More fun flying The Predator.

[Vance]

Progress on several fronts.

Progress on several fronts.

When I returned from the Cable Air Show on January 11 the LODA for the Predator was in the mail box. It had some troubling (to me) words in it that read: “5.b. pilots participating in the training described in 5.a. above training programs must hold an appropriate category and class rating.”

I interpreted this to mean I could not train someone who did not hold a rotorcraft, gyroplane rating in The Predator. I asked for a clarification the three people working on my LODA at the Van Nuys FSDO had three different opinions as to what the words meant.

They called Washington DC to talk to the LODA expert there and today I received a revised LODA in the mail.

It reads “Reference 5.b. For flight training leading to the original issuance of a pilot certificate in a gyroplane issued a special airworthiness certificate under 21.191(g). Pilots receiving training are not required to meet the appropriate category and class requirements in item 5.b.”

I feel this is a validation of my efforts to do things correctly even though it caused a three week delay in exercising the LODA for The Predator.

Many thanks to the patient helpful people at the Van Nuys FSDO and my flight instructor mentors.

I built a new aluminum bracket for the Garmin 196 and it would have been installed yesterday but I ran out of hardware before I could finish and after the hardware store was closed.

I spent most of the day testing the compressor I purchased from Walmart for the inflight adjustable trim. It seems to have plenty of capacity and doesn’t overheat. It starts right up when it is already at high pressure. I may try a smaller one to make it easier to mount.

Next I need to purchase the air cylinder, pressure gage and valve. I think I have a place for an inch and a half gage on the panel. I already have all the fittings for the lines and a grip with appropriate buttons.

My friend Max is probably going to help with the fabrication of my rear instrument pod and he covets my Garmin 295 so we can probably work out a trade. He is the one who repaired the cracks in the frame and all of them are holding up 800 hours later. We hope to start next Wednesday. He has already come up with some creative ideas that may make it easier. Joe had to bow out because of time commitments.

I am trying to get the hangar set up for ground school and replaced my dead refrigerator yesterday with a cast off from our daughter. Once again my brain was writing checks my body couldn’t cash; getting the old refrigerator into the truck was not easy and I disturbed a large black widow spider in the process.

I would like to have a 40 inch monitor so I can display teaching aids off the internet instead of using a white board. I have poor fine motor skills and they make for poor white board skills. The new models will be coming out so the prices should come down soon after. I feel it will be particularly helpful for teaching flight planning because I can switch from a sectional chart to Google Earth to identify waypoints that can be recognized for the air. It is fun to work on the hangar again.

 

[Vance]

Progress on the rear panel.

Progress on the rear panel.

Max has been great. We spent the last three mornings designing and fabricating the rear panel for The Predator. I just can’t see the airspeed indicator and the altimeter from the back seat when I am training someone in the front seat.

If I am training them in the back I can’t expect them to be able to make sense out of the instruments in the front with my head in the way.

I was going to completely redo the shoulder harness mount to try to keep everything looking as integrated as possible. Max very patiently moved the instruments around in the back while I pretended to fly and we came up with about three potential designs none of which involved cutting off the mount for the shoulder harness.

Max fabricated a steel panel to hold the two three and a quarter inch instruments and we went through a similar process settling on having the instruments on the right side of the mount (my good eye is on the right). It turns out my knee clearance spoiled my plan A.

I was still set on welding the bracket to the shoulder belt mount until he welded a second piece of steel at right angles to the first and we decided we could try it with Adel clamps and mover it around till it worked.

It ended up being much stronger than I expected although once we get it properly located Max will probably fabricate a brace that picks up the lower outside corner. We also have some trimming to do once we are certain we have it in the correct place.

In the process I advanced my quick detachable windshield design a lot further and now the question is only if we will used a prefabricated windshield with our braces or just use a flat piece of Lexan.

I ordered the plumbing to hook up the IAS and altimeter and it should be here Monday. I hope to hook them up and test them next Tuesday.

I also ordered the material for the windshield mount.

My air cylinder arrived late this afternoon and I hope to get some thinking done over the weekend on exactly how to make my pneumatic trim work. It seems to be coming along well.

I did some pattern work today and I kept checking the rear instrument panel for vibration and it was always very smooth.

I also tested the Garmin Virb and I like having less fish eye and I took out the camera lean but I have a shake I need to get rid of.

I have a student coming for the weekend on the 27th and 28th and it will be great to have the intercom, rear panel, rear windshield and maybe even the trim working.

I am making progress on the hangar too.

 

[Vance]

Playing in the wind!

Playing in the wind!

I wandered outside to test my Virb and it was balmy. There were six red tailed hawks playing in the lift they get from the ridgeline where we live.

Most windy days I don’t fly, somehow today just seemed like a good day to play with the wind.

Before I left the house I checked the ATIS at Santa Maria and winds were 026 degrees at 17kts gusting to 26kts. Runway two was in use. San Luis Obispo was 360 at 18 with winds variable from 320 to 030 degrees and runway two niner was in use. There was a Pi Rep from a 172 that he had to use full power to maintain altitude. Things tend to get turbulent around here when the wind is out of the north.

The preflight went well and as I listened to the tower a surprising number of people went around and the tower gave nearly everyone a wind report. The direction was moving through about 30 degrees.

Lockheed Martin had some PIREPS describing various degrees of turbulence but no AIRMET for turbulence.

When I checked the Santa Maria ATIS the winds had shifted a little to 020 degrees still at 17kts gusting to 26kts.

My hangar neighbor with the Citation surprised me by using runway two.

Runway two makes it a mile and three quarter taxi from Mike with some convoluted taxi instructions. “Gyroplane One Four Two Mike Golf, right turn on Alpha and hold short of runway two." Then "Gyroplane One Four Two Mike Golf cross runway two zero, turn left on alpha two and hold short of runway three zero"; followed by "Gyroplane One Four Two Mike Golf cross runway three zero to Bravo Two and Charley to Charley Three to the run-up.” Somehow I was on my game and read it all back right. I was the only one of about six who didn’t leave anything out. The poor controller has to get the full call sign and the read back for hold short for each runway crossing. It was not easy for some and the controller was the new guy and I could tell he was getting frustrated when he said to a confused pilot in between trying to manage the ground traffic, “Cessna XXXX YOUR ARE CLEARED TO LAND ON RUNWAY TWO; YOU ARE LIGNED UP FOR THREE ZERO, TURN LEFT FOR A RIGHT DOWN WIND FOR RUNWAY TWO, RUNWAY TWO CLEAR TO LAND. That is the first time I have heard him speak in capitals and the read back was not correct till the third try.

The magneto check went well despite the lengthy taxi and my left turn out to the North West was approved.


I did not encounter gusts or turbulence on takeoff and she was off quickly. I made my left turn across the fields and marveled at the warm air. The only way to tell it was windy was my ground speed was about 20kts short of my indicated air speed. I just didn’t care and wandered slowly across the valley in a lovely relaxed fashion.

The turbulence picked up as I crossed the river and I was soon working the throttle to manage altitude.

Things have turned green and the air had the aroma of wet grass.

I checked the ATIS for San Luis Obispo and heard the sound of silence. They have been having trouble with it all month so I wasn’t surprised. I switched to tower and listened first. The tower suggested to a pilot that he try ATIS again. I took the hint and listened to the ATIS and it was filled with reports of turbulence and the wind shifting from 320 degrees to 030 degrees.

I asked for direct to two niner and I was to make a straight in and expect a wind check four miles out.

I caught some lift over the hills and picked up two hundred feet before the throttle hit the back stop. The tower asked; “gyroplane Two Mike Golf, would you describe the turbulence.” I described as moderate turbulence because although the bump was big it wasn’t that sudden. I soon modified my report to severe turbulence as I got a little deeper into the Edna valley. I was cleared to land from four miles out and when I stopped laughing I explained I was making 35kts of ground speed so it would be a while before I landed. “I can see that Vance, there is no one else out there.” That didn’t last and as I crossed the threshold there were four stacked up behind me.

I was feeling pretty full of myself and my perfect landing in the conditions only swelled my head further. The controller had become so busy I could not get a clearance to cross Alpha to parking and a regional jet was waiting on me. The pilot gave me a thumbs up.

I parked behind two V tail Bonanzas.

After lunch I taxied to self-serve and encountered the chaos again as people went around and generally fouled things up. I was glad to not add to their troubles.

The flight back to SMX was uneventful with some moderate turbulence and only a ten knot wind straight down the runway till I heard; “Gyroplane Two Mike Golf; make short approach for traffic; Runway Three Zero clear to land.” I love an excuse to act silly so I ran her up to 90kts indicated air speed and made a steep descending carrier turn to hit my spot. It was a great way to end a lovely day of flying.

 

[Vance]

She's coming together as a trainer.

She's coming together as a trainer.

I finished up the plumbing on the air speed indicator and altimeter in the back seat just as my friend John showed up. He was my first practice student in The Predator and helped me identify some of her short comings as a trainer.

He felt it was time for a test flight and I felt it was time for a very careful pre-flight.

That would put us very close to sunset and I am not night current.

I feel it is a mistake to rush anything in aviation.

The intercom worked great, the altimeter worked great, the indicated air speed worked great and the static system managed things well.

I love progress.

He had only made a couple of landings in The Predator so this was a good test. He managed his airspeed within about 3kts and after we settled on a pattern altitude he managed that plus or minus 50 feet so I gave him all the controls and did some takeoffs and landings.

He had the nose a little high on the first takeoff and we lifted off early. I was able to talk him through it and he quickly improved. He made three very nice landings and three acceptable takeoffs with the last one being the best.

He didn’t have any trouble following instructions now that he could hear me well (John was the one who landed when he was supposed to make a low pass because he did not hear my instructions).

He liked the trim right where it is. He likes holding a little back stick and demonstrated remarkable airspeed precision.

He has a tendency to release pressure on the stick after touch down and it didn’t work for our final landing because we went sailing past the taxiway. I had been talking John through a less than ten feet agl pass down 3,000 feet of runway and he was a little slow to reduce throttle and a little quick on the back stick.

Having a working intercom helps a lot and I like the instruments in the back a lot. It will be good for starting people out and good for me when the pilot I am instructing is in the front seat.

I was proud of John and how well he was flying and pleased with the improvements in The Predator. I only took the controls back that once and that was really about me not being clear enough that the rotor was the brake.

John could not see the rotor tachometer well from the back seat.

I checked the preliminary accident reports and over the long windy weekend there were eight aviation accidents in California out of 27 nationwide. They were mostly landings that didn’t work out and no one was seriously injured. Three of the accidents involved friends of mine.

It is a reminder to mitigate my overconfidence and don’t fly when conditions are not good.

 

[loftus]

Thanks again Vance! Your posts are always great for me to read. They keep reminding me of the need for attention to detail and sequence. Also civilized discourse is nice, and your posts are amongst the last few reasons I come back to this forum. Will you be at Bensen Days this year?

 

[Vance]

Thank you for the kind words Jeffery!

Thank you for the kind words Jeffery!

I learn so much when I am writing the posts and I get to relive the fun.

It seems like I used to get more feedback; I hope I have been civil.

When people are passionate about something it is not unusual for civility to take a back seat.

Thank you for your contributions to the Rotary wing forum Jeffery. You ask good questions and insist on clear answers.

 

[FRANK'S]

No We Are Still Reading Vance, Just nothing to Say to Your Awesomeness.
looks like you know your gyro very like it was part of your body like a Policemen and
his side arm.

 

[Vance]

At this time I am waiting on a conformation that will cause a schedule conflict with Bensen Days Jeffrey.

Thank you Frank, I am glad to have you along.

My Joy of flying contuses to grow and I find my ability to avoid the untidy in The Predator appears to mature.

 

[Vance]

South West Council of Air Shows!

South West Council of Air Shows!

I drove to the South West Council of Air Shows conference in San Diego this weekend.

I learned a lot from air show performers, promoters, marketeers and air bosses.

I made some great contacts for expanding my air show experience.

There was a wealth of experience in the room.

This year my friend Frank will be eighty and it will be his last year flying air shows.

My friend Bill was there who is still flying airshows in his Pitts at 84.

I spent some time with some remarkable people and had a lot of fun.

It ended with a wonderful dinner cruise of the bay on the Inspiration Hornblower with 48 people from the conference.

I stayed with my friend Kyron adding to the fun.

It was just one more way to have fun because I am flying The Predator.

 

[Vance]

Training in The Predator!

Training in The Predator!

I spent the last two days with Chris who wants to learn to fly a gyroplane he owns.

He has time in fixed wing but no rating and lots of time in ultralights.

He is a very smart man and lots of fun to hang out with.

I emailed him about the potential for windy conditions and he drove about three hours anyway.

I truncated some of the ground school and did the preflight myself before Chris arrived so we could get up before the big winds came. We were not successful.

I took off Saturday morning and gave him the rudder pedals as soon as we were fifty feet agl so he could wag her tail and get a feel for it.

At 800 feet I gave him all the aircraft controls.

Being a fixed wing pilot he was expecting the angle of the fuselage to mean more than it does. It appears to me I did not explain “fly the rotor” well enough.

We were flying up the beach and a Piper was coming up behind us giving bad radio so we headed inland just in time for a flight of four Long EZs also not giving good radio to overfly us.

We worked on airspeed, altitude control and pilotage for an hour Saturday and he flew the entire time except for takeoff and landing.

He did great but we both felt he was not ready to land.

We did most of the preflight Saturday night and Sunday we started at 8:00. Chris had some epiphanies in the wee hours that we had to discuss and when we finally were airborne the wind was swirling in every direction as we climbed out. No two wind socks were pointed in the same direction.

Chris was managing the turbulence so well I demonstrated turns around a point and he did very well easily managing his airspeed plus or minus 7kts and his altitude plus or minus 100 feet.

Time for S turns over the road and his ground track and airspeed were good as he slowly climbed 178feet over about 4 miles.

We headed out to the shoreline turning north and only using the throttle to descend to 500 feet. I had him make a 180 back to the south and he managed it nicely telling me later that it was a breakthrough for him to manage a 180 degree heading change.

We headed back toward SMX and the winds were changing through more than 90 degrees so our base entry for runway two zero was changed to at left downwind for three zero. I took the aircraft controls.

We had a student fly over the top of us that provided a lot of entertainment. He went around the first time and all of his approaches were flawed in some way and one of his touchdowns was filled with smoky drama.

On our first landing the nearest wind sock was straight across the runway and straight out (>15kts) and the next two windsocks were pointed down the runway at slightly different angles. I decided to make two more patterns in the hopes that the winds would settle down because I felt Chris was ready to land. The winds only got worse so we called it a day and worked on the debrief for an hour. We discussed his compass heading challenges at length and I gave him some compass heading tools.

We will be flying again in a couple of weeks and I look forward to it.

I was pleased with the intercom and the rear airspeed and altimeter. Everything seemed to work well and The Predator is very forgiving.

 

[Vance]

A windshield for the back seat

A windshield for the back seat

After a lot of different ideas on how to incorporate a windshield for the back seat I finally settled on one.

At anything over 50kts the wind in the back makes communication difficult. If I duck behind the pilot it works ok but I can’t see where I am going. If the student is in the back seat I can’t understand them.

This is on my list of things to do to make The Predator a better trainer.

I stopped by Rifle Fairing and they sold me a motorcycle windshield that was overstock and I found a way to mount it. It has a nice curve to it and it is plenty strong enough for 120kt wind. Part of the deal is they will trim it and I will need to have them narrow the bottom a little to keep from hitting my knees. I haven’t settled on the height for the windshield yet. I have about four inches of adjustment.

To get in the front seat in The Predator you stand in the back seat and step over the bar that mounts the shoulder harness into the front seat. A windshield mounted on that bar makes getting in the front impractical so I plan on installing it after the front seat pilot is in place using four wing nuts and some little stepped rubber things.

I am hoping that this will make the back seat more pleasant and improve communications.

Smokey and I are also in the process of converting the ridged four inch nose wheel to a five inch nose wheel with suspension. This will allow the pilots under instruction to make a harder landing without damaging the structure. The larger softer tire will also make off field landings more practical. It will still be free castering with differential braking for steering.

I love the progress we have already made with the improved intercom and the instruments for the back seat.

I am finding The Predator very easy to teach in and I have had several people with no gyroplane experience takeoff and land well with less than two hours of dual instruction.

The last big project is the inflight adjustable trim. I think I have all the details worked out. There is still a lot of work involved. I prefer it the way it is where I always have a little back pressure on the cyclic but most of the pilots with fixed wing experience want trim.

I like it that I never have to shove the cyclic forward.

I love giving instruction in The Predator.

I find it exhilarating when I can find what is causing a challenge for the pilot under instruction and develop and exercise to address it.

I find joy in seeing their confidence and skills develop.

 

[Vance]

A change of plans.

A change of plans.

From the beginning I try to get the pilots under instruction I am working with to make aviation decisions because that is a place I have been weak. My natural tendency is to challenge the weather rather than make good flying decisions based on the weather and my experience.

I had been sending Chris updates on the weather for the weekend during the week and Friday I got a call saying he would rather wait for better weather so we are on for next weekend. This is particularly significant because I was planning on teaching him to land and gusty winds can be problematic for learning to land. We had not done landings in the last lesson because of variable gusting winds. I took his decision as a sign of progress and an opportunity to explore what the recent down pour had done to the surrounding countryside. I can see the countryside from our house but that is not the same as flying over it at 500 feet AGL.

As it turned out the weather was perfect for takeoff and landing practice with a steady 4kt wind straight down the runway when I headed off to San Luis Obispo. Lockheed Martin was expecting gusts to 22kts in the afternoon and precipitation.

It was my first solo flight in several weeks and the extra performance felt good. I should have worn another layer because the moisture in the air cut right through the flight suit and felt cold against my skin. The first time I stuck the camera up above the windshield the cold was painful. The bite in the air added to the intensity of the experience.

The shadows of the clouds were moving fast across the ground that suggested considerable wind and when I called San Luis Obispo ATIS winds were 260 degrees at 14kts gusting to 23kts.

I called San Luis Obispo tower (SBP) and asked for a straight in for runway 29 to avoid the mist and the turbulence in the Avila Pass. “Gyroplane 142 Mike Golf, unable at this time due to congestion unless there is a problem with the weather; make left traffic for runway 29 and report exiting the pass.” Gyroplane 142 Mike Golf turning west for the Avila pass report exiting the pass.

I had barely completed my turn when a Piper reported severe turbulence in the Avilla Pass and ATC said “Gyroplane 2 Mike Golf, amend those instructions, make a straight in for runway two nine, report four miles.”

About five miles out; “gyroplane two Mike Golf, turn to heading zero nine zero to intercept the centerline, runway 29 clear to land.” I was making around 37kts of ground speed enjoying the feel of the air and the scent of wet earth as we rocked and rolled over the Edna Valley. I ran her up to 80kts and intercepted the centerline. She asked a Grumman inbound from the south to make all possible speed for spacing. I asked for a long landing for self-serve and it was approved as requested. As soon as I touched down I was told to contact ground when clear. I contacted ground and she had no idea why I called and she sounded lost. I reported my position and intentions and was to take Mike to self-serve.

As I went through my shut down list and filled out my log book two young men stood at a respectful distance with big grins. From their cloths and style I could tell they were not from around San Luis Obispo. After securing the rotor I introduced myself and found that Chris and Fabien were from Switzerland and were learning to fly Helicopters. Chris was going to take his practical next week and Fabien was a week behind.

“How does it fly? We saw the landing and it looked nice.”

I gave them the short version of the difference between a helicopter and a gyroplane and offered to demonstrate. Fabien quickly agreed.

I briefed him, did a quick preflight and we headed off to runway two nine for takeoff. “Gyroplane two Mike Golf, taxiway Mike, Juliette, Echo; hold short of runway two niner at Echo.” Run up went well and I asked for a straight out and we would be maneuvering near the prison. It was approved as requested and we were soon headed straight out. I gave Fabien the cyclic and he held our course nicely. “Gyroplane Two Mike Golf, I have a reginal jet headed straight out request you remain south west of the centerline.” I told Fabien to follow highway one into the Avila Pass and amended my request to ATC. Nice turn but our airspeed had fallen to 40kts. I had not given him a clear instruction and when I told him 50kts he put it there and held it.
I took the aircraft controls and did some steep 360s. ATC asked us to stay below 1,300 feet for inbound traffic. We were just outside their airspace so I pulled the power back as I rolled out of the turn and pulled the cyclic back slowing to zero and began a near vertical descent to a wonderful quiet shish of the rotor. I talked Fabien through the maneuver and we lost less than three hundred feet once I pointed her nose at the ground.

I dropped Fabien off and after a quick debrief I headed for the Spirit of San Luis restaurant where I met an aging airline transport pilot that I am going to take flying out of Santa Maria and had a nice lunch.

Only two of the pictures are from the flight up and I wanted to include the pictures from the return flight. Sorry about the disconnect. I liked all the pictures and could not find the ones to leave out.

 

[Vance]

Homeward bound!

Homeward bound!

Winds were 250 degrees at 17kts gusting to 28kts, just over my limit of a ten knot gust spread. I called Lockheed Martin and it would likely be getting worse.

I watched the windsock for a while and asked for a wind check, still 250 degrees at 17kts gusting to 28kts. I asked and the strongest gust had been almost fifteen minutes ago.

Take off was quick and winds aloft were much stronger than surface winds. With a quartering tail wind I was 85kts of ground speed at 50kts indicated air speed. These were perfect conditions for ridge soaring so I set up to follow the ridgeline all the way to Nipomo and slowed to 40kts of indicated air speed.

As soon as we were within a quarter mile of the ridge I could feel the wind on her belly. I pulled the power back to 1,600 rpm and maintained a slightly erratic 2,400 feet MSL.

The mustard is blooming and it adds a golden sprinkle to the velvety green hills.

The pictures cannot portray the feel of the flight along the ridge. It was a relaxed magical dance with the winds, the temperatures and the scents.

I checked the Santa Mara ATIS and winds were a steady 300 degrees at 14kts.

I called SMX tower from 10 miles to the north over the river bridge and was to make right traffic for runway three zero and report midfield.

“Gyroplane two Mike Golf, I have a Grumman in closed traffic on runway two, would you follow the 101 to a right base entry for 30 for spacing?”

Gyroplane Two Mike Golf, following the 101 to a base entry for runway three zero.

I was taking a picture of our flooded Santa Maria Speedway and turned south along the 101 through town maintaining 1,300 feet. If you have ever wondered how big the city of Santa Maria is this is the whole thing. It is about three miles long.

I asked for a wind check and it was now 270 degrees at 17kts.

Both the tower and the lady in the Grumman thanked me for the accommodation as I exited the runway.

I would not have used runway two in those conditions and her radio did not sound like a student pilot.

We have scattered showers today.

 

[Vance]

More fun flying with Chris!

More fun flying with Chris!

Wednesday the National Weather service thought it was going to get windy on Saturday around 11:00 so I told Chris that we needed to get an early start and I would take care of the preflight.

Chris is coming a long way so I wanted to let him know. The wind is what kept him from landing three weeks ago.

The weather has been great all week and then Friday it was foggy all day.

Chris called me Friday night and decided to come ahead anyway in the hopes we could catch some blue sky before the wind came up.

Saturday morning came around and it was overcast but seemed to be clearing over the mountains as I drove along the 101 toward the airport.

Chris was there early and was ready to go at 8:45.

I showed him the beacon going around and we talked about the local weather looking at the different things I look for that give me hope of clearing soon and talked about special VFR and weather minimums.

We spent a long time on the preflight carefully explaining everything part and I was impressed with how much he had retained from his last lesson three weeks ago. He was starting to put the pieces together.

I kept checking the weather and looking at the satellite pictures of the marine layer. Santa Barbara (SBA) Santa Inez (IZA) and San Luis Obispo (SBP) were all 500 overcast. Lompoc was 1,200 overcast but the fog was right down on the top of the hills over Harris Grade (mountain obscuration). The satellite picture showed a solid layer just off shore that could move in in a matter of minutes so we were afraid to go anywhere.

I showed Chris the windshield and he preferred to fly without it.

The winds at Santa Maria (SMX) were variable at three knots and the ceiling was 1,200 feet so even though I have not laid a good foundation with Chris we decided to do pattern work at KSMX.

I find it hard to find the compromise between pushing the weather and being frustrated by it.

It is hard work for an inexperienced pilot to manage so much. Fly most of the runway at thirty feet AGL and then climb out upwind, turn crosswind while still climbing, turn down wind just about the time we reached the top of the climb, level off just a little before it is time to pull the power back for the descent, turn base and final in the descent and then fly most of the runway at 30 feet agl beginning the process all over again.

It is good ground reference practice, good outside the aircraft altitude control, good air speed control and an all-around great exercise with a lot too much going on. I prefer to separate the tasks so there is time to relax and enjoy success with each task.

We spent several laps relearning the lessons from three weeks ago and each lap Chris would get a little better at each one of those exercises usually flying to practical test standards. We spent some time separating the throttle from the cyclic. Chris was picking up speed when he would reduce the throttle.

I thought he was doing great after about seven patterns and Chris did particularly well with some unclear instructions from the tower compounded by some unclear instructions from me.

I asked him if he was ready to land and he was not.

More pattern work, more improvement and the next time I asked Chris if he was ready he replied that he was getting very cold. I suggested we stop and regroup because we had been up for an hour. On what was going to be our last lap I asked him once more if he was ready to try a landing and if I recall his answer was “what the hell; why not.”

I was confident in his abilities and he was not. I demonstrated a landing and found some gusting cross winds and suggested he land long. I gave the controls back to Chris on climb out.

There were 20kt winds at 500 feet AGL and winds on the surface were variable at three knots. This made for some unsteady descents.

I could feel Chris’s uncertainty in his approach and round out. Chris was just finishing up his round out and beginning his flair when a gust lifted us up around eight feet. He held her steady and just let her settle back down and his first landing was nice as could be. He did much better than I would have done after 100 hours under the same circumstances. He was not happy with the landing because he doesn’t yet understand how good it was. I was proud of him.

I asked if he wanted to try a takeoff and he was done so we taxied back to the hangar with 1.2 hours and a landing in his log book for a total of three point two hours of dual.

If things work out he will be coming back next weekend and I expect we will get some takeoffs in his log book.

After we were finished with our debrief we spent another two hours discussing the more esoteric aspects of engine vibration even though he needed to get home for an early adventure on Sunday. Chris is generous with his time and expertise.

What a great way to have a day of fun flying The Predator.

 

[aerialvisitor]

Vance:
When you're flying into a new airport, because you're a rotary win aircraft, do they ever try to get you to fly a helicopter pattern and altitude?

Dave

 

[Vance]

Vance:
When you're flying into a new airport, because you're a rotary win aircraft, do they ever try to get you to fly a helicopter pattern and altitude?

Dave

By “they” I assume to referring to air traffic control Dave.

Part of my flight planning for a towered airport is to find out what the rotor craft pattern and altitude is. This information is not always readily available. I have talked to controllers that didn’t know they had a rotorcraft pattern or altitude.

I call the tower as part of the planning and ask what they would like to see a gyroplane do to fit in with their traffic flow and if they would like me to fly the rotorcraft pattern.

I once had a controller ask me to hover at 600 feet over a densely populated housing development. That is something they should not ask a helicopter to do either. I told her I was unable but would loiter in the area till the traffic cleared.

I usually have to negotiate flying the rotorcraft pattern with the control tower.

 

[Vance]

My Bensen Days adventure.

My Bensen Days adventure.

This is not exactly flying the Predator but it is part of my gyroplane adventure and it was fun; so here it is.

I was not able to secure a place at the Riverside Air Show flying The Predator so I decided to go to Bensen days.

A student canceled his lesson on Sunday so I left the Santa Maria Public Airport where I rented the car Saturday at 7:00 PM with the intention of reaching Wauchula Monday afternoon.

It was 39 hours of driving and I spent 47 hours on the road including fuel, food and rest stops for the 2,756 mile drive.

The rental Prius averaged 46 miles to the gallon and I was pleased to find lots of under two dollars a gallon gas for a total fuel cost of under $129 and the Prius rental was $298 for two weeks.

I did not visit any friends or stop by any attractions on the way out.

I loved visiting with so many friends at Bensen days and found each hour of time at Bensen days filed with precious experiences.

I did not get to fly the Xenon because of schedule challenges.

I did get to fly the Titanium Explorer and the proof of concept America Ranger and enjoyed them both a lot. I will need to be familiar with the flight characteristics in order to transition students into these aircraft. Thank you Greg and Chris for helping me to experience the joy of your aircraft.

A mission developed on its own at Bensen Days. I asked gyroplane pilots about the challenges they found on their first solo and early flying errors. I wanted to be sure to provide the pilots under my instruction with enough information to make a successful transition from The Predator to their own aircraft. The first solo is something people will remember for the rest of their lives. I would like for it to be a safe, enjoyable experience.

I learned a lot about all kinds of things and loved everything about the experience.

At the banquet Jake presented me with an oximeter because he remembered that I was predisposed to hypoxia because of my TBI. I had written about experiencing hypoxia after a three hour flight at a density altitude of 8,500 feet. It is a very thoughtful gift Jake, thank you. I intend to use it to keep better track of my oxygen levels and it is fun because it give me my pulse. I use that to quantify how frightened I am. If my pulse is over 125 because of some frightening experience I won’t do anything difficult like race motorcycles or fly until it has dropped below 100. My typical range for SPO2 is 94 to 96% at sea level.

 

[Vance]

My Sun N Fun Adventure!

My Sun N Fun Adventure!

I went to Sun N Fun after Bensen Days primarily to learn about the new Airmen Certification Standards and how they affect the Practical Test standards and see what is going on in aviation. There were several seminars on the ACS and I wanted to spend some time with flight instructors.

As I drove by my usual twenty seven dollar a night motel I decided to upgrade to a forty dollars a night motel on the same street but closer to the event. It was cleaner and much nicer with doors I could lock. I was not able to understand the manager and worked through his wife to arrange accommodations. I did share the room with a large greenish gray lizard and he seemed to be managing other predators well. I was provided with clean towels most days. There was less gunfire but the train was closer. There were no women stopping by with “Pizza” I didn’t order. I think I will stay there next time I go to Sun N Fun.

The first day (Tuesday) I was having breakfast and Ed Darcy and a CFI friend of his joined me and we had some wonderful restaurant flying. It was probably the most valuable part of Tuesday even though some of the seminars were very interesting.

The Starter on The Predator is starting to fail in the same way that the previous two did. I purchased the starter in 2008 and Sky Tec continues to replace it under warrantee even though I do not ask them to. I stopped by their booth and they had a box with my name on it. They are great people to deal with.

I stopped by the NAFI (Nation Association of Flight Instructors) booth and learned a lot and met some interesting people.

The main seminars I was interested in were on Wednesday and I found one particularly helpful. The thrust of it was they are trying to make the regulations work better and be more relevant to flight safety and the impact of ACS on the Practical Test Standards is small. It will have more effect on the knowledge tests and the impact to Rotorcraft, Gyroplanes is probably at least four years out.

I had made arrangements to meet Padraic O'Reilly (AKA helipads) and have dinner with him Wednesday and we had exchanged vague emails about it. It is a big event and My Verizon account won’t let me call Padraic’s Irish cell phone so he had to call me and I couldn’t call him back.
We were successful on the meeting and arranged to meet him and his friend (both rotorcraft CFIs) at a restaurant in Plant City.

After the show closed I discovered Miss Garmin had never heard of the restaurant in Plant City where Padraic wanted to meet. Fortunately Padraic called wondering why I wasn’t there and gave me the address. Miss Garmin couldn’t find the street address because she spelled Martin Luther King Boulevard with a D. I really enjoyed the time with Padraic and his friend. Dinner stretched to almost three hours.

It began raining on my way back to the motel Wednesday after dinner and was pouring Thursday morning. I felt the two mile walk to the event through the muddy parking lot might be unpleasant. I checked Weathermeister and they expect the rain to continue till 1:00 and the last seminar I wanted to attend was at 1:00 so as I was eating breakfast I decided to head for home. I had already accomplished my primary mission at Sun N fun and it would make getting the car back Saturday by 6:00 a nicer more relaxed drive than leaving at 4:00PM like I had originally planned.

I missed traffic in most of the big cities and stopped to rest in Brookshire, Texas. This threw my timing off and I hit big traffic in San Antonio at 4:30 Friday. It was stop and go through most of the city and half way to Las Cruses.

I hit a dramatic thunderstorm rolling out of Las Cruses and was slowed considerably. I watched the dust kicked up by a mature thunderstorm collapse and was reminded of what the NTSB represented had shared in the seminar about adverse winds as related to a fatal Cessna accident that was driven all the way to the ground on a picture taking mission. I find this sort of teachable moment reinforces the information I receive in the seminars. The presenter shared that it was his observation that most of the fatal wind accidents involving down drafts were people from the east with limited flying experience flying in the west where most of the fatal wind accidents happen.

I had a nice rest at the airport in Buckeye, Arizona and visited briefly with my friend Terry Brandt in the morning. He is always a fountain of information and new most of the people I had met that were working on the ACS. We seem to play a little game; I describe the person and his roll and Terry will guess his or her name correctly. His constant quest for knowledge is a wonderful example for how I should be as a CFI. It is so easy to fall behind the information express.

It can be hard to get away from the noise of a truck stop so the solitude of BXK was a pleasant change to my usual breaks. I fired up the computer in the pilot’s lounge to check my messages. I have spent a lot of time lately answering the question; “what does it take to get _____ rating with _____ experience and _____ certificates?” for prospective flight training students. I like to be responsive so I check my email often.

I reached the edge of the Los Angles megalopolis a little before 11:00 and was making good time when the rain started near Upland. I personally witnessed three crashes and was held up by many more. It poured most of the way to Ventura.



I rolled up to the hangar a little after 2:00 PM.

It was nice to be back in Ed’s arms Saturday night.

It was two weeks of a lovely aviation adventure.

I suspect the two day drive would require six in The Predator because of the rain.

I don’t like to fly in the rain in The Predator and I don’t like to fly at night.

I like to have lots of rest when flying cross country so I can make good aviation decisions.

 

[Vance]

Front suspension & bigger nose wheel for The Predator.

Front suspension & bigger nose wheel for The Predator.

We finished up the new nose gear for The Predator today and I am procrastinating about starting the installation so I thought I would share some pictures.

Installation involves putting my body in some awkward positions, reaching through a hole that is just a little small for my arm and playing with some bolts that are hard to reach. There is also a lot of kneeling, lying down and standing back up.

The tubes are a lot shorter so any misalignment will be harder to manage.

I also have to figure where a hole goes that goes right through a tube and that should be a challenge because I can’t reach it with a drill. I will have to carefully mark it on both sides and hope my drill doesn’t wander. I can’t see the back side.

Mark Givans made the old setup out of a gyroplane rotor head and it works well but the tire is so small that it needs to be at 40 pounds to keep from having the chord damage the tube. This exacerbated the lack of suspension and requires a landing somewhat smoother than most students can manage. It is has worn and shimmies if I don’t have enough dielectric grease smeared on the surface of the round plate.

The new one is made from some big chunks of aluminum we spent some time on a mill and with a whole saw making it into shavings.

We just guessed at the reduced trail for the bigger softer tire and are managing the shimmy with dieletric grease on a big plastic washer.

I hope to find out if it works Friday afternoon and fly my maintenance flight on Saturday so I still have time to go back to the old setup before my new student on Sunday.

I will paint the new nose gear once I know it works.

Winds are 290 degrees at 21kts gusting to 30kts so the hangar is banging and growling to keep me company.

Enough procrastination, time to get started!

 

[Vance]

Progress!

Progress!

The original front gear is removed and the new nose gear is mocked up.

I am pleased with how well it fits.

I love the progress and it appears we have close to the correct spring rate.

It is getting dark so I am going to call it a night and hopefully finish up tomorrow.

Locating the hole is going to be a challenge because it goes sideways through the white vertical tube.

Starting the two 5/16 bolts on the back legs is going to be a frustrating, tedious process. I can’t get a proper hold on them and they use a split washer. They are at an odd angle making it hard to start them properly.

When I drop the bolts or the washers I have to remove the front tire and tilt the whole aircraft forward to get them out from under the floor. The tire has to be back in place to start the bolts with two fingers.

I love working on The Predator but my old body does not.