Monday 4 January 2016

  RansMail #151 January 2014
Please open pdf attachment to read your Ransmail (Double click).

Deer at Jackrells, mid January (J.B. telephoto)
Thank you every one for your Seasons Greetings.
Typically Ron wrote : Presume the Pic. of Spark Plug with bits of shattered Piston Ring was from your engine. Have you decided yet whether to buy a new engine or buy Vince's plane ?  Enjoyed the video of the new e-Go plane, but found the "Its a Ran's Man" a bit too hippy. You mustn't keep putting out stuff from me, in case I ever meet any of your readers, they might think I'm an ace aviator instead of an old Mod riding a little scooter.
Rans S4 & Rotax 447 death, update.
The little engine was lifted off its bearers and ferried home, it's so light & easy to do that. After removing the two cylinder heads & barrels I discovered it wasn't a ring that broke up, though the piston is well hammered by the debris, but the big end appears to have died it has about 4mm slop so must have shed its rollers which are now little bits. Probably a new crankshaft, seals and all, plus pistons etc would cost a bomb. Haven't split the crankcase as it'll only yield a bigger pile of components to keep somewhere. The 20+ year old airframe is worth getting re-engined & the 300 kg SSDR will be here soon, I hope. [Though disturbingly the two recent new CAA GA section appointees don't fly and are of a rigid military origin].
Now waiting for a guy to send me his log entries/hours etc. for a complete second hand 447 engine, it only requires mounts & exhaust changing & gearbox reversing to make it into a replacement inverted fan cooled motor.
Richard Arkell (France) has set you a New Year Puzzle to solve.
Here is my newest 'plane project. I am just starting to cut out the wing skins. The question for the readership is what is it?  [If you think this is too difficult here's a clue: -'The French designer is a hard taskmaster'].

Richard is happy to offer I week's (working) holiday accommodation in the Vienne to the first RM reader to correctly identify the aircraft and the version. [Editor's decision final!].
Emergency MPD 2014-001-E: SkyRanger, SkyRanger Swift and SkyRanger Nynja:
Inspection for Material Type - Control Cable Shackles and Elevator Joiner (Batch of non-optimum Stainless Steel).

Beware of Polaroid Sunglasses & other spectacular advice. (from medico's on the Jodel forum).
You most certainly do need good glare protection with good quality UV protection etc but there are numerous problems with polarising lenses such as interaction with cockpit transparencies, difficulty seeing digital readouts etc not to mention that reflected light is polarised so polaroids don't help you to see the glint of light from that other aeroplane as you look out.
Also photochromics are not recommended for aviation use as their response time can be slow. It's important to see comfortably when looking outside the cockpit & at your instruments.  
Varifocals aren't ideal either, the near focus area of the lenses is smaller and there can be false illusions of movement in the peripheral vision on moving the head, compared to bifocals/trifocals where the near vision area is larger.

Clive Innocent's Musings
I have been thinking of the fun we had back in the Summer. Some smashing flying, Stow Maries WW I airfield and a few good nights out, including crossing the Channel to France. 
The likely lads at Hadfold 'International'. Mark Potter ( red Kitfox G-BTDC ) from Belle Vue, me ( yellow Escapade G-PADE ) & Peter Sheehy ( White Hawk G-IEEF ) Belle Vue.


Queuing for fuel at Blois.
I am very much looking forward to more trips away next year, to destinations as yet undecided. Though life will be easier on the nav / flight planning front with Skydemon in the cockpit. Not much hope of flying just yet with these persistent storms rushing in from the Atlantic, but my Annual service is due now, so that will keep my occupied until the weather is kinder.
I started my engine service at 12:15 last Sunday and gave up at 17:15 when it was totally dark. Almost finished it, but not quite. The usual plug change, oil & fuel filter change, head bolt torque check, tappet check ( 2 required re-setting ). Fit new distributor caps and rotor arms this time: what a struggle with so little space behind the engine. I skinned my knuckles a few times as usual. I hope I got all the HT leads in the right places !  Engine runs to come when the field dries out will soon tell..
What Not to Do !  Luscombe G-BTCH at PophamPropeller hand swung, facing the hangar, no chocks !  Park brake only, which is notoriously useless.  One guy on his own - not known if engineer or owner/pilot. A/c ran away, rammed the doors.  One wing bent backwards, prop bent, leading edges trashed.  Cat 5 write off.
New RansMail readers welcomed.
Richard Noremberg.  As with a lot of folk, got into microlighting via a trial flight voucher with Dave Garrison at Sutton Meadows, flying flexwings. Got my PPL (M) and bought a Pegasus Q Rotax 447 locating it at Rayne Farm, near Braintree, Essex. For one reason or another I sold it & stopped flying for a while but as we know once it's in your system.........
Being at Clacton-on-Sea I dabbled with Cessnas at Clacton Airfield getting to solo level but didn't find them as enjoyable to fly as microlights - too boring - & decided to convert to 3 axis microlights with Joan Walsh on a Thruster T600N and needing to do another GST to re-validate my licence, then bought a shares in the T600N and a Cyclone AX3 - both very enjoyable but different to fly. I now wholly own an X-Air 582  based at Gt Oakley airfield in Essex - 15 mins from home.
Colin Cheeseman. My Rans is rather unusual being an early "turtle deck" model, there are only five or so in the UK. Powered by a Grey-top Rotax 582, it weighs in at 211 kg empty (no electric start). Although built in 1990 it is very much alive and well.
Justin Earl. I began training for my NPPL(M) in a C42 at Blackbushe last June having gotten the flying bug after taking a trial flight in a Eurostar at Membury. The weather was very kind to me and I managed to clock up 30 hours by early November when I did my first solo. Sadly progress has slowed somewhat recently but I'm hopeful that I will be able to get my licence in 2014 and start exploring, meeting new people and begin working my way through the list of friends and family that want to come flying! Taking people flying is one of the things I am looking forward to most of all as it's quite a unique thing to be able to share. I'm keen to fly as many types as possible and to have a go in a tail dragger. My ambition is to own a plane at my local field (Brimpton) but for now looking for a share. If anyone has anything, get in touch! (justin dot earl at mac dot com).
Vince Loy I currently fly a flexwing but converting to 3 axis this summer and fancy the Rans S6 hopefully a 912 variant if I can afford/turn one up - looks like it ticks all the boxes
  
David Vives (Andorra)
Considering the issues of Weather/Climate in the mountainous area flying here & an a/c suitable for further instruction & to share expenses with someone else, I focussed on an inexpensive two seater like an X-air - either from Spain or France. A friend took the plunge in getting his ULM (microlight) licence, as well as my wife !!! (Yes, I know, I still don't believe it...) and we decided to buy a 'plane - probably my friend will become the third co-owner.
I came across an Italian registered FlySynthesis STORCH in Spain - - a little more expensive than an X-Air, but it's a real 3rd generation ULM. After getting his license the seller bought it off an Italian 5 years ago, but when he tried to register it in Spain he discovered it can't be certified & we went to mid Spain last month to have a look at it. It's in pristine condition, he let us test it as long as we wanted to, gave all the details about the airplane and showed us maintenance bills. We agreed if the French Authorities let me register it we would buy it. Early January I received the French Registration, so, we'll proceed with the deal !!  
A 1998 Storch HS. The engine is a Rotax 582 "blue head" (unfortunately, not a 4 stroke according to my flight instructor's "wish-list"). I'll send you the photographs when I'll have the French registration vinyl stickers placed on the aircraft. I suppose it will be by the end of January, when I'll have the airplane based in the aerodrome I fly from.
There are no airfields in Andorra, it is so mountainous, that the only available flat areas are where the towns and villages are, so there is almost no place to place one. Besides, flying is not really an appreciated activity here. It seems that amongst my friends, I'm the "freaky" colleague "enjoying to play with dangerous toys". That's why Andorrans who like flying have to go outside where the nearest airfields in Spain, in a very nice area called "La Cerdanya" ("La Cerdagne" in French) are: La Seu d'Urgell (~12 miles from our border). It has a nice asphalt runway of about 1.800 mtrs, intended for PPL pilots but there are no hangars. And Alp some 40 miles off with PPL and ULM (microlight) pilots, it too has a nice asphalt runway of about 1.200 & is where I fly, there are also gliders being a good area for soaring.  In France the nearest is Sante Leocadie very close to Alp, but over the border with a beautiful grass airstrip, that I believe looks like the ones you may have in Great Britain.
Andorra:- 180 square miles of highlands between France & Spain in the Pyrenees Mountains

Instrument Flying. (Peter Noonan, Escapade).
A lot of pilots would like a standby horizon to help them get safely out of cloud. The cost of electronic or vacuum attitude indicators can be off putting. Now there is an alternative, the AHRS (A ttitude & H eading R eference S ystem ).

Made by Levil (USA) http://shop.levil.com/products/ahrs-g-mini-sw  It's about double matchbox size, weighs 5oz and gives outputs of Roll, Pitch, Magnetic Heading, Inclination, Turn Co-ordinator and G–Meter. As a stand alone device it has a long battery life but it can be hardwired to the aircraft.  A tablet screen running appropriate software is required to view the output. This can be hardwired to the above device or it can receive Wifi signals from it. So if you wanted to, you could run the system as 2 portable rechargeable battery devices connected by their own Wifi (AHRS sends a Wifi signal to the tablet ) or hardwire everything. The tablet screen can be an i-phone, i-pad, or various tablets. Check on the Levil website for the different software packages running on windows, Apple IOS and Android. Check also which update of i-phone or whatever is required to run the software you favour.
N.B. Some mobile phones run stand alone aviation apps including attitude indicators. These generally depend on a GPS signal and are subject to a gyro drift rate. Not something to bet your life on. The Dynon D1 horizon is an attractive package, but again depends on GPS. If the GPS signal fails, the attitude display fails. I did discuss this with Dynon. The UK military do jam the GPS signal in specific areas from time to time and they notify this by Notam.
The Levil AHRS will operate a full 360 degrees in roll and will not topple in light aerobatic manoeuvres. It can operate in up to 4 G and 200 degrees / second rotation. If toppled it will recover in 15- 40 seconds.
Costs: Levil AHRS Around £620 inc. 20% VAT - Pooleys were the cheapest when I bought. Tablet: Shop around – could be very cheap. Software: Depends on the tablet operating system and what you buy.Levil have several versions of the AHRS at different prices. The basic one is the mini G AS. Google their website. Youtube has some video of this. The Levil AHRS is not certified for aircraft use but I bought one.
The E-Go  marketing@e-Go.me at their Norfolk airfield & blue sky for testing.
"Some days we managed three test flights, good going for a winter's day and a great tribute to the ground crew and the support team keeping the paperwork in step. The tests included calibrating instrumentation, trials of several propeller configurations and investigating of some small aerodynamic alterations.
With each flight Test Pilot Keith Dennison is becoming more comfortable - you can watch his brief flypast when he set himself up for landing at the end of a successful, hour long, flight. http://vimeo.com/82447624 "  [But I couldn't get it to run properly. mike]
Gyrocopters, transfer to LAA 'Permit to Fly' soon
Plans to offer two seat factory-built gyrocopter owners the opportunity to transfer from their current CAA Permit to Fly continued maintenance regime to the lower cost LAA system are moving ahead.  Appropriate inspection, test flying and audit requirements should be in place in February 2014 for transfers to commence shortly after. Further details will be announced on the LAA website shortly.
Southend Airport's attempt to grab nearly all our east of London airspace is under review. The LAA & BMAA plus folk like me all wrote in explaining why it was unfeasible for GA, while the traffic they 'expect' is largely B.S.
David Sudworth sent a picture of his pristine Rans S6

Propeller Tip Speed formula.(found on Avweb).
Feet per second = Square root of (Radians/sec AngularVelocity2  X  Feet Radius2  X + ft/sec TAS2)
e.g. Rans S6-116 with Rotax 80 hp 912UL: Actual 115 mph Straight & Level at Wide Open Throttle (WOT).
2.27 Reduction Box on Engine rpm @ 5550 =2445 prop. rpm.  2Pi X 2445/60=256 rad/sec.  Squared = 65,573 .

With 66" dia. Warp Drive prop. Tips set to 14 1/2 degrees.             66/2X12 = 2.75 ft.radius.     Radius2 = 7.56
At 115 mph, GPS checked, true air speed.                               115 X 88/60 = 169 ft/sec.TAS        TAS 2= 28,448.
Prop tip speed = Square root (65,573 X 7.56 + 28,448) = 724 ft/sec. ~70%  Speed of Sound    = 494 mph.
I found it easier to understand why by doing a triangle of speeds and summing squares on the sides for the solution (Pythagorus). 

Rotational Prop.tip speed @ 2445 rpm/60 X Pi (3.142) X 5.5 ft.Dia.= 704 ft/second and Squared = 495,900
Plane TAS 115 mph as above................................................. ....= 169 ft/second       Squared =   28,448
                                                                                                                               Total....... 524,348  & its Square Root 724 ft/sec.
N.B. 724 ft/sec times 60/88 converts to 494 mph  i.e.Tips run 14 mph (3%) faster than if rpm's static.  
N.B. A popular assumption for a Practice Forced Landing, i.e. throttle closed to tick-over, is that the prop. is still providing some thrust & therefore the glide experienced is less steep than if the engine really had stopped. This 'logic'  appears true as when the throttle is set too fast the landing & ground run is extended. In fact gliding speed is faster than landing & roll out speeds so the prop. is partly windmilling, driven by the airflow. The overall effect is draggier than if it is stationary. In the case of a fully stopped prop. I know the Rans S4 glides quite well.
A new guide to LARS around the S.E. and London provided by Farnborough (from Irv Lee). 
See www.flyontrack.co.uk (and on the links page). They cover beyond Duxford to the North, almost to Headcorn in the east, down to Beachy Head, and nearly out to Membury on the M4 through 3 different frequencies. It also covers TMZ crossing service under Stansted stubs for aircraft not transponding A,C, and S.
AAIB (UK) January Report on various issues (new to me)
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/publications/bulletins/january_2014.cfm
UK CAA stuff...
New Charts have changes for improved legibilty  http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/aip/VFR_Changes_for_2014-2015.pdf
ORS 4 No. 999 - General Exemption against Article 4 (1) (a) of The Air Navigation (Environmental Standards for Non-EASA Aircraft) Order 2008 for microlight aeroplanes with a maximum weight, without pilot and fuel, of 115kg. Supersedes ORS4 No.951. http://www.caa.co.uk/ORS4No999
ORS4 No. 998. The UK has applied the derogation of Article 12(4) of the EASA Aircrew Regulation so that the licence validation requirements of that Regulation shall not apply to private flights of aircraft registered in the United Kingdom until 8 April 2015. http://www.caa.co.uk/ORS4No998
Rotax releases Service Bulletin publication Index
SB-2ST-000R15; SB-912i-000R3; SB-912-000R15; SB-914-000R15.
This Mandatory service bulletin advises to update your engine documentation to the latest revisions as listed here.  http://legacy.rotaxowner.com/si_tb_info/serviceb/sb-all-000r15.pdf
Chris Tansell, Western Australia, SABC Newsletter Editor, December Newsletter.
This 2.58MB pdf of their members only issue can be possibly be sent outside Australia, please ask.
50 Minutes video history of the Jodel, in French
UK Jodellers are anxious to get a wider range of their older models off a C of A & onto the LAA Permit system, but frustrated by EASA in Europe holding back their release into Annexe 2. Even though the successor a/c company in France which hold the magic 'Type Certificate' & thus responsible for Continuing Airworthiness support, it apparently offers zilch !

For sale Jodel DR1050 G-AYLL. Contact Chris Joly chris.joly@btinternet.com.
Available March 2014, either all or a half share, £12,500 - so that it can feel the air beneath its wings more than at present. LAA Permit until November, always hangared, Lee on Solent. 
Ian Daniels in Kent  is looking for a Shadow to purchase or a Rans S10  Mob  07980 170418  email  aviationdev@btinternet.com
 Ian studies a bare Rans wing
One US man has built ten Wittman Tail winds (thanks to EAA Experimenter).
Dambusters documentary from ~1993 48 minute U-Tube
Old RansMails are now on line courtesy Peter Greenrod. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4702449/Ransmails.pdf
Mike
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