06.04.2014: Our friends from Denmark arrived for a short visit, so of course we went flying today. We initially wanted to fly into the mountains, but the weather was not quite good enough so I decided to do little tours with each of them along the lake and to the Rhine fall.
While I went with Elisabeth, Joern took pictures from the takeoff and landing, so for once I have some outside pictures of my plane when it is not just parked.
With proper short field takeoff technique (full elevator pull during initial takeoff run to lift the front wheel as early as possible)….
…I typically manage to take off in around 150 m (using some of the grass in front of the runway threshold). This can be seen here as I was already airborne at the 100 m mark. And that was near MTOM, which is not bad considering the altitude of 1540 ft and the propeller pitch optimised for cruise.
The approach to Runway 06 is across some quite tall trees, which makes it necessary to fly at around 52 kts with the SportCruiser to achieve a proper sink rate. If I fly the approach with 60 kts then It is difficult to land at the threshold, as the approach angle gets too shallow.
I’m trying at each landing to touch down as shortly as possible after the threshold, which helps me when I fly to really short runways (ours is around 615 m, so no issue). Below the threshold markers can be seen, which I passed less than half a metre above ground.
This allows me to land using around 150 m of runway even with only moderate braking. Normally i do however hardly use the brakes and leave the runway at around 250 m. With this regular practice I am confident to fly to airfields with 300 m runways, but so far I have not been to such a short one.
Below a picture of the Rhine fall taken on the second flight, there is already quite some water as the snow in the alps is now melting rapidly. Typically the peak is however only reached in early summer.
Here the haze can be seen towards the mountains, it was the right decision to stay in the plains. Our friends will stay for the week and the weather forecast looks very good for Thursday, so we will keep that day free for more flying.
Below a picture taken on the final to Runway 06 in Lommis, bur this time later in the afternoon visibility had improved significantly. Here also the trees in the approach mentioned above can be seen.
10.04.2014: Today the weather was indeed perfect for flying in he alps, so we decided to have a look at the mountains from above. I briefly considered renting a plane from the club so that I could fly with both of my friends together, but that would not only have been expensive but also difficult, as a lot of other pilots got the same idea as us for today.
As a result I did a two hours tour with each of them, flying from Lommis via Glarus, then past the Tödi and then towards Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. There we had a look at the Aletsch Glacier, before returning via Lucerne and Rapperswil to Lommis.
There was a pretty Lenticularis (Linsenwolke in German), hiding the top of a mountain. It must be frustrating if you are spending hours climbing a mountain just to notice when you are getting near the top that it is not only hidden inside a cloud, but that it is the only one with that “issue”.
Views were just spectacular, and even more so for Danes that for me, as I’m more used to it. Below Matterhorn in the background, probably around 80 to 100 km from where I took the picture.
Below the Eiger north face…
..and the observatory at the Jungfrau Joch.
The Aletsch glacier is always an impressive sight, and we saw a number of groups of hikers on the glacier and on the adjacent mountain slopes.
Below a better picture of the observatory, again seen from the north with the glacier to the right.
We tried to locater climbers in the north face of the Eiger, but did not see any. Maybe they were just too small, or maybe they are on the accent earlier in the day.
Flying back we just admired some of the mountains, without even caring what their names are.
After lunch I did the same tour again, below some pictures that show how the weather had changed. There were quite some clouds, which made us fly “on top” for a bit. Not that the layer was closed, but it gave us quite a different impression.
In the far distance Matterhorn again, to which I flew with my wife a few weeks ago.
On the way back we went to check the slopes in Engelberg, where we saw a surprisingly high number of skiers for a Thursday afternoon.
These two flights bring my total to just over 17 hours since the beginning of this year, that’s a good start.
11.04.2014: It’s Aero time again, as every year in April, and of course I went there as every year to see the newest developments in general aviation. I could post many more pictures, but as every year I am concentrating on seaplanes, as my next project should be one (if ever there is a next project…).
Below a model from Finland, the first Finish designed plane I have seen in a long time (thee only other ones I know of are the PIK gliders from the 70’s). And there was also the FlyNano, which was shown at Aero in 2011, but I have not heard any news from its development.
The ATOL is available as both ultralight and LSA, versions, with the latter one having 650 kg MTOM. According to the ATOL website this should result in a payload of 340 kg, if their empty weight of 310 kg is achieve, which I consider quite challenging. But if they do then this would for once be a true two-seater. The payload of the UL version is only 175 kg, which for me means it’s a single seater…
The German built FlyWhale should have been on display too, but was only shown as a model to the frustration of the personnel on the stand. As it is only available as an ultralight it is no option for me. The claim 175 kg of usable load, which again makes it a single seater in my opinion.
Assuming 80 kg for the Pilot, 50 kg of fuel (4 hours of flight including reserve) and 20 kg of pilot bag, headsets, camera etc. that leaves 25 kg for the second passenger…
Assuming 80 kg for the pilot and 60 kg for the passenger, as well as 20 kg of pilot bag, headsets, camera etc. that leaves 20 kg for fuel, which allows you to do a 30 minutes flight if you want to stay on the legal side of things.
Then there was also a seaplane from Norway, as shown below. It’s called Omsider, and again is only available as ultralight.
Yet another UL amphibian is called the Idintos, and comes from Italy. This is quite obvious, as it is very elegant, true Italian design. It is a full blown research project, so much more than just another project, but it is not clear whether it shall be an ultralight or a “proper” airplane. .
The plane is driven by two propellers, which will be shrouded according to the leaflet distributed. They are driven by cam belts from the engine embedded in the fuselage.
Finally there was a full size mockup of yet another seaplane on display, the Alteng Surfair from Slovenia. Not much additional information was available.
This year there were very few floatplanes, which is not surprising considering limitations on their use in central Europe. Amphibious seaplanes are a better choice, as the can also be operated on a daily basis from runways.
On the “gadgets” side I had a look at the new Dynon Skyview screens, which can be both controlled via touch screen, as well as through buttons. It’s an impressive system, with a full set of add-on components except an 8.33 kHz radio.
Below one of the many SportCruiser descendants, the Roko HG-4. It is less elegant, but there are a number of details worth looking at.
One is the locking mechanism of the wing lockers. which eliminates the need for a screw driver.
Then there are also plastic buckets in the lockers, which are probably a better solution than the carpets glued into the wing lockers of the Sportruiser, which I have never installed as I have two travelling bags made to fit into the lockers.
The shown interior is “sexier” than the old one, more like in a modern sports car.
One item that appears at each Aero and typically draws crowds are light propeller turbines or jet engines. The one below looks very professionally made, and promises an excellent power to weight ratio, but has a very poor fuel efficiency as all of them. The leaflet claims 0.8 lbs/hp-hr at 75% power, which is around 100 l/hr. When considering 5 hrs endurance this results in 340 kg of fuel, a piston engine would require around 200 kg. That not only eliminates the weight advantage, but results in very poor economics as well.
Czech Aircraft Works displayed their new PS-38 Tourer, which I understand is not yet available and only a prototype. Compared to other LSA high wing types, such as the various Remos or Tecnam models, it provides excellent views to the side as the wing is located further back so that when turning the head one looks out in front of the wing. There is also ample baggage space, the only issue will as always be the MTOM. I understand howerer that certification to e.g. VLA rules could be an option. EASA and the FAA area also working jointly to develop new light aircraft certification rules to replace Part-23, but that might take some years to materialize.
Finally there were many gadgets shown, some one can not live without while others can safely be ignored. Some were pretty cool, such as the chairs below.
There were also a number of innovative designs, such as the elegant Softex V24 shown below from Softex Aero in the Ukraine. The interior looked very nice, and they claim 160 kts cruise on two 160 hp engines and with a load of 540 kg.
My friend from Denmark however favours the Cirrus Jet ,which was shown in mockup form.
He just had to try it out. I think we both fit better in it, than it fits in our budgets. But maybe one day we will grow up.
18.04.2014: Today I noticed with big irritation that Jeppesen stopped producing their VFR maps. See the official announcement here. As an alternative they are providing an app called “Mobile FliteDeck VFR” for the iPad, which not only forces you to buy an iPad, but also makes you depending on the battery status of that device. I wonder how long it will take until they stop supplying the VFR manual in paper form.
As a result I have to switch to national maps, which are all differing from each other slightly. even though they are all claiming to comply with ICAO standards for maps. Also for example the maps for Germany are in 1:300’000, rather than 1:500’000, so I now need eight maps instead of four to fly in Germany.