Checking my log book I see that I flew 174 hours in the Sluka but that was about 10 years ago and now I have to start learning all over again. Fortunately this was a good weekend to start. Over the last 3 days I did some basic calibration. For example, climbing to 1,000 ft takes about 2.5 minutes at 6,100 rpm and 45 knots with a full tank. Then cruising at 50 knots requires 5,000 rpm while crusing at 55 knots takes 5,250 rpm. These are neither fast nor economic but it's what Sluka's do.
Then I calibrated the air speed indicator. I picked up the BMAA ASI Calibration sheets from the technical section of the web site. There are two Type Acceptance Data Sheets, 043 and 043a, which can be found at http://tinyurl.com/4w9odj . There is also a useful spreadsheet at http://www.challengers101.com/Downloads.html . I then flew the square, heading north, east, south and west at 45, 50 and 55 knots on the ASI and recording the GPS speed. Finally I did a few landings in different directions on different runways from 1,000 feet with the throttle shut. They all went well but I'm not ready to switch off the engine yet. I then flew around Canons Ashby and took a few photos in the evening light. The picture here compares well with the shot from Google Earth
Back at home I filled in the spreadsheets and was pleased to find that my ASI was reading 98% true, although this was without calibration for temperature and pressure. Te be frank, the temperature being about 15 degrees C and flying at 1,500 above sea level I suspect the difference will be less significant that the errots in trying to read my ASI!
The next trick will be to record my fuel consumption. Nice to be flying again, snatching an hour here and 30 minutes there. My aim is to try and improve my knowledge of the Sluka's performance (and mine) every time I fly. I like that because is give purpose to my enjoyment!
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