biggles Posted February 22, 2015 Posted February 22, 2015 Excellent photos, Samuel, well done.Frank. Yeah Frank , but did you see the lean on some of those towers behind the boats Bob 1
robinsm Posted February 22, 2015 Posted February 22, 2015 Driftering around, first flight of 2015 Heres another one of your baby for you Sunny. Taken at the oaks a couple of years ago 2
farri Posted February 22, 2015 Posted February 22, 2015 Yeah Frank , but did you see the lean on some of those towers behind the boats :wink:Bob Now that you mention it!!! Isn`t photography great. Frank. 1
Samuel117 Posted March 2, 2015 Posted March 2, 2015 Hi Maj, It is sad how the history ended up for a beautiful airplane. Three questions: 1- Was the modification to the passenger Cockpit a factory made mod? 2-Any one has the drawings for it? 3- how this mod affected the flight characteristics of the airplane? Thank you,
Guest Maj Millard Posted March 2, 2015 Posted March 2, 2015 Hi Maj, It is sad how the history ended up for a beautiful airplane. Three questions: 1- Was the modification to the passenger Cockpit a factory made mod? 2-Any one has the drawings for it? 3- how this mod affected the flight characteristics of the airplane? Thank you, Hi Samuel, that mod was made by the gentleman who purchased the aircraft from me. Not sure if I was a one-off or if he made a mold...I will enquire for you. The workmanship on it was first class and very professional. I flew the aircraft with this mod installed and don't recall any adverse characteristics with it, and maybe it illuminated most of the turbulance on the tail that this model was prone to at times. Certainly made the rear cockpit cosier also.
farri Posted March 3, 2015 Posted March 3, 2015 Certainly made the rear cockpit cosier also. G`Day Ross, I recall having a very quick fly of 'Miss Adventure' way back when you owned it. You and the Drifter from Ingham ( Can`t recall the guys name) landed here for a break, though the flight was brief, I thought it handled well. I would have liked to fly it with the mod to see what effect, if any, it had on the airflow to the prop and the handling characteristics. Frank.
Guest Maj Millard Posted March 3, 2015 Posted March 3, 2015 G`Day Ross, I recall having a very quick fly of 'Miss Adventure' way back when you owned it. You and the Drifter from Ingham ( Can`t recall the guys name) landed here for a break, though the flight was brief, I thought it handled well. I would have liked to fly it with the mod to see what effect, if any, it had on the airflow to the prop and the handling characteristics.Frank. Yes I believe you did fly it Frank...and I flew yours as I recall......the other guy would have been Paul Borger..he now flys a Slepcev Storch still out of Ingham....Like loosing an old faithful friend I tell you, even though I sold her about six years ago. Driving home from work in Ingham today....memories of all the nice flights around this area I did in her over the years. And to add salt to the injury I lost a good friend in her also. Aviation can be a bitch some days as you know.
Guest Maj Millard Posted March 3, 2015 Posted March 3, 2015 One of my fav Drifter photos.....no that's not a beer can but the camera !.............
Samuel117 Posted March 3, 2015 Posted March 3, 2015 That is a great picture! When I mount on my drifter, the back of the seat flex back considerably. I would have to fix the seat to the tubing before I attempt to make a modification like that. The one who rides on the back of our airplanes definitely gets a beating from the wind and the noise. I will try this mod to see if that helps making it a more enjoyable experience. If I could replicate at least half of the nice sensation you get when you fly from the front seat, I will be satisfied. Thank you.
Head in the clouds Posted March 3, 2015 Posted March 3, 2015 If I could replicate at least half of the nice sensation you get when you fly from the front seat, I will be satisfied. Thank you. In the 1980s two of us went for a five month tour in my Drifter so I wanted to make it more comfortable in the back seat. The first two pics below show what I did. I just shaped up some 4"/100mm polyurethane foam and fibreglassed over it then ground out the foam, smoothed the outside of the GRP shell and painted it, very simple, light - and made in a weekend. Having the pedals and lower body sheltered like that completely transformed flying in the back as it stopped all the buffeting and was so much warmer than before. There was no noticeable change to the aircraft handling. After I returned from the trip I made a fully enclosed pod for the Drifter as an experiment. The next two pics show it. It worked quite well but I never went any further with it as it completely destroyed the whole 'open-air' aspect which makes the Drifter so special. It did change the handling considerably. It was unpleasant if you flew even slightly unco-ordinated and it made the rudder exceptionally sensitive. The positive aspect was that it improved the cruise speed by about 5kts which was a big bonus and it increased the glide ratio noticeably. It was ugly though! 3
farri Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 I wanted to make it more comfortable in the back seat. Hi Alan, I wanted to make it a bit more comfortable in the front seat. Way back when, I increased the height of the windscreen by adding a piece of Lexan to the top of it in an attempt to reduce the wind in the face, I found it created buffeting to the prop and tail, it took me three goes to improve it, each time making the addition smaller, finally got it and I still have it on today. Frank. 1
Russ Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Anyone chasing a drifter pod, acquaintance has the mould and will supply orders.
Samuel117 Posted March 4, 2015 Posted March 4, 2015 Well, I can see you did not have your head in the clouds when you did that mod. It is simple but effective. I would not enclose the whole airplane but I like your solution to the problem. If it gets out the buffeting that will be enough for me. I think you should write about your 5 months adventure flying the Drifter. That will make a nice book .
driftamark Posted March 27, 2015 Posted March 27, 2015 Hi all, a trip I did Guildford Vic to Maryborough Qld the rear controls removed the stick shortened and the windscreen to take the pressure of my neck and back , seat moved back as far as it would go for my long legs, jerry cans and push bike to ride into town for fuel and camping gear , what a buss, the shield had no adverse effect and added 5 knots to cruise at 60, hand held radio was held in a container attached to an ali frame at my elbow , 14.7 hrs ever 4 days up 15.2 over 3 days home,, had a ball.. Mark 5
driftamark Posted March 27, 2015 Posted March 27, 2015 Hi this is the other side so I was able to climb in. Mark 5
shafs64 Posted May 8, 2015 Posted May 8, 2015 [ATTACH=full]34780[/ATTACH]Hi this is the other side so I was able to climb in. Mark what about the weight looks like a lot of gear and a push bike,
driftamark Posted May 8, 2015 Posted May 8, 2015 Hi weighed everything and kept under 400.kgs mtow the bike was only 12kgs the rest was light hiking stuff I also took enough 2st oil for 1 way kept it to 2 hr legs at 20ltr / hr and kept to airstrips that were not to far away from the towns so 2 jerry cans/ leg and some exercise worked well for me started out with 54 hrs flying and added 30 and learnt a lot and had a great time. Mark
shafs64 Posted May 9, 2015 Posted May 9, 2015 Did you strap the jerry cans to the bike and ride into the towns
driftamark Posted May 9, 2015 Posted May 9, 2015 I made a carrier out of ali and timber that the handle fitted over and a pin to stop them falling of
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