Just wanted to add a few stills from Saturday’s flight video. I just like these because I love that view of the runway. Landing is always my favorite part of a flight. I also like how my shadow shows up in these captures.
New Jerusalem and Blackhawk Fly-In
Had an enjoyable day chock full of aviation. I started out doing some touch and goes at New Jerusalem and then drove up to Blackhawk Ranch to check out the fly-in. Rather than type it all in I’ll just leave you with this extravaganza of audio-visual amazery.
Update: Google munged the video when they tried to stabilize the video. So I’m going to re-edit and re-upload.
Update 2: Here is the re-edited video of New Jerusalem. I’ll add the Blackhawk fly-in later today.
Final update: Here is the video I took at the Blackhawk Fly-In
Building A GoPro Chase Cam Mount
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!
“You Don’t Have TV??”
Growing up 
I was very much a TV-holic. My wife much less so but she also enjoyed TV. We let our kids watch TV while they were young. Disney and Animal Planet mostly. Then one day a commercial came on about a reality show staring New Yorkers and their pets. One scene was of a very well-built woman wearing a bikini that barely held all her parts under control. She was bending over washing her dog and they showed her body parts grinding together from all angles, barely focused on the dog. There I was with my eyes bulging and fixated on the screen when I remember my son. When I looked at him his eyes were fixated too. I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off and then proceed to call the cable company and cancel cable right then and there.
I was at a point in my life where I didn’t need to be looking at women, especially women built like the actress from the commercial. I sure didn’t want my son growing up and developing the same lust problems I did. Later that week as I was reading a magazine I looked up to see my wife reading her Bible (which she always did anyway) and to see my kids on the floor, one drawing, the other coloring in a coloring book. They never seemed to miss TV at all.
Many years later I eventually relented and we signed up wit Netflix and began watching Emergency, Mission Impossible (the 60s/70s series), Columbo, and so forth. Mostly the shows I remember watching that even when they were controversial, they never approached what we have in commercials today. And it was a great way to ease them into what they would be seeing as they went out into “the world” and have a dialog about such things. We still don’t have TV and we really don’t miss it.
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.
Walk-On Trailer Ramp Springs Part 2
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
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
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
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…
Air Prayer 