Knuckledragger

My New favorite channel!  Keep'm coming Joey - its fun to see what I may some day be able to do

Guys,

What is 'IMC'?

FWIW, my Mark 4 extended speedwing simply breaks and drops a few degrees and starts flying again.  Power on stalls yield the aforementioned descending mush.

Looking good!  Did you fabricate them yourself?  Its weird and I'm still drinking my first cup of joe, but in my head it appears that if the gear legs are pushed upward as in adding weight/load, the springs would stretch.  Am I just looking at it wrong?

Guys, thanks for the great feedback. 

Pattern entry altitude at this field is 1000 AGL.  Generally base to base/final I cut power to idle, and am usually at around 700.  I'll try tightening the pattern some and see what that yields.  I like to know how far I can "glide" in from.

The last couple of landings on the video I glide base and final and still fwd slip pretty hard on short final to get the threshold where I want it.

Dusty: I'll do some more slow flight at altitude to see if 45-55 gets better results in my plane.  What I think hear you saying also is approach it like a soft field landing and come in slow (less energy) and give it a touch of power as I rotate for the float to keep it up with the stick instead of using energy from the glide to keep it floating in ground effect.

I'll work on these suggestions and report back!

I've been working on take offs and landings the last couple of days.  Here is video compilation showing the first few and then later as things got better.  Please be critical where needed.  I welcome the feedback.

https://youtu.be/eo_ioshpxvI

Great looking bird Robin!  Those floats look great.

+1 on the Simple Green.

SuberAvid,  try moving the VGs closer to the leading edge of the wing.  My understanding is ~7% of chord is a good starting point, which is ~4.5".

Rob

I flew my plane, Avid Mark IV, Extended Aerobatic (HH) Speedwing for a few hours without the VGs.  Then I put VGs on the outer 66% of each wing at 4.5" back from LE as measured along the chord, then stepped forward to 4" where the flapperons end to the tips.  I also put VGs 4" forward of the hinge opening on the underside of the horz stabilizer. All VGs are spaced at 60MM

Keeping in mind these are seat pants observations, Here is what stands out to me:

Before the VGs I had to modulate power all the way to the grass.  If I cut power and tried to hold it up in ground effect, it would just plop down.  On take offs, soft field (holding the nose wheel up) was impossible.  Take off speed was ~60-65MPH IAS (1/3 flaps)

After the VGs: Now I cut power several hundred feet above and ahead of the threshold (right after turning final) and have to WAIT for energy to bleed off as I ease the stick back in ground effect.  The landings are much greasier now.  (Perhaps I'm getting better at flying the plane too).  On take offs, I have the nose wheel up before the ASI starts to register movement.  The plane leaves the ground at ~50mph IAS (1/3 flaps)

Overall, Landings feel different.  I'm still relearning where to cut power so that I don't glide halfway down the field before running out of elevator.  The first time I came in with the VGs, I was surprised by the glide and about the time trees at the end of the runway were starting wave me back on the power it settled softly into the grass.  My preference for landing is to stay at 80-100% pattern altitude until I start turning short final.  With the VGs I've been adjusting base & final out further or slipping it down faster (more fun!)

Bottom line, I feel better about the plane landing and taking off.  The change in handling put a huge smile on my face too!

Finally!  A couple days of unhindered flying. I'm comfortable with moderate crosswinds now.  I flew to my heart's content today. Lots of take-off & landing practice with crosswinds later in the day, slow flight & stalls, light aerobatic maneuvers (my inexperienced attempt at), and just general flyin around. It was a great day!

Don't forget: you don't have to fish.  You can just run around in your seaplane and enjoy the water and the air and forget about the fish.

I took some pic like this from my Avid today [NOT]

Joey, you have a great job - be sure to enjoy every minute of it!

Sitting in my hanger yesterday morning I saw what appeared to be a giant camper mounted on a pickup truck rolling by out of the corner of my eye.  It was quiet all morning at the field so I welcomed the thought of potential new company.  The giant camper in reality was a small camper on a very small, very old Dastun pickup.  Its owner an ultralight pilot and overall neat guy with a historical hanger filled with fun.  He offered the hand I was waiting for to take the wings off my truck.  During a lull in conversation I noticed the back of his unit:

+1 paying for most things with a credit card (not debit, debit visa whatever). 

Joey, sorry to hear about the debit card fraud (BTDT) and about the lousy, archaic service at Avemco.   I bet they still use fax machines and a Xerox copier. 8)

Technology has enabled many forms of communication, esp instant comms.  Its a simple matter for a firm to automatically issue an email to the client/cardholder on cc auth failure.

Ha! I'm not planning to do this all in one day

WOW!

So, anyone on here runnin' smoke?

I tried to pick up the plane yesterday, but by the time I was ready to fly home winds were prevailing out of the E 15k gusting to 20k and my home field only has rwy 19/35  Grrr.

Fortunately my flight instructor was there with another student.  I waited around as the wind picked up, inspecting my plane.  Then spent 2 hours with him after lunch doing crosswind take offs and landings in the (to me) stiff breeze in a small Tecnam.  We made sure to use the runways most perpendicular to the sock and I was able to practice side-on and quartering gusty crosswinds.  2 hours and ~24 t/o&landings later I was mentally bushed, yet satisfied that the 90 min drive to Sebring was worthwhile, even if I did return home in a car.

I would have expected the plugs to show lean.  Is it possible the gauge is off?  How does the CHT look when running 1400 EGT for a bit?  With everything else being normal, I might try a new gauge.  I didn't call out the sensors because both of them are supplying the same high reading (both wrong by the same amount).

My plane came with an Army Air Core-esque paint job featuring olive drab.   I saw enough olive drab while on active duty to last a lifetime despite being a Sailor.

Would I be adding a significant amount of weight by painting over what I have?  Is there a preferred way to do this besides recovering the plane?  I'll probably keep it simple and use water based latex acrylic, which seem like it sticks to just about anything.

Also, is there any problems with painting the majority of the plane black?  There would be contrasting accent colors to make it stand out against the sky and ground.

I fly strictly for fun. :D  I agree on the spin training needing to be part of the regular curriculum.  Its early on my list, even though I've passed the checkride, I still feel like im a student of the art.  I want to be safe and capable. With all the reading I've been doing, I can't help feel like I've barely scratched the surface and the license issued is a just permission to go learn how to be an aviator.

Engine had 295 hours and 15 years since new according to the engine log.  It ran fine (to me) with no noted leaks or weeps prior to O/H.  <300 hours across 15 years in Florida was my main concern for this engine.  Labor report (attached) shows the carbs were gone through.  My home field a 1.2 hr flight from KSEF, so hopefully jetting etc. is unchanged. 

your advice regarding notation of things like jetting and settings is duly noted!

Correct.  I had just enough time to fly it down there and hand them the keys and get back to work.  Like you Joey, I travel a LOT.  So I had them do everything.

Well, FINALLY after what seemed like an eternity (~5weeks) Lockwood is releasing my plane from service.  I had the 582 overhauled and broken in.  Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'll be able to fly again. 

That said, me being a newbie pilot (30 hours, 8 weeks), what things should I add to and or focus on in tomorrow's preflight and initial flight?  I'm comfortable actually flying the plane, but I don't want to overlook something that more experienced pilots here might have checked.

Congratulations!   What is the 60/60 rule?

Batton's like hang gliderers use to form their wings. They slide in the wing fabric and give the wing it's shape. 

I just found out the current owner of all rights, parts, patterns and does repair service & replacement sails for these little water birds is in my backyard. What is truly coincidental/serendipitous is he is the guy I bought my Avid Flyer from!

ahh!  I hadn't thought of it like that.

seems like a set of floats might be an option?