10+) into the airframe.  His loss was my gain. We transported it up to Kingston in 1994, Dec 30. For the next six years, the plane took shape in Kingston Mini Storage, and I added another 4,500 hours to complete the job. 

Many people ask the universal question, "Did you build it yourself?"  The answer is always no. I had about 40 hours assistance on the instrument panel interconnecting the autopilot GPS functions.  I assisted in the upholstery, the engine was overhauled and assembled by a reputable shop, and I put in two hours for every hour shop time in the paint shop.

The engine has been recently modified. It is now a hopped up 360 Lycoming with 10.5 to 1 pistons, modified camshaft and retimed cam gear drive, the heads are flowed, dual electronic ignition and forward sump fuel injection. A new MT scimitar prop has been installed. These mods should add about 800 feet per minute in climb rate to about 2,800 fpm and about 10 knots true airspeed to over 200 knots. The first test flights on this fresh engine will occur this week or next week (Nov 16-26) The engine runs quite smooth with no perceptible vibration as compared to other 4 bangers because the engine is counterweighted, three blade composite wood prop which is 20 lbs lighter than a two blade aluminum Hartzell, flowed heads, and internal parts were matched.  

After break-in, I will do a power fuel flow test and order a set of custom injectors to balance the fuel flow. That should provide some fuel cost savings and further smooth out the engine run. I cannot say enough about the electronic ignition. Starts are amazingly smooth and dependable, and the engine idles like a car engine with very smooth running characteristics. It is a great flyer, especially around 12,500-14,500 msl. It has 329 tach hours on it. The plane received a workmanship award at the EAA Arlington fly in 2002.  

The instrument panel was designed and constructed just prior to the full glass cockpit toys.  IFR capable with two axis A/P, King stack, HSI, Air Traffic Detector ( Which saved my bacon 125 miles in the desert en route to Farmington NM; Center was asleep at the scope), automatic fuel management system, Rocky Mountain Instruments Micro Encoder, (great instrument), Boze headsets, Mountain High O2 system (portable) and a bunch more toys. I guess you could call this a fully loaded cross country traveler. Basic empty weight, including fire extinguisher and tow bar, is 1223 lbs. 53 gallons fuel with 52 useable in five fuel tanks. Gets 29 mpg. at 230 mph.

Flying times from destinations to Bremerton in a single day are as follows:

• Salt Lake City to PWT 3.25 hrs

• Sacramento, CA 3.5 hrs

• Wichita, KS 8 hrs

• Tucson, AZ 8 hrs

• Carlsbad, NM 8 hrs

• Houston, TX 8.5 hrs (had to circle a T-storm cell)

Other custom features added to the plane are:

• Removable co-pilot stick to allow full body access to the passenger firewall and under the header tank for service requirements and passenger comfort;

• Shoulder harnesses supported from the overhead instead of the aft firewall;

• Rear cabin air from a NACA duct installed in the vertical stab. The bubble canopy gets quite warm in AZ on a hot summer day;

Fully automatic fuel management system which keeps the bottom half of the header tank full at all times and cycles every 30 minutes, fuel level dependent to fill up the top half of the header tank. There is fuel pump redundancy and sharing between the four wing fuel tanks and the header tank with the three fuel pumps. There is capability to move fuel between the wing tanks, dump fuel overboard from the wing tips in an emergency, and provide 30 minute reserve in the header tank if the system fails.

All additional upgrades provided by Lancair during the full 360 market cycle including the larger horizontal stab for additional slow flight and landing stability, as well as the outback gear which are larger and provide smoother ground operations and the oil shocks replacing the Mooney style doughnuts.  This greatly helps smooth out the landing touchdowns.

The interior is black leather with grey "is it leather" in a simple yet elegant design to present a quiet sophisticated and comfortable experience.  The paint scheme had the following program criteria:  Bring the inside colors to the outside;  No straight lines; AND enhance the form of the plane.

The plane flies perfectly true with no added trim tabs. Center ball, feet on the floor up to 30-degree banked turns. Stability tests were equally timed from left to right banked turns at 30 to 0 degrees and from 45 to 60 degrees.

Aviation has been an interest since childhood with model airplanes from about 1952, age ten through about 57, and sporadically picked up throughout the rest of my life.  Models became important again with two sons circa 1975-78 and then private pilot training began in 1992.  Planes flown are the usual breed of Cessna from the 150s, 172s, Cardinals, 182s and the Piper PA series.  Complex training was in the V35 Bonanza preparatory to jumping into the Lancair.  Nothing really prepares you to fly a Lancair.  They are different. Much faster, heavier wing loading (26 lbs). So it is quite important to fly to the ground. Interesting enough, the best glide speed is 104 knots (120) mph. but it does have a 7 to 1 glide slope (same as most Cessnas). You just get there twice as fast. I have about 720 hours tach time to my flying career with over half in the Lancair.

I carry my model airplanes to contests around the western US, compete in control-line precision aerobatics events and return home to Kingston after the contest.  Trips are a good experience in the Lancair. It is quite stable, not as bumpy as lighter wing loaded planes, and the visibility is of course fantastic.

A few memorable experiences are:

• Landing at Tonapa, AZ amidst a Top Gun-type competition with F4s, Tomcats, Eagles and other similar type aircraft from the National Guard, Navy, Air Force and Marines. They were doing aircraft landings, bombing runs, strafing runs, etc. What was exciting about it was that I got to the airport just before it was closed to traffic. (I was low on fuel) I got fueled up and was cycled into a group of about 15 Warbirds just like a regular military operation.  A great Walter Middy experience.

• Flying into Jackson Hole, Wyoming over the Tetons.  Winds were 27 knots. Very bumpy over the mountains, so I stayed high, turned north and started descent. Traveled many miles north to lose altitude away from the range. Turning 180 degrees south, I had about a 15-mile approach. Direct side wind component of 24-28 knots and held it true all the way down and greased the landing. Luck?  Probably, but the Lancair held it.

• The photograph was taken at Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah military air show in 2000. The Lancair was parked across from the F117 Nighthawk Stealth fighter bomber. Over 250,000 people attended the show and we were one of three experimental aircraft on display.

• Engine failure on take off (70 ft agl) and gear-up emergency landing at the very end of the runway.

• Taking a close aviation friend who was terminally ill with cancer on the last flight of his life two days before his passing. It was a beautiful sunny fall day with fluffy clouds surrounding Mt Baker and the Cascades and beautiful unusual colors. A warm and memorable experience.

Advice to other builders?  Take all the time it requires to do the best job you can.  Go on to the next step only when you are satisfied. There is nothing else I know of where you can receive so much satisfaction in knowing you have done a good job on a project. The building, planning, construction and caring for a fine flying machine has been the most rewarding project in my life. Now it is a pleasure to fly around the western half of the US, looking at the beautiful land we live in, enjoying the scenery and having the satisfaction, knowing that you built the machine you are flying in.  I can think of no better experience than that.