Sunday Evening Flight

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

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

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Opinion, Rans S-6ES Coyote2 Comments

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

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Opinion2 Comments

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.

Walk-On Trailer Ramp Springs Part 2

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Powered Paragliding, RepairLeave a comment

What a life I must have when I get excited about springs!  If you’ll remember from two posts ago (not that far back to remember is it?) I added a spring to the ramp on my walk-on trailer that I used to haul my PPG trike.  The ramp is just heavy enough to cause me much groanage when lifting it back up to close it.   So I added a spring to help with the lifting.  While this did help, it didn’t help to the extent I wanted.   So…  I added another spring!  And this has helped tremendously!  If anyone has one of these trailers, I highly recommend adding a couple of springs to help lift the ramp.   Even if you have a strong back.

Here’s some video with some blathering…

Back To Spam School

On By The Flying DutchmanIn HumorLeave a comment

I’ve received two emails now from the same spammer.  I wish I had kept the first one because it was even funnier than this one.  He’s apparently working on his spelling but still has a way to go.  I give you… someone pretending to be PayPal!

“Dear svanarts@yahoo.com,

We emailed you a little while ago to ask for your help resolving an issue with your PayPal account. Your account is still temporarily limited because we haven’t heard from you

What’s the problem ?

We noticed some unusual log in activity with your account, Please check that no one has logged into your account without your permission. Take a momment to change your password and security questions and riview your account information and recent transactions for changes or unknown payment.  If you see a payment you don’t recognise, go to the Resolution Centre and report it by clicking “Dispute a Transaction”

How you can help

It’s help us with this and to see what you can and can’t do with your account until the issue is resolved, log into your account and go to the Resolution Center

Confirm your account now

Sincerely,
PayPaI Inc.”

Okay Mr. Spammer, here’s a little lesson in grammar.  Under “What’s the problem”, you write “We noticed some unusual log in activity with your account.”  The correct way to say this would be, “We’ve noticed some unusual activity on your account.”  Also, “moment” is spelled with only one “m”.  “Riview” is spelled “Review”, and “payment” should be plural.  To make the word plural simply add an “s” to the end of the word.  Since I am in the United States we spell it “Center” not “Centre”.   Finally, in your last paragraph please delete “It’s help us with this and”.  Simply start your sentence with “To see what you can and can’t do…”

So there you are Mr. Spammer.  My little attempt to make the world a better place through better grammar.

Walk-on Trailer Ramp Spring

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Powered Paragliding, Repair3 Comments

It seems like the ramp on the trailer I used to transport my PPG trike gets heavier and heavier each time I have to open or close it.  To save my back I attached a spring to one side.  However, that only helped a little.  I’m going to have to attach another spring on the other side.  Here are some moving pictures that describe what I did…

Thursday Morning Flying

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

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.

Are You Sure You’re Autistic?

On By The Flying DutchmanIn OpinionLeave a comment

I just got done reading a blog post from someone claiming to be autistic.  She was very eloquent in her description of how “neuro-typical” people treat her and how she acts around them.  Now, I don’t know what it’s like to be autistic but I sure know what it looks like.  You know, just because you’re socially inept that doesn’t mean you have autism.  I mean, you could just be really annoying.  You know?

I always explain autism this way, and I could be wrong but this is how I see it.  Imagine you have been abducted by aliens.  They come and grab you in your sleep and whisk you off to their planet.  They dump you off right in the middle of their society and leave you.  Now what do you do?  They communicate in ways you don’t understand.  They do things that make no sense to you.  They get angry at everything you do because everything you do is considered wrong in their society and you are incapable of learning to do what they do.  I ask again, what do you do?  How do you get along?  How do you react?   Do you turn inward?  Do you become frustrated and then angry?  THIS is autism.

I don’t know whether that blogger is autistic or not.  Autism is a spectrum disorder so one can be mildly or severely affected.  That being said, being rebellious is not autism.  You can’t start acting anti-social and then just declare yourself autistic.  My son is autistic and he hates that label.  I don’t look at him as autistic.  He’s just my son, and he’s pretty cool.

Lazy Wednesday Morning Flight

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Powered ParaglidingLeave a comment

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:

 

My Own Domain

On By The Flying DutchmanIn OpinionLeave a comment

I’ve seen two blogs in two months convert from wordpress.com to wordpress.org and lament about losing data, users, whatever.  If the point is just so you can have your own domain then you can keep your wordpress.com account and just purchase a domain name.  You don’t have to change anything.  At least, I didn’t.  But then I’m not selling anything and I don’t engage in any kind of intracate web magic.

All I did was purchase a domain name through a web hosting provider that allows me to retain ownership of the domain name.  Some providers will assist you with purchasing a domain name and setting up your blog but as of the time I first set mine up several years ago, the web hosting provider retains ownership of your domain name.  It’s usually free as long as you retain their services but if you ever want to change providers…uh oh, they own your domain and will sell it to you for whatever amount.

That happened to me with my old domain name: airprayer.com.  So I set up a new domain name: airprayer.net and had the hosting provider simply point it to the web address of the wordpress.com blog: airprayer.wordpress.com.  This way I can take advantage of the security and features provided by wordpress.com.  Now, I don’t know how things work if peopel are trying to monetize their websites.  I’m certainly not.  I’m kind of old school in that regard.  I’ve still got the mindset of the web being a free exchange of information.  Though… I’m a dying breed.

So if you just want a personalized domain name that’s one way to do it.