metalman

I have a copy of a gazelle maintenance manual on cd, I can burn a copy if anyone's keen Matty

Very capable, there a few utube flicks on it, very cool Matty

The biggest issue with the whole using rudder for different reasons is HOW you use it, and that generally only comes with time and hours( not airline hours) in the air exploring the way your aircraft behaves, using rudder to "pick up" a stalled wing is the right way, trying to use a control surface on a wing that's not flying will give an interesting ride, but, as Motz writes over use of the rudder can get it real exciting , using direct,measured inputs comes with experiance ( that's why we have instructors beside us) to have some one slam in full rudder in a stalled condition will get the heart pumping ,unless you want to spin. The same with aileron, I've sat beside a 400 hr pilot while we lurched all over the sky on final ( it was gusty ,but not that gusty) thinking "if he lets the IAS get below 55 again I'm taking over" ,he was behind the plane and using the ailerons like he was trying to flap like a bird. Another mate has a lot to do with RV's ,he says he can tell if someone will fly it well by the way they hold the stick, " the grip of death" means a wild ride,,,,,two fingers " it be easier" , over controlling is the biggest thing a lot of us have to learn not to do. Back to rudder on final, I use the rudder all the time,constantly, on final, on base, on downwind, enroute, getting to the hanger ,,,,I use it when I'm turning, climbing ,descending ,,,,,,,and it's always in company with another ( or all) control surface,,,,and hopefully in just the right amount, for all controls. Learning finesse for me was the most difficult, learning that some time the rudder might need a quick jab almost to the stops( landing here) but that the same quick jab isn't going to fix every situation, doing aerobatic endorsement , I had to learn that the stops are there so you know when to stop pushing the stick ( in some manoeuvres ) , I'm a big advocate of experimenting with the low end of flight, I've asked heaps of pilots if they've tried flying around below the posted stall speed, very rarely does anyone say "yep" , but when I mention flying a common trainer at 22 kias holding height ( with very careful use of all the controls) and I encourage them to take an instructor up and try it, not many have though. I don't really know the standards or regs regarding pitot/static errors,,,,,but I do know what my plane feels like when it doesn't want to fly so well anymore, I've learnt how to land it in really sh1t winds, I've learnt ( still learning ) to land it in the shortest possible distance, which I might add is one skill that will definatly save your life one day, The thing is to know the plane your in, and that can only come from experimenting on the edges, Matty P.s I know the ASI won't be indicating properly in a high alpha situation re all the errors in previous posts, but it's the easiest way to get an idea.

The Breezy used this idea, plans for the fuselage and the wings off a piper cub, seemed to work well.

No way,,,it must be the white line on the speedo,,

What is obvious is that a lot of certificate holders aren't mixing it up with RPT, Hervey is a good training ground for using the radio properly, two airfields on the same freq, several private strips , RPT , meatbombers, micro lights ,training and small charter, helos , and if you transmit on the wrong freq you may well kill someone, as I've said, it's very simple, in or approaching YHBA or YMYB you should be on the CTAF, otherwise it's the area , if your high enough bris radar, the same works anywhere, CTAF or airfield freq when in or approaching or a listening watch (flipping between the local and the area) as you transit, enroute use the area , tooling around on the multicom is ridiculous , in CTA use the relevant freq, if you want to know a busy spot try the corridor over the MCG in Melbourne .,,,,,,, essendon ,moorrabin ,point cook, meatbombers ,the Yarra valley traffic, are all converging to a very small piece of sky, if your unable to monitor what you need to it could be messy, it's busy but it's not dangerous if you do what your supposed to ,,,,,,and have your head on a swivel!

You can only get so lucky till they have to cart you off in an ambulance

It's real simple, if your in a CTAF then use the freq in the ERSA for that common traffic advisory frequency ,,,if your enroute use the area freq, if your using your own paddock, then think about who might need to know you're about ,,,and talk to them on the nessasary freq, and if your a glider pilot,,,continue to ignore us all and have fun!

Thanks DP, the pitot/static system is all Skyfox ,and was checked as per inst 8 before reg, I don't doubt it's pretty accurate,,,,the plane feels slow as :) I've wanted to look at a better wing with a friese aileron and convention type flap,,,,I'll PM you dafydd, a few of the things you mentioned I've done as I built the plane, the aileron hangers are much better ,it has plenty of drainage, and is always hangared , but I would like to do something better with the wings ,I built my ailerons as per the gazelle ones and so far all good, but I am very careful with turbulence ,always slow and steady in the bumps , Matty

Interesting, mine isn't a Skyfox, it's a VH exp but I've used some components from a CA22a so I'm very interested in any info on them, I'm getting a cruise of 80kias with a 912uls which puts me into the area your mentioning, the slightly higher cruise speed wasn't my aim but rather a much better climb and shorter takeoff . The type has gone through an interesting evolution , I've got a few hours in a eurofox and always wondered about the way the wings bend from the strut attach outwards, quite a bit, till I had a look at a wing with the covers off, absolutely no vertical rib in the spar ,and very lightly built , the fox spar on the other hand doesn't have anywhere the same movement . I have another fuselage that I'm keen to build another from, wider and longer in the cockpit, a bit more rudder area, and a different airfoil, Dafydd, I'm keen to hear what changes you would've done to the Skyfox to make it better, frankly I love the type and reckon with the time to develop further it could've been a great plane.

I had a fairly lengthy response ,,,deleted it,,,controlled airspace??? If using the area freq is just to difficult we do not belong in a controlled zone, if you are unsure of what you should be doing while aloft, then PLEASE find a competent instructor and get answers,

Mine, along with most of them have been done, I have a B&R aviation tube in mine, although I've heard that if it's not done its hard( read near impossible) to get one made nor B&R are no longer. It's interesting that the aircraft is a Kitfox copy and yet the Kitfox doesn't seem to have any issues ,

Says who, I grew up there and I reckon that's a fair description

Violation of Controlled Airspace,,,,,,like we need more acronyms ;-)

Dick Gower was telling me about this one, engine hung on by the cableling I think

There's a white line on the speedo,,,,it stops flying if you get to close to the white line:ban me please:

I had a similar thing with flying base/final, I was taught by two schools to use power for height pitch for speed, I went to a school for an endorsement and they taught aiming point and power for airspeed, it was pretty stressful for the first few laps, I had no idea why the FI was getting frustrated with me , kept saying"where's your aiming point?" ,,,,"the runway will do" , pretty cranky bugger, signed my logbook and says" try not to end up on the obits" ,,,,,,well,,,so far so good

when your not in a ctaf or CTA you should be on the area freq, theres no point being on a frequency that isn't monitored, as well as if everyone is on the correct freq then everyone is contactable, I've lost count of the number of VCA's I've heard ATC trying to contact and wondered if the offender was trying to hide or wasn't listening

Mmmm now it'll get real interesting

Maybe because spins ,spirals and stalls can happen at any IAS ,,,, On the note of flat turns I remember a little poem the military used to remind flyers to do balanced turns "If you want flick,spin and burn Hold off bank in a gliding turn

Tattoos on boobs are a problem, specially if your a slow reader !;-)

Having a home office seems to work for the EAA, and it's a long way from everyone else, the problem with training is the schools can do whatever they want ,I've mentioned one Qld school that teaches stalling with the FI doing it and the student sitting there watching, if the FI were trained or at least signed off by a central office problems could be nipped in the bud before there's dozens of badly trained pilots around. As for where it is ,if we are to be a two sided coin with admin and sport then being on a field that we call home would serve to give us a focal point each year to gather, it could only be a good thing for the group ,as it is for the EAA Matty

If you have the time, money and inclination I can highly recommend having that red wine and chat with DJPacro, even go further and go flying with him Matty

Aviation forum survival rules 1: trust no one, talk to a live instructor about your flying issues 2:if your chosen instructor tells you something that is being taught elsewhere is 100% bad,,,,don't get mad !but do look into getting some varying training 3: don't argue with Motz , he knows lots and will give you a blast if needed 4: you have two ears and one mouth, when around other pilots ,listen twice as much as you talk ,and don't worry d1ckheads reveal themselves pretty quick Matty

You'd be surprised at what isn't taught, I've been generally lucky, I can only think of a couple of instructors I'd never get in a plane with, but some are pretty hopeless. Word of mouth is a real good thing, newbies don't really know what's what's but if you keep your ears open and mouth shut you usually find out who's worth putting you life with, Matty