Hi from SE Qld

[Head in the clouds]

G'day folks. I've been a member here for a while but flat out building my project and running my build log on HBA so I haven't had time to join the conversations here yet. It's time to put that to rights.

 

I live on the Gold Coast and am a GCSFC member and RAAus and all that.

 

I started flying in hanggliders in the 1970s then did some soaring in early 80s, went on to build and fly quite a number of ultralights, bought the first certified Drifter (sister to the Pink Panther) and instructed until 1989.

 

Went Commercial in helicopters for the next 13yrs in the Kimberley and NT then came back to Qld. Had a C172 until three years ago and now building a folding wing two seat s-b-s pusher retractable dragger called AussieMozzie or OzMoz for short. Should be done around Easter 2013, I'll post a few pics on another thread here. Here's a link to the build log if anyone wants to have a look - http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/hangar-flying/13346-aussiemozzie-11.html#post143042

 

Looking forward to chatting with you all, Cheers, Alan

 

 

[dazza 38]

Good to here from you Alan.

 

Im not a hundred percent sure, but I am pretty sure you were my instructor on Drifters at Kooralbyn in 1988 at Peter Reeds school.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Hi Dazza, that sounds likely, the timing's right. Don't hold it against me, you're one of the ones that survived... (cant make smilies work on tablet, so imagine a chuckle). I've been out of rec flying so long it looks like I have a lot to learn about the state of affairs at RAAus. Good to catch up with a GCer, I'll PM you when I work this site out, cheers, Al

 

 

[dazza 38]

You are the one that got me into flying ultralights. I started in a tomahawk at Cooly, only did a few hours. ( I went GA later hmm 10 years later for a little while).Then back to ultralights.

 

 

[JimG]

Cheers Alan , I've been following your build on HBA , good work.

 

JimG

 

(current Drifter instructor......luv it.!)

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Cheers Alan , I've been following your build on HBA , good work.JimG

 

(current Drifter instructor......luv it.!)

Hi Jim, Thanks for your kind words. And I must get around to finishing the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie list there! How's the free air cowl for the 503 coming on? And the Tyro? Cheers, Al

 

 

[JimG]

Hi Alan, good memory, I wish I had one of those.

 

Thanks to the members here and at HBA I received many photos of different set ups for the free air conversion, so I have a broad selection of ideas to consider. One idea was to scale up the genuine rotax ducts from their parts catalog. I found them quite by accident while browsing though the catalog and my immediate thought was hey I'll just buy them but with a price of just under 800 bucks each plus freight , I think not.

 

The Tyro is a constant source of distraction when i should be working on other things, I suppose it has something to do with my addiction to open cockpit flying. The fuse,pod,main wing and U/C are all but finished and I'm currently working on the 'all flying' tail. The Tyro has a reputation of being super pitch sensitive (so I've been told) so I'm going to mass balance the elevator and set up a anti-servo tab similar to Evan's Volksplane. I read with interest a couple of days ago what you had written about control surfaces and flutter, good stuff.

 

cheers

 

JimG

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Cheers Alan , I've been following your build on HBA , good work.JimG

 

(current Drifter instructor......luv it.!)

Same here Alan. Welcome home.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Thanks Doug, but look what I've come home to, RAAus doesn't look too healthy... hope it all gets fixed before I'm ready to test-fly the Moz. Erm, well before that actually, for all the poor folks who're grounded now. What a mess. I'm due for a BFR does it mean my licence/certificate can't be renewed either? I'm still catching up on all the news about this.

 

 

[dazza 38]

I have just got back from checking out Alan's AussieMozzie. Excellent workmanship and great innovations looking real good.

 

PS- It was great to catch up after nearly 25 years.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Yes, lots of fun catching up with a friend and former student 25 years on. Looking forward to going flying together again. Cheers, Al

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Is that a scratch built aircraft, or are you buiding it from plans? It looks very interesting, retractable too?

 

Cheers, HH.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Hi HH, it's an own design, yes retractable, mainly just to get the net drag line up a bit in cruise, since I have a high thrustline to manage as well. The ethos is the shortage of hangarage and constant threat of airfield closures so it folds into dimensions to fit into a shipping container as a portable hangar. Although I've built a container-sized trailer to make it even easier to shift around than a container would be. Cheers, Al

 

 

[Guernsey]

Hi JimG, you are correct when you say that the Tyro is very pitch sensitive so I extended mine and put a 'goose neck' in it to position it closer to me.

 

Looks a bit odd but worked very well.

 

Alan.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Hi JimG, you are correct when you say that the Tyro is very pitch sensitive so I extended mine and put a 'goose neck' in it to position it closer to me.Looks a bit odd but worked very well.

Alan.[ATTACH=full]19890[/ATTACH]

Good solution Alan. Helicopter cyclics (joystick equivalent) are very sensitive too and most folks adjust their seating so that they can rest their right wrist on their leg to provide extra stability. I got really used to that and now I far prefer aircraft with sensitive controls so I'm going for an all-flying elevator on OzMoz to be sure of it. So Jim, don't be worried about the sensitivity, as long as you're expecting it it won't worry you.

 

Nice looking Tyro in the photo Alan!

 

Cheers, Al

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Looks really interesting!

 

 

[Guernsey]

Thanks Guys.

 

Alan.

 

 

[newairly]

Surprising how things come from the past. The Tyro shown in the picture is 19-1219 which I bought nearly 5 years ago, but have not flown for 3 years. It is quite sensitive in pitch, but not difficult to get used to. Having the stick nice and close certainly makes it easier. A bit like some gliders I once flew where you could just rest your arm on your thigh and just use your fingers only most of the time. The thing I found difficult with my Tyro is the lack of much pitch stability making it difficult to trim for a constant attitude. This probably comes from the stabilator which has no anti servo tab. It is hinged at the centre of pressure so seems to be happy to stay wherever it is put.

 

Phil

 

 

[JimG]

Thanks Guys for the input about the Tyro pitch situation. I think that during the build stage it is much simpler to introduce systems than once its builds. So with this in mind here are my plans to tackle this.

 

1. is to ensure the that the C of G of the aircraft is always in the front half of the manufactures ranges in all load conditions. Nose heavy = pitch stability at the expense of elevator authority , but I'll keep it sensible.

 

2. Mass balance the elevator.

 

3. Install a anti-servo tab similar to the Evans Volksplane and have the push rod mount at the fuse end on an adjustable level controlled from the cockpit for trim adjustment.

 

4. Longer, better positioned control stick as mentioned above.

 

Anyone see anything suspect or have any notes of caution would be welcomed as I'm very much a novice aircraft builder.

 

Cheers

 

JimG