graham brown

If you see the other aircraft and you think you are going to collide, push or pull but don’t turn as you increase your chances of hitting by increasing the vertical area. This what we know in Gliding where we fly close sometimes to stay in the lift.

Mutual masturbation by hero’s in their own lunch time…………now back to fixing my plane cheers

A great guy and friend for a long time. He will be missed.

Yep sure did do the weight and balance it’s mandatory. Gary specified the the range of CG to be 8inch to 14inch from the leading edge. Attached is my XL spread sheet and graphs.

I wish I had put the wing tanks in. With the front tank full it’s hard to get the nose up initially and as the speed builds up you have to come a long way forward on the stick in order not to get too slow. With 80 litres or less it’s not an issue. I’ll report if there is any change when I get mine going again. My mod to the UC makes it very easy to move it back again anyhow.

Yep CG management helps a lot. In the gliders we have tail tanks to manage this and the charts are critical. The airliners manage their CG too. GA pilots have been spoilt by the Cessna etc it is not the norm and requires careful adjustments for best results.

That’s the issue and symptoms right there

Just to cheer up the Morgan owners and talk up the price here is a picture of mine/me at Cessnock 2018 when I took it to the airshow to Ray’s exhibition. The Sadler Vampire Ray had there got more attention though. Haha Hope it inspires you Andrew. https://www.airhistory.net/photo/524759/19-8651

Yes the nose leg problems that pilots have had has scared off the punters so the prices are way too low. Once the nose leg is beefed up and you keep the weight off the nose wheel through better CG management and pilot technique they are a delightful aeroplane to fly. A very fast cross country aircraft too.

I meant a significant proportion. This weight in the wing doesn’t move the position of the CG as much as it does in the forward tank position. As you say easier on the structure too.

That looks like you will have plenty of adjustment there. Does your Sierra have wing tanks or just the front tank? The fuel load is appreciable to the all up weight and wing tanks would be the way to go. I wish I had done that.

I just had a look at the plans and they do not have the location of main landing gear in relation to the airframe for a tail dragged. The only direction is to turn the frame around. This would set the distance of the mains in relation to the spar. Gary use to mark the longerons where the frame had to be bolted to the longerons. Mine was for a tricycle. It would have been different for the tail dragged.

30knts with flaps is stalled but as Kevin says it’s still controllable. It tends to float in the landing phase so I use full flap for drag and make sure the speed is back on late final and the stick back when the mains touch. The nose needs to be up and kept up even as you taxi back.

After 8 years of flying mine I finally broke the nose leg on a rough down hill strip where a big wind gust got me. Wasn’t a real hard landing but “snap” and the nose leg went. No where near the damage shown in your photos. I have a new nose leg from Ray which will never snap as it’s very thick compared to the old one. A new prop, the same as Kevin’s, a Bolly. Motor needed a full inspection and new flywheel and prop flange bolts. My nose wheel somehow missed the underneath of the plane so no damage there. I took off the bottom sheet behind the firewall to inspect and found some sheared rivets on the gussets. All riveted now and a new sheet installed. I moved the mains forward about 7 inches with extension pieces underneath the aircraft. This was done because mine only has a forward tank and no wing tanks and landing with full fuel and only the pilot was hard to keep the weight off the nose wheel. I have decided to replace the engine Mount rather than repair the old one as I have a Camit motor in mine and the original mount was a modified jabiru one which I was never happy with. The cowls are fixed with a bit of fibre glass and repainted. Just waiting for the engine Mount and it go back together. Good luck rebuilding your Sierra they are a great little plane and other than the nose leg issue I have had no issues at all. The plans have the tail wheel version but the steel frame needs turning around which means a fair bit more pulling apart. I don’t know of any flying but I know at least 2 were built.