Vince Frazier's F-1H Rocket Webpage
Vince Frazier
3965 Caborn Road
Mount Vernon, IN 47620
812-464-1839 M-F
812-985-7309 eves/weekends
vincefrazier@gmail.com
For Sale: SOLD N540VF, Fast, Clean, Light - 1223 pounds
165 knots on 9.5gph
Welcome to my website, the very first Rocket website on the
internet. It is PACKED with information. Everything
that has anything to do with N540VF's construction, flight testing, or
modifications is in here. I won't repeat it all
here. But I will hit the high points: It's an F-1H
Rocket, which is to say it began construction as a Harmon Rocket just prior to
the F1 Quick Build kits being introduced, but
was modified during the building process with all of the best F-1 mods,
most importantly the engine mount, landing gear, and... well,
everything forward of the main spar is F-1 stuff. The best way to
describe this plane is that it is a custom built, hand made F1 Rocket. As you can read on the website, N540VF has been tweaked with the latest and
best mods such as the Screaming Eagle tailwheel (better steering), modified
gear legs (little or no shimmy problems), bellcrank mod (lighter elevator
loads), etc. It has some nice features such as a flopper canopy (100%
visibility) and a REAL rollbar (safety first), RV-4 tail (speed, with NO tail
shake as with other tails), extra storage compartments (convenience), arm rests
and Temperfoam cushions (comfort), and much more. The standard wing allows greater CG range as opposed to the Evo wing which is
often limited by aft CG issues. The standard wing is also much lighter,
about 70 pounds. Yes, 70 pounds! The stock landing gear was shortened by 2" to stiffen the normally soft gear.
Also, the notoriously bad wheel alignment, very common on Rockets, was fixed.
My first set of tires lasted less than 70 hours. After fixing the gear, the
second set has over 260 hours and has very little tread wear. This is an
often overlooked problem with many Rockets. The fuel
injection system was balanced per Don Rivera's instructions (Airflow
Performance, Inc.) and I run LOP regularly. The Rocket will
keep pace with the local RV's while burning about 9gph at 160knots +/-. On
several long cross country flights, my fuel burn has been the same or less than
the 160HP fixed pitch RV-6 that I fly with. I have run against several other
Rockets, including one that claimed to have 300HP and outran them all... so far! Many Rockets have very limited
storage space. While building my Rocket I built in 5 storage
areas into unused areas of the front cockpit. One is a
glovebox in the panel, one is a map tray under the panel, two storage
compartments are under the floorboard on either side of the stick, and
one is in the console just ahead of the stick.
There is also a large storage compartment in the turtledeck above the
main baggage compartment. My wife can put her entire purse
in it. There is also the standard F1 baggage compartment that
is large enough for a set of golf clubs and a couple medium sized
suitcases. 260HP Lycoming IO-540-C4B5 with
Hartzell 2 blade dynamically balanced prop for best speed. Last condition
inspection finished Fall 2012 with all compressions 70+/80 and everything in
perfect shape and ready to go. AIRCRAFT SUMMARY
AVIONICS OTHER EQUIPMENT EXTERIOR INTERIOR REMARKS Everyone wants to know how fast it goes. Well, how much
gas do you want to burn? N540VF will flat haul the mail! But she
will also cruise along with the RVs at miserly fuel burns of around 9 GPH.
Sweet. See below for verified data mined from my spreadsheet. I had to dig through my
spreadsheet to find data close to what you asked for. I have quite a
bit of data, but most of it was collected to record temperatures and
calibrations, not speed. So rather than give you meaningless speed
data, I only show the data that was verified by doing 3 way GPS runs (3
different headings 120 degrees apart to cancel wind effects) at
constant altitude and power settings. I don't have very many of those
data sets because it is difficult to fly straight and level in this
plane. It's too much fun to NOT fly straight and level. :-)
****************************************************************************** I normally fly N540VF at power
settings less than 70% power and LOP for good speed and fuel economy.
At 2300 RPM and 19" the fuel flow is typically 9 GPH and the speed is
around 160 knots. This power setting easily keeps up with the local RV
aircraft.
****************************************************************************** Full Throttle, 4500' 2650 RPM,
25.0MP, GPS average 3 way speed: 209.5 knots
****************************************************************************** Date
OAT Altitude
RPM Man Pres Fuel
Flow 8/9/05
105F
1500'
2300
23"
13.7 GPH ROP mixture rich 50 degrees ROP speed (3 way GPS average)
183knots As you can see, this was a
very hot day...105F is about 41C
****************************************************************************** Date
OAT
Altitude
RPM Man
Pres Fuel Flow 2-5-06
45F
4500
2300
17.4
8.4GPH LOP speed (3 way GPS average) 152
knots mixture lean of peak
****************************************************************************** She's a good airplane.
click on the photos for a larger view
Type:
FRAZIER F-1H ROCKET
Registration:
N540VF
Airframe Total Time:
338 Hours
Engine/HP:
260 hp
Engine Times:
338 SMOH
Prop Times:
338 SNEW
Grand Rapids Horizon Series I EFIS and EIS
with built in Grand Rapids GPS
Lift Reserve Indicator AOA
Grand Rapids 2-Axis Autopilot
Icom A200 Comm radio
PS Engineering PM501 intercom with stereo input
backup Lowrance 1000 GPS
Garmin GTX320 transponder
more...
Wig-wag landing light collision avoidance
day/night VFR equipped
Cleveland brakes
PPG base coat/ clearcoat
Durable, dirt proof gray nylon seats with Temperfoam cushions
This plane has been fully tweaked and is, IMHO, one of
the best Rockets available anywhere.
It is one sweet ride.
Vince
Tailwheels and Accessories Great products by Screaming Eagle Graphics and Accessories. Full swivel tailwheels, axle spacers, parts and accessories, RV Rocket steering links, replacement tires, CO2 inflators, more... www.flyboyaccessories.com
Vinyl Graphics We offer a wide variety of premium vinyl graphics, N-numbers, military markings, signs, banners, and spraymasks that will help you beautify your airport, shop, truck, or airplane. Check it out. www.flyboyaccessories.com
Leather Jackets, Flight Bags, Seat Heaters, RV Rocket steering links, Tools, Vedalo Sunglasses, T-shirts, Novelty Items, Cleaners & Polishes, Insulation Kits, Weather Stripping and much more! We carry over 150 items for your RV or other homebuilt. We have tested these products on your own airplane and only carry the stuff that passed our require www.flyboyaccessories.com
Vince's Rocket Website on CD: Occasionally someone will ask if I have a CD of all of the info and photos on this website to sell. The answer is "Yes." If you'd like to have a CD with ALL of this website, including the thousands of photos, just click above for purchasing details. PayPal accepted on the products page. Or just send me $25 and a note with your name and address on it. Send it to the address shown below. I'll send you a CD right away.
Thanks, Vince
Since the Rocket is now flying, the building webpages are not changing much. New stuff posted after 10-27-04 is mostly being added here: Additions after 10-24-04 or here, Rocket Pilot Reports: Pilot reports.html
Crazy Horse first flight 10-08-2004
Run up
Take off
Flying!
I do have a little bit of Rocket flight data to share:
ROC:
Beyond belief!
Top
Speed:
WOOOO HOOOO!
Roll
Rate:
Insane
Vertical Penetration: Should be illegal
Takeoffs:
Too easy
Landings: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
See the movies, feel the excitement:
Rocket loading and move.wmv My Rocket heading for the airport.
Rocket flying 10-8-04.wmv My Rocket's first flight.
Posey County Rocket Flying.wmv Loren Harmon takes me for a ride in his beautiful Rocketship.
John Meyers sent these movies of his Rocket showing off.
Somewhere Over Lo Res.wmv More Rocket flying
Hot Rocket Takeoff.wmv Head on shot of John's Rocket taking off on a hot day.
Rocket and Roll it.wmv The Rocket takes off and a does a few rolls. The camera switches to the Saffire, look closely and you'll see the Rocket out front. Then the Saffire finishes up with a nice roll.
Saffire & Rocket.wmv Alternating footage from the Rocket and the Saffire.
Tony Blair sent these movies of some Rocket acro.
You'd better have a big pipe... these files are huge!
10-08-04:
I felt bad..... zooming past the RV chase planes like they weren't
moving... but I got over it.
WOOO HOOOO!
Double
high fives!
Tammy
was happy!
Read the full report on the PIREP page 2: Pilot Reports page 2
Pages on this website:
New! www.flyboyaccessories.com Great products by Screaming Eagle Graphics and Accessories. Full swivel tailwheels, axle spacers, vinyl graphics, Vince's Rocket Webpage CDs, more....
Airplane junk. Make me an offer: Aviation Rummage Sale
I reorganized the content of several of the pages to make more logical groupings and/or added content. I also changed the order of the index below to more closely reflect the historical progression of my project.
Oshkosh 2005 and later photo gallery: Oshkosh 2005 and later
New stuff posted after 10-27-04 is usually being added here: Additions after 10-24-04
Rocket specific FAQ page: Frequently Asked Questions
Blueprint Notes page: Blueprint Notes.htm
Notes for the tail and wings: Tail and Wings.htm
Notes for the fuselage: Fuselage Construction.htm
Notes for the landing gear and brake system: Landing gear and brakes.htm
The canopy page: Canopy
The cowling deserves its own page. Here it is: Cowling
POH and Checklists: POH and Checklists
Notes for the engine and prop: Engine and prop
Notes for the electrical and instrument systems Instruments and electrical
Installation of wings, controls, fairings, and other stuff: Finishing
Rocket line drawings and paint schemes: Paint Schemes.html
Painting. If I can do it, you can do it: Painting
Upholstery. Sewing isn't just for girls. Save yourself $500 by clicking here: Upholstery
Weight and Balance: Weight and Balance
Miscellaneous stuff: Miscellaneous
Rocket Pilot Reports: Pilot Reports.html
Rocket Pilot Reports Page 2: Pilot Reports page 2
Fitting the chute: parachute pictures
Other pages:
Oshkosh, Bakersfield, and other airshow pics: Airshow pics
Rocket and RV photo gallery: Photo Gallery.html
Rocket and RV photo gallery page 2: Photo Gallery Page 2.htm
Budd Davisson's Rocket Review: Davisson's Rocket II review.htm
The World's Coolest $1830 Hangar Doors: hangar doors.htm
Airplane noise. For that roaring Rocket sound click here: Airplane noise
Under Construction. Gun Rights webpage: Gun Rights webpage
Completed and flying Rockets as of 12-17-2009:
|
Harmon Rockets 123+ |
F-1 Rockets 75+ |
Harmon Rocket II
| D & J Harmon Co. Harmon Rocket kits 2000 South Union Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93307 |
Phone: 661-836-1028 Fax: 661-836-1743 Email: harmonrocket@aol.com http://www.harmonrocket.com |
F-1 Rocket
| Team Rocket F-1 Rocket kits, fiberglass fairings and tips Mark Frederick 80 CR 406 Taylor, TX 76574 |
Phone: 512-365-8131 |
Rocket related pages:
Wayne Hadath's Page: http://www.justplaneworks.com/
Lee Armstrong's Project: http://www.bondedcomponents.co.uk/rocket/
Ron Graham's Project: Ron Graham's Rocket
Wayne Loeber's Project: Wayne Lober's F-1 project
Jeff's Rocket page: http://www3.telus.net/public/deucharj/
Matt Throckmorton's F-1 page: www.DocThrock.com
Russ Werner's Rocket page: http://wernerworld.com/rocket/
Tom Gummo's Rocket website: http://mysite.verizon.net/t.gummo/index.html
Rick Mentel and Chuck Nuffer's Rocket website: http://www.f1rocket.com/
Danny Melnik's Rocket website: http://www.aero-kids.com/schedule.htm
Ken Fowler's Rocket aerobatics: Rocket aerobatics
Randy Pflanzer's F-1
building info site: http://www.pflanzer-aviation.com/
Bob Gross's Rocket Website:
http://www.f1-rocketboy.com/
Captain Kaos's Rocket website: www.upsidedownwebsites.com
RV Yeller Pages (online after 2-28-03): http://www.matronics.com/YellerPages
Van's aircraft: http://www.vansaircraft.com/index.htm
Sign up for your daily e-mail chat about Rocket's and RV's : http://www.matronics.com/
General RVconstruction FAQ page: http://www.edt.com/homewing/faq.html
EAA website: http://eaa.org
Lycoming engines: http://www.lycoming.textron.com/
Hartzell props: http://www.hartzellprop.com/
FAA general info: http://www.faa.gov/
Transport Canada: http://www.tc.gc.ca/air/menu.htm
Todd's Custom Canopies: http://toddscanopies.com email: BSILVER05@aol.com
Useful phone numbers:
Indiana Department of Revenue, Compliance Division: 1-317-232-1497 Get help with those pesky state tax forms.
Federal Aviation Administration, Oklahoma City, OK: 1-405-954-3116 Registration, records, certification, etc...
Indianapolis Flight Standards District Office (FSDO): 1-317-487-2400 Certificates of Airworthiness, homebuilt inspections, registration forms and bills of sale
Other useful URLs:
http://www.in.gov/dor/3519.htm State of Indiana forms for aircraft sales tax and registration
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/interactive_airmen_inquiry/ airmen info
http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/ Follow the links to request N-numbers, get aircraft records, and make payments for airmen records
http://registry.faa.gov Follow the links to find N-number information, record a lien, import or export an aircraft, change of address, obtain a new or replacement airman certificate, or register an aircraft
Bible question archive: http://www.biblequestions.org/
Bible verse reference: http://www.blueletterbible.org/
Thoughts on aviation and God:
Aviators as a group are a fiercely independent lot. We have to be, or else none of us would have the courage to leave the safety of the ground for the unknown of the sky. This independent streak often separates people from God. We tend to believe that we have all of the answers, which is hubris at its best. It would be next to impossible to persuade anyone at this stage of their life that God is real. I have been a believer for my entire life, and at times, I still question and doubt. This is because God gave us free will and choice. Albert Einstein once said: "The probability that there is no God is the same as a bomb exploding in a print shop resulting in Webster's Dictionary." Smart words from a smart man.
For those of us who are unbelievers, I
hope that you find Him before it is too late.
Scenario A- You die and become worm chow...the end.
Scenario B- You die and go to heaven where you will be embraced by the
warmth of His love. Sounds farfetched to unbelievers, no doubt. It
sounds great to me.
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." Matthew 25:13
Don Alexander (God is my pilot- I need all the help I can get!)
Since 7-12-2005.
There were only 78,000 hits on the old page....geez! No
wonder USI kicked me off!
Disclaimer
These pages are presented for education and
entertainment only.
I am not liable for anything you do with
the information (or misinformation) presented here.
If you are building an airplane, you are the manufacturer.
You are solely
responsible for all decisions related to the construction and
maintenance of your product.
Any products mentioned are not necessarily recommended for use, but are included for informational purposes only. Builders tips and instructions are not meant to replace the official plans, advice, and instructions from Harmon LLC, TeamRocket or Van's Aircraft. All builder's tips and instructions are presented only as a source of information and a forum for exchange and the sharing of ideas and construction methods. NO responsibility or liability is assumed, expressed, or implied as to the suitability, accuracy, safety, or approval thereof. Any party using the suggestions, ideas, instructions or examples on these pages, does so at their own risk and discretion and without recourse against anyone.
CAUTION: This web site is not a publication of, nor approved by, Harmon LLC, Team Rocket, Van's Aircraft or any other person or entity listed herein, except me. Be advised that I am a blithering idiot with neither brains nor money and my advice is not to be trusted. So there. You have been warned! Vince