Part 103 Ultralights

[BIggerDanno]

This is where I did the shimming.
I added .016" of shim in one axis, .008 in the other.
The looseness was here at the control stick. Didn't have to do anything else.

 

[BIggerDanno]

Just tried the brakes today, they are not effective.
This system does not have a resivour for the fluid, so not sure how to fix the problem yet. I don't even know how to add fluid to it. A call to the brake manufacturer (Matco) might be in order.
I'll try bleeding first.

 

[nomad]

A 'scene of death and horror':

"Hundreds of persons milled around in the beet field between Longmont and Platteville," reporter Jack Gaskie wrote for the next day's newspaper. "There were certain things to do – cover the bodies, make futile efforts to quell the flames of the fiercely burning wreckage. But for the most part, they stood around in quiet, stunned groups, waiting."

A 'scene of death and horror': The night a son blew up his mother's flight over Colorado

The explosion of United Air Lines Flight 629, 64 years ago this week, was the first attack on a commercial airline in United States. It was also the deadliest act of mass murder in Colorado history, killing all 44 people on board.

www.thedenverchannel.com

You are not ignoring me are you??? tsk tsk tsk

 

[nomad]

Rutan arrived at Bede headquarters in Newton, Kansas, in March 1972. The second BD-5 prototype, N501BD, was then under construction. The new version was made of aluminum and had a conventional vertical tail, a swept horizontal stabilator and a 40-hp Kiekhaefer snowmobile engine. Rutan’s job: get the airplane ready to fly and conduct the flight-test program. One of his first moves was to hire a friend and fellow engineer from Edwards, Les Berven, as chief test pilot.
Rutan quickly discovered that 501 was hideously tail-heavy. (Solution: Fill up the nosecone with lead.) The flaps had to be redesigned. High-speed taxi-testing led to a complete redesign of the stabilator. After a deal to buy production engines from Kiekhaefer fell through, a German-made 40-hp Hirth snowmobile engine was substituted.

Why Did This Crazy Kitplane Kill So Many Pilots?

Jim Bede aimed high with his little homebuilt BD-5 bullet, but engine woes and questionable financial moves caused him to overshoot the target.

www.historynet.com

 

[Snail]

You want good brakes. That's what makes a pusher so effective for short field landings. You can almost do a stoppie, without pranging a prop.

 

[Vandal]

How much ordnance can they carry?

 

[Rhino]

This is the plane that tows the gliders up.

Not sure if it's an altralight but it isn't a heavy weight either.

 

[nomad]

Anyone on this thread got ANY flyin experience?

 

[Snail]

Yes.

 

[Bandit Man]

Yes

 

[BIggerDanno]

By the strict definition of an ultralight, it is not.
Too heavy and not allowed to tow anything. This makes it an experimental aircraft.

 

[Snail]

That's how we licensed our side by side trainer, experimental. It was nice, fully enclosed, 100 hp Rotax, variable pitch prop, we converted it from tricycle to tail dragger.

It was very very fun, except when it got windy...and where I live it's windy 367 days/year

Did I mention they don't like wind?

 

[BIggerDanno]

It is windy here in the Spring. Has been blowing since first of March, will continue for a few more weeks. Too windy to fly, so it's a good time to be working on the plane.