Old Koreelah

Low wings can easier for infirm people. In NZ I was among a bunch of Jodeleers that flew into a remote strip punctiuated by rabbit burrows. The last to land was guided in by radio and made an impressive arrival: just as he was about to stop in front of the aseembled pilots, his left wheel found a deep bunny hole and his Jodel spun around to be parked with wing almost on the ground. This made it easier for his wife (who was recovering from a stroke) to step off.

I actually practiced that when building the beast, but quite a few years later I’m not nearly as good at wriggling through confined spaces.

Maybe we should apply aircraft safety protocols to ladders; might save a few lives and severe injuries.

Ouch! I’ve just been up a ladder and on the roof.

Thanks Garfly. Easy to read (better than Chinglish) and clear diagrams. Impressive carbon fibre workmanship. It would be heaps lighter than my cowl- maybe the secret of his STOL performance!

Yes, but on impact a forward-sliding canopy will do what it wants. Flipping over is a danger, so my canopy might end up on the ground, unable to slide. Smashing out through the acrylic is my only hope.

Thanks Garfly. My French training didn’t get far enough to read that. Might look up the Jodel forum (if it still exists). I recall it was mentioned there a few years back.

Impressive flying, shows what an expert can do with an old wooden aeroplane with rubber blocks for suspension. I’m not game enough or skilled enough, but plent of Jodels get used as bush planes; the low wing gives a ground effect advantage, and the bent-up wingtip clears the ground better in exotic manoevers (how do you spell that plurry word?) Plenty of disadvantages of the low wing: if landing on a road, guide posts would damage my wings and no hope taxying through a gateway. I have a vague memory of hearing about that automatic flap on top of his cowl. Is it to improve cooling while parked on the ground?

I wanted to look like Steptoe! Having a couple of fingers free sure helps with iPad, switches, etc. In case of a prang, the leather gloves might reduce injuries while smashing my way out.

Sure anyone could improve on my ruff-as-gutz workmanship. The box mounted behind holds the noise-cancelling unit. Also in the pic is my pair of flying gloves; on the advice of an old Aggie mate, I wear them religiously, with two fingers cut off for iPad use, etc.

Pat if you have limited means and some skills, build your own. I bolted my DC headset to a fibreglass bicycle helmet.

One good reason for using the whole strip. Lots of speople start their TO run from the intersection, rather than backtracking; all right if nothing goes wrong.

Skip I get what you are saying. Perhaps you could look at this in terms of a contract between state and individual: if I am to ride a bike on the state’s roads, I agree to do so on their terms (helmet, speed limit, etc.) In return, the state will do it’s best to ensure my safety by keeping other road users to their side of the road, etc. If I crash, they will pull out all stops to assist me. Taking your arguments further, a “sovereign citizen”claims not to be subject to society’s laws (but still drives on our roads). Would they expect to be left to die on the roadside if they crash?

Skip I base my statement on widely-available statistics and 40+ years experience in road accident rescue. We still get called to fatals where people didn’t buckle up because there are no coppers around. Last year my wife and I attended a rollover where the driver was thrown out. Not the first time I’ve spent the night guarding the body of a young girl lying on the road.

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It would be possible to tally up the economic cost to society of the freedoms being proposed. Let’s face it, lots of people would not wear helmets or seat belts if not compelled by fear of a fine. The number of dead and maimed would rise, along with the cost of their care.

Thanks for your efforts OME. What about home-builts? I understand the need for a standard way of doing things, but it doesn’t take into account those of us who “think differently.” If I do things a different way and achieve a satisfactory result, why not? I once got into a heated argument with a good friend. After she explained something in terms that made sense to her, I processed her words and explained it back to her in terms that made sense to me (and others nearby). She became progressively more enraged that I couldn’t use her exact wording and could not accept my need to express the concept in any other terms. (I discovered later that our birthdays are close; maybe a factor.) I believe it’s now only 30 minutes, but good point. Some aeroplane’s have their fuel tanks far from the CoG. Regarding bladder range, I’ve learned not to drink green tea before flying; it goes through me in about fifteen minutes!

All good points, Turbs. To ovecome my mathematical ineptitude, I used speadsheets for every aspect of my build, carefully loading every component’s weight and its distance from datum point. Despite my careful efforts, the first design went way overweight, so I had to remove that engine and start again with a lighter one. Good experience, that resulted in a much better aeroplane. A neighbour’s digital cattle scales were handy, but they can sometimes be misleading. After the best measurements and calculations, it was still a good idea to put the whole plurry thing on a rolling flucrum, to be sure, to be sure. A final point: about the value of having a partner in crime. Almost all my work is done solo, with nobody to bounce ideas off. When a sticky problem arises I tend to stop work and and move to a different project (I’ve got plenty on the go). This allows the subconscious to generate a solution. It can takes a week or more to come up with an idea that a co-worker might have suggested after five minutes!

I would have failed OME’s W&B bit miserably, being a mathematical cripple! Moment arms and all the other terminology are a good way to bamboozle people like me (luckily there aren’t many of us!) I have always struggled with calculations; discovering computer spreadsheets was life-changing! My plane is the only one I’m ever likely to fly (other than during my BFRs) so I’ve built it to suit my requirements and limitations. Although I made extensive use of spreadsheets during design and construction, I learned the hard way how easily mistakes can be made. The only way I could be sure of W&B safety was to test my plane sitting on a rolling fulcrum, trying every conceivable combination of fuel, luggage and pilot weight. The results are marked permanently under my wing and are well within the original designer’s parameters. Because I installed wing tanks just behind the spar, going from empty to full makes little difference to the CoG. That means I can fuel up, load my regular camping gear and luggage and know I’m well within the safe range.

Who is fast enough to look out the window, monitor instruments and watch those screens?

The prevailing assumption seems to be that as they notice your plane approach, birds drop to avoid you. If you can, make sure your screen is polycarb, or some material of similar impact resistance. Years ago an F-111 was lost near Guyra due to bird strike on the screen. What material is it?

Is this the one:

That one also swims!

Bugger! I guess wheels up reduces the chances of over-running the strip…

Balance up by ditching the co-pilot.