A twofer for three flights....

826.... 7.... 8

Morning flight was clean.   No Drama

Afternoon flight became a 2fer when I had to come about and land immediately after take off.  Fouled lines were causing a hard right turn.  I adjusted slightly with the trimmers and counter brake on the left side.  The landing was very fast.... The flare felt normal.  

Post flight, I did not find any crossed lines but there was something going on where the tip steering clips in.  I probably freed it when I pulled it off the magnet, but I doubt the magnet alone could have locked in a line.  It's possible that it was the tip steering, perhaps it was wrapped in the risers and just a couple of inches of lost motion was enough to cup the tip.  I might have been able to fix it inflight ....at this point, there is no way to know for sure.

I'm courious if I did the right thing by letting the right trimmer out a bit (probably a third).  It made the  right side of the wing fly faster and did counter the turn so that I could fly straight.   I could also have allowed the wing to continue the turn and landed as it came around instead of forcing the wing to turn to the left.  Position wise, the left turn put me dead center over the runway, where as, following the wing around, would have put me at the far end of the runway at best and possibly, into a flooded field at worst.  

it felt good to know I had the ability to turn in either direction by working only the left brake I could fly the wing leaving the (out of tune ) right side alone.

Another fix would have been to slow down the left side and since the Lift EZ launches in neutral, there was plenty of room to trim that side in.  Either way .... I would be warping the wing 

The third flight was great!  Clean launch and landing.  Nice sunset.

Whatever the cause of the problem ... I should check the Tip Steering lines during future preflights.

814 SCA

,It rained heavily last night and the LZ was soaking wet.  There was a light breeze from the least but it was just a couple of miles an hour so I chose to launch downwind.  The wing inflated fine, perhaps a bit slower, but cleanly.   I lifted off with 3/4 throttle and suspect that there have been other launches that I would have done better if I'd used more power on the take-off run.  I'd used a couple of inches of brake to launch and the trike flew about  3 feet above the surface until I mashed the throttle and feathered the brakes.  The climb out was dramatic.

There was a distinct thermal layer at 400 ft and the wind shifted from East to North.

This morning I experimented using brake and tip steering together and decided that it didn't add anything to control so it's best to use one or the other.  I also intentionally flew through my own wake in Reflex and without.  The difference was obvious.

I dropped down to do some low and slow and spotted what I think we're Great Sand Hill Cranes, they were huge!  I was able to scare them up for a short flight but lost them in the neighboring jungle.

There was no activity at Punta Gorda Airport so I took advantage of the clear air to fly out to the Walmart distribution facility and back following the peace river.

813 SCA (shell creek Airpark)

No flying tonight

But...this morning was just fine.  I set the alarm for 5:50 and was launching well before 7:00.  The winds were light from the East.  The last time it was like this I had planned to launch into the wind and turn up the runway, launching crosswind.  Today, after taking the buggy to the west side I changed up and decided,to launch between the Sky Divers building and Mr. Moss's.  I had to clear a 4 foot fence and stay between a few obstacles but it was reasonable.  The wing came up beautifully and there was plenty of room.  The EZ climbed 300fpm After I closed the trimmers 

APCO also says that you can fly with both the tip steer and brake toggles but I think I would have to have longer tip steering lines to do it because the tip steering engages before the brakes.   (5")

This morning I tried landing with both and ended up releasing the tips before touch down because the tips were too sensitive and not in perfect balance with the brakes.  So, I'm working the tips to stay straight but not able to flare deep and even.   Tomorrow I'll see what it's like to "carve it up" at altitude with both toggles.  I might be over cautious, it may be that I can warp the wingtip far enough to still have enough throw to use the brakes.  

Shell Creek Airpark 812

My first blown launch with the APCO LIFT EZ.  Probably due to some lines snagging the wing came up crooked.  I could have probably saved it but chose to abort rather than take the chance of damaging a brand new wing.  No problem, two minutes later I was climbing over the neighborhood and letting the trimmers out.  The wind was quite light and I was able to get some decent speed readings.  At full out without speed bar I was going 35 mph and at full in with no brakes I was going 28 mph.  APCO claIms the wing can go three times faster than stall speed.  Next flight I'll work the brakes and see how slow I can go.

Today, in my quest to master the trimmers I tried different angles to see if I can find a way to see the scale when I'm changing trim.  If I were foot launching I think would be easy to see the hatch marks on the trimmer but the trike's hang point loops restrict the risers movement.  I did have some success if I pulled the trim loop out and away but letting the trim out was still blind.  Perhaps I could put a mark on the edges which are more visible from my position.  If I sew colored thread onto the edge, I would have to be careful not to impede the cam action.  Stay tuned....

So... I flew east, out to the Red Neck Yact Club and the new concert venue and mud park farther out.

I'm going to have to drive out there and see it in action.  Looks like a crazy good time.

I'm not sure how the jump in the middle of a pond works.   Maybe they pump out most of the water and have a mud jump.

APCO LIFT EZ #807

This was a good morning.  I arrived a few minutes after sunrise.   Tremendous boomers were percolating over Placida but the air over Shell Creek was calm.  The sun was starting to burn fog off the field and there was a light breeze at treetop level.  I set up in my favorite spot and launched without using the A Assists.  The wing came up slightly to the left but righted itself quickly.  

Nice flight with and without reflex.  I experimented with the trimmers fully closed.  Speed was around 25 mph and cruise was 2900 rpm.  I think there is about 10 mph between full closed and full reflex, maybe more.  After some time carving at 1000ft dropped down and practiced the low and slow over the pasture east of the LZ.  Reading the trimmers is easer but still not automatic.  On landing I popped up the front wheel.  Means I'm leaving energy in the wing.  Next time I'll try for a longer glide at touchdown.

#352 & #353 Chatfield ...Power on Landings

God made Days off for days like today!

The season is changing and it's happening all too fast. Now days, when I get to the field at 6:00am, it's O'Dark Thirty. Plenty of time to finish that Rock Star and let the caffeine get into the blood stream. It had been partly clouding all night and this morning was hazy and 55 degrees
The wind was SSW variable 4 to 7 which meant I had a slight uphill grade and rotor from the "Club House". The wing came up fast and the buggy had stopped rolling after the first two feet, I was able to add a little "foot power", but the wing stalled and fell to the left, by now, I was starting to roll, so I added right brake and watched the wing swing to the right until the tip was about 6 feet above the ground. Now some left brake and this time it centered and was rock solid over head. Small wing Heavy trike... The Eden III is easy to muscle around because it's smaller, lighter material and more responsive than the Power Play. I don't think this would have tipped the Trike Buggy Basic but I'm sure that I would have felt the trike start to lift on one side. Because of the extended wheelbase and low and heavy CG, the Thumper is incredibly forgiving. When the wing was about 40 percent loaded the "side pull "was just discernible.

When the wing is oscillating like that it's a good time to be looking up at the glider. :) The mirror is great for some pilots, but it tends to take up too much of my attention and I lose the big picture. The climb out was slow, which was made worse because the surface was sloping upward. Once up, it was mostly smooth air. The winds were flowing in a circle, clockwise around the area. I could fly downwind along the western edge of the park and still be downwind on the east side of the park coming home. The neat thing was that the area around the Balloon Port was calm, because it is inside the circle. I watched two balloons go up and hang right over the Port, they didn't move 20 feet except vertically the whole time they were in the air.

I took some shots of the Marina, landed power on and practiced the low and slow. Then took a brake and did it again. The overcast had damped any thermal activity...I could have flown for two more hours it was that good!

Chad...Please bring some different length hang straps and help me dial in these wings for the Thumper Bullet.
1. Measure the current straps and Riser position in relationship to the hang point rings