Take to the skies...

[QDM]

If the engine quits you just slowly descend, and you can still steer it. About 10' from the ground you push both steering bars all the way out and you can make a perfectly smooth landing. We sometimes climb up several thousand feet, shut the engine off, then glide down to a landing.

Q

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

ahha! thats what those things are called! nice pics btw. yea the midwest is all screwed up weather wise. (i felt it and it acually dropped 10* in an hour )
just a question out of curiosety: if the engine stalls can you just kinda glide to the ground? or does it fall hard and fast?

[GasSavers_DaX]

Very slow stall speeds are nice for such things.

[GasSavers_DaX]

Just an update - I have completed (sort of) the tail surfaces and have begun construction of the wings.

Some of the tail surfaces getting ready to be stored in the attic:


Endless ribs, and not the edible kind:


Right wing spar (I started working on this last night):

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Nice!

I'd like to find a homebuild bush plane, and for Canada, that means amphibian, good range, and able to carry some camping gear, preferably with another person along. Thinking I'd like it with a modified Subaru motor or something so I can use pump premium.

[GasSavers_DaX]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

Nice!

I'd like to find a homebuild bush plane, and for Canada, that means amphibian, good range, and able to carry some camping gear, preferably with another person along. Thinking I'd like it with a modified Subaru motor or something so I can use pump premium.

The Carbon Cub is a great bush plane (not sure if it's a homebuilt though?) - very good STOL characteristics and built on a well known and working platform (the J3 Cub). Not a lot of room for gear, but if you pack light it can work out.

I'm always impressed with bush planes - some great YouTube videos out there.

There are guys running (non-ethanol) pump gas in their Lycoming engines - you just drop the static CR a little. The Subie engine is pretty good, but Eggenfeller has had some issues with their gear reduction drive.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Heh, just hit up youtube and saw all those crazy Alaskans landing on gravel bars on balloon tires...

These look decent...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenith_STOL_CH701

Kit pricing might be a little out of my range in the forseeable future though

Edit: Actually, price doesn't seem as high as the wikipedia figure. Been looking over Zenith's site, the 4 seat STOL CH 801 sounds just about damn perfect, can put it on amphibious floats, get a 600 mile extended range kit, put motors in it that run on pump gas.... Has full blueprints etc with it so you could scratch build..

[GasSavers_DaX]

The Zenith 701 is a crazy STOL aircraft. Pretty cool for that mission.

In my build - I just finished my right fuel tank - whew! 60 hours of work with nasty chemicals and fuel tank sealant!

[bowtieguy]

i was looking at your photo album and must say i'm impressed. does the ride have more feel than a jet?

obviously to be at the controls has to be exhilerating, no? just like classic cars, i prefer the looks of prop planes.

[GasSavers_DaX]

You obviously don't get the climb rate (about 2K fpm compared to 10K+ for a jet) or acceleration as a jet, but the airplane will be fully capable of aerobatics, and is stressed from -3 to +6G (though not as much as a true aerobatic plane like the Extra 300), so you can throw it around and have fun. Most people that have flown these always say how light the controls are, and from my experience, that holds true.

Exhilarating is a very good word to describe it. Check out this album - I got to ride along for some formation flying over the North GA mountains a few weeks ago, and even got to try my hand at the controls a little - flying formation is tough and requires 110% attention! I managed to get a few decent pictures.

[bowtieguy]

good pics.

believe it or not, i've never flown(well the time i broke my leg trying to, hardly counts). and i vow not to unless i'm "driving."