Monday 4 January 2016

 RansMail #144  June 2013
  
Rans S4 Coyote I, 1983-2013 , HAPPY  30th BIRTHDAY.
Peter Greenrod. Just browsing found this newish Rans S4 book: http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPLbi=5898266074&afn_sr=CJ&cm_ite=cj&cm_ven=aff  

Lyndon Griffith organised the Forces Charities Air day at Pershore last Saturday, a once a year chance to land there. My trusty Rans took me there & brought me home to Sussex in 1 1/2 hours each way.
Amphibious Cessna

Tornado Display
The -JT group at Welshpool is looking for a replacement aeroplane for our beloved Cessna 150 (now written off) 
Anything considered   £10-£20K   Our group like low cost flying...........
Varifocal Glasses  and how to disorientate yourself - twice.
I had a flight in the Rans S5. I normally happily wear clear varifocals, they fit comfortably the instrument panel is clear as is any field that I might have to land in. At 8am on a lovely sunny Sunday morning it was so bright I wore my occasional vari tinted pair instead, with a different frame design. As soon as I took off I was uncomfortable, conditions were slightly wavy like a boat on the sea. When I moved my head the tint adjusted & I came back within 5 minutes. However I then decided this sensation must be me & the microlight in rough conditions - so I had better get back out and take the heavier Bede for a spin. A much faster machine it is not as easy to fly as spamcans . The queer sensation (vertigo?) didn't hit me again until I levelled off and concentrated on flying the plane, it was quite unpleasant, though the landing sensation was normal. Not once did I think to take my glasses off till after I landed. Beware, not all varifocals are equal !
Excellent spec., G-MWLZ Rans S4 on sale in May by internet in Ireland - who's the proud new owner ?

A new U.K. site with a/c for sale advert's to add to the well known 'AFORs' is http://www.flyingbooth.co.uk/
Enrique, Puerto Rico (Rans forum). S-5 Coyote with Rotax 503 Dual Carb Engine. High EGT and CHT temps. Operating in relatively high temperatures at Sea Level ranging from 75 to 90 F. Thanks to replies I adjusted the needle clip on both carburettors , richer by one notch down to Position 2. The Rotax Static now 6,100 RPM & EGT and CHT operating have acceptable temperatures. Jetting for the carburettors are those recommended by Rotax *( M J 158, I J 45, NJ 274,JN 8L2)
Standard Bing Bits ? try:
Sandown  Have cut landing rates http://www.eghn.org.uk/default.html 
I have Rans S6-116 so 'will travel' & visited as soon as Tony & Jonathan completed their purchase in mid May. Wx was much improved 2nd half of the afternoon.
Tony was cutting the grass with a giant tractor etc. & busy sorting things out with huge help from the IOW flying club. Plus new fencing - new bits for Henry in Tower. Carla to have new home where offices were plus new loo etc. Meeting most of the aspirations of Laurie Gavenham (chairman of IOW flying club).
Tim & George Rans S6 Jabiru were there, Gary in the Shadow with Pat as were Paul (Jab. SkyRanger) with friend also from Shipley. Clive's Escapade another Jab. had visited earlier. Quite an impromptu Southern Flyers meeting. Tony gave me a Cook's Tour of the premises and Carla provided grub and did the 'C' job.  Everyone smiling & happy. Return time just over 30 min's at 5,000 rpm to get back in time for 'tea'.
Sywell Expo 1st June. Average S6 speed there/back 86 mph.
Met Tony Bishop of e-Go aeroplanes, Cambridge  www.e-Go.me where their new sub 115 Kg plane was on show.

This guy ( Brian Quindt)

is an American professional ferry pilot who flew this Cessna Skylane 182 solo from Newfoundland direct across the Atlantic to Guernsey mid week and thence to Sywell to show it for the Cessna display stand. He told me he started from Wichita, then flew from St. Johns for 11.6 hours & 1978 nautical miles. [I made that 170 Kt., all on a four cylinder 227 h.p. turbo diesel engine.]
Rotax 4 Stroke Technical (Roger Lee)http://www.rotax-owner.com/rotax-forum/3-4-stroke-technical-questions/4054-912ul-engine-vibration-on-throttle-back/5934
Engine mounts play a big part in vibration. Everyone should check the torque on the bolts from time to time because they can get loose. As mounts wear they may also shrink over time just enough to allow the mount to become loose. You may not even feel it. (Hand tight, but wrench loose scenario) Over time the holes that the bolts go through on the mount mat egg out some due to hard landings and you'll never see it. Mounts get harder over time just from age and again you'll never know and pushing on them is no way to tell. I hear all the time that the owner pushed on them and they seemed okay or not rock hard. Not a good way to test or check mounts or the hidden holes with the bolts through them. It is important to change them out every 5 years. This makes sure the rubber is the right hardness to dampen the vibration and help reduce engine movement. this allows you to look through the mounting holes to check for egging bolt movement. Just because a mount has rotted off yet doesn't mean it isn't bad.
Jabiru Gen. If you download the Overhaul manual from Jabiru's website, you will find a full list of changes by serial number, all the way in the back:
http://www.jabiru.net.au/eula/eula.php?u=/Manuals/Engine/JEM0001-4_Overhaul_Manual.pdf


Graham Hewitt (Western Australia) passed me this on a Rans S7 'beast' from his friend Evan Belworthy, New Zealand
New to NZ register in May (where they are not so restrictive) is Phil Meredith of Christchurch' Rans S-7 Courier ZK-TKB. It is no ordinary S-7, a port and polished 130hp O-235 engine with Toyota starter and alternator spins a Brent Thompson propeller. Ignition is by P mags and Light Speed. Cockpit access via removable aluminium cockpit sides and clear full length doors. Home designed STOL uses control gap seals, wing fences & high/low pressure guides redirect airflow over 40% larger than standard S-7 the flaps, plus modified wing tips & 20% larger ailerons. The aft end has a Fat Boy tail wheel with a reinforced double spring and a keel beam in the lower fuselage. New fuel tanks are mounted one wing bay further out giving a total of 37 US gallons.
Chris Tansell Western Australia SABC Editor ( Chris@heronconsulting.com.au )   
I’m not sure if I am being cheeky with this request, but, should any of your readers send me a builders report, they are likely to get it published, as I don’t seem to be able to beg or cajole the members of the SABC to send in ANYTHING…
Alasdair Ross. For my Rans S6 uprating I have now decided to fit the Rotax 582.
[LAA engineering  should have a list of previous similar engine changes/owners/engineers & the whole range of Rans S6 engine combinations is already approved].
'Capt Eddie' (USA) Obtained a brief pre-flight check list in careful preparation for his newly acquired and re-assembled Rans S4.  I did my first high speed taxi on a 5000 Ft runway and ended up in the grass before I stood on the brakes. I noticed taxing around the hanger it pulls hard to the left. Check all tires, they seem to be fine. I do have full right rudder and the tail follows the rudder. I just don't have much control for the right rudder to keep it straight down the runway. It starts to drift left and the time it take me to move my foot to the brakes, I'm heading towards the grass. What do I need to adjust for this Coyote to track down the runway? Does the engine have a off set? I feel uneasy when I don't have much control on the plane. Has any builders had this problem?
[The most dangerous activity is fast ground runs, as the slowing down bit in the second half of the run with no prop wash means little aerodynamic tail control.
Take off is easy - full power tail down  for a few yards till running straight - then stick forwards fully on mine, till tail responds and keep her there on the deck till speed approx. or approaching 30 mph then allow her to lift off  & climb away. Landing is really as the ransblog entries suggest: after assuring yourself at height the ASI reads mid 30's perhaps 37 mph for the stall - come in with 4 1/4 thousand rpm & speed about 45 mph and fly her on for a wheeler before shutting the throttle. Really behaves much better if a grass strip too. The only time I've lost control was if trying a conventional float on landing, it's horrible and needs massive and rapid foot pedalling to stop damage. or in error landing down wind when tail wind at the slower a/c speed means no tail authority at all. mike].
David Sudworth. I have a Rans S6 912 microlight, with a fuel tank in each wing.  I know some of the Rans S6 503 had a fuel tank just behind the baggage area. Do you know anyone with an S6 who has 3 tanks e.g. 1 in each wing and one behind the baggage area – I’m interested to up my fuel from ~65 to ~100 litres but obviously need to think about both empty weight and CofG.
[Must be an improvement on Gerry cans and funnel etc. out there ? mike]
New Readers.

Scott Macmillan. Got a few quite deep wrinkles in replacement covers to get rid of. I've not put any heat on them yet because I wasn't sure if I need to get these wrinkles out first. Can someone who has done skins take a look at my photos and advise me what to do? I'd also like to know the procedure for heat shrinking the skins. Start at the tail and work my way forward or what ? I removed the wings, in fact, I removed just about every bolt & rivet on the whole plane.The new skins were made by Top Flight Sails (see ad in the MF mag) and they already had a pattern for the 6ES. They may need your 116 wing, flap & aileron skins though
[First try completely slackening off fus. covers, the wrinkles 'tell' you which way to pull the fabric
at ~right angles to the creases. In your starboard side pic. the bottom eased forwards along the lower fus. rail & even round the lower firewall lacing].
Steve Slade has also reskinned his Rans S6.
The wrinkles are all but non-existent, but it did take a lot of working at the S1 station.  See attached photo.  I have a manual thanks - I referred to it a lot during the rebuild. I replaced most of the nuts and bolts and the manual gave a very good guide to what to order as replacements.

Brian Thompson. Training for my licence, based in the Shetland Islands and getting tuition in France from Dave Lord of Wanafly.  Have got the paper part out of the way but now need to concentrate on the flying. I am considering building a plane and was thinking of the Rans S6 (can you still buy a kit?)  - there is a LAA inspector in the Isles. 
Clive Wilton. (France)
Mike Nolan.  I'm a recently qualified U.K. microlight pilot, and learnt on C42's.  I live in Surrey &  an aircraft engineer & share G-MYSP, a Rans S6 ESD (450kg upgrade) with Rotax 582 based at Redhill. My understanding is that the Rans will require a lot more footwork than a C42. So far I've only flown as P2 in -SP and another 582 powered S6, and had about 10 minutes stick time, but the difference in yaw stability was obvious.
Paul Taylor. (France).
Damaged Flying Fortress, last month.
Thanks to Richard Boyton & Brian Johnson & Tony Beeton some extra info's. have been offered regarding this amazing occurrence. Remembering all brave W.W.II bomber crews - it really did happen in North Africa but not impossibly flown back to England & no P51 escort.
 "B-17F-5-BO, 41-24406, All American, of the 414th BS, 97 BG after collision with a Fw 190 on February 1, 1943 during mission to Bizerte. Pilot Lt. Kendrick R. Bragg brought the plane safely back to the base, where it was repaired and flew missions until it was salvaged 6 March 1945. Photo taken by a crewman on companion Fortress 41-24412."
 
Brian Johnson.The article is only partly true. The B-17 operated out of Algeria and did not make it back to the UK [a remote chance of survival IMHO] but returned to its base in Algeria.  It has been extensively covered in PPrune.I think the rear gunner should have got the highest award going for sitting as ballast while the B-17 shuddered and shook for some hours before landing !   Those guys were something else weren't they? 
Tony Beeton. As a very young boy I was surrounded by these machines, I draw from Roger Freeman's book “The B17 Flying Fortress Story” which lists the history of every B17 built. The aircraft rammed by a Fw190 on 1st February 1943 has BuAer No. 41-24406 on the fin. It had a long life, being a B17F built by Boeing and assigned to Bangor, Maine then flying across the Atlantic to Bovingdon and almost immediately being transferred to the 414th Bomb Squadron, 97th Bomb Group at Polebrook, Northants which transferred to North Africa in September 1942. A letter on http://garfieldsteamhouse.org/History/WWII/WWII-B17-Survival-Story.php  mentions a Me109 hitting them, so another difference, although Fw190's were operational out there and aircraft identification was not a strong point of many service folk in WW2. Surprisingly it was repaired as B17's were in very short supply & transferred to the 353rd Bomb Squadron in the 301st Bomb Group Podington & named “All American” & continued to be on charge until March 1945, when it was scrapped.  A Memorial on the site is to the 97th and bits of the old base left include the huge J type hangar, the T2 was burnt down a few years ago.
[It's always nice when folk take the trouble to write with feed-back. As you'll have seen, Ransmail often drifts well off the eponymous title, so anything you may have that might be of general interest will be gratefully accepted. mike].
Lindbergh movies (via Clem Spencer Emeraude group) Win Perkins painstakingly assembled news footage from five cameras that filmed Lindbergh's famous and risky takeoff from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in "Spirit of St. Louis" 20 May 1927. Click on the address & CONTACT and select #1 then through #4.   ttp://www.airportappraisals.com/
Three Letters from France
Rans S-116 VG results repeated from 2006 (Claude Lapoutge, Rans Group)
Art B. VG's on my S-6S Tail Dragger Wings (50 on each wing) & same day tests ~25°C, no turbulence.  Two aboard to be able to read and report speeds 530 Kg (1270 lbs), bank nil, electronic MGL ASI and 2nd Pitot for "hard" attack angle i.e. parallel to the ground when tail down when not S & L, they face directly into the air current when slow & stalling.  :
Vstall Kt   Without VG's  With VG's & Sufficient to bring it inside the French UltraLight class.
Flaps 0°          85           80 
Flaps 12°        80           75 
Flaps 25°        77           72 
Flaps 40°        70           67
Wilfrid Rouff Long journeys - again - in his Rotax 503 Rans S5
ULM Club Nostradamus from Salon-Eyguieres (LFNE) well represented in Mondreville during French Championship 2013 posing around my Coyote. From left to right : your humble servant, Thierry, Bruno (kneeling), Pierre (our venerable club president), Pascal, Jorge (F.I. and Chief Pilot) René, Antoine, Corinne.

May 4th to 11th "Le Championnat de France ULM" took place in Mondreville (LF7752), a very nice and important UL field close to Fontainebleau, south of Paris. Leaving Salon-Eyguieres in my Rans, with René and Corinne flying a Sky Ranger, Jorge (my F.I. and chief pilot of Club Nostradamus) and Pascal in an Allegro, the meteo conditions to go up there were so awful forcing us in the Cantal (good cheese) to fly 200ft at one moment, choosing the right valley among the hills to avoid the rain without knowing what was behind the following hill.
Plus a landing in Saint Flour (LFHQ) with a sudden curtain of rain during final approach and no wiper - what a shame - on the Coyote. Not really proud of that, I will not try this experiment another time !
Finally safe in Mondreville, after a night in an unplanned stopover at Vichy (LFLV), we had a pleasant time, nice weather and wine, first watching the paramotor competition during 4 days.
Then came the "classic" - 40Km/h cross wind all along - no radio, no GPS, map precise navigation, economy, precision landing, photo recognition etc... good training and very informative. At last, to home with a good wind in my back. It took me only 5H25 (against 9H to go) to come back to Eyguieres. My GPS has recorded a tip ground speed of 173Km/h !
Results
Thierry and Bruno : Bronze medal on SkyRanger
René and Corinne : 4th place on SkyRanger
Jorge and Pascal : 5th place on Allegro
Pierre and Antoine : 5th place on Trike Tanarg
Jorge an Antoine : 5th place on paramotor Fun Flyer
And as the one and only participant on a 3 axes mono, my Rans S5 and I got a cup.
Richard Arkell

A Sherwood Ranger, G-HVAN, took up residence in my barn some months ago filling the empty nest left by the departure of the Jodel, now on active duty. The Sherwood was first permitted some years ago but has done very little flying due to difficulties with the original BMW installation. Paul, her owner now, and I are working to try to get her back in the air on a more reliable basis. The long overdue Jabiru motor finally turned up a week or so back from one of Paul's contacts in Portugal. The motor is a 22A solid lifter dating originally from 1998 so with the smaller 32mm Bing carb and standard 'Mk2' heads. The history and documentation has not yet been unearthed but it does look like it has had some work but we have no idea what. The motor arrived with a 1.62m Duc ground adjustable 2 bladed prop as part of the deal. It is hoped we can set this to achieve the 2800 static revs reputed to be needed to help counter the widely discussed Jabiru overheating/detonation problems. A pair of the larger scoops also came with the motor which should also help cooling on the slow flying Sherwood. Even though there are many a unanswered questions about the exact condition of the motor we decided not to take it apart but rather to 'suck it and see' so I set to fitting it straight away. It looked like an easy job as the motor is compact and light. As so often is the case it turned out more difficult than it looked because of the need to compress the mounting rubbers before you can get nuts on the specified bolts. Had Jabiru put a thread in the alloy pieces which front the rubbers it would have been a simple but Australians must prefer a manly struggle!

The motor arrived without an oil cooler. Given the well publicised overheating problems already mentioned and knowing the major role oil plays in cooling an air cooled 4 stroke we decided a cooler would be a wise precaution. Steve-r@ntlworld.com, farther of the LAA approved TOCA thermostatic adapter, proved a mine of information and unsurprisingly we will be using a TOCA controlling a 115mm matrix 13 row cooler via AN8 fittings. This involved some guesswork as the latest TLAC Jabiru cowling has yet to arrive along with their front tank installation. I was surprised to note from Jabiru's spec that the motor has an oil capacity of only 2.3 Lts compared to the 'small' Lycoming's 6 Lt capacity.  If you take into account Jabiru's recommendation that you should not fill beyond the lower mark on the dipstick you do not have a great deal of oil in reserve. To my mind this made the argument for a cooler more compelling.
The only other add-on feature we propose is an electrical carb heater from Roger Lewis of Roger's Jabiru e-workshop as this was much simpler and cheaper than using a pilot controlled hot/cold air system and hopefully will prove just as effective. The carb on the 22A sits low at the back of the motor just over the exhaust with a directly fitted filter so should, in any event, be inherently resistant to carb icing other than in extreme conditions when we will not be flying. We did consider the Duc props add-on spinner blades made specifically to aid Jabiru cooling in particular during ground runs where the low volume of the scoops apparently can contribute towards overheating if you hang around too long on the ground.  On reflection it was decided to do some tests first then decide.On the testing front I acquired a used 4 channel CHT monitor to help see where we might be on the cooling front. The Jabiru spec indicates it objects to anything over 200C whereas an 0235 Lycoming will go some 50C higher than that for a similarly limited time. This may well not be a valid comparison but it does dictate some care with regard to cooling issues. I will report back when we have some real life experience to pass on.
Amazingly the Jabiru motor for the Sherwood finally arrived after an unbelievable palaver. It does look as if it may have been worked on and recently run. We will see. It does have some compression. It popped on to the Sherwood very easily but the real work starts now as Paul wants it fit to fly for his visit in July!.
A brief and personal lesson on how not to fly into Jackrell's Farm. (Frank Ogden)
Excellent flying along the South Downs the other day with my sub 115 Kg. Chaser flex-wing... Enjoyed it so much that I did virtually a repeat run on Sunday evening. It was so beautiful that I did a planned a 03 approach through the trees despite a 60° crosswind. All was great until I hit wind shear just before the threshold, and if that wasn't enough, I then got hit sideways by rotor which turned the machine into a falling leaf while passing over it.
Fortunately the approach had been set up with enough airspeed for control of sorts, but only after managing to regain the situation with just 10ft to spare. Nasty moment out of the blue!
Rich Shankland (USA) Penetrating Oil.
"Machinist's Workshop" recently published tests for "break out torque" on rusted nuts/bolts of popular penetrating oils.
No Oil used ........................516 foot pounds
WD-40 ..................... ........ 238 foot pounds
PB Blaster ......................... 214 foot pounds
Liquid Wrench ....................127 foot pounds
Kano Kroil ......................... 106 foot pounds
*ATF/Acetone mix................53 foot pounds
* "home brew" 50/50 released bolts better than any commercial product !
Can you beat this chap ? ( from Peter Coleman)http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-22668150
Best time was 53 seconds from t/o to touch down !
CAP 482: British Civil Airworthiness Requirements - Section S - Small Light Aeroplanes
Safety Data - U.K. CAA General Aviation Reports: May 2013
Old RansMails are now on line courtesy Peter Greenrod. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4702449/Ransmails.pdf
From Graham.
Ex Jackrell's Farm Flex-winger, GA, Glider, and Southern Flyers pilot member Chris Cox passed away Sunday, June 2nd.
Chris had bravely fought two types of cancer for some time, but lost out to pneumonia at the end.
Funeral arrangements for Chris. FRIDAY 21st.,June. @ 14:15 Hrs. All are welcome to the service at
Downs Crematorium, Bear Road, Brighton, Sussex.
Mike 
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