Tucson #230 #231 Wheeley Casters

The left side is lifting sooner than the right

Marana LZ
Higher winds gave me the excuse to try out the wheeley casters. I put the trimmers out and the wing came up quickly without pulling me back. It probably also helped that the surface was hard and smooth. One thing I noticed from viewing the video was that the left wheel lifted before the front.. I never felt like I was in danger of rolling but it is something to be aware of and possibly corrected before launching with the trimmers out. At the least I should hang the tool bag back on the left side. So while I wasn't able to see how the casters worked on launch I did get the impression that they were touching during the run out. On landing I felt them again but no problem.

First flight was about 30 minutes, I stayed in the general vicinity of the LZ and tried to get the feel of the area. Mostly farm flying but to the west there is a river that goes north. Scott Nicoles took that route and I wish I had gone with him. I was not able to be there when he returned because Mike Levine and I had to get back for dinner with the whole family.

The second flight was a quickie, I had to abort the first launch because the left brake line was twisted and I could feel the pulley wasn't rolling free....landing was sweet with the motor off...I flared at the last second and bled off the energy at just a couple of inches AGL.

2009 Road Trip Prep

Winter Fly In Prep

Coordinate with Ray NAMM DONE
Coordinate with Mo Service day process
Coordinate with Chad Santa Barbara Flying process
Coordinate with Saundra Santa Barbara process
Coordinate with Michelle Wing Inspection DONE
Coordinate with Mike Levin Truck storage DONE

Order Parts from Southern Skies DONE

Coordinate with Michael Purdy process

Airline tix DONE

Service / maintenance / Parts
Problems
1. Alternator does not seem to be charging the battery.
2. Electric Starter (Bendix) chews up the Starter Sprocket
3. No master kill switch
4. Seems hard to start with the pull cord
5. Tiny Tach does not read accuratly at low RPMs

Service Jobs...
1. New Rings
2. Install Temp Gauges

Parts...
New Starter Sprocket
rings and any other parts need to rebuild the Simonini
kill switch parts
cht & egt gauge

all bearings that are recomended for replacement by 400
get additional jets for high low and mid ranges
inspect wings
new belt
new plug
broken spade connection


Airline tickets
PPG sites around Tucson


Fly-in registrations

#229 Rowdy Air Shortens Flight Simms

Salton Sea campsight 2007

Two days ago it snowed leaving 4 inches on the grass....but...

this afternoon looked beautiful. Even if the field was going little wet I thought it worth going out there to see if I had a shot at flying. I arrived at 3 (1 1/2 hours before sunset). Set-up and launched quickly.


The 3 inches of wet snow slowed the taxi and from the nice way the wing came up and settled overhead ...It got me thinking that I'm a little heavy on the throttle and should practice short bursts of power to keep the speed down before committing to take-off.


Within seconds of leaving the ground I flew into some very powerful lift. and it was also clear that there was a strong breeze just above the surface. I decided to get down immediately, the only problem was that if I was going to land upwind and still be by the truck I would have to do some tricky flying. What I would have to do is fly clockwise around the trees and turn for final with enough room to avoid the wires. With all the bumps and mixing air I opted to come in fast and land downwind. There was almost no wind at the surface and even though I was technically downwind I was able to keep the wing up and taxi for over 150 feet back to the truck. Good thing too because the mud was sticky thick and I was wearing 2 inches of mud on the bottom of my boots by the time I loaded the rig back into the truck.


I think if I'd waited 30 minutes longer to launch it would have been allot better. I thought about it but decided not to because of the mud. I also wish I had launched a pilot balloon... even after landing it would have been instructive. I hope to remember this the next time the opportunity presents itself.


Before leaving the house I did change the jet to 155 and the motor started better and was more responsive. It even sounded better...deeper...more throaty.

#228 Simms

I'm thinking that the motor is running lean.

Still hard to start...

Didn't burn much gas...

Throttle is not as responsive ...

it's not lagging just seems a little slow...

I've been flying a 150 jet all through the summer and fall at this altitude and higher...

The air is a little cooler but not as cool a it was this spring (during the AM flights). I'll change to the 155 if I fly again before leaving to Tucson.

Nice flight ,Nill wind on the surface but mixing at 600 feet. Tracy the RC pilot who is considering getting into PPG was at the field. He took some shots and I hope he has something good enough that he will send me a copy. I pretty much stayed over the field and practiced a few touch and go s. I really like flying the 24 m it comes up easier and because it is loaded heaver its firm and seems more stable I going to consider selling the 26 m and trading for a 24. Marek wanted to have me try the velvet 23 but I declined. Chicken I guess. But I really should see how the smaller wing feels.

227 Quick Fix Simms

I got my fix, it was short but sweet. The wind was shifting on 220 degrees, not much but enough to blow a launch. I was flying the 26 meter and it fell back on the first attempt. Instead of re-setting I just stopped, grabbed the A's and tried again. Nice launch I got some decent taxi time before rotating. I've got to hold the A's longer with this wing, probably because the wing is getting older.
The 28m is on the way to Para Motor City for inspection. I'll pick it up on the way to Tucson and drop this one off.
The air was less than ideal, not bumpy but the wind was shifting and there was lots of sink and lift. When I went to idle and noticed that my decent was only 25 fps I decided to land. The sink had me at 450 fps at 1/3 throttle. The landing was sweet despite the weird air at 500 feet.

The motor wasn't starting so I swapped spark plugs and it started on the first pull...Yea ! I have to note that the plug that I took out looked good but it wasn't very tight so that might have been the problem. No IPod this time, I used ear plugs and it was easer to listen to the motor. I feel alot better about the motor, it's running well and I think it was just paranoia that had me hearing something other than normal.
Better luck tomorrow!