Ian Coristine (515) 458-2225 MONI #0362 made its maiden flight on November 23rd, 1987! It flew beautifully - hands off with only a tiny amount of left yaw to keep from saying it was absolutely perfect. Most people wouldn't think that's a very big deal, but to those of you who have seen a MONI go from the box to the air can appreciate how momentous an occasion it really is. I suppose I can't get the full pleasure from this because the MONI was almost entirely built by my very good friend and partner Dave Griffith. I'm one of those impatient types who once bitten by the dream of what a MONI can deliver, want to go full speed ahead to get the plane in the air as soon as possible. To heck with the satisfaction of building it-let's fly the mother! Recognizing that fact was not that difficult because all I had to do was ask myself the simple question - would I be happy flying a relatively sophisticated aircraft that I had built myself? Are you kidding? You think I'm nuts? So I busied myself with working to pay for this little toy while Dave busied himself with building it. Dave is the consummate craftsman. The kind of guy who won't think of picking up a tool until he fully understands what's got to be done. He's got to have it clear in his head, and properly prepared before he'd think of starting. As a result we have a MONI that is exquisitely built, quality of workmanship that only comes from a true craftsman. Another big ingredient in seeing this project through was Dave's lady Heather, A.K.A, Rhonda, who unbelievably provided her wall to wall deep pile carpeted living room as the main workshop, with the breakfast table reserved for the canopy, the guest room for various other parts, and the linen and other cupboards overflowing with rolls of aluminum etc. She actually put up with this state of affairs from delivery in November '85, until spring of '87 when Dave completed a separate workshop. Also realize we're not talking about storage here, we're talking about construction. The basic fuselage, wings and tail were completed in the living room along with several thousand rivet holes worth of aluminum fillings, before work was started on the shop in November '86 and the plane finally moved 6 months later. Anyway, Dave finally had the MONI ready for paint and final fiddling in September, and it became my job to take it from there. I was lucky to find a terrific guy, Don LeCointre who works for Innotech Aviation in Montreal, a firm that amongst other things outfits Challenger business jets prior to delivery. Don is a painter with them and needless to say knows his stuff. Much thought was given to paint schemes. I spent a lot of time with a commercial artist friend, Paul Sicard who felt that if the MONI had one esthetic flaw, it is that the fuselage looks a little too short and stubby and needs lengthening and streamlining to compliment it's F-16 canopy. I didn't think that the lightning bolt schemes I've seen on so many MONI's really solved the problem, and while it's attractive in it's own way I felt that Monnett's design accentuated the shortness. So after much soul-searching I decided to forego any super exotic scheme and to with something simple. I chose 2 blues - a dark and medium to make thin, tapering stripes from nose to tail on a snow white background. We also have to put 6 inch registrations on up here, so we canted it at exactly the angle of the rear of the canopy. Don took it from there, doing a beautiful job of correcting our job of filling the rivets (we used too much filler that left flat areas that showed up badly when the primer went on.) An endless succession of little details then took several weeks to complete, and finally it was ready for it's final inspection. This is where Dave's work paid off. The Transport Canada inspector, Norm Bureau signed it off with only a couple of helpful tips, and then told us that there had been a note in the file following the first inspection by another inspector saying "very good workmanship". On being pressed to elaborate, Norm explained that the first inspection is really the important one, and to a large extent determines whether or not the aircraft will be approved. He claimed that whenever he saw a note praising the workmanship in the file after a first inspection, that the final inspection was almost always a formality, and also interestingly enough, almost a guarantee that this particular homebuilt project would be seen through to completion. He explained that only a very small percentage of projects registered with Transport Canada are ever completed! So the momentous occasion had arrived except for one thing - this is Canada and by now it was late November, a time when winter is seriously on it's way. I was not willing to risk all the effort (in the end over 1500 hours) and expense by wrecking the plane on it's test flight by trying it in marginal or windy weather. I was quite apprehensive about it, having read and spoken to several owners who found it quite hot to fly, and in 2 cases actually sensing the owners as being intimidated enough by it's flying characteristics to not want to fly it much if at all, after their first few adventures. It was over 10 days before the right day arrived. The engine had been ground run for 7 hours (KFM recommends at least 5). I had been out to the local glider club to freshen up with some glider time, and was as ready as I could be. When the magic day appeared it was against the predictions of the weather office who predicted a low - I guess it was the lull before the storm. But in any case it was unseasonably warm at 40 degrees and beautifully calm. I saw the chance and went for it, but I was totally alone. Finally I managed to dig out the airport owner to keep watch in case there was a problem, off I went. The ailerons became effective at about 10 mph and picked the low wing up. The ground roll was not short but not unduly long either, and then I was up, up and away. I climbed straight ahead at 70 until I had some height and then thought about a left turn - it was almost instantly at 45 degrees! What response! Think it and it does it. Yes its quick, but beautifully so. After a few minutes I realized I was going to be awfully dissatisfied with a lot of other planes that I used to enjoy. Stick travel is extremely small resulting in very quick maneuvers, almost by thinking them through. Somehow, John Monnett has struck that wonderful balance of the absolute perfect blend of rudder, elevator and aileron that provides FEEL! I've only flown 2 other airplanes that have had that feel, lots of others that were nice, but only 2 that had that magical feel. One was an LS1 glider, a high performance ship with very light controls and sensitivity, the other was a De Havilland Chipmunk that I only had a few minutes of back seat time in, but it was enough to realize that this was a special airplane. The MONI has that feel, and it is a tremendous bonus over and above the basic concept and performance figures, that are what you consider when you're making the purchase decision. I flew for 2 hours and 40 minutes that day, and tried just about everything with it. No, the stalls are not violent 70 degree pitch down affairs, loosing you hundreds of feet (as I'd been told by some MONI pilots). Ours stalls at about 43 with the buffet starting around 45, and it basically gives back what you put in. Gently bleed off the speed into a stall and it will mush with almost no break. Pull back with some speed on tap and it will give you back the same angle down that you put in to initiate it. I found no tendency for it to want to spin at all, even in slow thermal type turns to a stall. I should say here that I also have a share in an HP-11 glider which is a 37:1 V-tail that will wind up in a spin if you look at it crooked. I semi-suspected that this was inherent with V-tails but the MONI has dispelled that. Realize that I have not yet made any really concerted efforts to spin it - it might, but I think you'd have to be asking for it. I had had a bitch of a time in the cold weather getting the KFM fired up on the ground, needing jumps from a car to warm it up, and then frenzied reinstallation of cowling in hopes that once warmed it would now fire on its own battery. Even a brand new battery didn't help. However, I'm glad to say that in the air restarts seem to be no problem. With the nose dipped to 80, just breathing on the starter has it running again, in spite of it being stone cold. It's just like jump starting a gearshift car. I also found it to be whisper quiet in the air, it seemed even quieter than gliders I've flown, but maybe that's only the contrast between engine on and off. In very still air I measured the sink rate at 290 ft/min at 60, which equates to 18.2:1 and it is supposed to be a little better at 50. Three top speed runs revealed three different results. I had been told by other owners at Oshkosh that to get the advertised 120 mph, you had to go to after market props and then you might get a result in the area of 112-115 mph indicated, providing about 120 true. My first run was good for 114 indicated, the second 119, and the third slowly accelerating out of a climb - 111. I finally figured out the discrepancies. On the first two runs I had not wanted to leave the engine at full RPM too long so had built up the speed with throttle and a shallow dive. Once there I leveled out until the vario was at 0 for a minute or two and got my reading. Obviously, when given the speed the MONI will keep it, but it can not quite drag itself all the way up there on its own. Needless to say the results were pleasing, especially considering that all this is coming from 30 hp, and that the MONI was designed as a glider, not a clipped wing rocket ship. The climb is definitely flat - the best I measured was 520 ft/min in cold air at 60-65, more like 400 ft/min above 2000 ft., however there is only a total of 11 hours on the motor so far, so it should improve slightly. The approach too, is flat. We redesigned the spoiler handle to get rid of one of the 180 degree turns in the spoiler cables that caused unacceptably high friction. Much improved now, they allow easy access to about half spoilers, but increasing friction beyond that, compounded by the fact that the lever is now getting too close to your body with your elbow buried in the seat back makes it awkward to pull further. When full spoilers are deployed I'd call the descent rate adequate to good, but certainly not as much as in a normal glider. Presumably because the tail section of the fuselage is not designed for hard tail-first landings the MONI manual calls for (main) wheel landings. I have to confess that after 14 landings I have yet to grease it on. I have been approaching a little hot at 65, but even so was only adding 5 for the wife and kids, and I find that even with spoilers the float is close to endless. Finally putting it down a little above the stall, I seem to always get a skip out of it. The runway I have been using is Macadam and not very smooth so this may be contributing to it. My one landing on grass made me feel that it, or I like grass better. In that vein my early impressions are that the airplane feels fragile on the ground but maybe that's because with no suspension any bumps feed right through the fuselage to your posterior. Conversely, the MONI feels tremendously strong in the air - carving the sky effortlessly - Wilkinson Sword ads come to mind. I live in the country, and my neighbor and I share a 2000 grass strip put in only recently. I spent the summer building a hangar for both of us, (he owns the strip), and I've been hoping and waiting for the snow to melt enough that I could bring the MONI home from the airport where I had first flown it. Yesterday (Dec 14th) was the day, and just in time because as I'm writing this there is a blizzard going on outside. I had another blissful hour and 20 minutes cavorting with the MONI while a friend shot video that I could sustain myself with over the winter. While I was flying I heard a pop noise that was just loud enough to hear but not really alarming. Everything seemed perfectly normal so I wrote it off to oil canning or something - I really didn't want to land yet, and I knew that with the small amount of snow on the runway I wasn't going to get up again. I had not been doing any high G stuff at all, but had done a few steep turns with roll reversals, and a couple of fast passes with climbing turns. At sometime during that flight I again heard a pop and with nothing having changed I was now more sure that it must be oil-canning or something unimportant. Finally, I figured it was time to land before a neighbor thought it was time to get out the shotgun, so I did a circuit and put it down for the winter. This really was a dream come true. Being able to bring a plane to your hangar at home would be special anytime. But bringing home the MONI that had just exceeded all the daydreams I'd had for the last 2 years was really something special. I put it away feeling very pleased indeed. Today, I planned to take out the battery, and wrap it up for the winter. As I took off the cowling something fell on the ground under the engine. It was the head of an AN-5 bolt! Looking everywhere I couldn't find where it had come from until I finally looked at the prop extension. Ours is the Maxi engine with OVC carb requiring a small prop extension for the prop to clear the carburetor. THREE OF THE FOUR BOLTS HOLDING ON THE PROP EXTENSION WERE EITHER SHEARED OR MISSING!! I suddenly felt all the fear I should have felt when I heard the popping noise yesterday. It seems to me that it must take an incredible gyroscopic force to shear an AN-5 bolt. However, with one gone it's not too bad if you land right away. I didn't . When the second one went, you can imagine that if the force was sufficient to shear one when all 4 are in place, that the prop is definitely ready to part company when only two remain. But when the third breaks, it's just got to take the forth one with it virtually immediately. Somehow it didn't. I know I made several slow approaches to feel the place out with at least 2 gone and maybe three. Somehow it held on - thank God! I can just see it at 50 - 75 feet climbing over the far fence with no acceptable landing places ahead, having the prop depart, the engine overrev and probably blow up, followed by a forced landing into too small a field with fence and ditch etc. It didn't happen and I'm very lucky. It's too soon to draw any conclusions. With a blizzard going on an open sided hangar, I haven't yet had a chance to take it apart to take a really good look. I'm sure the bolts were all done up. I remember checking them and being frustrated at not being able to get a torque wrench in behind the extension, and having to do it with a regular wrench, however there was one nut stuck in there without any shank in it! Maybe I remember re-tightening the prop bolts - not the extension bolts, but I really don't think so. I'm also as certain as I can be that they were not over-tightened. At this point all I can do is make sure that all of you with this installation religiously check the prop extension to crankshaft bolts, and if anybody has any experience with this problem please let me and everybody else know, as I most certainly will if I learn anything further. Talking about inspections, we had to prepare for DoT before getting our flight permit, an inspection/maintenance program for the MONI. I strongly believe in them, but I also believe that the only way to get a good one is after hundreds of hours of experience with the aircraft in question. Ours then, is only taken from Monnett's and KFM's manuals which while probably a good starting point are not nearly as good as they could be with feedback from all the MONI users. Please use this, but more importantly please take the trouble to send additions or recommendations to Carlos for inclusion in the newsletter. I'd also like to hear about any and all problem areas and solutions that you may have developed in your experiences with the MONI. Assuming this problem with the prop extension is solvable, I have to say I'm totally turned on with the MONI, and can't wait until the thermals start popping next spring. For those still building, keep plugging - it's well worth it. Best Regards, Ian Coristine
"Live long and fly safe ..."
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