Earthstar Forums

Anyone flying yet? Perfect warm day here in ontario Canada,just too much mud to be able to use the runway yet. Sure glad all my mods were done last winter so I am ready to go first opportunity this spring.
Fred

Fred,

I got my first condition inspection out of the way yesterday, at KDLL about a 25 minute flight one way.

My fav A&P balanced the carbs very well without using a gauge of any kind. Compression good & no other squawks.

Today it was in the 40's F and the snow is gradually melting although the snow depth in general is several inches yet, the exposed ground is of varying consistency.

I was out today for about a hour and a half flight and the temps were good (on engine & outside) I'm looking forward to seeing green and not freezing while flying.

Skot

Oh yeah, here in the Northwest, we have to wait a few days or weeks for the rain to stop. I was out last Saturday on a video op for my sister’s boat, at a marina right in the downwind for the nearby town airport. On the way back, I had a “Fun with Phugoids” moment, as I was fumbling with the camera with both hands, and was steering with my feet. Normally in calm conditions, when I deflect the stick while hands off, the plane slowly goes up and down, but when I was in bumpy air and got a little pitch change, the phugoids started getting bigger and bigger until I grabbed the stick to dampen them before the plane pitched up and stalled. That wouldn’t have been a big deal, as I was at about 2,500 ‘msl, but would have been a surprise. I love the bumps and the shitty air, otherwise I would have been on the ground whining about the crappy air not flyable. Just go do it, because sometime you might be caught in junky air trying to get back home.

Thats good practice flying in bad air. I once flew in air that had my head bouncing off of the underside of the wing in the cockpit.(had a brain bucket on - Canadian ultralight rules and all)
I have to admitt I was scared especially think about the landing. I just flew around for about an hour to get used to the bumps and to calm my nerves. I came in and it was a bucking bronco on approach. Just as I was about to do a go around at about 10 feet things straightened out and I made a nice landing. I guess ground affect helped. Some of the guys at the field wouldn't have dared fly and thought I was crazy but I know if weather turns bad on the way back from some where I can handle it and not freak out. I know a lot of the control we have in bad weather is the superior design of the thundergulls. I once took off with a friend in a Challenger he radioed that he was so bounced around it scared him and he was going back to the field. I barely felt anything at all.
Fred

Hi
If any of you Thundergull pilots are experiencing nose bobbing in
turbulence, the CG is to far aft, add weight to the nose, now. You will like the
way the plane fly's after you do this. Flying in aft CG is dangerous and makes
it harder to control in gusty winds.
Happy Flying
Mark Beierle, Earthstar Aircraft.


In a message dated 3/29/2013 9:58:24 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
kessb@wavecable.com writes:






Oh yeah, here in the Northwest, we have to wait a few days or weeks for
the rain to stop. I was out last Saturday on a video op for my sister’s boat,
at a marina right in the downwind for the nearby town airport. On the way
back, I had a “Fun with Phugoids” moment, as I was fumbling with the camera
with both hands, and was steering with my feet. Normally in calm
conditions, when I deflect the stick while hands off, the plane slowly goes up and
down, but when I was in bumpy air and got a little pitch change, the
phugoids started getting bigger and bigger until I grabbed the stick to dampen
them before the plane pitched up and stalled. That wouldn’t have been a big
deal, as I was at about 2,500 ‘msl, but would have been a surprise. I love
the bumps and the shitty air, otherwise I would have been on the ground
whining about the crappy air not flyable. Just go do it, because sometime you
might be caught in junky air trying to get back home.