Well, new to me. Flew a Light Sport. An Aerostar Festival R40S. Light airplane that felt very responsive, almost to the point of being touchy. I have flown several aircraft, but this was my first "stick". Everything else has been yoke. It was a bit different, but not as different as I expected. My friend gave me a hint that really helped. Told me not to hold at the grip at the top of the stick; but to go down below it and just have a single finger on the grip. Worked a charm. Made control much easier, I had been over controlling with my hand at the top. Seems strange not to have your hand where the hand grip is. Holding lower changed the amount of input you made by reducing the amount of movement made with your hand up higher. The RPM band was different than I was used to. The Lycoming and Continentals I have been flying run low RPMs ; max about 2,800 with normal cruise around 2,500. The R40S has a Rotax and ran higher RPM; max around 4,400 and normal cruise around 3,900. To me, it seemed strange getting in the landing pattern at 3,300 RPM. It wasn't a real issue, but it made all my normal numbers way off and I used airspeed instead of engine settings for the pattern and final. All went well, but I was out of my normal procedures.
This was at "Grass Roots" which is a private turf field. A fly-in Community that is a bit different. Hangars laid out somewhat haphazardly and were hangars with just a bit of living accommodations rather than normal houses with a hangar. A very different concept. Made as a flying get-away rather than full time living.
Last edited by oldgrognard; 05/04/1702:52 AM.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
Another tip that works in some aircraft is to brace your elbow on your knee/thigh or a solid part of the cabin. This really helps out when making fine adjustments.
I tend to fly stick aircraft with the meat at the base of my thumb to go down and index finger to pull up, and keep the same basic hand position for most maneuvers. If the trim forces are not too strong this arrangement works quite well and helps stop the tendency to bounce around trying to maintain a specific altitude. Trimming -very slightly- nose down (i.e. 25FPM or less) also seems to make very fine control adjustments a bit easier since you always keep slight backpressure on the stick, you don't have to "stir the pot" when you get a gust of wind or if the trim changes slightly for whatever reason, just keep pulling slightly with the index finger.
Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 5,562Airdrop01
Chief Pheasant Controller
Airdrop01
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Kansas, USA
Keep posting these threads og. They make me really happy! Almost unbelievably so.
Something about retirement for my friends and doing what we want and love makes me smile a lot and sometimes even laugh. And I only know you through the Internet! Yet it still makes me super happy!
"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Matthew 5:11
Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, because “the Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5:11
Longbow, thanks for the advice. I will be flying that plane again next week and will try some of your advice. Air was active the day I flew and it was difficult getting it smooth enough to do fine adjustments. But your comment about "stirring the pot" was very much on target. Next flight I should be able to be more relaxed and smooth on control since I will be over the new plane, new control, new engine management overload. Having flown it I am over the everything is new and different confidence sucker. I am looking forward to it.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
Thanks for the comments. Sometimes I feel like I am posting this stuff too much and there is a lack of interest.
Couple more photos of the field. As you can see we are in a drought. We need rain. Prop blast blew up a good deal of dust and you could hear it on the prop and fuselage.
And cockpit view.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
I think everyone would agree with Airdrop01, these threads are great!
++++++++++
Originally Posted by RSColonel_131st
I'm still in awe that a concept like "Fly-in Communities" even exsists...
I think I have one that happens not far from my house but I can't find the runway.
OT: Hoping OG or any of you pilots can help me understand something...
Backstory...
Wife and I enjoy browsing our local libraries, especially the ones in our rural parish (county). For example, the one at our parish seat in Clinton, LA is very vintage, wood floors, almost like an old house, very quaint. Last Sunday we went to a more modern library the next parish over (registered for multiple parishes), the lady we talked to is from our parish and an administrator over the libraries in our area. We engaged in the mandatory rural small talk (first thing people want to know is who you are, where you're from, who your parents are, etc., etc.... you get use to it and you always end up knowing people in common).
Anyway, she pointed me to the model train builders who meet in Jackson, LA (next small town over) as something I might be interested in (click Model Train Displays)... http://www.louisianasteamtrain.com/
Cool, we'll check it out. Then she said they also have meets for airplane models which really perked my attention, but she didn't know any details.
Then she said her neighbor has a runway on his property and does fly-in gatherings. Ah, that explains the little planes that occasionally fly over my house, thinking they're too low to be flying to the BR Airport which is quite a ways south of us.
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
You 'mericuns sure like your front lawns large. And it's not even Texas...
Joking aside, what is the legal status of such fields? Is this a real "airfield" or is it like someone's farm field where people decided to put a few hangars? I'm really intrigued by the idea. Thanks for the interesting stories OG.
It is a certified private airfield. Many private fields are not certified. Mark, maybe by using Skyvector you can find the one you are talking about. The Google picture you posted looks like it is for ultra-lights or autogyros. Not sure what else I would try to get in there.
Does that help RSC ?
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
...and I'm going dig to see what it really is (assuming now that the occasional Cessna[?] I see is flying to a real airport, or at least a real runway).
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 24,712Dart
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Measured in Llamathrusts
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 24,712
Alabaster, AL USA
Quote
I have flown several aircraft, but this was my first "stick".
That's funny, because my pilot experience has been the opposite. I had to take my biannual flight review in a C172, and it was the first time with a steering wheel. Very weird, but not that hard to adjust to. My instructor was an old, experienced pilot and "got" where I was coming from as a pilot and had a good time with me. All the stick and rudder stuff was a cinch, and we spent a long time in slow flight since he usually doesn't have a guy that can float around and turn to specific headings without losing altitude. He took pity on me and let me just disregard flaps, since I don't fly anything with flaps and never use them. But he did remind me that the the third wheel is in the front, not the back.
I have to say I really prefer a stick. Pulling the whole wheel back to lift the elevator just feels wrong.
Light aircraft require a different mindset than larger ones - the skills are the same, but how things are approached are just different (as you found out). This is why a lot of Private Pilots who switched over to Light Sport aircraft due to the medical stuff had problems and bent more than their fair share of birds. Transition is a thing not to trifle with.
My little plane is just a fat ultralight in many respects, so what wouldn't even be noticeable in your normal plane is light turbulence for me; a "little bumpy" is being thrown all around!
The biggest difference to me is management. In light, slow aircraft stuff like RPM's, glide slope by the numbers, etc., gets thrown out a bit and things are done more by sight and feel. Not to say that one doesn't fly lighter aircraft with precision, but since they react to gusts, thermals, etc. (and usually have higher lift to thrust ratios), there's a lot of little actions and reactions in flight that require eyes up.
Landing in that C172 at our field was crazy in that the usual bumps and gusts (each airport has their own habitual ones) that I have to anticipate in my N11 were just tiny nudges in the big aircraft, barely noticeable.
The opinions of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.
I'm not sure exactly where you live (you mentioned Jackson, LA in your post).
That said, there's also a small dirt strip that is someone's Private field (marked as McCutcheon on the sectional) just to the NW of Clinton, LA.
Here are a couple quick pics, just in case that might be the one you're thinking of -- you could definitely get a Cessna in there.
Regards, 4 <S!>
PS> ...and OG, *definitely* continue with these posts... I don't get to fly real planes anymore (medical) but I definitely enjoy the stories and pictures!
FourSpeed, I live in Ethel, a little south and in-between Jackson and Clinton. That could be it, I may have misunderstood the location (maybe Clinton instead of Jackson), I'll ask her when I turn in my library books.
The rusty wire that holds the cork that keeps the anger in Gives way and suddenly it’s day again The sun is in the east Even though the day is done Two suns in the sunset, hmph Could be the human race is run
Even if us older dudes might night be as into our flight sims as we used to be, I think we all still love aviation. Keeps the posts and pictures coming.
FourSpeed, I live in Ethel, a little south and in-between Jackson and Clinton. That could be it, I may have misunderstood the location (maybe Clinton instead of Jackson), I'll ask her when I turn in my library books.
Ok.
There's also Feliciana Airpark (LA3) which is just South of Jackson (near the Dixon Correctional Institute) and West of Ethel that might fit the bill also.
Nice shots OG, do you live in that airpark? If so that must be awesome.
A friend of mine has a home at Crest Airpark in Covington WA (S36), and his attached "garage" is a hangar with a plane that he can taxi to the runway, definitely a cool way to live for aviation enthusiasts, and the costs don't seem to be that much more than other houses in that expensive area of the country: http://www.airportairparkhomes.com/washingtonhomes.asp
For anyone that has FSX/P3D one of my favorite payware sceneries and my sim home airport in the PNW region is Diamond Point Airpark (2WA1) an excellent recreation of a real life air park in WA coast: https://orbxdirect.com/product/2wa1
You can taxi right off the runway into your driveway or garage hangar...
PS OG keep the general aviation threads coming, I definitely enjoy them vicariously.