Bailey V5 now flying

[alan_k]

After a rather extended and sometimes frustrating period of time I now have a complete V5.

I was lucky enough to find a 2nd hand engine with only 5 hours on it, and I thought to myself if I don't take advantage of this I shall forever be kicking myself.

So a good deal was struck then a new frame/cage and harness were ordered from Morgy of this parish.

Mark could not have been more helpful with all the information to complete the build and all the daft questions I had.

As I'm sure most of you know the V5 is a low hang point machine, so a new departure for me. I set up a hang test in the garage and had to adjust the suspension points backwards quite a lot, plus of course shorten the brake lines on the wing.

Last night was the inaugural flight, and I had a spectator

Well it was a bit of a hop and a skip take off and then I couldn't get into the harness without releasing one of the brakes and giving a good tug at the harness.

I found that I had a lot of pitch change with throttle adjustment and realised the hang points were too far back. I had a bimble about for half an hour then came in to land and was pleased with the flare authority achievable with a low hang point setup.

I adjusted the hang points on the swing arms and had packed the wing away but there was still a nice gentle breeze to assist forward launches so I set up again.

Second time around was much better, lovely clean take off and virtually no pitch sensitivity to throttle position. A quick couple of circuits, some climb rate testing and another good landing and I'm a happy bunny. Definitely more power and a better climb rate

40 minutes flight time and I've only used 1.5 litres of petrol

I'm going to enjoy this new motor,

Cheers, Alan

[PatPux]

Alan, nice to hear a unreservedly successful story. I have always liked the idea of the V5, especially the 1.5 lts for 40mins, I'd get 15mins on that if I was lucky! but I'm afraid it wouldn't have enough umph for my 105kg

[daneellard]

10 mins per litre! Really? That's only 100 mins on a full (legal) 10 litre tank. Limits the XC possibilities somewhat. It isn't really that bad is it?

[PatPux]

I keep a pretty good record of my consumption, and that's what I get. There are a couple of things that might be impacting- I do get a belt slipping problem as the belt wears and my flights can be quite short, so will feature a high proportion of climb out. But even on my longer flights I will still be around 5-6 lts an hour.

[morgy]

Hi Alan

Thanks for the little mention.. We do try to please down here..

If you need any more info or have any issue you have my number do not hesitate to get in contact.

Im sure your going to have loads of Long XC's on that machine..

[alan_k]

I am loving this machine

Five flights in now with some good learning experiences. I flooded the engine before the fourth but followed the procedure in the manual which was easy and effective.

I made another minor adjustment to the hang points and can now get in the seat more easily. The harness is spacious and very comfortable. I have even swapped to left handed throttle, something I couldn't do with the previous motor.

I don't know if this matches others experience but I think forward launches seem to be a bit easier with the low hang point setup.

Only one small disappointment, the motor is no quieter in the cruise than my 2 stroke but I suspect that is a combination of factors. The 2 stoke is a Fresh Breeze which are known to be relatively quiet and the lower tone of the V5 is probably not so well muffled by my headset.

Cheers, Alan