Stan made me do it.....

[GyroRon]

landing it on a runway, well it is just like landing a normal plane, just no suspension so you have to grease the landings if you don't want to bend something, and the plane sits very tall on the floats so you have to get used to that.... otherwise it is just like any other airplane.

Yes, front wheel retracts by sliding up, the front gear telescopes.


The steps to retract the gear in flight is....

1. Pull a cable that is in the middle of the cockpit near the bottom of the panel, with a ring attached to the end. This cable gets pulled about a foot and a half out, and the ring is slide over a clip that secures it. This brings up the front gear.

2 and 3. Pull two levers between the seats out. These levers operate morse cables, and the morse cables control the sliding locks for the main gear. Pulling the levers slides the locks forward, unlocking the main gear.

4. Pull a plastic handle that is located on the floor of the plane back towards you. This pulls the main gear up inside the floats retracting them.

5 and 6. While still holding the plastic retract handle back, you slide the levers between the seats for the sliding locks in, and if you have the gear retracted high enough, there is a slot in the gear that the sliding lock slides into, insuring the gear stays up when you land on the water.

If there is much wind and you plan to taxi much on the water, then lowering the water rudder is a good idea. It is held up by a ring on a cable in the cockpit that is hooked on a clip. Just unclip the ring and let it go forward and the water rudder drops down by spring tension, into the water. It is steered by cables going to the front landing gear, so as you make corrections on the pedals, the rudder... front gear.... and water rudder all move together.

All the while, you got to keep looking out the doors to make sure the gear is up or down and locked or not locked..... it is alot to do. And alot to forget.....

 

[automan1223]

Green Grass ?

Green Grass ?

How do you keep your lawn green in the winter time ?

 

[Passin' Thru]

How do you keep your lawn green in the winter time ?

Winter rye grass. Only down side is you must sow it every year and it grows fast!:lol:

 

[dragonflyerthom]

Looks like Stan caught this one on the chin. All he wants to do is fly, take pictures, and build stairways. Life is good if you have a gyro.

 

[StanFoster]

Thom: You are right.....its been interesting seeing the new flying pictures this thread has stirred up. I am going flying tomorrow and will have camera on board.:first:

Stan

 

[GyroRon]

Winter rye grass. Only down side is you must sow it every year and it grows fast!:lol:

You got it!

I have a well for water and the pressure is not the best, plus we use alot of water with 3+ showers a day, plus washing clothes and dishes, and me washing cars and mowers all the time, we decided not to try to water the lawn with our well.

So planting fescue - not really planting, but core aerating and then spreading seed and fertilizer - like I do on all my customers lawns just doesn't take here unless we have alot of rain for a few weeks after I aerate.... and we usually don't. So in the past my lawn has looked ugly all winter, and then in spring with the warm temps and rain, the lawn would take off and get green.

So last year, I decided to try throwing down winter rye grass without even the aeration. Rye is about 25$ per 50lbs bag, Fescue is 2-3 times that much..... Surprisingly it came up good last year, and I liked it. So this year I aerated in October and put down 100 lbs worth of rye and it has been growing and green all winter.

It will die as soon as it gets hot out, but by then the other grasses in my lawn will thicken up and fill in, so as long as we don't have major drought conditions, my lawn stays green year round with no watering or regular fertilization.

The drawback to Rye, is it retains alot of moisture. Even when it is very dry out and hasn't rained for days, when you cut rye it is worse than cutting damp fescue... in other words lot's of clumps falling out from under the mower. So when I am done cutting I have to go around with a bucket and rake and get up all the clumps and throw them over the fence into the woods.... The clumps make a major mess if the mower shoots them onto the house, or cars. And the mowers tires get covered in it, so crossing the driveway leaves green grass mess everywhere. All in all it is 3 times the work to mow the lawn with Rye, but that is the price you pay for green lawn in the winter around here.

 

[automan1223]

wow..

wow..

Ron,

I guess green is green. everything here in east nc is brown, and dead, except for the first winter wheat. It is always wet here so we never need rain.

Sounds like you need to have a check list made up, get i put on a card laminated, put on a big ring like they use for those big certified aircraft...... One instructor I flew with lived by them. One way to never forget anything critical.

J