MONI 004 first flew on the morning of September 15, 1986 at the Hinckley IL airport. Hinckley is a 2800 foot grass strip with clear approaches. Normally used by glider and _parachutists. I can probably claim the record as the slowest MONI builder since it took me 1300 hours. This time includes retrofitting the various modifications as they came along. Since I had to divide my time among airplane building, a full time and part time job, family and other commitments, the project stretched out over 3 1/2 years. One of those years was spent trying to avoid rebuilding the wings (retro-riveting).
I was always unlucky enough to learn of kit problems and/or modifications right after I had finished the respective assembly. For example, the narrow cowl warning came right after I finished mine (It fit wonderfully without the carburetor on the engine), the spar fitting heat treatment warning arrived right after I had fitted mine; and the mandatory wing riveting notice was received on the day before I was going to arrange the FAA inspection. I kept the engine pickled until the last possible moment (fall '85). Then, I found that my carburetor had a defective diaphragm and a telephone search of the USA over last winter could not locate one anywhere. My luck turned when KFM sent me two brand new ones direct from Italy. When I got the engine going again and was ready to begin taxi tests, the mandatory root rib mod notice arrived in the mail (nuts!). So now, after enduring all my griping, the Monnetts and their fans deserve an objective report, so here is my best shot.
Although my MONI is one of the first kits, it incorporates most of the upgrades including sprung tail wheel, crotch strap, additional wing ribs, riveted wings, modified root ribs, spoilers and turtledeck turnover structure. The engine is the early KFM107E with the old Mikuni BMR carburetor. In addition to the standard instruments, I have an EGT and a MAKIKI variometer. The plane is built exactly to the plans except I modified the spoiler control per the MONINK article (works very well). I weigh 185 pounds and the MONI carries 23.5 pounds of ballast.
The first flight was on a clear morning with no wind. My brother Tom, visiting from Wisconsin, was my ground crew. I made three high speed runs to get the feel of the controls and to judge the engine performance. I had to learn to sit back and relax, level the wings when they were ready, and ease the tail up when it was ready. On the fourth run I kept the power on as the plane began to get light. I watched as the airspeed crept toward 45 MPH. I expected to get PIO on the first launch and I did. I let it go on an "up cycle" until the MONI and I were back in sync, then leveled off to gain climbing speed. As the airspeed picked up, I gave it just enough back pressure to hold 60 MPH with full throttle. I circled the airport to the left climbing to 3000 feet. RPM was 5000, CHT was 325 degrees, EGT was 1150 degrees and the vario read 600 feet per minute.
As the altitude increased, I felt out the controls. The rudder pedals waggled the plane from side to side just as they were supposed to. I couldn't tell much difference between the V-tail and a cruciform tail. Side to side pressures on the stick gave quick and positive roll control with just a little adverse yaw to remind me of how ailerons work. Fore and aft pressures on the stick gave instant pitch control. I knew it was going to be sensitive - and I liked it! I could fly this plane effortlessly.
At 3000 feet I leveled off. My engine had only 3 hours of running time and was still burning a 25:1 fuel/oil mix and I'm not yet much of a 2-cycle tuner. We cruised along at 80 MPH and about 5000 RPM with full throttle. Of course it will go faster as it gets broken in and the engine develops its full 6300 RPM.
After circling the airport a couple of times, it was time to try glides. I pulled back the throttle and raised the nose to load the prop. As the engine slowed down, I turned off the mag and the master switch and let the engine stop. Easing off the back pressure I let the glide stabilize at 60 MPH. Now this was flying! it was much quieter than I expected. There was no clunking from oilcanning and no fierce roaring of the wing. Just a gentle "swoosh" coming from up front around the propeller and the cowl openings. I set the trim, adjusted it a couple of times to hold 60 MPH, and took my hands and feet from the controls. It flew straight as an arrow, hands off, first time! The vario was reading about 300 fpm descent at this speed. The "yaw string" and I worked on coordinating my turns as I criss-crossed the airfield during the glide down to 1500 feet.
I restarted the engine and headed back up to 3000 ft to try slow flight and stalls. At 3000 ft, I shutdown the engine again, glided a little to stabilize myself and began easing back on the stick to feel for the stall response. At about 44 MPH MONI started to warn of the upcoming stall. There was some shaking and a general feeling of turbulence around the plane. I flew along this way for a while noting that the ailerons and rudder were still in control and no longer as sensitive as they were at 60 and 80 MPH. As I slowed up further, the buffeting and shaking increased yet the controls remained effective. Somewhere just below 40 MPH, it stopped flying and pitched down without dropping a wing. I gently recovered and went on to stall it a few more times until I was comfortable with straight ahead stalls. The rest of the stall series could wait for later.
I restarted again at 1500 ft and headed back up to 3000 ft. My watch showed that I was coming up on one hour of flying time. It seemed alot longer. Unlike pleasure flying, test piloting is hard work and I was starting to tire. I shutdown the engine again at 3000 ft., did a couple of stalls and enjoyed the long glide back down to the airport. I tried a _few different glide speeds on the way down to see if I could quickly identify a best glide speed. I couldn't. That would also have to wait for more testing. I exercised the spoilers on the way down. The vario showed about 900 ft/min with the spoilers set on the first notch, and 1200 ft/min with full deployment. No pitch changes were noticed when spoilers were used. I entered the pattern at 1000 ft and 60 MPH. The engine was off and the prop was horizontal. I flew the pattern just like I had the last 25 to 30 times in a 2-33 while earning and using my glider transition rating. I used the same airspeed and deployed half spoilers when abeam the touchdown point. The morning turbulence bounced me around a little and I needed full spoilers and a slip. Just before the flare, I backed off to 1/2 spoilers and landed on the first 1/4 of the field. I had the engine running for taxiing before the plane rolled to a stop.
Tom and I tuned on the engine for an hour to try and get better throttle response and higher RPM's. I'm still not a good tuner. The wind came up so we loaded up and went home.
A week later I tried again to fly but could not get the engine past 4600 RPM on the takeoff roll. I gave up after a few tries at tuning. I had more success tuning at home and a subsequent trip to the airport on Sunday, October 19 yielded 3 good flights. Hinckley is a glider center. Never fly a MONI motorglider at a glider center on Sunday! For some reason, it attracts all kinds of sport pilots and it's all they can do to keep from slobbering all over it. I forgot to close the spar box doors and tape the wing joints for the first two flights that Sunday. The MONI flew fine but somehow the open doors caused the main wheel fairing to fill up with grass and jam the main wheel. The MONI nosed over while taxiing back to the flight line. No damage occurred, but that's when I discovered the open doors. After closing the doors and taping the joints I went up for one more flight which was uneventful. By noon, the place was getting too crowded so we packed up and went home.
I have resolved to always land the MONI as a glider. The 4 landings I have made were as easy as in any glider. I can't imagine trying to land with power on. If that bothers anyone, they should take some glider lessons. I am a private pilot rated in airplanes and in gliders. The glider rating is an add-on I earned to help prepare me for the MONI. My pilot-in-command time is under 200 hours (two hundred) and my total time is under 300. I've flown to the Arctic Circle in Alaska and to the Florida Keys in small planes. But all of my power-plane PIC time is over 3 years old. I've had some aerobatic instruction and have 80 hours of tailwheel time.
More than anything, the time spent behind a tow-plane in a glider really prepares you to control your airplane with precision. You'll need it in the MONI. In a power-plane, takeoffs are easy and landings are hard. The opposite is true of gliders. MONI is the best of both worlds with power takeoffs and glider landings. Of course, MONI is smaller and somewhat more demanding in both maneuvers. You have to consciously fly the MONI. If you're a pilot who is just along for the ride while the inherent stability and power of the plane keeps you out of trouble, get some training before you fly the MONI. Every MONI builder must get glider training before flying. You will cheat yourself out of 90% of the fun if you don't exploit MONI's glider potential. Above all, remember that It goes where you point it and requires a light touch. It is a very satisfying plane to fly and I look forward to learning to soar it.
I hope this lengthy report is useful to other MONI fans (fiends?). I have always wanted to read a more detailed first flight report on the MONI and I suspect others have also. I always seem to be still hungry after reading a "wow! - flies great!" report although now I know what they mean!
Update 12/2/87 - I didn't fly the MONI much this year and consequently have only 16 flights (10 hours) to date. Hopefully next year won't be so complicated and I'll at least get to finish flying off the test time. I did get to soar it once. With no effort at all I picked up 700 feet of altitude in mild conditions. My engine still runs poorly - mainly because It's not broken in. I'm still using a 24:1 mix and tuning on the rich side. Idle and wide-open-throttle is ok but no mid-range.
"Live long and fly safe ..."
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