Man I want a plane

A place for fun discussion of common interests we have besides Fieros

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EBSB52
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Post by EBSB52 »

crzyone wrote:Only way I would fly a piston powered helicopter is if it had dual magnetos and 2 spark plugs per hole like a cesna, would reduce the chance of engine failure alot. I would probibly invest in a parachute as well if I flew high enough to be able to use one.
All of the recip choppers I know of that are certified by the FAA have Lycommings or Continentals, so they have dual mags.

As for parachute, just think about the conditins under which you might want to get away.

- Tail rotor inop to the point where it can't control counter-torque of teh main rotor. The chopper would be spinning and probably upright - chopped liver once you leave.

- Power outage - you wouldhave to roll the fucker upside down or seriously on its side to be able to get out w/o meeting the main rotor. Parachutes as emergency procedures are pretty useless in choppers. It's fun to use them with choppes as exit platforms tho.
txf
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Post by txf »

Power Outage is called Autorotation. you still have a little control of it with the engine off. you let the rotor pick up speed as you decend then last second you use the rotors to slow you down to touch down.
EBSB52
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Post by EBSB52 »

txf wrote:Power Outage is called Autorotation. you still have a little control of it with the engine off. you let the rotor pick up speed as you decend then last second you use the rotors to slow you down to touch down.
I undersatnd that, but actually power outage is what precedes autorotation. The pilot should then push the stick over a little, maybe relax the collective a bit, pick up airspeed, and then pull back on the collective as you approach the ground - while coordinating it with the cyclic and finding a place to set down.

I was being layman about it, but technically you can have a power outage and not autorotate. The author was talking about having a chute with a chooper and I illustrated that it most likely wouldn't help.
Blue Shift
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Post by Blue Shift »

I been looking at those ultralight gyros - supposedly they aren't so hard to fly, and you can touchdown or take off in an area the size of a small parking lot. The one I have in mind, the Gyrobee, you could probably pick up off the ground almost, it's so lightweight. The plans are freely available on their website.

I think it'd be cool to have just the minimum required to fly - a tube frame, a passive rotor up top and like a Rotax engine with a pusher prop in the back. If I ever built one of them though, I'd make it a point to put one of those ballistic recovery chutes in - you pull the handle and a rocket flies out and deploys a canopy large enough to bring you and the aircraft to the ground safely, though it'll probably leave you plenty sore. I figure it's about the next best thing to an ejection seat. Probably would have to come up with a rotor jettison system to make it work on a rotary wing craft, but it could be done. Even on a dead stick, gyros are really easy to bring in as well - just about every airshow I've been to where they flew a gyro, they made a point to cut the engine and land on a dead stick. I swear I saw them set down a two seater Subaru powered gyro in a 5 foot space on a dead stick. Crazy.

My dad has a Cessna 310 twin and has a 150 he's storing for somebody as well that he has free access to. The 310 makes a great intermediate range cruiser for those long trips, but there's something about the 150's similicity that I think is cool. It's also very forgiving and easy to fly - fixed pitch prop, and no retractable landing gear to forget to put down. Once we went out and tried to put it into a controlled stall dive, which I've been in a 152 in a stall (fun). We climbed really steep and pulled the power... and the nose just came down and pointed itself at the horizon and kept flying - at 40 knots! We were losing altitude of course, but it didn't go nose down. It'd make a great little trainer. It's been awhile since I've gone with my dad out to the hangar, but one of these days I'd like to take up flying.
EBSB52
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Post by EBSB52 »

Blue Shift wrote:I been looking at those ultralight gyros - supposedly they aren't so hard to fly, and you can touchdown or take off in an area the size of a small parking lot. The one I have in mind, the Gyrobee, you could probably pick up off the ground almost, it's so lightweight. The plans are freely available on their website.

I think it'd be cool to have just the minimum required to fly - a tube frame, a passive rotor up top and like a Rotax engine with a pusher prop in the back. If I ever built one of them though, I'd make it a point to put one of those ballistic recovery chutes in - you pull the handle and a rocket flies out and deploys a canopy large enough to bring you and the aircraft to the ground safely, though it'll probably leave you plenty sore. I figure it's about the next best thing to an ejection seat. Probably would have to come up with a rotor jettison system to make it work on a rotary wing craft, but it could be done. Even on a dead stick, gyros are really easy to bring in as well - just about every airshow I've been to where they flew a gyro, they made a point to cut the engine and land on a dead stick. I swear I saw them set down a two seater Subaru powered gyro in a 5 foot space on a dead stick. Crazy.

My dad has a Cessna 310 twin and has a 150 he's storing for somebody as well that he has free access to. The 310 makes a great intermediate range cruiser for those long trips, but there's something about the 150's similicity that I think is cool. It's also very forgiving and easy to fly - fixed pitch prop, and no retractable landing gear to forget to put down. Once we went out and tried to put it into a controlled stall dive, which I've been in a 152 in a stall (fun). We climbed really steep and pulled the power... and the nose just came down and pointed itself at the horizon and kept flying - at 40 knots! We were losing altitude of course, but it didn't go nose down. It'd make a great little trainer. It's been awhile since I've gone with my dad out to the hangar, but one of these days I'd like to take up flying.
I don't know of any rotor jetison - not saying they aren't out there, but I don't know of any. Kinda unsafe, as the rotor could fall on someone.

1 thing you need to know is that helicopters are inherently unsafe as compared to fixed wing acft, so just assume the greater risk or don't fly em.

As for a 150, I think they're junk. Not to contradict you, but in hot areas like Phoenix they're worthless at least 1/2 the year due to density altitude. A 172 makes a much better trainer IMO due to its more docile nature, better float, and more availabilty of power when needed. Plus it's nice to have elbow room.
Weponhead
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Post by Weponhead »

I love flying , i was about half way to my private liscence when my mom cut my funding to buy this shithole farm "GO MOM , favoritism again!" anyway , i flew 172's and i liked em alot, nothin special but a very forigiving plane. heh 2 of my fav things to do are parabolic curves with an unknowing person in the back seat , and side slips to land.
The Dark Side of Will
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Post by The Dark Side of Will »

Weponhead wrote: and side slips to land.
You like cross-control departures, then?

I like oversteer in a car, but it's a different animal in a plane
Weponhead
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Post by Weponhead »

haha i dont think i'd wanna be taking off if i needed cross control to lift off. I assume your talking about correcting for a high wind situation? .. im talking about side slipping to land to essentially make your plane a floating brick to drop off speed (read: dont do this with your flaps down or you'll be a non floating brick) i love how my instructor put things :D
The Dark Side of Will
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Post by The Dark Side of Will »

I guess I used the wrong term...
The situation to which I was alluding was when you get into an aggressive "oversteer" condition (slip or skid...? it's been a while.), obstruct the airflow over your leeward wing and unintentionally invert. Low-wing aircraft only, obviously.
Weponhead
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Post by Weponhead »

I'm not too farmiliar with low wings, as i was flying highwing 172's , im sure eventually i wouldve been educated as to the ways and differences of low wing but. For now im not too keen on it.
EBSB52
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Post by EBSB52 »

Weponhead wrote:haha i dont think i'd wanna be taking off if i needed cross control to lift off. I assume your talking about correcting for a high wind situation? .. im talking about side slipping to land to essentially make your plane a floating brick to drop off speed (read: dont do this with your flaps down or you'll be a non floating brick) i love how my instructor put things :D
Isn't it more about bleeding off altitude? Also, unless you have several hundred hours, I wouldn't recommend side-slip landings. We all know what ego does.... research JFK Jrs. bad flying experience. Also, killing yiurself is ok, but it's not ok to kill others, so save the hotdogging to solo stuff. I'm as bad, as I was 20 when I was licensed and took chances with willing friends in the plane, but it is really stupid with others in the plane or flying over your head in general.
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