Hi all,
Long time, no see! So, I made my first ultralight flight this past weekend. Climbed into a 447-powered single-seat Drifter and went for a spin. It's my first experience with a pusher of any kind, and it was an enlightening experience.
The Drifter, for the uninitiated, is sort of a mini AirCam. As a matter of fact, Lockwood has the rights to this airplane now, so it make sense that it seems as though the Drifter eventually developed into the Super Drifter and then the AirCam (my interpretation of its history). You sit way out in front of the wing with all the airplane behind you. For a guy who has sat behind an engine inside and under/over a wing for everything he's flown, this is quite an interesting viewpoint.
There's no denying the view is impeccable. It's a smidge disconcerting, too, as all of the visual cues of my attitude (wing tip, jury strut, etc.) are all gone. So getting your bearings, especially during approach, is challenging.
I learned that wire-braced critters glide like stones, and pushers do different things with the nose when power is applied or reduced. While I'm sure, in time, a fella could figure out the power-off glide characteristics while coming in for a landing, I'm told that carrying power during landing is the way to handle these guys. That's not to say that I didn't fall back to familiar habits and drop it in where I should have kept in power. On my last landing of the day, I felt the aircraft sinking faster than I wanted it to be, so I instinctively added power to arrest it, but didn't account for the nose-over that came with it and pushed it onto the ground pretty hard. Hard enough to bend the axle and one of the vertical support tubes beside the king post.
So while I await parts to arrive from Lockwood for repairs, I've been doing a lot of episode recreation in my head, consulting with trusted aviation advisors, and generally over-analyzing the day as I tend to do. Considering my next moves, what not to do on my next flight, and how to have a generally successful day. The film is still running in my head now as I type this, glad that I still have the opportunity to do so!
That's the challenge with ultralights: no dual instruction. So we work with the information we have and make the best of a learning opportunity!
~Chris
Long time, no see! So, I made my first ultralight flight this past weekend. Climbed into a 447-powered single-seat Drifter and went for a spin. It's my first experience with a pusher of any kind, and it was an enlightening experience.
The Drifter, for the uninitiated, is sort of a mini AirCam. As a matter of fact, Lockwood has the rights to this airplane now, so it make sense that it seems as though the Drifter eventually developed into the Super Drifter and then the AirCam (my interpretation of its history). You sit way out in front of the wing with all the airplane behind you. For a guy who has sat behind an engine inside and under/over a wing for everything he's flown, this is quite an interesting viewpoint.
There's no denying the view is impeccable. It's a smidge disconcerting, too, as all of the visual cues of my attitude (wing tip, jury strut, etc.) are all gone. So getting your bearings, especially during approach, is challenging.
I learned that wire-braced critters glide like stones, and pushers do different things with the nose when power is applied or reduced. While I'm sure, in time, a fella could figure out the power-off glide characteristics while coming in for a landing, I'm told that carrying power during landing is the way to handle these guys. That's not to say that I didn't fall back to familiar habits and drop it in where I should have kept in power. On my last landing of the day, I felt the aircraft sinking faster than I wanted it to be, so I instinctively added power to arrest it, but didn't account for the nose-over that came with it and pushed it onto the ground pretty hard. Hard enough to bend the axle and one of the vertical support tubes beside the king post.
So while I await parts to arrive from Lockwood for repairs, I've been doing a lot of episode recreation in my head, consulting with trusted aviation advisors, and generally over-analyzing the day as I tend to do. Considering my next moves, what not to do on my next flight, and how to have a generally successful day. The film is still running in my head now as I type this, glad that I still have the opportunity to do so!
That's the challenge with ultralights: no dual instruction. So we work with the information we have and make the best of a learning opportunity!
~Chris