Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Oh Great. Or, Why You Shouldn't Annual Your Aerobatic Airplane in the Spring
First the good news: I received three inspection plate covers this morning from American Champion Aircraft to replace the one that I graciously donated to someone’s yard in Tiverton. The other two are going on the shelf waiting for the next time I lose one. ACA parts are relatively cheap. These were only $10 each. I just need to paint them up and we are back in business.
Now the bad news: Airplanes have to have an annual inspection done each year…hence the term “getting annualed.” N317SD is due for her annual in June so the owner decided to have it done now and get it out of the way. There is an old saying in flying that its better to find a problem on the ground than in the air. And, while overwhelmingly true, the timing of finding a major problem is still horrible.
Brian, our beloved, capable and brilliantly hilarious mechanic came over to my desk holding a magnet. On that magnet were minute metal shavings. The metal shavings came from the oil that he had just removed from the engine. In other words some part of the engine is slowly grinding itself apart or as we lovingly call, its “making metal.” This is bad. Not catastrophic bad like its going to blow up, but points to a big time repair that you should do to avoid a bigger problem later. The source of the metal ranges from the “okay, that’s annoying but not that bad” to the “oh God why have you forsaken me?” Our problem lies in the “Oh God” column.
The camshaft is a doohickey in the engine that runs the entire length from front to back. It rotates around with little lifters on it that open and close the valves on the cylinders allowing fuel and air in, and then exhaust out. In the photo of this split engine, the camshaft is the almost reddish looking rod towards the bottom of the engine. They have a tendency to ware over time and ours has started to do that. To repair it, the engine needs to be disassembled completely. This is going to take several weeks to do, when my first contest is only 7 weeks ago. Needless to say, I am less than a happy camper at the moment.
I’m immediately resorting to emergency mode and figuring out what else I can do. This might mean that I have to drive two hours to rent another Decathlon for almost $300/h. I don’t know that my budget can handle it. Ugh. I have based my entire year around competing; still live at home, set aside all my spending money, even lost 15lbs to do this. I cant let a little thing like not having an airplane get in the way of…competing in…an..airplane. What?
Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’m gonna go watch Million Dollar Baby and take notes. (if you’ve seen it, you’ll get it. If not…go watch it.)
Now the bad news: Airplanes have to have an annual inspection done each year…hence the term “getting annualed.” N317SD is due for her annual in June so the owner decided to have it done now and get it out of the way. There is an old saying in flying that its better to find a problem on the ground than in the air. And, while overwhelmingly true, the timing of finding a major problem is still horrible.
Brian, our beloved, capable and brilliantly hilarious mechanic came over to my desk holding a magnet. On that magnet were minute metal shavings. The metal shavings came from the oil that he had just removed from the engine. In other words some part of the engine is slowly grinding itself apart or as we lovingly call, its “making metal.” This is bad. Not catastrophic bad like its going to blow up, but points to a big time repair that you should do to avoid a bigger problem later. The source of the metal ranges from the “okay, that’s annoying but not that bad” to the “oh God why have you forsaken me?” Our problem lies in the “Oh God” column.
The camshaft is a doohickey in the engine that runs the entire length from front to back. It rotates around with little lifters on it that open and close the valves on the cylinders allowing fuel and air in, and then exhaust out. In the photo of this split engine, the camshaft is the almost reddish looking rod towards the bottom of the engine. They have a tendency to ware over time and ours has started to do that. To repair it, the engine needs to be disassembled completely. This is going to take several weeks to do, when my first contest is only 7 weeks ago. Needless to say, I am less than a happy camper at the moment.
I’m immediately resorting to emergency mode and figuring out what else I can do. This might mean that I have to drive two hours to rent another Decathlon for almost $300/h. I don’t know that my budget can handle it. Ugh. I have based my entire year around competing; still live at home, set aside all my spending money, even lost 15lbs to do this. I cant let a little thing like not having an airplane get in the way of…competing in…an..airplane. What?
Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’m gonna go watch Million Dollar Baby and take notes. (if you’ve seen it, you’ll get it. If not…go watch it.)
Monday, May 17, 2010
WWWWOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!
YEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! This is what happens when I write an entry as soon as I get home from a fantastic flight. I’ve flown twice in the last two days, a shameful rarity but I feel stellar as a result.
Yesterday was all about checking out the Goldfish. From level flight, pitch the nose down 45 degrees. From there, pull through 5/8’s of a loop so that you stop the looping segment 45 degrees nose down again, but inverted. Now, roll upright,
keep going 45 degrees down for a second and then pull the nose back up to the horizon. Sounds easy enough right? First off, there is a serious amount of G in this figure. A normal loop starts from level flight. As soon as you pull into it you are going to start losing energy and you gradually ease off the g-load as you approach inverted and float gently, ever so gently over the top. Then of course you squeeze like hell through the bottom of the loop until you are back where you started. The goldfish has that same beginning g-load EXCEPT you aren’t starting from level! You aren’t even close to level. AND you are pointing at the ground when you start so you aren’t going to start easing off the g for a little bit longer than usual.
Why is this important? Because after 4 Goldfish’s I was beat. I started to get some significant gray out (the precursor to black out) eventually so the flight was cut short. In the video I’ll post here this week you’ll see me dish out of the goldfish really early. That was due to a pretty good gray moment. In the meantime, to see what I mean about this whole gray out business, Red Bull put together this great vid.
Today’s flight was focused on looking at a humpty. Sounds fun don’t it? The humpty (or English Bunt depending on who you ask) is a vertical line up, a half loop, and a vertical line down. However you get to that line (pulling positive G’s or pushing Negative), do the loop (positive or negative again), and then get back to level are all variables. We speak of the flavor of the humpty in those respects; a pull-pull-pull humpty is a pull up, pull over the top, and then a pull back to level. I did some pull-pull-pull’s which I had never done before and I’ll be damned if those aren’t fun!
This got me thinking though. I read that a pull-pull-pull is the same mechanics as a pull-push-pull humpty just a push over the top instead of a pull. Only thing is I haven’t done any big outside push figures in the Decathlon. Well I had to fix that. I started by rolling inverted, letting the nose come down a bit to build up some airspeed before pushing as hard as I could will myself, bringing the nose up to about 45 –60 degrees nose up. I got the G-meter pegged at –2.5 G’s doing that. I set up for the humpty and went for it. The pull to vertical is fine but you start the push and things get interesting. The nose comes back to the horizon, where you spend hours upon hours of flying all through your basic training but this time you’re not staying there. No, you have 90 degrees of more of pitch change to go. It’s an interesting moment. But, you go for it. Grab the stick and pushpushpushpushpush until you are going STRAIGHT AT THE GROUND. While going STRAIGHT AT THE GROUND you have to relax. Count to 3…..1……2…….3…PULLLLLLL back up to level. Congratulations, you just flew a humpty.
As you can tell, I feel like $1,000,000 or more. Next time I go out I’ll have to take some video of the humpty, especially the push over the top because it is something to see. When I get the video of the goldfish flying edited up I’ll post it in just a few days. Thanks for reading everyone!
Yesterday was all about checking out the Goldfish. From level flight, pitch the nose down 45 degrees. From there, pull through 5/8’s of a loop so that you stop the looping segment 45 degrees nose down again, but inverted. Now, roll upright,
keep going 45 degrees down for a second and then pull the nose back up to the horizon. Sounds easy enough right? First off, there is a serious amount of G in this figure. A normal loop starts from level flight. As soon as you pull into it you are going to start losing energy and you gradually ease off the g-load as you approach inverted and float gently, ever so gently over the top. Then of course you squeeze like hell through the bottom of the loop until you are back where you started. The goldfish has that same beginning g-load EXCEPT you aren’t starting from level! You aren’t even close to level. AND you are pointing at the ground when you start so you aren’t going to start easing off the g for a little bit longer than usual. Why is this important? Because after 4 Goldfish’s I was beat. I started to get some significant gray out (the precursor to black out) eventually so the flight was cut short. In the video I’ll post here this week you’ll see me dish out of the goldfish really early. That was due to a pretty good gray moment. In the meantime, to see what I mean about this whole gray out business, Red Bull put together this great vid.
Today’s flight was focused on looking at a humpty. Sounds fun don’t it? The humpty (or English Bunt depending on who you ask) is a vertical line up, a half loop, and a vertical line down. However you get to that line (pulling positive G’s or pushing Negative), do the loop (positive or negative again), and then get back to level are all variables. We speak of the flavor of the humpty in those respects; a pull-pull-pull humpty is a pull up, pull over the top, and then a pull back to level. I did some pull-pull-pull’s which I had never done before and I’ll be damned if those aren’t fun!
This got me thinking though. I read that a pull-pull-pull is the same mechanics as a pull-push-pull humpty just a push over the top instead of a pull. Only thing is I haven’t done any big outside push figures in the Decathlon. Well I had to fix that. I started by rolling inverted, letting the nose come down a bit to build up some airspeed before pushing as hard as I could will myself, bringing the nose up to about 45 –60 degrees nose up. I got the G-meter pegged at –2.5 G’s doing that. I set up for the humpty and went for it. The pull to vertical is fine but you start the push and things get interesting. The nose comes back to the horizon, where you spend hours upon hours of flying all through your basic training but this time you’re not staying there. No, you have 90 degrees of more of pitch change to go. It’s an interesting moment. But, you go for it. Grab the stick and pushpushpushpushpush until you are going STRAIGHT AT THE GROUND. While going STRAIGHT AT THE GROUND you have to relax. Count to 3…..1……2…….3…PULLLLLLL back up to level. Congratulations, you just flew a humpty.
As you can tell, I feel like $1,000,000 or more. Next time I go out I’ll have to take some video of the humpty, especially the push over the top because it is something to see. When I get the video of the goldfish flying edited up I’ll post it in just a few days. Thanks for reading everyone!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Chute back, repacked and ready to....rack?
UPS dropped off my parachute after a fresh repack from Don Mayer (www.parachuteshop.com)
Its like Christmas morning opening up the box and seeing your chute lookin' all spiff
Having a fresh repack is a mandatory thing to be done in 180 day intervals. In addition to making sure you are legal the repack also serves to make sure the rig is still in good condition. Things shift over time and the last thing you want is your chute not deploying properly while the ground rushes up at you. Getting a freshly packed chute is like crawling into bed when you've just changed the sheets. Everything feels clean and tightened up.
When you pull a the ripcord what you are actually doing is pulling these three pins. These pins hold the whole assembly in place. I should have taken some photos of the guts of the chute while it was open. Underneath the pins is a spring...a very large spring that looks like it was pulled from a matress. When the pins are gone, that spring is free to shoot out, dragging with it a small drag chute which then catches the airflow and pulls out your canopy. As part of an acro preflight I check to make sure that these pins are secure in place and haven't slipped at all. Over time they can wiggle free.
The packing log stays with the chute in a little pocket. When I go to a contest I have to show the contest director and any other official this slip proving that my pack is legal and within the 180 repack interval.
Its like Christmas morning opening up the box and seeing your chute lookin' all spiff
Having a fresh repack is a mandatory thing to be done in 180 day intervals. In addition to making sure you are legal the repack also serves to make sure the rig is still in good condition. Things shift over time and the last thing you want is your chute not deploying properly while the ground rushes up at you. Getting a freshly packed chute is like crawling into bed when you've just changed the sheets. Everything feels clean and tightened up.
When you pull a the ripcord what you are actually doing is pulling these three pins. These pins hold the whole assembly in place. I should have taken some photos of the guts of the chute while it was open. Underneath the pins is a spring...a very large spring that looks like it was pulled from a matress. When the pins are gone, that spring is free to shoot out, dragging with it a small drag chute which then catches the airflow and pulls out your canopy. As part of an acro preflight I check to make sure that these pins are secure in place and haven't slipped at all. Over time they can wiggle free.
The packing log stays with the chute in a little pocket. When I go to a contest I have to show the contest director and any other official this slip proving that my pack is legal and within the 180 repack interval.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Its Go Time...
Well it is official. I have registered for my first contest. The Green Mountain Aerobatic Contest takes place July 9-11 in Springfield, VT. I don’t even know if I’ll be flying 317SD or another Decathlon yet. There are some insurance requirements that you must have in order to use a particular airplane. I’ll be sending out emails today to our insurance company to make sure I am covered and all is well. If not I’l have to go to plan B.
Of course the other side of this is that now I really have to get down to business. My name is on the list. And I’m also telling you all too. No backing out. I had better get practicing. As soon as my chute gets back its go time. As Kevin so famously put it..."AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." Or, in the spirit of Official Top Gun Day (it is today. Facebook says it so it MUST be true) "we're head to head. I can't believe we're doing this."
Post Edit: Apparently Top Gun even made it to some national headlines: http://www.cnbc.com/id/37135968/comid/1/cache/916
Of course the other side of this is that now I really have to get down to business. My name is on the list. And I’m also telling you all too. No backing out. I had better get practicing. As soon as my chute gets back its go time. As Kevin so famously put it..."AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." Or, in the spirit of Official Top Gun Day (it is today. Facebook says it so it MUST be true) "we're head to head. I can't believe we're doing this."
Post Edit: Apparently Top Gun even made it to some national headlines: http://www.cnbc.com/id/37135968/comid/1/cache/916
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Great Video
I found this video on youtube this morning. This is last years Sportsman sequence as flown in a Pitts S2C. Great production on the video, great flying.
All I need now is an upgraded Mac...and Pitts S2C....
All I need now is an upgraded Mac...and Pitts S2C....
It will be mine...oh yes...it will be mine
200 miles of driving
1 Breakfast Burrito
1 Parachute Repack
1 IAC Chapter Meeting
1 Flat tire
+ 1 Pitts S2C =
------------------------------------------
A Good Day
Yesterday was my first day off from work since April 18th. I don’t mean to whine and moan but that’s and awful lot of work without a reprieve. I could have got caught up with laundry and all that normal crap yesterday BUT there were better things to do. I rarely mosey up to New Hampshire for the New England Aerobatic club meetings but I thought what the hell…its only 100 miles away.
Nashua, NH is right up the street from Don Mayer’s Parachute Shop. Don is a really cool guy. He has been packing parachutes since before they were invented and knows everything about everything. He has a small herd of dogs that hang out in the shop with him and keep you entertained for the duration of your visit. He has some great stories about packing Goulian’s gear and seeing him practice right overhead at Pepperell Airport. On my way up to Nashua, I dropped off my rig for its 180 day repack. Don only charges $75 and I trust his work. Kind of a big thing when you are dealing with parachutes.
The IAC meeting was great. I don’t get too many opportunities to talk shop with folks so it was great. I think I had a perma-grin on my face the whole time. We ate some breakfast (Breakfast Burrito per recommendation of Seth Griffin. Delicious. Messy. But delicious.)
I was sitting with guys that own Pitts’s, Extras, Decathlons and even Stearmans. Well worth the drive. At the end of the meeting Wes Liu, IAC Chapter 35 mentioned he was in the middle of doing an annual inspection on his Pitts S2A. He invited us all over to his hangar to see the airplane all torn apart. For whatever reason, probably because I’m the only one that doesn’t see this stuff everyday, I was the only one that tagged along to go see it. We headed over to Wes’s hangar and lo and behold….he shares a hangar with my favorite Pitts of all time. Not just any Pitts…N727AZ. I saw it the last time I was at Sun N Fun in Lakeland, FL (2008?) and fell in love. It’s the prettiest one Aviat has ever built. I want it. Now. And it lives in NH. That alone was worth the drive up.
No treat is without its cost though. On the drive home I was merging from 495 to 95 and felt a tremendous shaking coming from my car. I thought I blew a tire. I pulled over onto the shoulder and took a look. Nothing was flat. I could hear air hissing, but nothing was flat which was odd because the car was shaking and buffeting and making this awful thudthudthudthudthud sound. The culprit? A half inch NUT AND BOLT somehow managed to lodge itself in my tire…the same tire that had blown out back in October. Now I get to drive around with a donut on the car until I get the tire fixed. Whatever. I saw “my” Pitts S2C.
1 Breakfast Burrito
1 Parachute Repack
1 IAC Chapter Meeting
1 Flat tire
+ 1 Pitts S2C =
------------------------------------------
A Good Day
Yesterday was my first day off from work since April 18th. I don’t mean to whine and moan but that’s and awful lot of work without a reprieve. I could have got caught up with laundry and all that normal crap yesterday BUT there were better things to do. I rarely mosey up to New Hampshire for the New England Aerobatic club meetings but I thought what the hell…its only 100 miles away.
Nashua, NH is right up the street from Don Mayer’s Parachute Shop. Don is a really cool guy. He has been packing parachutes since before they were invented and knows everything about everything. He has a small herd of dogs that hang out in the shop with him and keep you entertained for the duration of your visit. He has some great stories about packing Goulian’s gear and seeing him practice right overhead at Pepperell Airport. On my way up to Nashua, I dropped off my rig for its 180 day repack. Don only charges $75 and I trust his work. Kind of a big thing when you are dealing with parachutes.
The IAC meeting was great. I don’t get too many opportunities to talk shop with folks so it was great. I think I had a perma-grin on my face the whole time. We ate some breakfast (Breakfast Burrito per recommendation of Seth Griffin. Delicious. Messy. But delicious.)
I was sitting with guys that own Pitts’s, Extras, Decathlons and even Stearmans. Well worth the drive. At the end of the meeting Wes Liu, IAC Chapter 35 mentioned he was in the middle of doing an annual inspection on his Pitts S2A. He invited us all over to his hangar to see the airplane all torn apart. For whatever reason, probably because I’m the only one that doesn’t see this stuff everyday, I was the only one that tagged along to go see it. We headed over to Wes’s hangar and lo and behold….he shares a hangar with my favorite Pitts of all time. Not just any Pitts…N727AZ. I saw it the last time I was at Sun N Fun in Lakeland, FL (2008?) and fell in love. It’s the prettiest one Aviat has ever built. I want it. Now. And it lives in NH. That alone was worth the drive up.No treat is without its cost though. On the drive home I was merging from 495 to 95 and felt a tremendous shaking coming from my car. I thought I blew a tire. I pulled over onto the shoulder and took a look. Nothing was flat. I could hear air hissing, but nothing was flat which was odd because the car was shaking and buffeting and making this awful thudthudthudthudthud sound. The culprit? A half inch NUT AND BOLT somehow managed to lodge itself in my tire…the same tire that had blown out back in October. Now I get to drive around with a donut on the car until I get the tire fixed. Whatever. I saw “my” Pitts S2C.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Uh Oh Where Did You Go?
My absence from writing can only be explained by digging into things that I am not quite ready to get into just yet. Rest assured that when the time is right I’ll discuss the goings on other than what I’m going to describe for you in 3….2….1…
The good news as of late was that I bit the bullet and got over whatever hang up I had with the actual flying. I’ve gone up twice in the past week and worked solely on landings and crosswinds. Sure enough, I wasn’t moving my eyes far enough out which made me flinch a little bit coming into land. A bad setup only leads to a bad landing.
I was going to go up two days ago to get into the acro swing of things. I picked up my parachute and PWANG….the damn thing unleashed itself when I started to walk to the airplane. There is a giant spring that pops the a drag chute out. Well a pin came unlodged (something you check before you strap in. I just hadn’t gotten to that yet.) and the whole thing came out right there in the hangar. Suffice to say I didn’t go do any upside downy stuff that day. Now of course I have to go and get the chute repacked this weekend. This is all good and fine as it was due for a repack anyway. Chutes are required to be repacked every 180 days. This will run me about $100.
The other big news was I had a chance encounter with the organizers of the Rhode Island Airshow. Each year the school I manage sets up a tent, pays a giant fee to the airshow and spends the whole weekend trying to recruit students. I ended up spending a half hour on the phone with the organizer just talking shop. I took the opportunity to volunteer my time (I do have a background in event planning from the music biz days) and help out. This in turn lead to a conversation about going to ICAS with them in December. Holy grail contact? Maybe. I am historically horrible at maintaining these types of contacts but I have to keep up with this one. He is predictably swamped but I have to stay on it.
The other big thing that just happened was I realized I can sign up with ICAS on their website for free. Nada. ZILCH. This gives me access to every performer, organizer, support provider possible as well as legal info, contracts, waivers and forms. You know what this means? A deluge of emails are about to hit my outbox. I want to talk to everyone. That means you if you are reading this and are associated with the biz. It’s what I want to do!
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