BABY STEPS II -Balancing on the mains!

[Resasi]

Good work Chris. It is definitely an acquired sense of stick pressure and seems frustratingly elusive to begin with, however you are learning it every time you do a run and the muscle memory is layering in.

You brought out a very good point I think I may have neglected to put in my notes, it is essential for your instructor at the beginning of wheel balancing to have you sitting on the machine then to tilt you back onto the tail-wheel and allow you to see and experience what it feels and looks like when rocked fully back.

Various individual nose and tailwheel set-ups will produce a differing range of distance to balance within, and sometimes it won't be much. Your finesse in handling the pitch can be sorely tested if you only have a few inches between one wheel leaving the tarmac and the other touching, but so very satisfying when you do get the hang of it as you will. For it is then when both you and your instructor can clearly see that you have learned not to overcontroll on the pitch and are not likely to PIO in flight.

It is this fine control that you will be exercising in the flare just before touchdown and the sight picture that you will unconciously be using when you are touching down in the spot landing competition you are about to win.

Keep it up, you are doing great.

[Texasautogyro]

Sounds like you are getting a feel for it. The basics are all the same but every gyro had some of their own little quirks. Some respond slower others faster. Keep doing it and make your gyro your friend. Hope to see you soon maybe Monday!

[eddie]

why don't you just move the mains back 5" and mantain control of the gyro while on the ground,crosswinds/gusts become very easy to deal with, and you will shorten your takeoff roll by 50%. Thats what i did and the handling is amazing. best regards,eddie.....

[Greg Mitchell]

Hey Chris,

In Valemount BC having some repairs made to the RV, just catching up with technology and the wider universe.

Congrats on your progress. Love the set-up you and Jim have put together.

Cheers,

Mitch.

[Vance]

Hello Chris,

It sounds to me like you are doing fine.

The key for me was to continue to move the stick forward as the nose starts to get light up so I am ready when it does come up to move the cyclic further forward. I do best with a constant movement rather than stops and starts.

If I am slow and let the nose wheel come up too far it is hard to not set it back down as I try to arrest the ascent.

I suspect your main gear is in the correct position because you have not done anything to alter the weight distribution from the original design.

You are kind of light so you might ask the designer what percentage of weight should be on the nose if you haven’t already checked it.

Thank you, Vance

[GyrOZprey]

Yesterday morning the TangoOscarEchoVictorSierra team tried to get an early morning jump on the local air traffic & the Kansas breezes ..... having caught up on necessary work after our 3 days away - time to play a bit!

I had resolved my latest radio issue from the previous visit to the hangar ......( tested it with FJ on the handheld - worked fine - rolled out & started up - no radio ..WTBH???? )!!! This had limited me to just taxiing to the compass pad to do the much needed compass calibration!!
After all the times I wished it was as simple as a bad fuse - now it WAS the fuse!!! getting to trace the juice in the wiring with the multi-meter is getting so routine now didn't take long to pull the fuse & check continuity! In with the spare! So happy too that I figured out the modification & tool needed to make removal of the instrument panel face quite easy not a dreaded ordeal!

I decided to go practice on the 3/4ths of 8-26 east of 17-35 as there were a couple of Cessnas already using the main taxiway & in the pattern. So I told everyone my plans to do rotor management ground runs staying east of the active!

I had several runs getting the feel of pre-rotation & maintaining Rrpm enjoying the nice wide smooth runway. The end always seemed to come up too soon & I was wishing I was brave enough to go take a crack at the long one - but the Cessnas were still doing T&G's!

On the last 2 runs I felt the nose wheel get light & got the stick forward soon enough so we didn't go "rearing-horse" - a few seconds of balance low-down .... then darnit the end of runway - some headwind would have been nice to speed up the process & get to balancing Rrpm sooner!

I noticed my drift string showing a cross breeze starting up & felt a little sideways bobble on that last run ( thankfully good training reflexes worked to correct that) & then my gyro brakes went mushy! Head for the hangar!!
Now THAT got interesting trying to hold prior to crossing 17-35 with 10% brakes & an engine that doesn't like to idle very slow, trying to stall. ( We do have a carb clean & synch session scheduled with our Rotax mechanic as soon as we are back from Mentone) Zero brakes left by time we got to the hangar!!!

Back at the hangar FJ had started to assemble his new Tiggy-B rotor.

That's when I discovered he had not heard any of my radio calls --- so what's going on??? I was wondering why no other traffic has acknowledged me! No brakes - no taxi , engine off, I rolled OZ'rora around the end of the hangar row - out of line of sight & did another radio test - still clear!!! Mystery!#1
# 2 Why the brakes don't work - no obvious leaks - no air bubbles - Just no resistance in the hand lever/reservoir - the fluid went somewhere??????

Next project - see if we could get the big Sportcopter rotor onto Tiggy-B without the shop hoist we'd used @ Larry's.
Jim was very pleased that the 2 of us could get it on & mounted. Raised the mast & Jim went out to do his rotor handling runs - while I was off to the local hardware store for brake fluid & other supplies!

Seeing as the Tiggy-B radio antenna was currently redundant & it's a better one than on OZ'rora I decided to try it & see if that helped the radio issues.

The other traffic had disappeared by time Jim got out so he did his rotor-runs down the main N-S taxiway into the breeze -- he got startled when he experienced the "rearing -horse" nosewheel rapid rise on the last run when he got speed & Rrpm into the balancing zone!

Decided we'd had enuff gyro -"fun" for the day & got out of the heat!

[Rusty Russell]

Nice machine! Good skills.
Bit of a worry about the shoes coming adrift.. I guess there is no reason for then to come unstuck in flight! Ill check mine, as I guess most are glued?
Enjoy

[GyrOZprey]

OZ'rora no longer lonely! 1.
Assembling the TGB rotor. 2&4
Fuel delivery - NOW THAT's SERVICE!!! 3&6
Enjoying a Braums burger! 5.

[StanFoster]

Chris- I am fascinated by the enthusiasm you and FJ are sharing with us on your quest to fly your own gyros. I cant wait to read your flying stories around your farm. You two are another dynamic duo! Stan

[Vance]

A nice bit of progress I notice Chris is that things that used to be a major challenge are becoming simply a bump in the road for you.

You are developing step by step procedures for managing previously unmanageable events.

This should allow you to get into much deeper trouble before you have a failed mission.

You are an insperation to us all.

Thank you for sharing the fun, Vance

[GyrOZprey]

Dangit Vance - looks like you spoke too soon!
I got a real knotty one now!

Not only lost a workout on the most perfect windless day with a dearth of other air traffic around KEWK --- but I've still got funky 50% functional brakes - not sufficient for me to even venture out to taxi !

Still mostly mystified where the fluid went to on the last outing! I think my brake release switch is malfunctioning - seem to have to double-tap it to get full release .... Larry suggested to go to a toggle switch rather than the momentarythat he insisted on & we ???ed & fought to learn to use!

I suspect on my last run when I released brake & prerotator off - the brake switch did not fully release & I ran the balancing run with partial brakes on --- did this stress the system & somehow lose fluid without oily evidence around the brakes /axle area!!?????
today there was a tiny droplet on the floor - we tightened up the fittings at the brakes - I'd wiped all around with a white paper towel to try to find the leak on the day it happened without a clue!
The fluid looked good in the rear lines behind the brakelock so we bled the foward section trying to reprime the reservoir!
Really missed having Larry's bleed-bottle set-up but somewhat duplicated the technique using the oiler that came with the brake kit!
Several hours , a 1/2 qt of fluid (enough to fill the entire system 3 times over)& a roll of paper towels later - still stumped!!

How the 'n hell does everyone else bleed these stink'n little brake lines????

[Vance]

Hello Chris,

I am just reporting the progress I see from my vantage point.

The brake demon frustrates a lot of people.

A flaccid pedal can cause such disenchantment and spoil the moment.

On The Predator we back bleed the system using an oil pump can that you can buy at any auto parts store. It is made for squirting oil into things. They are often brass and have a lever you pull that pushes the fluid out under pressure. It doesn’t take much pressure and volume is good although most of them are pretty much the same displacement.

We pump into the bleed hole on the caliper and make sure it comes out the master cylinder. If it won’t it usually indicates something inside the master cylinder is swollen up blocking the hole or the brake linkage is adjusted so the master cylinder cannot extend all the way to the internal stop. It is very important that the brake actuator comes all the way back or the return hole will be blocked and it won’t pump.

On the Predator sometimes we have to remove the calipers and move them around as we pump fluid though so that any bubble can come out of the caliper into the brake line and work its way back to the master cylinder.

We do this with every part of the system working the bubbles back toward the master cylinder.

It is very important to use the correct brake fluid. That will be called out by the brake manufacture and it not the same for all brake systems. Some manufactures even make systems for different kinds of brake fluids so it is easy to get it wrong.

The brake fluids are often not compatible and the wrong fluid can make the soft parts in the system swell up just enough that the master cylinder won’t pump.

I know this from having made the mistake of using the wrong fluid.

In my experience progress is seldom in a straight line and more like a dance. It is not always easy to lead and even then there is some back and forth with a lively partner.

I look forward to seeing you and Jim at Mentone.

Thank you, Vance

[choppergabor]

Christine I know exactly what you are going through. This could happen for a few reasons. But mostly it happens because your brake line is not I repeat NOT high pressure line. Buy the line directly from Hegar! http://www.hegar4.com/zc150/index.ph...roducts_id=256
Anything else will allow swelling of the line and that will lead to airing up the system. Transmission fluid is the fluid that is suggested for usage on these brakes as it is not destroying seals and the O rings.
Bleeding procedure as follows: get two persons to do this task. Put the hose on the oil pump's nipple and pump the fluid all the way till it drips. Now put the other end of the tube on the bleeder nipple on the CALIPER end and NOT the master cylinder! Now let the other person open the master cylinder bleeder up at the pedal and use some container to capture the fluid. So now you open your bleeder at the caliper and start pumping the oil pump until you see only fluid and no air coming out at the other end. Now comes the trick! Have the other person press the pedal all the way down and close the bleeder at the master cylinder. You keep pressure on the line while this is happening with your oil pump. DO NOT let the pedal back up!!! Start pumping the oil pump and let the pressure in the line to bring the pedal up while the other person is putting a light pressure on the pedal. Pump it up all the way to the top and keep a good pressure on the oil pump!!! Close the bleeder. Repeat this at least twice to make sure all the air is out of the master cylinder too. Enjoy your brakes

[GyrOZprey]

Thanks Vance & Gabor.... I was about to try the back-foward oiler pressure next!
First I'm going to change out that stupid brake release switch!

I have the Hagar brakes , line & fittings That came with the gyro brake kit - so good there , check Ok the pink trans fluid that is used with that system!

Right - off the airport for a fresh crack at it!

[utahgyrocop]

Chris,

I don't know what kind of fittings you have to bleed the brakes. I helped a guy a few weeks ago bleed some brakes and his technic worked very good and it was easy to say the least. I will try to explain:

He took a large medical syringe and filled it up with brake fluid, purged any air from it, connected the syringe with plastic line to the nipple on the back of the wheel. He opened the nipple and opened the master cylinder and pushed the fluid from the wheel back to the master cylinder. This took less than 1 minute per side.

The only caution that he told me was you can not leave the brake fluid in the syringe or line long because it will melt the plastic and or rubber dependent on what it is made of.

What I saw worked great, others may not agree, but I liked it.

Stay safe!!!