flyerme

SHE FLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELL it truely was a ww1 mission!!!!! Big thanks to forumite Patrick Normoyle for repairing my war bird ..thanks to his wife for helping us put wings back on.. so after transport damage was repaired and a full service ,she was ready. a final adjustment and i inspected her for a COUPLE OF HOURS..(may have done some hanger flying but not telliu8ng you lot!) with Pats arrival it was inevertable ....we inspected again pulling and proding,probing and lifting.. all good? yep all good. in true style my chief mechanic (Pat) gave her a couple turns on the prop and she fired into life . Now from where i was sitting there much to consider!!!!! first- new airfield(and busy with adelaide bi-planes etc..) so lots of radio calls and paper checking for runways...2nd new plane in which every pilot has ground looped and been told so many times shes a hand full...3rd-after a repaired elevator and with no info for rudder throw and with very minamal up deflection it would truely be a Test..(plan to wheeler if not enough for a 3 point ) anyway with a thumbs up i followed Pat and his mate Steve to the cleared runway but just the taxi there alone gave me a good feel..1 thing noted was def can NOT see out front..at all! and me being a shorty i have to rest my kneck when hanging out side to see.. after a quick brief i opted for the slow taxi(advised by old owner NOT to high speed taxi her or she WILL ground loop!) so off i went for a putt down the strip..all felt nice so a 180 and back track back to the boys.. Pat asks"so what do you wanna do?" well i reckon shes good however theres a x wind here! so Pat briefed me for the active runway and off ia taxied ,,had to taxi right past the cafe and was chuffed when they gave me a wave.. so a last minute brief and I lined her up for do or die..(well not quite but from where i was sitting!)I opened her up and she travelled perfect,I lifted the tail all good and then!! theres the bite.. (with not enough forward momentem for rudder the prop wash hit the r/h side turning you) however my reflexed kept her on track and we were air born....was slower than told but OH MY GOD is she awesome....no vices and felt solid..condition were bit windy and few bumps but she was a plessure..oh lol the wind blew my headset off so some leg flying was needed to get the new set back on...so now comes the landing...i lined her up and although the numbers say 60nt final I flew by feel and chose 50kt..she handeled nice(should ad VERY twitchy -but i had no issues) I flaired out and added a a tiny amount of power (to ensure airflow over lowered tail) and lord behold? a bloody puppy dog..yep greased her down with NO tendency whats so ever for looping in landing configureation...I taxied back with grin ear to ear had a quick debrief and enjoyed a congrats and I was off agian with Pats advice for climb out she perfermed excellent(note ground loop tendency again on take off) and another greaser... so third circut I decided on adding left rudder when tail gets up(NOTE to self-DO NOT TRY THAT AGAIN!!!) so the tail rises i add a lil left rudder and she starts to loop right,I add more but she stills yaws right than WAM.she yaws aggressively left and i peddle her right the she starts to loop back R/H I feel her every niggle and bring her back with a combo of stick and rudder andaway I go (felt very sloppy but ground crew said it wasnt to ban and great recovery..) must say again in the air is an andescibeable feeling being behind the sesquaplane ,face in the breeze(i mean hurricane force wind) truely majestic and I really am a lucky and privalleged lil shyte) so thanks again Pat and if you see this thread Pat any chance you can post the vids?(YEP Pats a legened and filmed it!!!! THANK YOU TO: forumite =Patrick Normyle and his wife (PAT really put in some late nights-or is it early morns? onj this project.) forrumite=NIEUPORTPETE , with out ever meeting me came to the aid of nbot only helping pullit apart and loading but also 3escorting me threw the city of toowoomba... AND to Patricks friend Steve for assistant ground crew the support networt has been A+ take it easy guys and hope to fly her home 60 nm soon as weather permitts.. quick note reguarding ground loop. after reflecting im sure im getting the tail up a bit early!! ill hold her down a bit longer get mor speed the throw up the tail...well thats my educated theory (spelling mistakes are plenty... im a mechanic whome left school at 14 forgive me.)

Yeh like the Pitts you really need to slip to see we're your going or the old head out the side trick! You can clearly here the blip throttle but sounds fine for a normal landing! I believe he just didn't see the fence line ( understandable giventhe concentration required to fly one of these bad boys onto to any RUNWAY .but none less embarrassing! Poor bugger! Glad the fence post faired better! Anyway I have no loss of respect for any pilot the flys these types of REAL tail draggers.. Not sure if some realise the pilotage required to fly one? There's no throttle !Just a blip from idle to full. They DO NOT LIKE Any XWIND FACTOR ON Landing, , there NOT designed for a runway they will ground loop if not peddled in a physic manner! They are true in the seat of pants flying( the real mccoy )

New If a Telco tower was hit surly there would be some kind of activity around the tower re structural integrity. Bernie. is there a tower near by anyway? Hasn't been mentioned if there accually is a tower , and a tall one at that!For those not in sa. On the day starting in the wee hrs we had a constant med rain that pretty much never stopped all day! The wind was not overly strong however visibility would most definitely have you skimming the trees tops. NAIPS - forcast mod/ sev turbulence in the area.There were large patches of fog and cloud was down HERE as low as 600 ft most of the day .. Just looking out the window was enough to make me throw a rug over my plane and tie down in the lean too. Pea soup comes to mind! I really hope the families ( if there wanting or needing) get the answers and support they require in such a tuff time and rest assured none of us here mean any disrespect ! Quite the opersite! With all the respect in the world we speculate the likely hood of the event in the hope of preventing and educating the reader ,wether a 25 hr pilot or a 2000 hr With much respect Tim

Sa the worst weather I've seen in years! Very nasty right now

That's awesome!! I want!!

NAIPS first and foremost ! If cavok .then willy weather for local ground wind speed. If theses don't confirm together I just don't fly( that's the convenience of having my plane home to fly anytime , I'm not forced to fly when I GET THE CHANCE) unfortunatly most don't have the option of - cavok today with no winds? You right for hr or 2 Pa ?im out here! Not sure Anyone said it had struts! Just used struts as a reference point as to were the wing detached. That is all! Stay safe everyone and I believe this thread to be helpfull - even speculation can be helpfull! Ie.. Weather, towers!, clouds,, all can open the eyes of the new comers and the inexperienced to hazards they may not have been concerned about prior to reading this. A lot of you guys/gals don't accually realise the good in the " speculation " side of things- ok so it proberbly didn't happen like that but each theory gets you thinking about your own flying and outcomes and what one should be aware of. I say it again stay safe every one Friendly regards Tim

Wing end pic

Hey maj. It's only a section of the wing that came off and was found a km away there's pics on a news thread of the wing end on its own and speculation of a tower being hit! Shearing off the wing end after struts.. Edit- the wing end looks like it was cut perfect with a laser cutter?

Very sad news and too close to home!condolences

That's awesome!! Thanks heaps ozbear!

Yeh planning on flying the nieuport 11.c.1. For static display to collaborate 100 years of shooting one another outa the sky.

Sweet a boxy!!

Awesome I purchased it from killkoy from archerfalls Ron. He rebuilt it in 09 I think?

We're You see that? I Can't seem to find it? Just 1 and 2 You say number 4? lol dose that mean you owned my one at some stage? Mine is serial 004 the forth factory built certified lightwing LW-1! Confirmed by Howie and his engineer after my prop dramas.. And of coarse as per RAA rego .

We should put what we have in order! Here's a start. In order of certification - numbers.00 1., 2., 4. ........... Please add ( and a nicer pic of David see 002!)

Still reckon we gotta organise a gathering of light wings Doug! Still be nice to find number 3. .? I have seen pics of number 5 after me ( another one with turtle deck change!) I feel left out with what appears to be the only flying box back? Come on guys any other original configurations left! For those whom are not sure what I'm on about? The original light wings had a box shape fuse that was later converted to what now is the recognised shape. I have number 4 which was never changed? And also when rebuilt they went with the original paint scheme! Speaking with Howard he says I should never change the paint or shape as to his knowlage it's the only flying lightwing in original configuration with exception to the engine! But I believe number 3 may still be a boxy? Number 3 where are you? Last was in nsw some where? had yellow stripes and was box shape in the only pic I have seen of her - not sure reg?

Yeh and that weather followed us home! lol thanks again mate !

Love it!! Bloody awesome..

Fact, will def think about building the larger training rudder for xwind landing as it's recommended xwind now is oknts ! Or on flair will just duck into cab?

Oui. Your correct the name baby or bebe coming from the n10 ( because of its small size) carried over to the single seat scout/ fighter ..

Still looks the same:thumb up:

Yep I earned my GL endo on the 1983 T83 thruster and the supercat after that I learned peddle ahead of it and became psychic!

Sounds like a good plan Or you could come here and I fly you back to goolwa in the lighty weather pending :)

Rotax 503. Cruise 65 kts. 50 ltr tank