Peter I was very worried about the gear retraction for some reason. I was worried about wing loading change anomaly in flight compared to a static ground test for some reason. Great to see them operate flawlessly in flight. They actually performed at a much greater rate than I expected them to also. I am very proud of your accomplishments in the Raptor test program, and you are taking each challenge slowly, carefully and changing what you feel is the appropriate level of modification required at this time. The program continues to move along at a steady pace so be safe and keep up the great work. We are all with you Peter, Cheers Mate!
There is nothing better to wake up to then to see a new video of all your progress. I am so happy that all your hard work is paying off with even better than expected rewards. I am so happy for you Sir. Congratulations again - Your program is truly the exception of all that 2020 had to offer - YEAR OF RAPTOR N352TD. 👌
Just a quick thought. In the video the fuel cap was shown. I used to fly a diamond da-42 and it had a similar designed fuel cap. I believe in the video you have them backwards. Those fuel caps are a bit weird in that they are supposed to close forward into the airstream. The design of the latch pushes air down to keep them locked.
Peter, Thank you for sharing your 4th flight. Seems the birds want to get a closer look at that beautiful Raptor Aircraft. I'm pleased to see the gear transitioning cycle proved uneventful for you. The clean acceleration looks very good to me. Love your consistent progress! Best wishes!
What I really love about this is that having a quick scroll thru the comments it appears all the knockers and haters aren't to be seen........Well done Peter.....actions are louder than words....GO RAPTOR.....you little ripper
Well done Peter, and to Jay and Kirk. You are not doing anyone any good with your comments, let’s all take a deep breath and send out positive energy, your comments won’t be helping anyone. Give credit when due. This is Peters dream, and if it all works out, I’m sure it will help general aviation get back on top of all the down turn we have been going through. Thank you Peter, looking forward to the next video.
Another excellent video Peter - making great progress with the flight testing. Can't wait to see a low flybyu from the ground - gear up. and then some air to air video - I bet she looks fantastic - Congratulations.
At 3:06, the effect on that camera is called "rolling shutter." There's just a vibration that overwhelms the camera's image stabilization and that is at a high enough frequency that each image doesn't get read out off the sensor between vibrations. Where and how you mount the camera can make a big difference. Also, of course, the camera you use can make a huge difference. The Sony FDR X-3000s are pretty good.
Me too!!! Ground shots!!! Bryan from the Experimental Aircraft Channel. Peter you know he wants to interview you and your beautiful Raptor aircraft! Visionaries like yourself and the ideas you bring to fruition is what moves aviation forward when others come up with excuses! Great job Peter!
Hey Peter, just FYI your temps are actually really good. I spent years driving heavy trucks and its normal to hit 220 after 2-3 minutes even with a gigantic truck radiator. Trucks run about the same power level, so your engine not even hitting 210 in a 10 minute flight is actually superb. If I was you I would do a climb confidence test. Stay near the pattern and climb until you hit 215-220 degrees. Itll really take a load off your mind to confirm how high it can climb before overheating. The system wont even pressurize until 220. But testing overpressure should be reserved for a little further along in testing, if it even reaches 220 at all.
I don’t believe coolant temps are the issue now. It’s oil. 245 on the oil is still rather warm for a winter flight. It’s not horrible, but I think that will need to be remedied when weather warms back up.
The weird "jello cam", is a rolling shutter effect. It's common in digital video cameras when they are being vibrated. I would put a small accelerometer on the winglets at the top and bottom. You might have a harmonic developing. You can get some tape on digital ones that run off of Arduino.
@@Blodsukkerskolen exactly, you may not feel an abnormal vibration if you're at the node of the vibration. Especially if it's got a harmonic. Those waves tend to stand.
On Vortilons; The Embraer 145 series used 4 vortilons on the leading edge, just outside mid span. The shape they used might be useful to you. Theirs have wing deice air routed through them as well, so they might be thicker than you need. Going from memory ten years ago, so specs may vary... Congrats on being a flying test bed unit...
I wouldn't say a "non-event", I'd say another big milestone. And another stress-free extension of the flight envelope. I look forward to seeing the airspeed keep going up, and up, and up...
Peter, keep in mind you can ask for a “climb in orbit above the airport.” Flying around at pattern altitude for the whole flight is needlessly risky especially as you start to increase airspeed to explore the flight envelope. There are no airspace restrictions around VLD that will prevent you from doing this, and it will keep you much safer. Keep the airplane in the glide cone for absolutely as much of the flight as you can. There is always a period immediately after takeoff until somewhere on downwind where an engine failure will prevent landing on the airfield. Having an idea of where that point is is essential, and having a few alternate landing spots in mind before you ever get in the airplane may well save your life one day. Review those spots and what procedures you’ll follow again immediately before you takeoff. I’ve “been there and done that” in flight testing for over a decade and had a few close calls. Stay safe out there.
Anxiously waiting for faster velocity, longer duration and higher AGL flights and the performance of the cooling system ought to be a non issue with the cooler air at higher elevation. Very happy with your progress Peter!
Pete it's looking great. I'd exercise caution however trying to fit events like the first gear cycle into a single circuit at 1000ft. If you're attempting to analyse pitch changes due gear transition, you need to be above the friction layer. This would give you smooth air and a better representation of what is associated with the gear, and what is turbulence or pilot induced. You'd be above the birds too, and your workload will be easier. Minimum 3000, but start at 6000 to assess handling before moving to the circuit for representative in service effects. I agree the vortex generators would help outside of the wing transition. Good job though!
Peter, this is fantastic. I knew you'd start dialing this bird in, and for sure you are. Keep up the good work and perfecting the prototype. Excellent job sir.
Hi Peter, I suggest you get the EAA flight test cards, and start working your way through determining the Flight parameters. Knowing what your stall speed is, before you start doing low speed, low altitude runs to sort engine temps is probably a good idea.
Nice very nice I know you must feel great the open gear wells not an issue. Steady progress the temp in and out was good data. You could try the same on the primary cooling system water and oil. Damn good progress congratulations.
Nice progress. Wouldn't it be safer to immediately climb to altitude instead of flying around the pattern so you have some time and options if something goes wrong? It seems once you're off the ground you want to get out of the danger zone near the ground as soon as possible.
@@irwinheitner7276 I know, but that's exactly why it seems he should get the gear up and climb right away. If you're going to raise the gear anyway, why not take advantage of the decreased drag by doing it right away and getting some altitude?
Congratulations on another successful flight Peter! You have proven the stability of the airplane sufficiently for this phase which is great progress! I am somewhat concerned however about you achieving a usable production configuration before money runs out. I want you to succeed and in that vein suggest that you focus on design updates that will have large impact on the two most significant Raptor issues: engine cooling and weight empty for the production version. There has been little to no discussion about how these issues will be solved for production. The forward cooling systems of water tanks and high depth / low area heat exchanger are band aides that are not working for a production cooling solution. Discussion about next steps seem to be continuing to test this band aide system, this is a waste of time and schedule. A cooling solution is needed that allows long term idle, taxi, and long duration climb at full power to higher altitudes, etc. on the hottest of days. When do you plan to redesign the initial cooling system to separate the intercooler from the radiator, enlarge the coolant radiator, and add an oil cooler for oil coming out of the turbos? The cowlings likely need to be modified to separate the cooling paths and generate enough exit area. All production turbo aircraft that I am aware of separate the airflow through the different coolers and have oil coolers as well as large area low depth coolant radiators. As I am sure you know, added schedule adds money to live and pay bills, hanger rent etc., how long before you run out of money? It seems the production cooling solution should be started ASAP to minimize risk to running out of money before the production configuration can be determined. Also interested in your thoughts on how the production version will reduce weight? ***Some ideas for weight reduction consideration: Was the foam used in the sandwich panels of the aircraft structure open cell foam? If open cell foam it could have absorbed a significant amount of epoxy, there is a lot of surface area of foam used in this aircraft, this could be significant. The door latch frames may be lighter machined out of aluminum details bonded to the inside of a flat panel outer skin of both the fuselage and the doors rather than trying to integrate the aluminum boxes into a thick composite laminate that is heavy. Post curing the aircraft after assembly seems that it caused significant deformation in the parts that had to have body filler put in to get the smooth shape back adding weight. Post curing the parts while still in tooling and under vacuum pressure could eliminate this need for filler and also alleviate thermal induced stress on the windows, but the tooling needs to be capable of the post cure temperature without distorting. Also there are a lot of overlapping joints with Hysol adhesive the way the parts are split up currently. Could more of the structure be integrated together into larger components with fewer overlapping joints?*** I hope you see these comments as constructive, I just want to see you to succeed. Success doesn't happen often in this industry, and many times projects end because they go on longer than funding is available to support them. Explaining to your investors and your RU-vid audience how you will resolve the cooling and weight issues will keep the excitement going and allow you to raise the money through crowd sourcing and other means to finish the project. Best of luck to you Peter!
This sure looks like a Rutan design. Very pretty aircraft. Yeah I would think you always want it to be a boring event,the gear extension/retraction! Not an area you want any excitement!! Neat looking plane.
Great work Peter, been following since the beginning. I can’t wait to see all the preliminary flight tests (unusual attitude upsets etc.) to be gone through & see it at top cruise speed!!
Peter, thank you so much for taking us along for the ride. I have been watching you since the beginning days of the build. I think you're the coolest guy, and I am so happy for you to reach this point. She flies beautifully, and she really looks the business. She looks even better when she's in the air. She's now officially my favorite airplane ever, all time.
I have an off topic question....... with such battery progress being made by companies such as tesla........ do you think there is room for an electric option way down track? and would this use more / less weight and space?
@@dachopper1 At the moment, mass/energy ratio is still prohibitive for any plane requiring significant range. Electric planes, both fixed-wing and rotorcraft, are in serious development for short-haul flights such as training and air taxis. When you can design the battery into the structure of the plane there might be a breakthrough. Initial investigations are just starting for that radical concept, including Tesla's cars that will incorporate the battery into the floor structure.
@@Digital-Dan Yeah - well I'm just thinking a single 400 HP tesla engine is going to weigh significantly less than the Audi twin turbo solution and cooling sytems. They are claiming the 200KWhr packs going into the cybertruck can provide 800 km range in the car, so long as the aircraft design is very efficient ( like the raptor ) , that should translate to good results. They could also include wing . fuselage top panels to increase the range while flying.
@@dachopper1 , Since 2015 I've been developing Switched Reluctance Motors [SRM] for off grid pool pump filter pad systems, cars, boats, trucks, tractors, Home Off Grid UPS and aircraft. We feel Home UPS Systems and Tractors will be the best proving grounds for my system and focus till May 2023 as Legioneering R&D has in hand commissioned contracts for those applications. My technology for Battery Management System [BMS] is based on Parametric Resonance. Since 2015 the 1.5 KW prototype has 216 hour runtime at about a 2 HP pump equivalent. My electric version is coined MoGen Metronomic Parametric SRM. The 15 KW system is scaling nicely about 20 HP Equivalent for the same runtimes. I'm slated to start prototype production of 340 KW in May of 2021 450 HP Equivalent. The target weight for Motor, batteries and cooling is at 1,000 Pounds for the aviation version with a runtime of over 6 hours. The Tractor Version System is Projected for much heaver weight. I contacted Peter in June of 2020 with no response from him to propose my system in the Raptor Aircraft. Since he has the molds already produced that will work with my composite design. Seems many are adapting my technology besides Tesla, Siemens, Rolls Royce. So there will be plenty development with the big players and about 100 others. Electric Aviation is the future in my humble opinion. I have a passion for aircraft but I know the consistent money isn't in aviation! I'm leaning to a larger composite fiber Money style M20 for my personal aircraft prototype with my battery system acting double duty structurally to the aircraft instead of modular batteries. The aviation hobby is on the back burner now as no one has provided any funds and now I'm very busy. I will now use layup for my personal experimental aircraft unit.
This might be asking a lot because you're busy now, but I'd love to see a systems review video sometime. I have not seen your entire catalog of videos, but would love a summary of the various special things to know about the engine and other system, as well as maybe canard aerodynamic considerations - I know similar canard airplanes land pretty flat and maybe can't land much wing-low in a crosswind?
Outstanding progress! I agree, it looks awesome with the gear up. I know you know but, watch those flat-high power finals. Try to stay at pattern altitude until you hit the normal VASI or even start a little above. That will help your longer landings shorten up to get you back into the zone. You won't always have 8000 ft of runway, or a VASI or PAPI. Altitude is your friend on final should your motor act up as you pull the power off. You might consider trying an approach starting two dots high to see how she glides in idle. Might be good information to have and be familiar with. Any plans for a fairing to seal the gear wells around the tires? An outer gear door perhaps? A folding lower panel on the gear themselves? Also, start doing a gear check at the same point on final to build habits. Turning final, crossing into the overrun, out of 500 feet, your choice. Good habit to have now that your wheels can hide. :)
Keep in mind that canard aircraft without flaps fly an approach that is flatter and higher speed than a traditional aft tail aircraft with flaps. Canards keep speed up on final to ensure that the canard does not stall at low altitude dropping the nose and making a hard nose first landing, this is the tradeoff for the greater spin resistance and greater aerodynamic efficiency of the canard configuration. The weight of the Raptor prototype also necessitates higher flight speeds to make sufficient lift. This weight issue exacerbates the high speed flat approach requirement typical to canard aircraft.
@@2thelimitandthensome Approach speed maintenance is accomplished by energy. That energy is either from the engine or by potential energy, i.e. altitude. My dad was a lifelong instructor and he always taught pulling the power off abeam the touchdown point to give you a feeling for trading that potential energy for pattern positioning. And, in the off chance you lose an engine, the glide resembles something you are used to. Peter is trying to fly larger patterns to get more time/experience in the air. So pulling his power off abeam the touchdown point won't work. What will though, is getting on or slightly above the normal glide path and seeing what the inherent glide characteristics of his aircraft are in a reduce power situation. Flat approaches are inherently dangerous. And, they lead to long landings. A steeper, lower power approach naturally loses energy in the flare or round out. That helps the pilot get the aircraft down, in the zone, and on speed. I am just trying to offer suggestions that might help Peter explore his flight envelope a little better. He has his hands full now trying to look at temps and details inside the cockpit. I just want to help this effort by suggesting some considerations after observing things that might bite him in the future. The very best to this effort and to Peter.
@@berniemccann8935 Not a CFI. Just a pilot with 25,000+ hours of military and civilian jet experience who thankfully retired with no bent metal in his log book.
Been watching for years glad to see the progress...even if it is a lap at a time. Need to get up out of the birds flight pattern . Them birds tear up composites...we had a few bird strikes during flight testing the B-2 some just made a mess, others did damage. At what point are you going to stop and fix the cooling issue? You have solved and proven out the basic flight. Congrats.
he has to swap a piece of plexiglass first. I think peter might just worry about pressure on raptor build #2- production version. have to go back a few episodes & see- I think peter commented on his plan for that.
The plexiglass does need replaced, but he had to cut a hole in the pressure vessel to Install control cable pulleys after Justin and Elliot advice. So that definitely needs addressed first before any pressurisation can be tested further.
@@waynehardy66 oh yeah... forgot about that. well.. portable oxygen til production model. save the $. I know peter's wallet must be feeling the pain by now.
Might try adding 10k resistors in line to the audio input of the camera. Tower audio is clearly over driven. Intercom sounds ok. Had the same issue recording audio to my GoPros aloft.
@@ryanthomas2472 You dont have a clue what you are talking about. An engine at full power will hit max temps in under 2-3 minutes. None of you have a clue what you are talking about.
@@ryanthomas2472 - I truly wish Peter the best and wish him safety, but don’t gloat just yet. There is A LOT of high risk test flying to get through. These are only hops, but I’m proud of what he has accomplished so far and hope he can keep making progress. It is truly amazing how fast he does all of this...it would take me a whole day just to edit each video! 😎👍
@@randallsemrau7845 yup you'd think, but he doesn't even know how this thing flies and who knows if you would "feel it" I'm only trying to help I watch it on a 55" TV too not my phone.
Social media - doncha luvvit! I really can't see what there is to dislike about this video, the 14 who dislike it must just be sphincters. Peter, it's wonderful to share vicariously your progress with this journey that you are on. Thank you for the 'warts and all' updates. I salute you.
I only need to listen to the bumper music to know what kind of day it was. :-) Great stuff. The camera and its mount must have been in natural resonance with something or other. Not a problem if it's only the camera.
I think you need some streamers on that fuselage. Without that instability problem solved there's no point working on temperatures, because you don't even know if you have a viable airframe yet. I wonder if there is some interaction between the lift from the wing surfaces and the fuselage.
Guys, come over here, we have a winner!!!!! What a merry Christmas you have given us Pete! God bless you, for being relentless at this despite the pandemic, this is such a silver lining in 2020's shadow!!!
There is hinging there on the main door so I would imagine this is possible (likely planned for) with a system that allows a small outer door to offset by some small angle that allows ground clearance when gear is down but that closes as the actuation cycle completes. This would be so excellent.
