Hi

[jsant]

My name is Joe and I own a Sapphire lsa II which I bought last Year.

 

I would like to hear from other owners of Sapphires around Australia.

 

 

[Tomo]

Welcome mate, great to have you here.

 

I don't own a Sapphire, but there are a couple that do on here that do. Hopefully they pop their heads up for you.

 

 

[Suitman]

Welcome Joe,

 

Sorry I don't own a sapphire either - but enjoy the site and the characters anyway.

 

Peter

 

 

[Millie]

Hello Joe glad to hear from a fellow Sapphire owner is there anything specific you want to discuss

 

regards Millie

 

 

[dazza 38]

Hi Joe , Welcome

 

 

[jsant]

Hi Millie,

 

I'm glad someone else has a sapphire that is flown regularly. I bought mine last year and have just finished my conversion to Recreational. I would appreciate any hints or advice on flying the Sapphire the first time.

 

 

[Millie]

Hello Joe

 

I did my training in the Thruster a good sturdy aircraft but it does not prepare you for the Sapphire, so I spent a few hours punching circuits with an instructor in a Jabiru. The Sapphire is a high performance aircraft that takes a little time to get comfortable with and I know people have given themselves a nasty scare in their first attempts, some points to consider.

 

The Sapphire is a pilots aircraft it has no real vices except it is hard to trim for straight and level, you have to fly it almost all the time, keep one eye on the skid ball it doesn't mind flying sideways and will do, it is very buoyant, climbs well, is tricky to get back down on the ground and is very sensitive to input, easy to over control.

 

If you have flaps I suggest you don't use them until you have mastered flap less operations, Ok for take off 20' but are almost useless in landing in fact they can be a real challenge and even a hinderance, let me explain, my normal approach is done at 50 knots flap less, power off just before you round out and hold it off until it settles, a good predictable landing.

 

If you use flaps 20' or 30' approach at 45 knots but you will find as you enter ground effect the Sapphire will react dramatically and bounce/climb out of ground effect, which means you have to counteract with a little forward stick, which turns a good approach into a porpoising exercise and a messy landing, in turbulence, wind or anything other than perfect conditions I recommend you don't use flaps, but button the approach speed at 50 Knots any faster and you will ground effect for a very long time, do big circuits give yourself plenty of space on final, as there will be times you simply cannot get the aircraft out of the sky especially if there is lift around.

 

The general consensus is flaps are best left alone. If you are lucky enough to have spoilers fitted (non standard) lucky you they work a lot better.

 

When flying rest your arm on your leg and use gentle inputs

 

regards M

 

 

[Guernsey]

Regarding the sensitivity of the controls I have never looked closely at the length of the 'stick' in a Sapphire however I had the same problem with my Winton Swing Wing particularly in pitch because of the all flying tail and again it floated for ages (it had no flaps). I fixed the problem by making a longer joystick. It looked a bit odd but certainly did the trick. It was very useful when holding off in the landing phase as there was much less tendency to over correct and was a dream in the cruise.

 

If it is physically possible try just adding a temporary extension first.

 

Incidentally I did the same with my Tyro but that was done to make the controls lighter.

 

Alan Marriette.

 

 

[facthunter]

Millie's last line is important. They're light and sensitive. Nev