The Magnum is here!

22 posts in this topic

Posted

My Dad showed up with the Magnum yesterday. We spent all day unloading it and putting it all back together. Initial taxi testing shows a problem with the braking. It has a castering nose wheel and it’s by far the worst ground handeling airplane I’ve been in to date.     

I spent an hour taxing. It’s a nice plane but needs some major attention. 

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Posted

Very cooool.  That is only the second Magnum I've seen with a nose wheel.   Mine is the other one.

Nice looking ride.  Looking forward to your updates on how it flies.

Thanks for posting.

Brian

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Posted

What does it have for an engine Vance?  The brakes become more important with the free castering nose wheel.

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Posted

Lyc O-320

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Posted

Very cooool.  That is only the second Magnum I've seen with a nose wheel.   Mine is the other one.

Nice looking ride.  Looking forward to your updates on how it flies.

Thanks for posting.

Brian

Thank you Brian. I’d like to hear how yours handles on the ground. This one is horrible. 

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Posted

Hey Vance,

looks like a nice Magnum. Just noticed the aircraft still on the trailer has no wing supports installed (links wing front spar to lower strut attachment). I hope your dad did not trailer it without as the wings were not designed to take the "road " beating without..

Here a picture of my wing supports installed

Looking forward hearing of your first fights....when I first flew the Magnum I was surprised how much rudder I needed to coordinate my turns.....much more than my Catalina.

 

Regards, Laurent

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Posted

Flywise, it was trailered with wing supports. They had already been removed in this picture. 

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Posted

Only thing missing on that Magnum is the little wheel on the tail !  I took a checkride in a castering nosewheel aircraft (DA-20) and didn't like it worth a darn. Too hard to wiggle thru tight places, constantly riding the brakes, overall a PITA. Took considerable effort to get it to turn. Might have been the aircraft, but don't care for that type of steering.

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Posted

Hey Vance,

looks like a nice Magnum. Just noticed the aircraft still on the trailer has no wing supports installed (links wing front spar to lower strut attachment). I hope your dad did not trailer it without as the wings were not designed to take the "road " beating without..

Here a picture of my wing supports installed

Looking forward hearing of your first fights....when I first flew the Magnum I was surprised how much rudder I needed to coordinate my turns.....much more than my Catalina.

 

Regards, Laurent

P1090580 (1280x720).jpg

P1100106.jpg

Whats the basketball for in that thing?

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Posted

I can answer that TJay. The designers name was Dean Wilson. Not sure exactly how the story goes but in the search for a bumper for the amphibian design he used a Wilson Basketball for that bumper. With each new kit came a Wilson Basketball still in its original box. 

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Posted (edited)

Update: I went back to the Airport today and taxied the Magnum again. With out my father in the plane it was a night and day difference to handle on the ground. Seem the extra 200 pounds of weight in the passenger seat makes a lot of difference. I still think it needs a tailwheel 

I did a mag check and had a big drop in RPM.  The engine stumbled to the point I thought it was going to quit. It has one mechanical mag and one electronic mag. I was not using the standard RPM for a check (1300) so I will do one more check. I may need to check my machanical mag out. I have a guy locally that is known to do great Mag work and he is a good friend of mine. I will get him out this week for a look over. 

Edited by NorthIdahoAvidflyer
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Posted

You are going to love the Magnum when you get the bugs worked out. It will spoil you. It really will. Really.

How much does it weigh empty? What is the empty CG? 150 or 160HP?

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Posted

I was told by the guy who flew it down to my Dad that is was a great flying airplane.

I was told it weighs around 1100 but I have not pulled the W&B sheet in it yet to check weight or CG. It has the 160 horse engine in it. The guy said its a real performer. 

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Posted

I found out something interesting. Grove put out two different gear legs for the Magnum. One for Tri-gear (16.5") and one for TD (21.5 "). The main gear on this plane is for a TD which is 5" taller than the Tri-gear main gear legs. That plus the fact that its running 8.50's instead of 8's might explain why it sits nose low and seems heavier than needed when adding another person in the plane. I might have to do another W&B. My Dad has been flying it but he is fairly new to flying and this plane. 

Options are to put the 8 inch tires back on, raise the nose 5 ", fly it like it is without a passenger or put the thing back on its tail.   :BC:

 

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Posted

Mine was/is a ripper with 150hp. I can't imagine what 160 would be like! Your taxiing issue may just be not enough weight rearward. Plus you are used to a TD. Give it a chance and for sure run your own W&B numbers. My Magnum is tailwheel, but my fat Avid is tri gear. The tri gear will do better than you think getting in and out of reasonably rough places once you balance your cg on the landing gear and can easily taxi, land and take off on just the mains. Plus you can always convert to TW at any time.

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Posted

I can answer that TJay. The designers name was Dean Wilson. Not sure exactly how the story goes but in the search for a bumper for the amphibian design he used a Wilson Basketball for that bumper. With each new kit came a Wilson Basketball still in its original box. 

Also I'd like to add that when flying this thing you have a ball....

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Posted

I found out something interesting. Grove put out two different gear legs for the Magnum. One for Tri-gear (16.5") and one for TD (21.5 "). The main gear on this plane is for a TD which is 5" taller than the Tri-gear main gear legs. That plus the fact that its running 8.50's instead of 8's might explain why it sits nose low and seems heavier than needed when adding another person in the plane. I might have to do another W&B. My Dad has been flying it but he is fairly new to flying and this plane. 

Options are to put the 8 inch tires back on, raise the nose 5 ", fly it like it is without a passenger or put the thing back on its tail.   :BC:

 

I also have the RV6A nose gear on my mkIV. I've contemplated cutting the side plates of the wheel frame in such a way as to weld them back on inverted to gain clearance for the prop and steering pivot point. Might be an option to think about. At this point I'm probably going to convert to taildragger though.

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Posted (edited)

I can't tell for sure, but that looks like the trike spring to me. The way to tell the difference is to look from the side. if the spring legs are vertical (straight up and down) it is the trike gear regardless of height. If the gear legs are swept forward several inches (like 6 or so, its a lot) it is the TD gear.

Edited by Chris Bolkan

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Posted

I’ll confirm with the original builder and grove. The grove site lists the differences in length. No forward sweep info given. 

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Posted

I can't tell for sure, but that looks like the trike spring to me. The way to tell the difference is to look from the side. if the spring legs are vertical (straight up and down) it is the trike gear regardless of height. If the gear legs are swept forward several inches (like 6 or so, its a lot) it is the TD gear.

You were correct Chris I should learn to never trust my father with measurements over the phone. I pulled a tape on the gear and sure enough they are 16.5 inches from the top of the gear to the center of the axle. They are no doubt trike gear. I was really hoping to change this over to a TD. It will cost a bit more now beings I'll have to buy or make new gear. I'll have to fly it as a nose dragger for a while.

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Posted

If my memory is correct, someone had some standard Magnum landing gear for sale a few months back.  JImChuk

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Posted

If my memory is correct, someone had some standard Magnum landing gear for sale a few months back.  JImChuk

I found them JimChuk. Thank you

:BC:

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