Earthstar Forums

Hey gang,
I'm droppin some bucks to take the LSA Repairman course next month. It's the price of an annual condition inspection from the same shop, and is through Rainbow Aviation Services. I'm working on my plane all the time anyways, and will help in getting it right the first time, as all these projects are time consuming. At least I'm surrounded by other mechanic types including A&P's.

kb

I took the repairman class a few years ago. Since I have done the last 2
annuals myself it has paid off. If you are comfortable working on your
own plane it makes sense to be able to sign off your own condition
inspections. But don't expect to actually learn very much in the class.

Blade.

I took the course last December from Rainbow at their facility in Corning, CA.
Take notes about everything you hear and see. I took a lot and I wish I had
taken more. Both Brian and Carol Carpenter are highly knowledgeable, with many
years of experience. He's not kind to 2-stroke installations in fast airplanes,
such as the Thunder Gull, because he thinks they don't get enough prop loading
to be reliable. I came home and increased the pitch on my ground adjustable Ivo
prop so that my 503 cannot exceed 6400 rpm in level flight. In his view, the
more constant the prop load, the more reliable the 2-stroke. Hence, he says,
powered parachutes have the most reliable 2-stroke experience because they
pretty much always fly at the same speed and same loading.

I learned a lot and enjoyed talking with all the other participants, who had a
wide variety of LSAs including one group who are building RV-12s. There was one
Titan owner, an early one also with a 503. I remained very happy with my JT2. He
was very happy with his Titan.

While there I bought their book, A Professional Approach to Ultralights, which I
only recently got around to reading and found to be an excellent resource. There
is a lot of practical information about flying ultralights, which helped me
understand why its so different from my old Piper Cherokee/Cessna 172 days. (And
so much more fun, although more limiting.) 
Dick O'Reilly
dickoreilly@yahoo.com
(818) 261-8669 or (818) 780-4776

Dick,

Thanks for your encouragement on the Rainbow Aviation class. I've been experimenting with my Ivo prop and found my fastest flat and level speed is with about 6000rpm. With the electric adjust that's easy to set. On take off, full fine setting can result in 6700rpm, so I tap the switch down to about 5900rpm on climb out at about 75mph. After leveling off, a couple more taps brings the speed to 95-100mph and 5200-5400rpm for cruise. Gotta love these Thundergulls, and the 2000 is quite slippery.

kb

In a message dated 4/25/2011 11:54:41 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
dickoreilly@yahoo.com writes:

I took the course last December from Rainbow at their facility in Corning,
CA. Take notes about everything you hear and see. I took a lot and I wish
I had taken more. Both Brian and Carol Carpenter are highly knowledgeable,
with many years of experience. He's not kind to 2-stroke installations in
fast airplanes, such as the Thunder Gull, because he thinks they don't get
enough prop loading to be reliable. I came home and increased the pitch on
my ground adjustable Ivo prop so that my 503 cannot exceed 6400 rpm in level
flight. In his view, the more constant the prop load, the more reliable
the 2-stroke. Hence, he says, powered parachutes have the most reliable
2-stroke experience because they pretty much always fly at the same speed and
same loading.

I learned a lot and enjoyed talking with all the other participants, who
had a wide variety of LSAs including one group who are building RV-12s.
There was one Titan owner, an early one also with a 503. I remained very happy
with my JT2. He was very happy with his Titan.

While there I bought their book, A Professional Approach to Ultralights,
which I only recently got around to reading and found to be an excellent
resource. There is a lot of practical information about flying ultralights,
which helped me understand why its so different from my old Piper
Cherokee/Cessna 172 days. (And so much more fun, although more limiting.)

Dick O'Reilly
dickoreilly@yahoo.com
(818) 261-8669 or (818) 780-4776







Hi Dick
Prop loading is extremely important. I set up my 503s to run 5700 rpm
static on the ground. no more no less. But if you did error from the 5700, 5800
would work and you probably wouldn't get off the ground with 5600. its a
close range of RPM with the 503. I cruse at 6000, it loves it at that speed.
I ran mine for 1287 hrs and sold the engine to someone who is still flying
it. Also all ways keep the EGT around 1100 degrees.
Happy Flying
Mark