nomadpete

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked the boat up to the van and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back; now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible." My loving wife replied, "And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"

And that's when the fight started.......

I'd have believed it if BEX had posted it.....

Preflight? Just a quick walk around should do... Anyway, you can always check it later.....

A lifting body aircraft would be suitably easy to build, and it is reported to have benign handling characteristics. The structure is robust, which improves pilot safety. I'd like to see one in the flesh and since the only ultralight one is residing in the USA, I cannot afford the tickets just to get a look at it. This one was at Oshkosh in 1994, I believe.

That's Great news! I was always told (by my mother) that it was only girls who could change their minds. How can I earn this new privilege?

If you want to have a cheap aircraft for fun, and also want to fly yourself out west to pester your rellies, then I suggest the practical way to achieve this is to make the fun machine for most of your flying and cross hire a plastic fantastic for the occasional long distance tour. One single design can't be all things to all people.

Clifton is a great place to commit aviation. Except for the cold winter mornings. The training, the scenery and people make every visit great therapy. Congratulations on mastering the drifter.

What were you drinking? I'd like some......

If I don't like Nick, does that make me Xenophobic?

Glider Rope break - Turn back procedure: Perhaps I didn't make it clear in my post describing a glider 180 turn back. The initial move is to veer downwind, then turn back into the wind, to minimise the turn radius, and allow the dropping airspeed to work with the crosswind component to drift you back to the centreline of the strip without allowing the airspeed to drop below 1.5 Vs. This makes the slight downwind turn happen when airspeed is highest. If you want to call it a teardrop turn, then the first part of it is really a downwind 'S' turn before making a 'U' turn into wind. My other point remains - it is a very dangerous thing to try consider in a low mass, draggy aircraft such as our RAAus aircraft.

At least you agree with my gliding training. thanks

Thank you to our RAAus office staff. My plastic Pilot Certificate has arrived, accompanied by another paper copy of the pilot certificate. Pity that we have to collectively wear the expense of this associated rework by our office staff. They have more than enough work on their plate without having to mail things out twice. Multiply that by 8,000 members (or however many we really have) and it represents a lot of money and effort wasted. It's not the office staff to blame. I hope someone takes ownership of this wastage and puts some better processes into action.

A real engine fail on takeoff is completely different from a rope break on a glider launch. With a glider, there is no grey area. Rope breaks - it is instantaneous and unambiguous. You are usually flying at 20kts or so above stall speed and can use that to execute the 180 without massive height loss. So the training kicks in instantly since there are no other decisions to delay things. However, when an engine falters it is seldom an instantaneous failure, and a first reaction (whilst the mouth is checking for the right expletives) is to scan the instruments and assess what is going on. Those seconds are all it takes for airspeed to bleed off even if you did put the nose down (draggy ultralight verses a slippery glider) and you cannot get it back without trading off a lot of height. Next reaction is to try to stretch the glide whilst turning low............ very risky. I'd rather opt for a controlled survivable crash rather than the likely stall and spin that would be next. One other consideration is this: I had my Lightwing fan stop at about 300 feet. Now, if I had everything going for me and I managed to instantly execute a perfect 180, (in reality it would need closer to 500' height) I would have another big problem. I would be landing downwind with a set down point that left me with less than half of the strip to get on the ground and come to a stop before the fence stopped me. In the event I landed ahead and rolled to a stop just past the end of the strip. Lightwing glide ratio = 9:1, Training two seat Glider ratio = 30:1 That's three times further.

OK Andy. It looks like the wheels are starting to turn. Maybe I will soon be humbly apoligising for my earlier cynicism. That is, if a certain re-resignation is not re-retracted tomorrow.

Did somebody say something to upset him? There's plenty of time to retract it again, I say!

Has anybody heard any news about the Barnaby Wainfan designed Facetmobile? There surely is a lot of scope in the amateur building arena for a ultralight of this type. A pity that he appears to have shunned the opportunity to release plans for his well developed design. If a few u/l versions were built, it would raise the general awareness of this form or aircraft and give him a better chance of raising finance to get his business afloat. Peter T