Sport Pilot Talk

Oh good that came up. Forgot about letter C.

http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co. ... Corben.pdf

Great article! Very useful in absence of a pilot’s manual.

Any recommendations on Inexpensively extending the handheld radio range?

I have been using a RG88 coax cable with BNC connector into the handheld. Connect that to a normal aircraft antenna. Hopefully there is room to mount one on the center section fairing or behind cockpit.

shielded ignition harness helps a lot. The Slick mags will have P lead filtering using the condensers in the mag.

If Bendix you may need P lead filters. LoneStar makes a set that may work. A lot cheaper than the Univair / bendix type but you will need to solder
the ends onto the wires where they connect to the mags and connect the shielding.

But you shouldn’t need a lot of range. Just enough to get in contact with a tower if you want to land at a class D airport and make position calls in the pattern uncontrolled. The existing antenna on the handheld might be enough.

Find a battery bank for powering things. They should be available as a jump pack or similar Should run everything almost all day.

If no ELT consider a SPOT or Spidertrax personal locator beacon. There are other brands too.

Most A-65's will have 2 impulses if they have impulses, but if it has only one you need to figure out which mag it is on and start on that mag when hot. It will still be okay to start on both when cold. Without the impulse the mags are firing at 30° BTC.

Ham, I live in Roswell, GA just north of Atlanta. I will be out of town for Thanksgiving, but if there is any way I can help you in this endeavor, let me know. I will PM you my name and phone number.

TimTaylor wrote:Ham, I live in Roswell, GA just north of Atlanta. I will be out of town for Thanksgiving, but if there is any way I can help you in this endeavor, let me know. I will PM you my name and phone number.

Thanks for the offer, Tim! I'll see how things go.

If you care to dogleg up to the beautiful N GA, E TN mountains, keep Copperhill, TN or Lenoir City, TN in mind if you end up making the trip home. I can have ethanol free 91+ MOGAS available, along with tools and coffee and conversation, and maybe even overnight lodging.

Regardless, enjoying your process vicariously!

And a grass strip in Lenoir City.

FastEddieB wrote:If you care to dogleg up to the beautiful N GA, E TN mountains, keep Copperhill, TN or Lenoir City, TN in mind if you end up making the trip home. I can have ethanol free 91+ MOGAS available, along with tools and coffee and conversation, and maybe even overnight lodging.

Regardless, enjoying your process vicariously!

TimTaylor wrote:And a grass strip in Lenoir City.

Thank you so much for the offers, and for the useful info!

Getting close to heading out to Florida to finish the endorsement, then up to Georgia to potentially buy the Baby Ace.

So... how to test fly a single-seat airplane? Should I have the seller demo the aircraft in the pattern while I watch from the ground before I take it up? Is that an unreasonable request to the seller?

Your just finishing your tailwheel endorsement? ?
FInd anyone to take a look at the airplane?
1. How did compression test come out on the engine?
2. Prop torque check and is timing ok before you try to head west?
3. Gascolator clean? I’d put avgas in it for the trip if they are running autogas.
4. Grease the tailwheel and check that everything is tight

5. Were the logs all there? At least current airframe and engine?
6. Weight balance?
7. Pink copy of the limitations for Experimental
8. Title search ok for registration?
9. any exhaust cracks in the elbows of the stacks under the heat muffs?
10. Oil screen ok?
11. tire pressure
12. Brakes work?

a. I would say have the seller start the airplane, Watch exactly what technique has been working for them.
b. Watch them fly it around the pattern and maybe overhead and listen for anything unusual. Ask if they can fly hands off for a reasonable amount of time. Old trick of standing on the rudder when out of rig to put both hands up in the cockpit while flying by may happen. Not much you can do.
c. A stall power off at safe altitude is nice to see.
d. Watch for tailwheel shimmy if landing on pavement
e. Ask about elevator trim setting for takeoff
f. Ask about Indicated speeds for various phases of flight. Climb and landing approach. These may vary wildly from published figures due to plumbing, instruments and static port location.

g. It probably won’t be possible to test fly the airplane before buying it. You should be able to maybe give a refundable deposit and at least taxi it around on the ramp slowly to see if brakes work and tailwheel steering works.
h. Fast taxi is NOT a good idea at this time before insurance and purchase.
i. Do a good mag check and see if there is any carb heat RPM drop. check off works at low idle momentarily.
j. Check idle oil pressure while hot.
k. Ask what has been working for a hot start procedure
l. Find a good spot with low traffic and decent grass runway if possible to take delivery and for your first flight.
m. Sit in cockpit and pay attention to nose attitude above the horizon Look for the exact horizon spots on each side of the cowling to match up when 3 point during the flare.
n. Make sure you know how to turn the fuel off and what each control does.
o. Fast taxi should be approached with real caution. It wrecks airplanes. The most I would do is maybe full power to the point the tail comes up then chop it and keep stick back to stop. Crow hopping runs out of runway really fast as the airplane gets faster and low partial power with the tailwheel just off the ground is great to go bounding through the rhubarb off the side of the runway.
p. You hopefully will know it can fly and will run long enough to get around the pattern from watching previous owner test fly. Your the variable at this point. I would takeoff. Full power to climb and just get to some decent altitude. After that normal cruise and get a little familiar with the airplane. Basic simple maneuvers. some slow flight and power off or low power stalls. Save full power on for much later. Then around the pattern at pattern altitude. After that land normally 3 point full stall into the wind on GRASS if you can. Remember exactly where to have the horizon on the cowling to match up for the correct 3 point attitude. I usually do not hang out the side but keep my head reasonably straight to feel when the airplane wants to swing on a new airplane.
Hopefully if you got through all that ok then it’s time to check for leaks and if all ok practice more before headed west.

Really excellent suggestions. EAA has published a checklist for Phase One testing of E-ABs. Follow it. Although this is not a new airplane, it is new to you. The idea is not just to put the plane through its paces, but to put you through yours.

You might want to try to gather (from documentation and previous owner) all critical numbers before you fly the plane. I have a genetic aircraft specs checklist available at http://avsport.org/docs/acftspec.pdf. Fill in all the applicable blanks and learn the numbers before you try to fly it.

One other suggestion. Sit in the cockpit and find the stick position where the elevators appear neutral (streamlined with the horizontal stabilizer) In homebuilts this is often very far forward of what would be neutral in a J-3 or champ. Make a mental note of this position so your not surprised by where the stick needs to be after liftoff.

A huge thanks to all for your time, experiences, recommendations, suggestions, and well-wishes. It is all duly noted, documented, and will be followed.

If I buy the plane after I finish the endorsement, and at any point I don't feel up to the task of flying it home, apparently the wings come off fairly easily and I'll stuff it in the back of a U-Haul and trundle down I-10 for a few days!