If you don't see them posted on our site yet, you can always look on www.youtube.com under turbine toucan or www.airshowbuzz.com, under new videos.
We'll start doing some high end video production soon, this is just to give you an idea what we're up to.
[ add comment ] | permalink | related link
OK, the bird's not sick but it isn't happy either. We've spent several weeks trying to isolate an issue we are having with the FCU (Fuel Control Unit). On Wednesday, we finally were able to troubleshoot our issue, and it turns out the FCU is not happy.
We immediately connected with the manufacture and we have another unit coming next week. So, it’s another one of those hurry up and wait games. We are very grateful that this issue was happening when it did, and not in the air! So, other then the passing of more time, it is no big deal.
These are expected issues when you build something of this nature, growing pains are just part of the process.
We were hoping to start doing some air-to-air photography this weekend but I think we'll have to wait until the new FCU is in and fully tested both on the ground and in the air.
Well, that's the latest.
[ add comment ] | permalink | related link
After a great deal of requests, we are now starting to generate a portfolio of artwork for a series of T-shirts, hats and general apparel. This will be a great way to help support the Turbine Toucan Team (‘cause Jet-A ain’t cheap) if you like what we are all about!
I thought I would post one of the illustrations I did a few weeks back for the website. It was one of those late nights when I couldn’t sleep, so I thought it would be good therapy to work on an illustration of the Toucan. Anyway, we were thinking of this being one of many T-Shirts we ultimately plan on doing, of course if people actually like it. And that is were you come in. Feedback is good!
[ 2 comments ] ( 768 views ) | permalink | related link
Here is an uploaded video of the Turbine Toucan's start sequence. We'll start to do more polished videos soon, we just thought we'd get you a little something in the mean time since 80% of all e-mails are requesting video. They will be imbedded on our site but in the mean time, You Tube does a pretty darn good job......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBK2fYUYkzI
[ 2 comments ] ( 676 views ) | permalink | related link
You know, sometimes when your running at a million miles an hour, you forget to take time out for some serious thank you notes. In this case, Bob Hassing & Susan French. Bob and Sue are not only my neighbors but also supporters of the Turbine Toucan. Bob has gone out of his way to roll up his sleeves, and do some serious dirty work when we were behind schedule painting or needed a third hand.
Bob also made several trips down with us to Hollister when we were relocating the Toucan and re-rigging it, which was very valuable. Susan has always provided us with great business insight and kind emotional support. Both have been incredibly generous with their time and I am very grateful to them both professionally and personally.
Bob & Sue’s family wanted to make a point of driving all the way up from Southern California to be with us for the first flight. Now that is support. Unfortunately, we never knew the exact day the Toucan would fly. Between weather, tweaks (that kept us from flying) and a few delayed parts, at any given hour during the day we didn’t know if today was the day.
Anyway, we are grateful for having great neighbors and friends.
THANK YOU BOB & SUSAN!!!!
[ add comment ] | permalink | related link
Greetings,
The Team has been very busy this past week making many tweaks for this weeks test flights. We are excited to get Dave back in the saddle for another few rounds of flying. We have reworked the power quadrant and as well as getting the wheel pants back on the aircraft. So, the bird should be a heck of a lot more photogenic!
We are hoping we can spend a bit more time working on creating some videos and all. We did manage to record one start sequence so we'll post that as soon as we can.
In the mean time, stay tuned for more fun news.
[ add comment ] | permalink | related link
Hey all,
Dave Morss was interviewed by Aero News Network's Paul Plack today and it will go live tomorrow evening at 9pm (PDT). It will be part of their aero-cast or podcast so you can down load it on our site as well, just as soon as it come out.
I think this will be really interesting for people who have followed Dave Morss's career as a test pilot. Dave will be talking about his experience over the years. He also talks about flying the Turbine Toucan.
Congratulations again Dave!
[ 1 comment ] ( 1539 views ) | permalink | related link
We have some preliminary numbers from our first flight which we were very excited about. At 60% power, Dave Morss was climbing at over 3000ft. per minute at 160knts (not MPH). Not bad. We are slowly going to start working in the power over the next few days. Below is our press release:
Wednesday was a VERY big day for us. We were so excited we didn't get a chance to discuss performance and such. With Dave Morss at the controls, using just 60% power the Turbine Toucan climbed out at over 3000ft per minute at 160 knots. That is 184mph. Dave did some preliminary stall work as well as slow flight and such.
The rigging was one of the biggest surprises. Usually you do not nail the rigging out of the gate, it is an iterative type process. Thanks to Butch Pfeifer, the rig was absolutely perfect. We do need to add a little rudder trim tab, which is what we suspected a while back.
We have been at Hollister airport most days this week. Working late into the night some evenings getting ready for Dave’s next flight the following day. We have a very narrow window of time that we can fly the Toucan because the wind comes up at around noon. We have also been getting a late start waiting for the fog/overcast to burn off. Ultimately, moderate wind will not be a factor but during testing, that is a component we’d rather not deal with.
We will slowly start bring in more power over the next week as well as making little tweaks as we go along. We thing all the brake issues are now behind us and we are about ready to get the wheel pants back on the plane. And thank god, the plane without wheel pants is just not all that attractive.
I cannot express enough what an incredible dream team the Turbine Toucan has had the luck to work with:
Ken Erickson
Butch Pfeifer
Dave Morss
Kevin & Jim Kimball
John Cook
Chris Skoppe
Ian Burnham
Bob Caudle
This was a highly collaborative effort with some of aviation’s finest.
[ add comment ] | permalink | related link
Well, after a very long several weeks of preparing for this day, it happened! The flight went extremely well, beat expectations and was flawless. Infinity Entertainment owes a great deal to Dave Morss who did a masterful job of shepherding us all through the test phase. I can't wait to write an article about the process and Dave, he was masterful and there isn't a better person on the planet qualified for the mission.
Dave will continue to makes several more flights before handing the ranes over to Ken Erickson and Richard Pfeifer for continued exploration.
We are all still buzzing in a HUGE way. One cannot describe today's feelings, we are all completely overwhelmed by it all. Lots of work a head but this is one of those moments you just have to look back and reflect.
Well have more photos to come as we start ramping up flight-testing. We are having technical difficulties and cannot upload pictures to our server so please check back, we'll get them up as soon as possible.
[ 2 comments ] ( 836 views ) | permalink | related link
Every once and a while you come up with an image that is fairly rare. Here is Wayne Handley and Rocky Hill together on the roll. This was given to us by Jerry Gabe to post, so here you go.
[ 1 comment ] ( 1085 views ) | permalink | related link
We had a ver successful day with the Toucan in Holister. The aircraft is now totally back together and ready again to attempt our first flight. We are very happy with the install of our new brake system, everything fit well.
We will be making another attempt at the end of the upcoming week to get the Toucan finally in the air.
[ add comment ] | permalink | related link
Today Infinity Entertainment joined the NAA, National Aeronautics Association. A requirement for attempting or obtaining aviation related world records. We will be in the C-1C Turboprop class which is 1000kg-1750kg for take-off weight. We will be attempting two world records for time to climb. The 0-3000 meters and the 0-6000 meters.
The attempts will be made early this summer. We are now working with the NAA to coordinate the attempt. Based on my conversations with them today, they are excited about the attempt as well, as it is a set of records that have held for 35 years now.
Time to climb record for C-1C group 0-3000 meters is currently 3 min 30 sec.
Time to climb record for C-1C group 0-6000 meters is currently 7 min 17 sec.
What makes this even sweeter opportunity for us is that we do not touch Wayne Handley’s world records! We are close enough in weight that we can be in either class, C-1B (Wayne’s Class) or C-1C, all it takes is a bit more fuel for C-1C.
We’ll also provide more information about that attempts closer to the June time frame.
[ 2 comments ] ( 635 views ) | permalink | related link
Even though we had a minor setback on the 24th, we sure had some great data by days end. The most amusing and fun to tell is the acceleration Dave got out of the plane on our high speed taxi tests. First off, in many cases high-speed taxi testing in a tail dragger is not always recommended, but with a great pilot and our requirement, it was a must.
We were looking at rollout behavior adding power and coming off power (to simulate a landing rollout). The plane handled exceptionally well in both situations.
What we didn't expect was the speed. After brake release and a touch over ground idle power, the plane went from 0-60kts in about 1.5 seconds. Now, believe it or not that was not the surprise. Dave added power to something around 75% N1 and the plane accelerated from 60-110kts in about another second. This was a throw you back in the seat, catapult type launch.
All of us watching saw this acceleration and thought, man he is going for it and didn't even tell us! Then he came back off the power, and we could finally breath.
We'll have the plane ready to go by weeks end and we'll report progress as soon as we can.
[ 1 comment ] ( 1126 views ) | permalink | related link
Bill Thompson was kind enough to send us some photos of the Toucan doing some high speed taxi test work from last Tuesday. Thanks Bill!
[ 2 comments ] ( 807 views ) | permalink | related link
Yesterday we did some more tests on equipment that was swapped out as well as fine tuning ground-idle pitch stops so we do not develop to much thrust at ground idle, which was a bit of a problem. It also creates problems when landing, to much thrust at ground idle will carry you WAY down the runway and make landing a nightmare.
To better illustrate the issue, at ground idle the Turbine is developing over 100hp. That is like strapping on a 0200 out of a Cessna 150 at full power and taxiing around. Obviously this kind of power at ground idle is a lot for a little aircraft weighing in at only 1650lbs. So we just need to reduce the thrust it was creating on the ground to make it manageable.
We had some brake issues come up (unrelated to the above mentioned issues) that are now resolved and we are just waiting for parts. So, the flying part is coming fairly soon and we have been learning a great deal. There is a great deal to learn setting it up after it has been built.
More details to follow
[ 6 comments ] ( 825 views ) | permalink | related link
Back Next
Archives
