ventana7
05-12-2004, 02:55 PM
Yesterday I had an intersting experience in a RAF that I will share.
My first 25 hrs gyro flying were in a RAF with a drop keel and HS. It felt OK and I learned to handle it fine. My next 20 hrs including my gyro add on rating were in a Sparrowhawk (mod kit) at Buckeye which was great.
Yesterday I flew the RAF that I originally trained in down here in Australia-- I was all over the sky.
This machine is well built and maintained- yesterday was 15 Knots and very gusty and for the first 20 minutes I was all over the place- controls felt really sloppy compared to the Sparrowhawk, very difficult to pin attitude on first try, power reductions affected pitch more much more than Sparrowhawk. In side gusts the Sparrowhawks big tail yaws for a very quick moment then comes right back after the gust passes. In the RAF every gust involved several seconds of work to correct and get back to straight and level. After about 20 minutes of flying I was back to where I could fly the machine properly but even then the workload was maybe double what I had experienced in the Sprarrowhawk in similiar or worse gusty conditions.
Anyway- that's my comparison for what its worth.
My first 25 hrs gyro flying were in a RAF with a drop keel and HS. It felt OK and I learned to handle it fine. My next 20 hrs including my gyro add on rating were in a Sparrowhawk (mod kit) at Buckeye which was great.
Yesterday I flew the RAF that I originally trained in down here in Australia-- I was all over the sky.
This machine is well built and maintained- yesterday was 15 Knots and very gusty and for the first 20 minutes I was all over the place- controls felt really sloppy compared to the Sparrowhawk, very difficult to pin attitude on first try, power reductions affected pitch more much more than Sparrowhawk. In side gusts the Sparrowhawks big tail yaws for a very quick moment then comes right back after the gust passes. In the RAF every gust involved several seconds of work to correct and get back to straight and level. After about 20 minutes of flying I was back to where I could fly the machine properly but even then the workload was maybe double what I had experienced in the Sprarrowhawk in similiar or worse gusty conditions.
Anyway- that's my comparison for what its worth.