THE POLEN SPECIAL II
By Dennis N. Polen (EAA 10041)
14525 S. E. Bush
Portland, Oregon 97236
(Editor's Note: If you have ever at-
tempted to tell a non-aviation friend
about EAA and homebuilt aircraft,
you know that one of his first ques-
tions will be, "Why? . . . why don't
you just buy a new or used factory air-
plane?". When you tell him the price
of a new "average" four-placer, that
part of the conversation is usually
abruptly ended and you go on to the
used vs. homebuilt argument. One tell-
ing point you can use is simply that
no lightplane manufacturer produces a
truly high performance single or two
place airplane. (By "high perform-
ance" we are speaking of cruise
speeds well over 200 mph.) If you
want an aircraft of this type, you
have to build it yourself, you tell him.
This article is about such an air-
plane - in this case one of the most
sophisticatedcustom-builtaircraftever
to come to our attention at EAA Head-
quarters. The author, Dennis Polen of
Portland, flies corporate aircraft so he
is qualified to fly a high performance
machine in the high altitude ATC en-
vironment. He obviously is also quite
a craftsman and engineer.
Following is his description of the
Polen Special II, and for something
really different, he takes you along
for a "flight" quite out of the ordinary
for a homebuilder.)
(Continued on Next Page)
SPORT AVIATION 35
POLEN SPECIAL II ...
(Continued from Preceding Page)
Design work on the Polen Special
II started in earnest about October of
1967. My idea was to produce a pure
sport plane that would overcome some
of the undesirable characteristics of
my first airplane due to the restric-
tions of conforming to PRPA Formula
I regulations. Some considerations
were: more creature comforts like a
larger, heated cockpit for the pilot and
full IFR instrumentation, more range,
constant speed propeller and retracta-
ble landing gear. The result was a
strong, all metal, low wing, flush riv-
eted monoplane. It has a semi-re-
clining pilot position and straight for-
ward, but exceptionally clean aero-
dynamic design; plus it has some un-
usual systems for a homebuilt.
With such a high limiting air speed
(345 mph Vne), flutter was a prime
design factor (and, by the way, the
subject on which the least actual in-
formation is available). The control
system is manual push-pull rods, ex-
cept for rudder cables; all surfaces
are dynamically balanced. Since
small airplanes have, due to scale ef-
fect, very light control pressures —
especially disasterous at these high
speeds — an artificial feel system
was designed for longitudinal control.
It consists of a spring cartridge, bob
weight, and dynamic "Q" bellows
with the pitch trim incorporated into
this mechanism.
The landing gear is hydraulically
actuated and is fully enclosed by elec-
trically sequenced doors, with just one
up-down switch in the cockpit. The
struts are air-oil units with an in-
ternal metering system for load dissi-
pation. The landing gear and all high-
stressed fittings in the airframe have
been x-rayed, heat treated to 125,000
or 190,000 PSI, and shot peened for
fatigue considerations.
The instrumentation is full IFR,
with non-tumbling gyros powered by
a 115 VAC, 400 cycle, 3 phase inver-
ter. The VOR antenna is molded in the
canopy. The electrical power system
is 12 VDC. A built-in four hour oxy-
gen system and a pressure demand
regulator with flow indicator is pro-
vided.
The fuel system consists of a wet
wing with sump tanks in the fuselage
for the inverted system and an elec-
tric boost pump. The engine installa-
tion is a turbocharged 200 hp, IO-360
Lycoming, swinging a modified 74"
diameter McCauley nitrogen con-
stant speed propeller.
The airplane was test flown in
May, 1972 and I have logged approxi-
mately 140 hours as of June 1973.
As with any undertaking of this
magnitude, there were people who
helped. I wish to acknowledge with
special thanks two gentlemen, Jim
Hergert and Darrell Usher, who gave
36 SEPTEMBER 1973
me design, construction, and moral
support throughout this project.
And now . . .
CAN A HOMEBUILT SURVIVE IN
"THE SYSTEM"?
To find out, come along on a typical
flight in the Polen Special II.
This flight will be from Portland In-
ternational Airport, Oregon (PDX) to
Paine Field, Everette, Washington
(PAE), a distance of 140 nautical
miles. The weather isn't bad: 1200
broken, 2500 overcast, tops at 12,000'
and light rime icing reported with the
freezing level at 4,000 feet. An IFR
flight plan is filed for J-126 SEA di-
rect PAE at F. L. 180, 260 KTAS with
winds at altitude of 24/35 gives an
ETE of 35 minutes. With 4+ 30 hours
fuel, we can use PDX as an alternate.
tbS man asks: Say again type air-
craft, altitude and true air speed."
Exterior pre-flight accomplished
settle into the by now farmhar and
snug-butcomfortable-cockpitand
buckle into parachute, shoulder har-
ness and seat belt. Then commence
the somewhat elaborate interior pre-
launch procedures.
PRESTART
Landing gear switch . . . . . . . . Down
Emergency gear handle . . . . . . . . In
Flaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Neutral
Circuit breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . Reset
All other switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . Off
Battery master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Gear indicator . . . . . . . . . 3 green —
no red lights
Voltmeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +12
Warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . Checked
Fuel quantity system . . . . Checked,
then R
_, , , ' Jf
Fuel select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R. H.
Cowl Flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Open
Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Take-Off
Tailwheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unlock
Oxygen system . . . . . Pressure, flow
and emergency
Throttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . Full forward
Manifold pressure . . . . . . . . . . . Field
Barometric
Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Full increase
Mixture Rich
Throttle Closed
Brakes Set
START
Starter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Mixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slowly Rich
Oil P r e s s u r e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 P S I
Throttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200 rpm
Alternator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
,, ,, , . ,.
Voltmeter
T i .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f~ii
..+14
Loadmeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charge
10 Inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Slave
£f: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • *- a«e
30 Inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Audio Amp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Radios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Transponder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STBY
Navigation lights . . . . . As required
Cockpit lights . . . . . . . . As required
Cockpit air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Climatic
Windshield defog . . . . . As required
_ AY|
Hydraulic pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Check
Compass . . Operation, and take-off
heading set
Turn needle . Left and right check
J-8 . . . . . Uncaged, check precession
and attitude set
Altimeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Set and zero
Accelerometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zero
RUN-UP
Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Check
Fiaps 15°
Navigation Aids'.'.'.'.'.'.'.' VOT check
and desired radial
Transponder..... Appropriate Code
Fuel quantity indicator . . . . . L. H.
pue[ se[ect L H
Oxygen 100%
CHT 150° C Minimum
oil temperature '.. 40° C Minimum
Oil pressure . . . . . 40 PSI Minimum
Mixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Auto rich
Throttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1900 rpm
Fuel pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 PSI
Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . Exercise 200 rpm
Throttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1700 rpm
Mixture . . . . . Cruise mixture check
Mags . . . . . . . . Check 125 rpm drop
(maximum)
TAKE-OFF
Shoulder harness . . . . . . . . . . Locked
Canopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Locked
Compass . . . . . . . . . Runway heading
Tail whee, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Locked
pitot heat . . . . . . . . . . . . As required
Hydraulic pressure . . . . . . . 500 PSI
Fue, boost pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
Mixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Auto rich
Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Full increase
T r a n s p o n d e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On
clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Initiate E. T.
• • • manifold pressure is set at 32'
Hg. as rapidly as directional control
considerations permit. As soon as
a r s ee
' P d reaches 100 KIAS . . .
Landing gear switch . . . . . . . . . . Up
. . . throttle back to 25" Hg. and set
RPM to 2500 . . .
.. , i i r > ICIAC
f l r ,s.Peed • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 110 KIATS
Landmg gear switch . . . . Lp
gear indicator . . . . . . Up position
Flap H switch . . . . . . . . . . . . Up , then
"Neutral"
INcULlctl
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Off
^ ^^ ^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Off
^.^ mstruments Checked
Cow i naps
F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trail
 . . . airspeed 170 KIAS (cruise climb
2500 fpm) or 100 KIAS (maximum
climb 4000 fpm) . . .
Oxygen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Normal
Mixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best power
We contact departure control and
they ask us to report out of 4,000 . . .
and, "Say again altitude climbing
to."
"Experimental 11DP climbing to
maintain FL180 and passing through
4,000 now."
"Roger, report passing 8,000 feet
. .. and say again type aircraft."
At 8,000 feet they send us to the
Center and again it's the same old
question . . .
"You say you're a homebuilt and
180K speed limit for the control Mixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rich
you sayyou'reclimbingto 18,000?"
A little more than four minutes af- zone .. . Flaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30°
ter take-off we're slicing into the clear, Oxygen pressure . . . . . Checked and Air speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 KIAS
bright, beautiful world on top. Pull set at 100% flow . . . Turn final and slow to 90 KIAS,
down the helmet sun visor, resist an Fuel system . . . . . . . . . . . L. H. tank flaps full. 80 KIAS over the fence and
impulse to slow roll, and continue to Manifold pressure . . . . . . . . 18" Hg. the wheels hiss onto the wet runway at
climb to assigned altitude. Level off RPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2300 approximately 70 KIAS.
at 18,000 feet comes approximately Mixture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Auto Lean Turn off the runway and contact
seven minutes after commencing take- Tail wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Locked ground control who promptly inquires
off roll and now we sit hanging up Shoulder harness . . . . . . . . . . Locked as to what kind of aircraft we are fly-
here alone with just the occasional Cowl flaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Closed ing.
radio chatter to break the spell. Cen- . .. Three Gs on the break and throt- "It's an original design," we say.
ter requests a frequency change and tle to 12" Hg. gives 120 KIAS on "Well," comes the reply, "it sure
we expect the inevitable. We say downwind . . . is a beautiful job!"
slowly our call sign and cruising alti- We thank them and add that they
tude. This time they seem ready for Boost pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On have a nice looking tower, too.
it and come back with only a state- Hydraulic pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . On There are some breaks appearing
ment that they are tracking us at 290 Landing gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Down now in the overcast with shafts of sun-
KTS and now want to know how Flaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15° light reaching down. I think, after a
much horsepower we have. At 50 Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Test cup of coffee, I'll turn off all the radios
N.M. out of PAE we request a lower . . . Now, on base, check gear indi- and try to make it home to Portland
altitude. The controller says to de- cators — 3 green, no red lights .. . on my own — with maybe some aero
scent to 10,000 feet, expedite and re- in a deserted corner of world back on
port reaching. Ah, just what we've Hydraulic pressure . . . . . . . 500 PSI top.
been waiting for ... tell the Center RPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Full increase
we're out of 18 thou for 10 and roll
inverted. Let the nose drop to 45°, roll POLEN SPECIAL II N11DP
upright and let the air speed stabi- Lycoming TSIO-360A1A (200 hp)
lize at 280 KIAS, which at this altitude
and tailwind should produce a ground Specifications at Gross Weight
speed readout of 400+ mph on the
Empty Weight 1035 lbs. Fuselage length 19' 6"
ARTS III scope to really freak out the
controller. Little more than one min- Normal Gross Weight 1500 lbs. Height 4' 10"
ute later, we flatten out at 10,000 Wing Loading 16.0 lbs./ft. 2 Fuel Capacity 45 gals.
feet, skimming through the tops of Span Loading 69 lbs./ft. Design structural load
the clouds at 350 mph and enjoy this factor 10G
sensation of speed. Power Loading 7.5 Ibs7hp CG range 24% to 32%
Now, it's time to get busy slowing to MAS-
the 250K speed limit below 10,000 Wing Area 94ft. 2
and setting up the cockpit for the ap- Wing Span 21' 5"
Washout 1.5°
proach. Say good-bye to the beautiful PERFORMANCE
Dihedral 5° (spar C/L) V,f (flaps down IG) 56 KCAS (65 MPH)
cloud world and back into the murk.
Airfoil NACA 65..212 V. (clean IG) 68 KCAS (78 MPHI
One more frequency change to ap- V.. 270KTAS at 22.000'
proach control and now it's the busy (312 MPH) (75% power)
284KTAS at 18.000 ft.
routine of instrument cross-checking (325 MPH)
for an ILS. 300K1AS or .62 Mach
Coming back to the dull green be- Kate of climb
(345 MPH)
3.800ft /min.
low is always such a contrast to the Service ceiling 28.000 ft
stark whiteness above. Cancel the IFR Absolute ceiling 32.000 ft. +
Roll rate 200'/sec.
clearance and request a low approach Range •• max. 1400 statute miles
with radar vectors back to initial for a Range - norm. (75'' power) 1200 statute miles
360° overhead to a full stop. Tower
approves and we enter initial at the
SPORT AVIATION 37