Rotors over Illinois

[StanFoster]

I was out whacking Illinois air this evening. It was so nice just cruising the farm fields low level.

[StanFoster]

more views

[StanFoster]

Some deer that werent even spooked

[StanFoster]

on final for 18

[barnstorm2]

Great Picts!

I esp. like the deer and the one before with the tree line!

[KenSandyEggo]

Nice pics, Stan. Brings back memories when I used to fly my Ercoupe from Waukegan to Morris to visit the now ex and/or deceased in-laws. Uh...shouldn't you pick up your speed a little on final? Or did you just slow down to snap the photo? That's it!

I don't know how some of you can fly without a VSI. I'd really miss mine if I had to give it up. How do you adjust for best climb and/or descent rate and know when you're flying level without having to wait for the altimeter to "lock" on?

[mrford61]

Am I missing something tongue in cheek or is 50 knots really considered a bit slow so far out and up from landing.

[birdy]

I was think'n the same thing Mark.

[Aussie_Paul]

Hey guys, can't you read. That is MPH, even worse than knots. :D

Hey you Yanks, what sort of maps do you use to navigate in statute miles? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Aussie Paul. :D

[StanFoster]

That wasnt a typical landing at all..I was taking pictures of the runway. A normal landing for me is to come in high...throttle all the way back and set it at 50 mph. It makes a nice steep approach and little float. I have found 60 to have too much float for my tastes.

But hey...everybody is different...I like to have landings similar to an actual engine out. This works for me and I havent had a hard landing yet. :D

[KenSandyEggo]

About 3 miles out, I lower the nose until my beer can starts sliding forward on the passenger seat, then I go to full throttle until I'm coming down the chute at 118.35 m.p.h. I descend to about 18.46 feet above the runway and then yank the stick back sharply, leaving her at full power. I usually come to a stop within 6.37 feet. The only time I had a problem with this procedure is when my tail-hook failed to come down.

[barnstorm2]

Ken,

118.35 seems aggressive. I recommend trying 118.11.

Most irresponsible of you not to have a drink caddy for your beer!

[Gary_in_Orygun]

My little VSI has never worked and I never been happy with that, but also never did anything about it. I judge my rate of ascent by how fast the big things on the ground get smaller. Also, the bug-on-windshield splat rate goes down with altitude.

Gee Ken, I think whatever you got must be catchy. I'm starting to think like you.

As far as my airspeed, I use 63.75 mph (between 60 and 65) indicated for best climb and best glide. (GPS has shown that my actual airspeed is about 7 mph slower than indicated.)

When I did have an actual engine out, 60 mph gave me a pretty good glide rate (for a gyro). (I got it restarted at 200ft, down from 700ft.) The things on the ground didn't get big too fast. (That translates to about 500 fpm decent Ken, since you are so dependent on that VSI.) :)

[KenSandyEggo]

Tim, I did have a drink-caddy, but I burned a big hole in it when my charcoal grill tipped over.

Gary, I think it helps to know if you're coming down 500 or 1,000 fpm during an engine-out, so you can time your flare better. Or if you're heading for some wires and you go to full throttle, wouldn't you like to know almost immediately whether you're actually going upwards or not? I find it an indispensable instrument for my precision flying and approaches......and who wants a blank space on their panel?

[Gary_in_Orygun]

I would love to have my VSI working. For all I know, it is a plumbing problem. I just never got a round-tu-it.

My handheld GPS records altitude changes over time, and I have used that on occasion to get an idea of my climb/decent performance (but only on the ground later on). I wish I had access to another 2.25" VSI so I could swap mine out or someone who had a tester.

[barnstorm2]

Gary,

Is all of your air-plumbing routed together? If so, the odds don't look good. :( But it is good to be optimistic.. perhaps a dead bug is lodged in it's tubes' passageway. :o

You gave me a great idea. I should download all of the hours of GPS data I have in memory and plot it out in 3D over a terrian map. That might be cool. I'll bet I have flown 40 hours since I cleared the memory last.


Ken,

Charcoal grill?? That is even more irresponsible! Any good beer drinker knows cedar chips are the way to go. Though they are harder to light and some of the lighter fluid might spray back on the engine in a pusher configuration.

[KenSandyEggo]

Tim, There is no cedar left around here. The used it all to make cedar-shingle roofing.......which made for some spectacular photos during the last fires here.

[birdy]

Ken, you should use a 1/2 gallon bottle of rum,the bottum's wider and the glass and seat cover seem to stick so it won't slide off.Better still,have the bottle zip tyed to the mast and run a siphon hose in the door with a mouth pice.

[Chuck Irby]

Nice pics Stan. Ya'll grow some healthy deer up there!