Panther Sport Aircraft Forums

Mama Panther is definitely doing the happy dance! Congratulations - Tony! So happy for you, from all of us at SPA!

Closing in on 15 hours. The more I fly it, the more I like it!

Rotec issues resolved. Back to sucking outside air.

Sometimes I have the landing thing figured out, and sometimes I don't. But I'm getting there. Grass is easy, but it's time to go take a crack at asphalt.

Spins and loops today. Easy in and out of 1 and 2 turn spins. Next time the cowl is off the engine compartment ballast will be reduced from 58 to 33 lbs. Hit my wake on the first loop. Luck trumps skill again.

It would sure be more fun if the heat index weren't 105.

Tony

Good flying, Lots of luck, Tony!

Awesome! Thanks for the update!

7.1 hours now, and a few new numbers to pass along.

Climb after takeoff is 1700'/min at 90 mph at 1020 lbs. Temp high 80's.

Cruise at 2850 rpm is 150 mph true at 5.7 gph at 3000'. Higher will be better.

NACA vent under left cheek cowl extension will blow the white off rice at cruise speed.

Rolls left and right at 150 indicated are 4 seconds.

Throttle to idle, full flaps, back pressure until it stalls. Freeze the stick. Nose just nods up and down as it gains/looses speed. Never a wing drop. Forgot to look at VSI.

Full right rudder/full flaps and 70 mph on final resulted in a 900'/min rate of descent. Didn't try left rudder because I didn't want to block the fresh air vent.

Not much vis straight ahead in the flare. If that's a must have, best to get a Cessna 150.

The airplane is a hoot to fly and flies really nice! Most likely because it's considerably lighter than it's Lycoming powered brothers

Tony

Ken,

The Panther is #4, plus an RV-4 rebuild.

The numbers I've posted are all there is for now. Climb and cruise numbers forthcoming.

Engine will most likely move forward around 6". Rumor is there will be a Jab powered Panther with the new engine mount and cowl on display in the Jab booth at Oshkosh.

The last thing you'll want to do with a Jab is add excess weight to the tail, so don't do anything that will do that. As with all taildraggers, it will help to build the canopy as tall as possible and sit as high as possible in the seat. Vis over the nose in a Panther isn't an issue. If it becomes one, that's what those footrests on the floor are for.

Tony

Hi Tony,

Congratulations on build #3 or is it #4?

Thanks for taking the time to document your work, it is very helpful.

I have a few questions....

What air speed do you see at 2850-2950 RPM?

How much further forward will the engine have to move to improve the C of G (to remove the lead)? I'm guessing +6". The conventional gear, taxing view over the nose may be affected if everything else stays the same. With that in mind, one of the best modifications I made to my Sonex was up sizing the tail wheel to a 5" wheel and changing the angle of the trailing arms. I hope that the Panther/Jab 3300 engine move forward allows for a slightly larger tail wheel.

My Panther project is coming along slowly, I have the aft fuselage completed and I'm hoping to get time to finish the tail this summer. I also have a Jab 3300 for my Panther. I'm planning to stick with the Bing carburetor and more or less repeat the Sonex installation design.

The Ottawa, Sonex flyers are planning a trip out west, up to Alaska this summer so I've been busy installing an auxiliary gas tank (finished yesterday) and a new EFIS.

Ken

Panther S/N 3.....

The airplane now has a couple hours on it. Up until yesterday I had been fighting low fuel flows and high egt's. For now, that issue appears to be resolved. Apparently the Rotec TB wasn't happy with my induction setup. At a later date I'll figure out why. For now, it has an air cleaner stuck on the TB inlet. Using engine compartment air isn't the best way to go, but it sure is trouble-free.

The Panther handles nice. Light on the controls and no heavy wing. It's nice when all the wing twists cancel each other out! Full down trim is required at top speed, so I'm guessing that at some point the HS leading edge will need to be shimmed up. Trim in the pattern is in the middle, with light stick forces.

Whirlwind ground adjustable prop is set at 19 degrees pitch. WOT is 3330 rpm, which is close enough to the target of 3300 that I'll not mess with it. At that rpm, TAS is 180 mph at 10.7 gph.

Clean approach to stall at 1090 lbs is 58 mph IAS and 55 with full flaps. No clue how accurate the airspeed system is.

APRS is working, but need to be higher for repeatable hits with ground stations.

http://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FN139T&timeran ... &tail=3600

More later.

Tony