NorthWestJackApril 21, 2013, 5:31pm
Probably most of you have seen these videos shot a few years ago, but since they dont come up right away when you type in Minimax I thought I would put a link up.
some additional info:
this is the airport at Arlington WA. it has three runways and the ultralights are allowed to fly inside the triangle. makes landings and takeoffs very easy without interfering with GA traffic. also is a nice grass strip next to the runways where most of the ultralights land. I prefer landing on grass.
As you can see the easiest and safest way to land a minimax is to pick up speed by diving towards the runway and then flare once close to the ground. during this "dive" the speed picks up to about 65-70 MPH, also the throttle is at idle. I at first tried landing appproaches like I would in Champ, but the Minimax glide ratio is only about 7:1 so a controlled glide at slow speed on final is not the best option.
A friend of mine did the first flight and had losts of experience in smaller airplanes. However not in a minimax. He proceeded to come in for a landing at 40-45 MPH which he thought was adequate. However the minimax is descending at 400 feet per minute and will not flare at that speed, so he took out the landing gear and bend the struts. he also injured his spine a little bit. Took a few months to heal.
amazingly enough, the fuselage and wings were not damaged, which makes me feel quite good about the strenght of the minimax.
So keep up the speed. As you can see, the speed bleeds of very quickly once you pull the stick back.
I have a 2702 Hirth 40HP. which is agreat engine. Never had any problems in 7 years of flying.
that was my son flying and I was filming.
her is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNjuPZB6CPg&feature=player_detailpage
jacq
some additional info:
this is the airport at Arlington WA. it has three runways and the ultralights are allowed to fly inside the triangle. makes landings and takeoffs very easy without interfering with GA traffic. also is a nice grass strip next to the runways where most of the ultralights land. I prefer landing on grass.
As you can see the easiest and safest way to land a minimax is to pick up speed by diving towards the runway and then flare once close to the ground. during this "dive" the speed picks up to about 65-70 MPH, also the throttle is at idle. I at first tried landing appproaches like I would in Champ, but the Minimax glide ratio is only about 7:1 so a controlled glide at slow speed on final is not the best option.
A friend of mine did the first flight and had losts of experience in smaller airplanes. However not in a minimax. He proceeded to come in for a landing at 40-45 MPH which he thought was adequate. However the minimax is descending at 400 feet per minute and will not flare at that speed, so he took out the landing gear and bend the struts. he also injured his spine a little bit. Took a few months to heal.
amazingly enough, the fuselage and wings were not damaged, which makes me feel quite good about the strenght of the minimax.
So keep up the speed. As you can see, the speed bleeds of very quickly once you pull the stick back.
I have a 2702 Hirth 40HP. which is agreat engine. Never had any problems in 7 years of flying.
that was my son flying and I was filming.
her is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNjuPZB6CPg&feature=player_detailpage
jacq