Road Trip - A Kind of Flying Adventure - Look What Followed Me Home...

Looks like the BL 1750 prop is it?

wolfy
It's a BL-1770x1450 cut down to 1730 mm.
So it's the same size as the standard prop - I didn't dare get it closer to the keel.
But with larger area - I guess that's alright since it's on a 914 engine.
Sometime when it's convenient, I have to have it noise tested.

Cheers
Erik
 
Guys - thank you so much for all the good wishes.

I am rushing training insofar as it will be condensed (hopefully).

I'll live in the hangar for two full days each time I visit my instructor.

That should be good for at least two hours of flight training each day.

Then I'll have plenty of time to prepare flights. Where and how etc.

When I have the paper in hand, my instructor will take time out of his calendar.

And I'll travel far (for Denmark, that is) each time.

Cheers
Erik
 
It's a BL-1770x1450 cut down to 1730 mm.
So it's the same size as the standard prop - I didn't dare get it closer to the keel.
But with larger area - I guess that's alright since it's on a 914 engine.
Sometime when it's convenient, I have to have it noise tested.

Cheers
Erik
I am using a BL 1770 x 1450, it is a very quiet prop.

wolfy
 
I am using a BL 1770 x 1450, it is a very quiet prop.

wolfy
It looks like it is cut down slightly - BL 1750x1450?

These props look great - and they are even very cheap...

Cheers
Erik
 
Well, my instructor had to ferry it home alone.
We couldn't get the intercom to work - both could call out, but not talk to each other.
And the pneumatics acted up - probably water in the valves.... ouch.
So it would've been dangerous to let me have the front seat.
But the strangest thing is: The rudder is flapping about, although the wires seem taut enough...?
I'll make a trim tab to see, if it helps.

In the one flight I had in the backseat I did not like the vibrations - not like the swedish MTO I tried earlier.
Work to do.... Starting with fixing the rudder problerm, then vibration testing of first the propeller, then the teeter towers and the rotor.

But the propeller is set at (or very close to) the correct pitch and the rotor fits the MTO very well.
The recommended RPM is from 320 to 390 with 420 as max.
With my instructor (lightweight guy) and smallish amount in the tanks it runs at 320 (edit: No less than 300).
With both of us and the same amount of gasoline it runs at 350.
So with both of us and full tanks it shouldn't be more than 370, I'd guess.
With room still for cranking and banking.

It spins up very nicely and the take-off run is short.

So, the rotor seems to work as advertised and we have some work ahead also.

Cheers
Erik
 
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Update.

The flight/brake valve was loose and a screw was missing, so it didn't really work.

There was an air leak and previous owner had also got the air lines mixed up.

The rudder wires were made more taut and now work well.

I have flown 3 x 3 days more or less and have racked up 30 hours total. But it has not been without challenges.
I got the second covid shot the day before we flew first time. And it just destroyed that week-end. Sick as...
But we flew twice the first day, second day was rain and I got my radio operator certificate. Third day sick but flew.

Second outing two weeks later we still flew mornings and afternoon/evenings. So hard to keep that pace. And the prerotator
axle broke, so I had to cross the country twice to have it repaired - took two days.

Third time one week later we flew the first morning and I thought: Shaking body, heartbeats, not being able to sleep -> STRESS.

So I called and backed out of the evening flight. Instead the last two days we flew just one big chunk (4 hours instruction) each day.
That was so much better. That week-end was start and landing in crosswinds.

When we debriefed he told me, I now fly the gyro by myself (sort of, I thought). He is NOT doing anything - maybe once saying "speed".

But I still have a lot of challenges. Focusing, keeping height, speed, flag (nose) and direction constant.
And the correct descent rate. I have a tendency to pull the stick a bit to the right (drifting) when pulling back to settle in.

So, in the three outings I have come a long way - with still a long way to go.

Cheers
Erik
 
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I have now discontinued the insurance for the winter early; the cost is killing me.
But I have to fix my house - that has to take priority for now.

Meanwhile (from now until around april 1st) my gyro is in a nice, dry hangar with a "friend".

But last tuesday was great! I arrived past midnight, as is usual. When I awoke, I drove for 3 hours
to borrow a sound tester. You see, I had to have the gyro tested now because of the propeller.

But it went very well indeed - this propeller is very silent. Now OY-1039 is complete.
Afterwards, we thought it would be a crime not to fly in the beautiful weather.
So we took to our favourite field for a total of two tachohours. And I was much more
relaxed and in control than I had been before. Just six start/landings, including my
instructor's own, small difficult field.

(edit: Next day)
Not being able to fly because of low cloudbase, we used my PB3 tester to balance the propeller - it's now as perfect as humanly possible.
Come spring we'll balance the rotor - that should be interesting.

Just before we parted, he told me: "Ten more hours with me in the back seat and then you'll fly alone in good weather.
We can both fly our own gyros and go somewhere. And you can get your license before summer."

I can hardly wait until spring... Great to be that far and a bit fearsome also... no one to save me, if I do something wrong...
And I hope to find a better insurance quote.

On my way home through Sweden I visited "Skånes Gyrocopter Klub" at ESMI to talk to Roman Tadic, but he had just left.
When I get my license, I'll fly my gyro home to Bornholm and visit some airfields on my way - talking to people I've met.


Cheers
Erik
 
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Update. This year I have now traveled to my instructor 3 times.
At first we discovered I had not forgotten anything from last year.
My gyro had been standing still for half a year and the propeller turned
just twice in all that time. Cheap battery not charged during winter.
And the engine jumped to life as soon as I turned the key. Love that 914 engine.
Second time we had to fly to small, strange fields - and I loved it. I got a much
better sense of IP vs. descent angle. So it felt like a quantum leap to me.
This time we had s turns, landing at idle and simulated emergency landings.
Most went bad, so there is room for improvement. But I am now better at
finding my way around. I have not been able to use the trim and the problem
is the shaft seal on the air cylinder. I have ordered a kit and I hope it will arrive soon.
I will be so much easier to fly in trim.
My instructor gave me the "Solo Checklist" so I
can prepare.

Exciting and a little scary......

Cheers
Erik
 
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Update. Yesterday, 8/8, I flew solo. :D

To be able to afford to travel and fly, I had to take up working again this spring.
Unfortunately, my groups of days off have not coincided with great weather.
So the four days I had last time gave me just 2½ training hours - and the upper prerotator axle broke.
(in a field inside of fields with no access - that's a story in itself)

In my small shop, after fixing the broken weld connecting the axle tube to the Bendix axle with the worn stub,
the axle stub supporting the Bendix gear had been free to move inside the inner ring of the bearing, so it had become quite worn.
I turned the stub down a bit, bushed it using Loctite 648 and put on new bearings top and bottom
(you have to know MT-03 and MTO Sport for this to make any sense).

I arrived in the hangar saturday evening and fixed the prerotator right away. Next day the weather
wasn't great with showers, so we flew a bit locally between showers. Start and landing - went very well.

Then yesterday, we flew to our old favorite spot near the sea. On the way, I had to make a figure eight and a simulated engine stop.
Arriving at the field, I had to make very short finals as it is very close to a restricted area.
That one is usually not active - except yesterday.
Did a few practice landings - then the solo check was finished. My instructor then asked me, if I felt ready for solo.
Using Skydemon we made a recognizable triangular track of 23 minutes plus.

Interesting, as soon as I pushed the button to prerotate, it was "business as usual".
I had no fear at all and everything went so well, that it was close to boring. One of my
best starts with a very short run. On the way out I had noticed the air was quite bumpy,
as the sun was out and there were lots of clouds. And taking off over a small piece of forest
made it worse. But not a problem. I started out the wrong way around the track and flew back to meet
the track again. Not that it mattered. So the solo ended up lasting 30-35 min. instead of 23-ish.

Do others have the feeling of having a "built-in flight instructor" in the back of your head? (I suppose everyone has)

After a near perfect landing my instructor asked me, if I wanted one more solo, but I refused. It all went so well,
that I was fully satisfied and needed no more.

Now I need 4½ hours of solo and one or two nav flights and I need to practice one thing I can't remember.
Then I/we will fly across the country to have the flight test.

So my work schedule have been very destructive to my flight training, but I'm getting there.

Cheers
Erik
 

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Had my skill test yesterday - passed well. I was very lucky, as it costs time away and money to travel.
But it was probably the only time it could be done, before the really bad weather and the cold would set in.

The weather was not the best, so we had to take the long route, 2 1/4 hours, to the place of the test.
(it needed to be close to the guy certifying me). My CFI in his Calidus with heating, me in my open MTO.

3/4 hours to do the test with two faked engine-outs.
The second engine out was downwind of the landing site - made a perfect landing, hehe.

And then flying back more directly over water, in headwind - 2 hours, some of it in 6000 feet.
My fingers got cold in my open cockpit. After all, it's fall.

All in all, 5 hours on the hobbs, stick in hand. And with trim not working (trim cylinder seal leaking).

After arriving "home": Paperwork and payment. A small beer to celebrate.
And then 4 hours straight to reach the night time ferry.

Do you have any idea how tired I was? But it was worth it!!

The CFI in charge of certifying me was Mikkel; he's the one who flew around Iceland twice (videos on Youknowwhere).
First in an MTO and then in a Cavalon (he is the Danish Auto-Gyro dealer). So I feel a bit honoured.

Cheers
Erik
 

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Congratulations Erik!

I admire your perseverance in overcoming difficult challenges.

Now the learning accelerates.
 
Congratulations Erik!

I admire your perseverance in overcoming difficult challenges.

Now the learning accelerates.
Thank you, Vance (edit: And Dave, sorry I forgot you).

It has been very hard and very costly. Just like it is for some americans, I guess.

For every training session I have had to take ferries, bridges and a lot of driving,
living in a hangar. Simply because I've chosen to live way out in the Baltic Sea.

Two things come to mind:

1. I had the chance to get a fixed wing UL license a few years earlier - it would've been much cheaper overall.
2. Why didn't I do it earlier?? Somehow lazy, I guess... Not having a gyro, not knowing how to and then we had a lack of instructors.

The further learning will have to wait until spring. I have exhausted my funds and need to use my time fixing our house.
But boy, how much fun it'll be. Visiting acquaintances I have made when I fly off my 25 hours to get a passenger permit before flying home.

Cheers
Erik
On edit: I didn't get a fixed wing license because I was afraid to get a bad habit - stick forward instantly when engine quitting.
And suddenly I had my gyro, so it didn't make much sense. Plus I thought I could get my license much faster.
 
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