I think I need to build one of these. I’ve been looking for some good camera perspectives to capture my flying and haven’t really found one I like yet. This looks like it could be just the ticket!
Category: Aviation
Articles related to aviation
Sunday Evening Flight
After the rain and wind of earlier in the week this weekend was calm and warm. I got to fly yesterday morning and gave the guys in my EAA chapter a chance to see how my new machine works and shoot some video. I don’t have that yet but you can bet I’ll post it when I get it. Sunday afternoon was even calmer than Saturday morning so I loaded the trike on my trailer and high tailed it to Oakdale Airport.
I set up on the taxiway because there was no one on the airport but the caretaker and me. After about a 100 foot ground roll I was up into the silky smooth air. I kept the flight short because I had other things on my mind. I had recevied some bad new just as I was pulling into the airport and it detracted a little from the flight. Still I tried to enjoy myself as much as I could before heading back to the airport. It was a short flight but it was beautiful. I enjoyed it.
Here is the ground track of my flight.
Let’s Talk Airplanes – The Rans S6ES
I recently received this comment on post to this blog:
“We became acquainted on BCP and I’ve always kinda looked forward to seeing your posts. A parachute, really? Ha! Just kidding. When I took the 120 hour LSRM course at Rainbow aviation I got signed off to do work and annuals on those.
But that’s not the point. I broke my back in late January and am now starting to get around a little better. Life is moving on. I don’t want to be a builder. I bought a CH-701 kit and have done nothing in about 3 years. I want to start flying again before I croak or lose my mind. So, I can’t even get in a Cub type and the wife won’t stand for a tandem anyway. After lots of thought, I think I need an S-6 of some sort. You of course are the resource that comes to mind. I need to sell my 701 parts and half a dozen guitars first probably but I think I can swing $40K or so.
Sails? Conventional covering? ES? ELS? S? What? I don’t know anything. Like Sargent Shultz. It would be nice to find one registered ELSA so I can do all the work and sign offs but finding an A&P is not impossible.”
Excellent questions.
The Rans S6 is one of the bargains in aviation today. You can still buy a brand new one from the factory for far less than $100K. You can build one for less than $50K. You can buy one used for less than $40K. They are good, honest flying airplanes. They have Cub like performance and are as docile as a Cessna. Stalls are straighforward. The S6 is not prone to wing drop on either side, just a slow shudder and straight over the nose. The wings also fold on these units if you’re into that sort of thing. I NEVER folded my wings but that option is there for those who desire it. The visibilty out of the cockpit is STUNNING. You have a large windscreen, low panel, the roof is a skylight, and the doors are all clear Lexan so if you don’t paint the bottoms of the doors (as many do) you have great visibilty to the side and down. The controls are positioned very comfortably and are right where you would expect them to be. A big plus in my book was having the flap handle right next to me. The Johnson bar was easy to reach and deply or stow quickly. No need to bury your face in the instrument panel just to reach the flap bar like on the older Cessnas.
However, there are a few things you need to consider when buying or building one.
- What engine?
Rotax 912S. 100 HP. Easy decision. While the plane will fly admirably on the 80HP Rotax 912, the extra 20 ponies the 912S gives you are well worth it. You will have the Cub like performance you are hoping for which can get you out of a lot of bad situations.
- Dacron or regular aircraft fabric
I wouldn’t be afraid of either one. Dacron is generally tougher than standard aircraft fabric, and easier to put it. But it is transluscent, you can’t see the underlying structure of the aircraft but light will shine through Dacron. It has a somewhat shorter lifespan that traditional covering but can last every bit as long if the aircraft is hangared. I never had any problems with my dacron coverings but it does make the aircraft look “ultra-lighty” and some guys don’t like that. The benefit to using regular airraft covering is that you can paint it any color you like where the Dacron color choices and striping is limited. The drawback to regular fabric is… you have to paint it.
- Nosewheel or tailwheel
Ah, this debate shall rage throughout the ages. I have only ever owned tailwheel aircraft because I enjoy the challenge that comes from flying them (or should I say, taxiing them, taking off, and landing them.) Tailwheels just look like they belong off-airport and they work very well off-airport. I love tailwheel aircraft. Having said that I would recommend a nosewheel for a couple fo reason. First, the nosewheels on these airplanes are built STOUT. You’ll be able to handle any sort of off-airport work you want (except perhaps for the ribbing you’ll get from the tailwheel pilots). But you’ll be able to land anywhere they will. Second, resale value. When I was selling my airplane I had several callers say “no thank you” when they found out it was a tailwheel. Give these airplanes can be flown in the light sport category you’ll have much better resale value when it does come time to trade up, down, or sideways on a different airplane.
So those are my impressions from building and 5 years of flying my Rans S6ES. If you have questions, let’s hear them! I love talking airplanes.
And to the gentleman who posed the original question, I’ll give you a call. 🙂
An Aviation Safety Seminar You Can’t Fly To
I’ve been a private pilot for about 23 years. For almost all of that time I’ve been a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association (AOPA). AOPA is basically a group that lobbies for rights of pilots and aircraft owners with lawmakers and also puts out a magazine on all things airplane. I’m no longer an AOPA member because they don’t represent me as an ultralight pilot but I still get their emails. Even though I’m not into general aviation any longer I still like to keep up with what’s going on out there.
Well, this morning I got an email from AOPA for a safety seminar they would be sponsoring at Moffet Field in Sunnyvale, CA. Moffet Field started out as a Navy blimp base just prior to WWII and was a Naval Air Station for years and years. The Navy has since pulled out and turned oversite of the field over to NASA as they were still flying their variant of the U-2 spy plane called the ER-2. Eventually other government agencies joined in the fun and now it’s Moffet Federal Airfield. A huge barely used airport in the heart of Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area.
It would seem the most logical way for pilots to attend a safety seminar at an airport would be to fly in. However, you can’t fly in to this big beautiful airport. You must drive there, check in at the gate, and proceed as if it were still an active military base. Which, technically it really isn’t. I mean, Google is allowed to operate their airplanes there. But not you or I.
Look, I’m sure Moffet has some great meeting facilities and the gate guards will be super friendly and helpful but to me that’s not the point. I just think that all groups that are about promoting anything with aviation and pilots specifically should plan for their events to be held at a field were pilots can fly their planes to the event. I know, in the grand scheme of things it’s probably nothing.
Thursday Morning Flying
Since it’s supposed to rain this weekend I decided to get in another flying session this morning. Besides, I really need the practice. My launch was not as good as yesterday’s launch but much better than the launch video I posted a few days ago. All but one of my touch and goes were great. Here are the highlights of this morning’s flight.
Lazy Wednesday Morning Flight
Since the weather was going to be as perfect as it could be this time of year I decided to sneak in an early morning flight before work today. I had originally wanted to work on taxiing my trike. This is where I would just drive along the ground with the parachute canopy (wing) inflated and practice steering it. However, the winds, such as they were, were not aligned with the runway and I would be taking off crossways. I made a deal with myself to quickly kill the engine and start again if the wing got out of control and set up again. As it was the wing came up perfectly. I throttled up and when the wing came up, I throttled back a bit letting it stabilize and steering to stay under it. The wing looked nice and stable so I slowly squeezed the throttle and felt myself lifted into the air.
There was none of pendulum-like rocking I experienced on my last flight. Just a nice stable ascent. I climbed up to about 500 feet and levelled off. I must have had my anti-torque strap adjusted correctly because I also didn’t experience any right turning tendency like usual. I was able to stow both brake toggles and fly with my hands in my lap. The brake toggles are what you steer with; pull the left one to go left, pull the right one to go right, pull them both to slow down before you land.
Sadly I did have work to do so I headed back to the field and landed. Total time: 30 minutes exactly. It was a practically perfect and peaceful morning at New Jerusalem Airport. Something I very much needed after the recent news I received. So how far can you get in a PPG going 25 mph? Here is a map showing my ground track:
Almost Blown Takeoff
I decided to get in a quick flight before church this morning. I made my way out to New J and found a couple other PPG guys out there and a hot air balloon. Should have been a nice easy takeoff but it was a little crowded. I should have moved farther down the runway. I should have oriented more into the wind. I should have a lot of things. Don’t worry, nothing bad happened. My pride got a little bent but nothing else.
As I was taking off my wing started to oscillate. Rather than slow down and dampen it properly I fell back on my fixed wing roots and gave it full power. I got off the ground but it wasn’t pretty. So I need to go back to New J and just do some taxi practice.
If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video is worth a million…
Saturday Morning at New J
I got out to New Jerusalem kind of late this morning, close to 8:30am. When I arrived I found I had company…
It was kind of interesting talking to the pilot in the blue ballon as he drifted over about 30 feet above my head. We spoke in conversational tones. “I like your wind sock. It’s the perfect size for us.” “Thanks!” Came back my reply. So odd not to hear the sound of an engine when an aircraft is climbing out of the airport. I took care of the lack of engine noise.
The gentleman in the blue balloon didn’t fly much longer than I did. The wind was negligable on the ground but very switchy and thermally about 100 feet up. I spent a lot of time swinging back and forth. I’m still trying to get used to this feeling. I think I need to fly with more paramotorists so I know what’s normal and what’s not. At any rate it wasn’t comfortable for either of us so we landed.
I put my rig away and then drove over to watch them pack up. I offered to help fully expecint them to say no, but the joke was on me as I was employed as a third set of hand between the pilot and his ground handler. I learned a lot about how they are constructed how they are flown and handled. Very interesting. I invited them to the High Sierra Fly-in. I hope they show.
Short Video Clip Of The Stanislaus River
Just thought I’d throw together a quick and dirty video of flying over the Stanislaus River near the New Jerusalem airport. The winter rains have made everything so green and beautiful. But then God’s earth is beautiful. It declares His glory.
Easter Picnic
I posted a bit about the Easter picnic I attended at the Red Hills Ranch. Here is a great video my buddy Rich Finkle put together on the event.
<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/160811600″>Red Hills Easter 2016</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user1348439″>Richard Finkle</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
Air Prayer 