ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

Of course I couldn't get around early this morning to make it out to the aerodrome at Selby when the air was cool the winds were down.  But about noon I did make it out to move the throttle cable to the correct place from an engine mount replacement.  Plane idled great and I was soon in the air.  Temps were about 98, density altitude only about 4000 and only a 5 mph crosswind.  For Kansas.... near perfect... I had left the fuel valve open by mistake and it seems with the heat and all I had lost about 7 gallons of fuel over a month of sitting in a very hot hangar.  So flew to Welllington to grab some fuel was a nice flight past the new soon to be open casino and was a great landing at Wellington fueled up and took to the air feeling like the day would be one of my best.  Decided to fly over to Udall to a field we all fly to on a regular basis and saw Mike's hangar door open so decided to land and say hello which turned out to be a very good idea as he had a device to remove the struts from my plane for inspection.  Set up like normal and was landing pulling back on the yoke and waiting for the ground to kiss my wheels...well... I landed like a Kangaroo bouncing down the runway...glad Paul was somewhere else and the local landing judges were with their families and not on the field.  Chatted with Mike for a while and decided I needed to buzz the Alley field to make sure the Huns were in hiding on Independence weekend.  Saw some arial bursts from farms that I had not know to be hun hideouts so marked them on my map for further inspection.  Buzzed the Alley field and notice a cloud bank rushin to meet me so headed home to Selby.  Having landed on long half mile strips my poor 1300 field looked like the postage stamp it is,  made my approach and realized not only was I high but I was hot coming in and decided to abort the landing which might only be the 4th I have ever aborted.  Stayed in pattern and came around for a second attempt only to discover I was stuck in ground effect and couldn't get down.  So around again, for my second abort, flew a short pattern and came around seeing I was where I should have been the other times made my landing and parked at the hangar to back it into my spot and the heavens opened up... the old saying rain and fools fall from the air came to mind but got the plane put away.   And you know.... It was still one of the best days cause any day you can fly and see friends is a great day.  Course landing in 102 heat with 14 mph semi crosswinds always makes for a good day....

That is cutting it close to the weather Avenger, glad you got your bird down safely.  Those cross wind rotors coming off the trees bordering the runway sure make landing exciting.  Once dropping below the treetop, you have a roller coaster with broken wheels ride ahead of you.  

I returned from the EAA fly-in  in  Newton this  morning (Sunday), landing at 10:00 AM.  Had a great tailwind pushing me along at 85-90 mph, total trip  was just a smidge less than 30 minutes!  And here I bought  six gallons  of avgas at $5.55 a gallon just  prior to leaving  Newton! I could have made it with the 3-1/2 I had left  in the tanks.  Oh  well,  had no idea the wind was  that strong.

Paul Fiebich

Yes the wind sock was barely moving when I took off but at about 150 ft it was a lot stronger and the Thermals were a pain as well pretty bumpy flying but still was a great day as I hadn't been up since I put the new motor mounts in and goofed up my throttle linkage.  The rollers over the trees usually push you down so was surprised when I went into ground effect and the Tcraft just kept gliding so with half the field already behind me and at about 7 ft off the ground put the throttle to the firewall and flew around again.  I wish I had been able to go to the Newton deal but just couldn't get myself up and around and new I had to fix the plane when I got there, actually was a simple fix.  Will be in New Jersey all this week but maybe we can fly this coming weekend.  Watch out for those houses down around 136 st N and Hydralic seems there were a lot of flak bursts when I was flying over them.  The Huns maybe planning an attack from the south at any time.

Thanks  for the info on the new Hun nest, I  will be careful of that  area.  Our planes are vulnerable from ground fire, especially at the low altitudes we fly.  Evidence of this is my right tire.  After multiple takeoffs and landings  on Newton's very abrasive runway the Huns took advantage of that and perforated  it with their ground fire.  The  other  two-ply tire was too tough for their puny shells to penetrate.

The tire went flat when taxiing back to the hangar following my second candy bomb drop.  Seems all the air that was supposed to be inside the tube moved to the atmosphere surrounding the tire. Of course that caused an increase of the area's air pressure resulting performance changes.

But then since the tire is a wheelbarrow tire (4.0 x 6), I only need one anyway. At least that is the theory.  However, even though Bob Hoover can land on one main wheel, he still can't taxi that way. So I  guess we are even.

A new tire has been mounted and a test flight (100 miles) to Beaumont for breakfast and back proved that it is airworthy.

AirBike Ace

Gee! The poor tire was bit to death!
High camber seems to be the reason.
Maybe fleeping the tire in the rim will make it last longer.

Realistically, there are two problems contributing to this wear pattern in addition to the abrasive runway surface (but I am  not letting those damn Huns off the hook).  The other tire suffered similar wear but not as severe.

  1. The gear legs are from a Rans S-12. The tubes fit the AirBike sockets but the angle between  the gear  leg and axle resulted in about a 10 degree "squat"  which wears the inside of the  tire.
  2. A hard landing two years ago bent the right gear leg, not much but just enough to cause  it to toe-out resulting in a scuffing action as it rotates.

My solution so far has to remount  the  tire and flip it every six months, thus equalizing the wear.  

The real solution is to remove and straighten and overbend the gear in a hydraulic press.  That will be done this July during the Annual Condition Inspection.  I purchased two tires but only mounted one.  The other will be mounted during the ACI.

Paul Fiebich

I should have flown to Beaumont.  Got to the airport (ICT) at a bit after 11 the TSA was in full alert and even after my bag went throught the xray machine... and this was checked baggage.. they emptied the bag to inspect everything.  I made mention I would appreciate they folding back my clothes... you guys can guess how far that went.  My plane for Atalanta was to fly out at about 12:30 but it was canceled when I got there, next flight was at 3... which was canceled... next was 5 which was canceled next was 7,.,, which was canceled and then the last attempt to fly commercial was at 9:15pm and of course it was canceled so spent from a bit before noon to after 9 at the airport at gate 4.  Atlanta had bad weather all day and they weren't letting planes in or out.   So my class starts at 9 in the morning... I will fly out at 7:15 to minniapolis and from there to Newark NJ... not tempting the atlanta gods again.  Good thing I flew on sunday so I could at least remember how it was.   Paul your tire is worn out.... really worn out...and I missed a Beaumont breakfast....life just isn't fair... did have a mixed drink at the airport bar... double screwdriver was 9.75....

Avenger, as  you know I try to squeeze every bit  of life out of my  stuff that I can.  I saved that tire, figured that with multiple layers of rubber cement and grafting on some bicycle inner tube I can get a few more landings out of it.  Especially after I turn the tire around on the hub so the more fragile  parts no longer receive the most severe  wear.

Wow, you sure had an ordeal trying to get to your destination by commercial airliner.  At some point you must have thought about going over to Selby Aerodrome and firing up  your T-craft and making the flight on  your own.   You certainly could have beaten the multiple canceled air line service.

AirBike Ace

true enough and trust me I gave it thought all day long.... as for the tire the auzzie boys cut the bead off of it and put the new tire inside the worn one so that they can run the tire longer... course they usually don't wait till it is as gone as yours... but still  sort of like a run flat.  There is or was a pic of them on here at one time with the tire in the tire deal......I am now in new jersey... and the school guys said since I missed almost a day they couldn't pass me or give me the test to which I replied.... we paid 10,000 for the class the paperwork to say i passed is just that paperwork and that being able to install it was more important and I would just monitor the class....    I love my life... and want to be back at sebly in the air..... course I could just be venting by now.....