It is cold at 7,000 feet!

Mike S, 12K feet? Wow. Which engine didyou have in it when you did that? I did not think your gyro had a oil tank big enough to get that high(private joke)! Hope all is going well with you.

Scott Heger, Laguna Niguel,Ca N86SH
 
Scott that was before the Subaru engine became an oil leaker -- it was also the other gyro -the green one --you know the one I balled up doing hover landings in the shifting winds--. It weighed 75# less than the current one and I also weighed a lot less. Hey it suprised me to --when I started I thought Id only get to abot 10K but it slowly kept climbing --

Scott all is going well but Ive got the "pumper " pulled apart --its going to get a rebore and all new innards--so it willl be brought back to new specs--this wil take a few weeks as Im going to Washington DC next week so it wont be back together until Mid May--
 
Last edited:
Vance... what was the rotor speed when you felt the willies??

Gary Buster
tyler texas

Hello Gary,

I have a digital tachometer so when it is changing it is a little hard to track. It was around 310 rpm. I was distracted by airspeed and directional instability so I am not certain of the readings. It would change up around 10 rpm and down 5 rpm.

I didn’t feel negative Gs but it did feel bouncy. That was part of the balancing on a beach ball feeling.

Thank you, Vance
 
Thank you for the information Wayne.

There were some high clouds but not like the ones in the pictures and the wind was blowing almost straight down the ridgeline and it was fairly steady at around 30kts.

Harris grade is only about 1,200 feet high and the ridgeline doesn’t get much above 3,000 until several miles east. I was on the lee side of the higher peaks.

I don’t know what to do to avoid this kind of turbulence. Lockheed Martin predicted moderate turbulence from the surface to 12,000 feet and winds of 13kts gusting to 19kts.

Thank you, Vance
 
Vance got caught in an updraft in a thunderstorm once in a DC3 out in Tanzania. We were at 12,000' and got into 'severe!!!!!!!!!' turbulence.

We started going up as if in an express elevator with the VSI pegged. Powered back the zero thrust and 16'' manifold to avoid back pressure on the bearings, put flaps and gear down and went to max gear and flap limit speed and were still going up. My co-pilot, a local gentleman was freaking out and screaming which wasn't helpfull, had already emptied his coke over me.

Decided bugger the bearings and went back to idle, still going up and being shaken like a toy in a dog's jaws. As we were passing 21,000' not too much time later we popped out into the clear nose down and pointing almost straight down. It was interesting.

Douglas built a damn fine and strong plane's all I can say. Some scary little currents and eddies out there that we can occasionally brush past, but then Vance that's part of the joy of flight.

Not sure how high the Hornet will get to but be sure I will be looking at it, if and when we get her airborne.

As for high altitude flight there was nothing to beat 45,000 at night with the open heavens above. If I could have got higher I would have, and If I ever do come back in another life I am headed for the stars for sure.
 
Those elevator rides are no fun when there is a ceiling. I once got caught in an updraft and was barely able to arrest my climb just short of the 3000 ft cloud base. It popped me up through a wind shear too that made me want down (gently) in a big way.
 
Hello Leigh, as always you have altitude and experience on me.

45,000 feet holds no allure for me in an open aircraft.

I find altitude euphoric and disorienting.

I feel stopped in space and time and out of my element.

Thank you Gary,

That does sound worse.

I didn’t have a ceiling.

I found the lack of directional control, the sudden changes in direction and the different sound and feel of the rotor blades disquieting.

Thank you, Vance
 
Vance 45,000 in an open cockpit would be seriously scary and very very cold, around -40to -50 degrees C.

I was tucked safely inside a nice warm safe cockpit and very happy for the shelter. High altitude was a good comfortable way to go long distances over oceans, and at night for seeing the stars.

Extreme altitude in a gyro is simply a number and achieved once probably not very satisfying to do again.

A Gyro to me is a method for flying between 6 and 500 feet. Anything over that is probably too high for me. I have always loved low flying.

My past experience is irrelevant, here you have the lead on me gyro-wise by a long way.
 
Top