Scudrunners

PA-11
[img][/img]



Glasair III
[img][/img]



A good pilot ought to be able to effortlessly
jump into either of these aircraft and fly them
smoothly and precisely.

Pop Quiz:  before flight, you can leave the bugs
on the leading edges of the wings of the PA-11
but not the Glasair III.  Why?

Hint:  answer is three letters which are not FU2

OK, I'll bite, but I can't come up with a three letter acronym to explain it.

The PA-11 uses the USA-35B airfoil.  That almost flat bottomed airfoil particularly with the relatively slow speed of the Cub doesn't much care if the airflow is turbulent or laminar, it'll behave the same either way, regardless if the bugs are causing turbulent flow from the leading edge.

The Glassair uses a modified NASA GA(W)-2 airfoil also known as LS413 (mod).  http://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/afplots/ls413mod.gif
While this airfoil has the high point at 35% chord and is not noted as a "laminar flow" airfoil as the NLF series or P-51 airfoils. http://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/afplots/p51hroot.gif  http://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/afplots/p51hroot.gif  (H model Mustang root airfoil is more severe than the earlier Mustangs)  Nevertheless, with the stall strips a foot out from the wing roots the Glassair is looking to ensure the wing root stalls first leaving the tips flying, which is not at all assured with bug guts all over the leading edges.

Gerry

Edit: corrected aircraft type

Actually its a glasair III not a lancair... not NLF....GAW

[quote author=Strega link=topic=500.msg1870#msg1870 date=1437182428]
Actually its a glasair III not a lancair... not NLF....GAW
[/quote]

Whoops, yep, your right.  I did the right research just called it the wrong airplane.
Gerry

[quote]a niche that for me I just find uninteresting[/quote]

Airplanes are like motorcycles or boats.  You
don't get one because it makes sense (it never
does), you get one that you like, and makes
you feel good - which is terribly subjective.

Similarly, I find boxer shorts uninteresting, but
Eric loves them.  Tighty whities rule, man.

[img]https://www.eslpod.com/eslpod_blog/wp-c ... ear635.jpg[/img]


[quote]If you like speed thrills go big or go home. [/quote]

You must have liked this movie:

[img]http://siliconvalleyfrogs.com/images/dc ... 092606.jpg[/img]

It makes good sound, good doppler and
pretty good vertical:



Many, many years ago a guy called  Bob Herendeen
used to beat the shit out of OSH every year in one -
I am sure he sold hundreds of kits!



Funny how everyone thinks that if they fly the
same kind of airplane as a pro, they can fly like
a pro.  Uummmm ... there's this thing called
"skill" which takes decades to develop ...

I lie like a rug.  With only 10 years (one decade)
you can get pretty good, and here's how:

Five times a week, 50 weeks a year, go to your
airport and fly 0.4 of surface acro, pegging the G
meter in both directions.  That's only 2 hrs a week
or 100 hrs a year which won't impress a four-bar
but stay with me.

Do that for 10 years.  That's 1000 hours of real
stick and rudder aerobatics (which 99.999% of
pilots today will never do), and you will either be
dead or damned good.  See Nietzsche.

-- EDIT --

Did two surface acro flights today and one
oil change:

[img][/img]

Probably didn't fly as well as a TC Inspector
but at least I'm trying!

Are you guys organizing anything at CYSH? I am planning to drop by when I come back from QB.

Fly-in breakfast was in June.

Car races (runway closed by NOTAM) Aug 15.

A normal day, I seem to spend more time
wrenching than flying, but I should not complain -
I get a lot of flying in.  Yesterday flew two wildly
different aircraft (no checklists, sorry) and 6 landings.

Always rolling around on many different hangar floors
and scraping the dark grime out from underneath my
fingernails.  Should really finish the paperwork on my
AME.

The airplanes I fly won't tolerate a pilot that doesn't
understand them.

Both were fuel-injected six cylinder
constant-speed prop, one tailwheel,
one retractable gear.

These days it's so hot and humid, I
hate to open the hangar doors - I
run the dehumidifier full time to dry
it out.

But ya gotta fly, every day!

Take the toys to Fort MacLeod. The lots are still pretty cheap. Far less humidity. Horses love the local alfalfa, hay and oats. Great crosswinds everyday.

The Transport Canada office is way up in Calgary...