Matt Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 Woke up today with a few things to do...pretty much what we were supposed to do last weekend... Firstly I had to take someone for a joyflight that I'd offered up as a prize in the Christmas Party Raffle. One of the girls at work won it but her hubby is a mad keen aeroplane buff so she offered the flight to him. We were supposed to go last Saturday morning but as with most of the east coast, Canberra was clouded in with solid rain. So we'd try again Sunday morning. More of the same. How about next Saturday I say and we again tee up a time. We awoke today to a perfect morning for flying - no wind, no cloud - a rare day indeed! I wanted to get out early as we'd not flown for 3 weeks and needed to brush the cobwebs off the CT4 and take Ian (the joyflighter) for his trip. As it was Australia Day today, there was a flypast planned for a couple of Hornets at around 10.30 so I wanted to be back from the joyflight and on my way to the second task of the day before they came & went. The joyflight went very well as they usually do, passenger was keen as mustard armed with his camera and very much enjoyed the trip. For those that know Canberra, there's a few documented scenic flights which pretty much take you on a loop of the populated areas of the ACT...takes about 20 minutes. Well, back to the Australia Day theme, there were parachutists jumping in a few spots around Canberra so we got the extended tour by the area controller and were back on the ground after 45 minutes - Canberra is not that interesting from the air for that long I gotta tell ya! Anyhoo, we land and I farewell the passenger and get ready to head off to item number 2 which was to meet Ross (Slartibartfast) at Goulburn for a trip "in company" to Merimbula as item number 3 was to drop the CT4 at Merimbula for it's 100 hourly. I taxied out to the tarmac, did my runups and other preflight checks, called ATC with flight details and was all ready to go in a hope of not being delayed by the Hornets doing their flypast and display. Now ordinarily I'd love to watch that but I was sitting in a hot cockpit and wanting to be some other places. I get cleared to taxi and am nearing the holding point when the controller informs me that I'll be delayed while the Hornets fly over the field for their display over Lake Burley Griffin - Do'h! Almost made it. So I sat at the holding point for about 5 minutes, watched the Hornets come straight at me from the east then over my head so I actually missed the display - again Do'h! As I'm just about to ask how long before I get cleared for takeoff...I get cleared for takeoff as the Hornets have departed Canberra airspace (they're just climbing through 15,000' as I roll onto the runway) and I commence takeoff roll for an uneventful 20 minute flight to Goulburn...30 minutes late. Oh well. After landing at Goulburn, I top up the tanks a little then meet up with Ross and his emaculately presented Cheetah - you would think this is a full factory build it's that well finished. The plan is to head from Goulburn to Moruya then follow the coast down to Merimbula in company. This came to be a bit of a challenge up high due to the different performances between the Cheetah & the CT4. We climbed to 7500' to get over the rough stuff and some scattered cloud - I slowed the CT4 as much as possible and was able to maintain about 90KIAS...just enough for Ross to maintain contact with me... a few orbits here and there and we stayed in touch. As we reached the coast we dropped down to 1500' to take advantage of the views and a bit better performance from the Cheetah. We were now comfortably staying together at about 110KIAS. We followed the coast all the way down to Merimbula, I was enjoying some "frolicking in the sky" as this would be my last flight for about 6 weeks until the CT4 is done with it's maintenance and some other fix ups to be done. Along the way we had a chance to get some photos and video of each other whilst flying "in company" - amazingly the air was smooth as silk and made getting some good photos relatively easy. Here's some air to air pics of the Cheetah I took, the video will be on YouTube once I get time to put it together...probably by Monday night given it's a long weekend and I don't have a plane now!
Ultralights Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 great shots! nice looking cheetah as well, cant wait for the video!
peter Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 Great shots yet again -- now that you're moving to Melbourne how about nipping across to Goolwa in SA and taking some aerial shots of my little bird!!!! Best I can get is a view of my own cowling !! like this one of the Murray mouth this morning Peter
slartibartfast Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 We had a great trip. For a while, every time I tried to take a telephoto shot of Matt, the right wing would drop. After about 45 minutes the penny dropped. When I had installed the wheel trim to replace the original lever trim, the shock cords must have moved and were now putting lateral force on the stick. It was just a matter of lifting the velcro boot around the stick base and sliding the forward bungee left. Perfect. I now have an aileron trim too. Now I just need to work out a way to get a rudder trim. The weather was perfect for the 1st time in weeks. What a lovely day! Here's some of the shots I got. [ATTACH]4793.vB[/ATTACH] Both taking on fuel in Goulburn [ATTACH]4794.vB[/ATTACH] A fair bit of activity this morning [ATTACH]4795.vB[/ATTACH] A CT4 mid-air [ATTACH]4796.vB[/ATTACH] A CT4 mid-air [ATTACH]4797.vB[/ATTACH] A ... err - never mind [ATTACH]4784.vB[/ATTACH] Not a CT4 in sight. Guess the airstrip [ATTACH]4785.vB[/ATTACH] No wonder - he's on the other side. A CT4 mid-air [ATTACH]4786.vB[/ATTACH] At least the scenery is nice. With a CT4 [ATTACH]4787.vB[/ATTACH] I was getting an easy 110 knots at 2500' with 75% power. Only 500 fpm climb at 90 knots earlier. It's no CT4, but then it doesn't burn 40 litres an hour either. [ATTACH]4788.vB[/ATTACH] I call this one "Scenery and CT4" [ATTACH]4789.vB[/ATTACH] And this one "Mt Dromedary and CT4". Sensing a pattern? [ATTACH]4790.vB[/ATTACH] You'll be glad to know that this is on the way back north. No CT4. Narooma and Montague Island [ATTACH]4791.vB[/ATTACH] Beautiful beaches heading to Tuross Heads [ATTACH]4792.vB[/ATTACH] Tuross. I have spent many days windsurfing those lakes. Ahh memories. While in Merimbula, a friend from work arrived in town. He is building a BMW powered Tiger Moth. I introduced him to the Cheetah and took him to Eden and back. He loved it. I landed in Moruya to take my step-daughter and her father (who by coincidence was one of my first instructors 28 years ago) for a fly, but on taxiing I found I really had to ride the right brake. I had a flat on a tyre and tube that were 2 weeks old. It took air and seemed to hold pretty well, so I said goodbye to them and headed to Goulburn with the spat off in case it wasn't too well inflated when I got there. Joyrides another day. The tyre had enough air to land and get back to the hangar. Looking at it today, it seems the tube failed around the valve. That's not good quality. A brilliant day was had by all, with the possible exception of Kaz. Where's the road trip report and GPS track Kaz? It was great to catch up with you both. I hope we can again before you go. Like when you give me the video copy. I can't wait. Ross
eastmeg2 Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I'm so jelous, even more so because the nosewheel drumbrake in my trike self-destructed during a landing on Friday afternoon. That destroyed my plans to fly to Moruya with another trike on saturday morning. Had to ride the motorcycle there instead - but it was a good day for that too. Cheers, Glen
Matt Posted January 28, 2008 Author Posted January 28, 2008 Flying with the Cheetah As promised, here's the first draft of "Flying with the Cheetah". It's not production quality but I knew some of you would want to see it sooner rather than later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgD2Cget3v0 Cheers, Matt.
slartibartfast Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Thanks Matt. That's great stuff. Very interesting to see it in flight. She rocks! Couldn't find a Cheetah song?
Matt Posted January 28, 2008 Author Posted January 28, 2008 LOL, tried to find a Cheetah song but only one that I could find was a Chilli Peppers song called "Slow Cheetah"...didn't think that'd be appreciated :)
Flyer Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Nice work Ross and Matt. Great video. It was a good weekend but no flying for me...decided that a motorcycle rally and excessive beer was a good option. :yuk: Then I have had the most pleasurable job of refitting the reco'd head to my falcon today..... would've traded that for a fly in a nice new Jabiru J170;). Maybe tomorrow.... regards Phil
motzartmerv Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 Nice vid mate.. Love the music, go the floyd.. the cheetah seems to fly with a very nose down attitude hey?? or was it descending??
slartibartfast Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 No mate, that was mostly straight and level. It is designed to fly at that attitude to improve visibility, especially on approach. Because of its attitude and low stall speed, it doesn't need flaps. This simplifies the design and build significantly, and saves you money. Ross
motzartmerv Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 exellent stuff... i like that idea.. yea i was thinking the vis would be quite good with that sort of profile...good stuff.. very nice looking machine..;);)
Ultralights Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 is the nose attitude created by the creation of too much lift at cruise speed requiring nose down attitude to reduce AoA? or is the wing at a higher incidence angle to the fuselage? edit, i just had a closer look a the pics, seams to be the latter.
Guest Andys@coffs Posted January 31, 2008 Posted January 31, 2008 As promised, here's the first draft of "Flying with the Cheetah". It's not production quality but I knew some of you would want to see it sooner rather than later.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgD2Cget3v0 Cheers, Matt. Are the irony of it, Production quality.... You tube:laugh:. Thats like an Up down or a fast slow. Generally speaking quality and youtube shouldnt be used in the same sentence:big_grin: That said, I enjoyed it Andy
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