Gregory

Im making them out of high density closed cell foam called corecell foam , bloody expensive stuff , but light and very strong.

Frank,You & Nev & M61should've been writers! All of you do a fine job of it with you Frank getting the top spot for the best great answer.

 

I can relate this one very bad incident of how much weather an ultralight can take. Unfortunately, it wasn't a Drifter but my 503 powered Trike.....

 

It was getting late, friend (rider) and I were at a very make-shift, isolated spot surrounded by trees, weather coming in, roll cloud ahead of it. And naturally between us & my home strip.

 

What to do? No tie downs, no rope (stupid), being the PIC I elected to takeoff into it. My experienced mate/rider was equally as dumb as me & agreed to it.

 

Got out okay but within one mile we met the gust front! I couldn't yell at my pal to helped me with the control bar because of the noise & I had all I could do to keep us upright! It was totally wild! Actually just about out of control.

 

Don't know if any of you have ever flown a Trike with a big, hi-lift wing but they are a handful in normal summer thermals with NO wind!

 

Then here comes the roll cloud! I fully expected the wing to collapse as I shot a glance at the wildly thrashing trees below! Updraft, downdraft, sideways this way & that, power on, power off, groundspeed maybe 5 mph, just enough to see minimal forward movement below. My arms took a battering but I was in great shape back then. Now, at 68, crash!

 

No rain thank God but it spit us out about 5 miles later. The most terrifying ride of my life & your listening to a 68 year old Beech 18 freight pilot. Believe me, I have seen the elephant but this was terrifying!

 

We made it of course but you young guys out there.....Do Not Push the Weather! It will kill you. Fly smart! Not stupid! If you need to camp out & wait it out....pitch a tent!

 

Today I carry spare tools, spare parts, rope, cell phone, first aid kit, pop up tent etc. in my Trike & Drifter. Sand bags are great to fill & bury for a makeshift tiedown where now is available. I carry 8 of them (empty). LOL. [ATTACH=full]53201[/ATTACH]

I think we all would! but some of those who tried to find out, arn`t with us anymore!There`s an old saying that goes something like this! " It`s better to be down here wishing you were up there, than being up there wishing you were down here!"

 

I`ve done a lot of "being up there wishing I was down here" but I havn`t yet found what my Drifter is really capable of, what I have found though, is, what I`m capable of, with my Drifter and what weather I`m prepared to fly in!

 

Keep in mind that regardless of what weather the Drifter and pilot are capable of, in this country we are restricted to VMC.

 

Frank.

Well said Nev!I'm an old Beech 18 freight pilot, one of the few to have survived years of it. I can say without a doubt that the Drifter is very much a real taildragger as you stated. Subject to even more vagaries of wind & weather than a big taildragger. It's nimble of course but can be a handful at times.

 

Was landing in some wicked winds two days ago with our field surrounded by trees. It took every bit of my concentration to keep our little friend within the confines of our 250 foot wide runway. As you succintly stated, "treat it as such."

I would be very interested to know what type of weather the drifter can handle with a capable pilot at the controls ?

Merry Christmas.

Gregory, I retired from instructing several years ago! I fly from my own property, here at Deeral, 45 k south of Cairns so we`re a bit far apart but if you are ever in the Cairns area, I`ll be happy to take you flying.Frank.

That statement says nothing factual or useful, take no notice of it! The Drifter is a Tail Drager and needs to be treated as such...To fly your Drifter legally, you will need a TW endorsement.Frank,

 

Ps, In case you`re wondering! I hold both TW (tail wheel) and NW (nose wheel) endorsements` and instructed for 12 years, in my Drifter.

Do you still instruct ? As im looking for someone to teach me !

Cheers kasper,

That makes a lot of sence.

Hair splitting. I wouldn't get too worked up about it. As far as I'm concerned it's a tailwheel aircraft, and I treat it as such. Nev

Hi all ,

Being a new drifter owner and as yet not ever having flown in one !

Ive heared on this forum that the Drifter is like having a tail dragger that is not really a tail dragger ??

Would anyone care to explain more about this to me please ,

Thanks .

In my opinion you should have it connected to the rudder cables.[ATTACH=full]53111[/ATTACH]

I very much appreciate that .

I'll take some photos of my tail wheel tomorrow so you can see how the cables are attached on mine.Andrew

Is it best to have the tail wheel attatched to the rudder , as ive had people tell me to just let it " free wheel" ? It was a free wheel system when i bought it !

A before and after photo of the new tail wheel set up compared to what it was like before !

Thanks so much rotax618

Much appreciated, cheers Greg.

Sounds good rotax618,

Would you mind elaberating on how you secured your tail ribs with epoxy and fibreglass tape as this is not one of my strong points , no rush , just at your leasure,

Cheers.

Just to add, ive heared of people who cover there tail sections with proper aircraft coverings

Im interested in this concept, but realise this cant be done on the main wing as there are no structure as such to support the covering .

Thanks rotax618,

The only foam i could buy in my home town is a product called "knauf foam" ive done my research on it and am quite comfortale using it.

The original foam in my tail feathers is - old school white styrofoam ! .

Thanks OME

Thanks so much Ken and OME , This info is gold to me.

Thank you Seb 7701 , i appreciate your taking the time to help me out, and all the information i recieve on this forum

Thanks M61A1

Hi everyone,

As some of you are aware, ive bought a drifter and am in the proccess of referbishing parts that i deam not acceptable.

Ive decided to replace all the tail feathers as the fabrics are very loose - covered in oil and ive heared "bits" rattling around inside as i move the elevators up and down.

Having only removed the rudder so far , ive noticed that some of the foam ribs have cracked and some brocken right through .

They seam to be made of styro foam ( the type the old fashioned cool light surfboards were made from ) .

Also they are wraped in some type of tape ? That has pretty much disintegrated!.

My question is should i replace the foam with a more modern foam ? And does anyone know what type of tape to use ?

Photo's attatched.

Thanks for any advice .

Cheers Greg.

like to do it right now but I get a message that your number is disconnected

not sure what happened there m8 - message says "not connected' - happy to call you my phone is on unlimited calls zero $$$

yeah m8, Dave is the moniker, Boleropilot is from my old paragliding days - my canopy was a Gin Bolero...flying in a reclined armchair at 5,000 feet with just a few square metres of cloth over your head - man that is THE way to fly

 

until those damn mountains rise up to smite thee - ouch big time, but I still miss it....

yeah m8, Dave is the moniker, Boleropilot is from my old paragliding days - my canopy was a Gin Bolero...flying in a reclined armchair at 5,000 feet with just a few square metres of cloth over your head - man that is THE way to fly

 

until those damn mountains rise up to smite thee - ouch big time, but I still miss it....

Oratex is supposed to be the bees knees m8 - look at: