REAL MEN ?

[boleropilot]

g'day guys

 

saw a sticker ages ago that made me chuckle, tried to find one, no luck, so i had a bunch made up - it reads - REAL MEN FLY TAILDRAGGERS

 

sticker is red capitals, letters only (no background), letters are 20mm high, total sticker is 40cm long

 

they don't fold well so i will post them in a standard envelope (cut between real/men) in two pieces, that gives you an option of how to mount them anyway

 

i was told they are good quality material (5 year life), if i sell them for $5 inc postage i will make a dollar or two at the end of the day

 

and yeah i know ya aint supposed to send cash in the mail but a five buck note to me via snailmail is the simplest way, who's gunna know

 

cheers

 

bp

 

D A TONKS

 

620 WOOLOOMAN ROAD

 

WOOLOOMAN QLD 4310

 

 

[facthunter]

Not Needed.

 

Nice idea Ballpilot, but ALL the important people know that already. Do you want to start a new age of enlightenment? Nev.

 

 

[icebob]

My Dad used to sing a song about "the age of" in his hippy days:laugh:

 

Yes I know:faint:

 

Bob.

 

 

[boleropilot]

real men

 

well ya know i thought learning to fly that lil beast was gonna be a doddle - it's just another taildragger fer crissaake.....well, not really

 

here's me with my 30 years of aviation experience, flying in army aviation aircraft in and out of trees without doors on the acft (fixed and rotary wing), building and flying radio control aircraft (powered and gliders), skydiving, paragliding, working as a crew chief on hot air balloons, building a top class flight simulation system for my computer, and reading everything i could find on the subject of aviation, including meteorology and aerodynamics........and then.......

 

strapping on a Drifter and finding all of that amounted to diddley squat

 

trust me guys, there is NOTHING like arguing with wunna them lil devils and eventually getting them to do what YOU want them to do (instead of them doing what THEY want to do - which is the OPPOSITE of what you are trying to achieve)

 

and those lovely lil Drifters, i tell ya, they are the most wonderful lil hairyplane the Gods of Aviation ever invented - so full of promise, so hard to master (I'm a LONG way away from that) and without a doubt the most fun a bloke can have with his pants on

 

here endeth the lesson

 

btw, i'm quite fond of Drifters, tis why i got the stickers made

 

bp

 

 

[farri]

G`Day boleropilot,

 

I gather you love the Drifter so much, I thought I`d show you mine.

 

I just finished a complete refurbish on it,a month ago and it flies like a dream.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

The Ol' Drifter is looking pretty snazzy Franco , who did the nice looking skins ? Cheers Ross.

 

 

[farri]

G`Day Ross,

 

Thanks and yes it is getting pretty old but with all I`ve done,it`s as good as ever,It`s put plenty of guys in the air over the years and an enormous amout of people have had joy out of it through introductory flights.

 

I hold a level 2 for my AC.,and I make the skins,this is the third set I`ve done and I can do them for a 1/3 of the cost the only problem is I get slower every time, is that telling me something,am I getting older also,lucky the Drifter doesn`t get any slower

 

Frances said to say HELLO.

 

Regards,

 

Frank.

 

 

[boleropilot]

Wow

 

hey Frank, looks like a real sweet lil machine

 

i'll let ya know when i need new skins m8, they look brilliant

 

btw, where is your airfield? give us the lat/long so i can check it out on GE

 

cheers m8

 

bp

 

 

[farri]

bp,

 

The strip is on our property and if you check out my blog you will see the property and the surounding area.

 

Lon.

 

17-13-060

 

Lat.

 

145-56-080.

 

Regards m8,

 

Frank.

 

 

[boleropilot]

nice place !

 

geez m8 you have got some setup there

 

now i am a plotter, i'm always making plans for the future and most of them never come to fruition - but... i would love to drop in to say g'day sometime, but i would like to do it with some mates

 

how do you feel about a visit from the Flying Tigers at Boonah? twood be a long trip but a beauty, the guys fly Drifters (with the occasional Savannah and Jabiru)

 

they do all sorts of trips and take all their gear with them for overnighters, i'm a newbie there so haven't had the fun of joining them on one of their trips as yet

 

twooden be overnight, trip like that takes some planning, but it something i would like to add to my List of Things To Do

 

watcha reckon ???

 

bp

 

 

[farri]

bp,

 

You`re all welcome any time,I`d be happy to have you,just let me know you`re coming.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[jordy]

Frank , I also have a cert drifter WB503 recently refurbished by myself and a lot of phone advice from Wayne. A few questions if you please. What degree pitch blocks are you using? I'm finding with a 14degree block is great by myself but as soon as a pax jumps in and the day warms up the bum falls out. We live in a little micro climate of rainforest and mountains so get quite hot & humid during the summer days as I would imagine your place does. Would it be a feasible solution to change blocks for corresponding seasons?

 

Regards jordy

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

whilst you're at the printers

 

BP

 

you would probably make a few bucks if you got some of these printed up.

 

ozzie

 

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

If you guys come up to go to Franks, don't forget to pick up a couple of us in Townsville, OK.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Yes, the drifter is a lovely machine.. but it will never replace the aeroplane..

 

just a windup....;)

 

 

[farri]

WB503.

 

G`Day jordy,

 

You haven`t told me what gearbox or the make of prop and number of blades that you`re using,so,I`m assuming you`re using a 60 inch,3 blade Brolga.

 

If you`re getting the correct top end RPM then there`s realy not a lot you can do because if you go down in pitch you will over rev and if you go up, you will reduce RPM and you may make the situation worse.

 

When I started instructing I had a 503 with a 2 blade wooden prop,same results as you, so I quickly went to a 582 with the E type gearbox and a 60 inch,4 blade Brolga prop with 17 degrees of pitch and I found this combination the best for all conditions.

 

Now that I`m retired from instructing I decided to go back to the 503 and a 60 inch diameter, 3 blade Ivo prop.

 

The Ivo prop has variable pitch and is quickly and easily adjusted,on the ground, simply by turning a shaft in the centre of the hub, this allows you to set the pitch relative to the power of the motor,it comes with bolts and bolts straight on to a rotax gearbox.

 

Finaly,I`m afraid, for humid hot days, your answer is, "A lighter load".

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[jordy]

Thanks Frank. I thought that may be the case. You guessed right with the prop, 3 blade 60 in Brolga gearbox has 2:24 ratio and all revs are correct even after deleting the infamous Rotax tacho exaggeration.:faint:Still gotta love that 503. one up its sooooooooo sweet.

 

Thanks again. May PM you later to grab some more info if thats Ok!!

 

[ATTACH]6742.vB[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]6743.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

[farri]

Refurbished Drifter.

 

Jordy,

 

It looks like you`ve done a great job,feels great when it`s finished,doesn`t it.

 

I got into rec flying,23 years ago, by building,from scratch, a copy of a Chinook WT2,before I even knew why they stayed in the air,I put the cart before the horse,I simply wanted to get up there while I could and I wouldn`t change that if I could.

 

It was pensioned off about 18 months ago,had a lot of fun in it, I did.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

PS. Ask as many questions as you want,I`ll try to answer.