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jbhart(at)onlyinternet.ne
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 Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:41 pm Post subject: FireFly Landing Gear Leg Strength Improvement |
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At 07:32 PM 5/19/08 -0400, you wrote:
| Quote: |
Jack, are the cables supposed to stretch somehow? If not, haven't
you lost any
bounce/terrain suppression the gear were supposed to have?
Maybe big bungees?
Now if you had a rod pushing down at the intersection of the cables,
attached to a coil spring
inboard?........... 
BB
do not archive
|
Bob and Bill,
My problem is that I do not have much of a free weight margin to stay under
254 pounds. So, I have to pretty much have to take what I can get just from
the cables alone.
Most of my flying is off hard surface runways. Once a month I fly to
Hagerstown for an EAA chapter meeting and once a year to the Wilber Wright
Memorial field south of Moreland, Indiana and land on grass. I prefer to
three point the FireFly with five degrees of flaperon and to make soft field
take offs with the same flaperon setting. I do this as my normal mode of
operation so that if I have to land out and/or take off from grass, I am up
to it. These approaches minimize the forward velocity and energy, so that
if I drop a wheel in a hole, it will minimize possible damage to the FireFly
and/or me. The modification has no effect for a wheel dropping into a hole.
I feel young, but I am over seventy and so slow is good for me. On takeoff,
I like to tease it off and I make sure I have the FireFly is under control
in ground effect before I advance the throttle for climb out. This has
served me well in the past when unexpected rotors during cross wind
conditions defied my expectations. In one case, I was able to retard the
throttle and ease the FireFly back onto the grass beside the runway to
prevent being sucked into some trees. Three pointing the FireFly ensures
that the FireFly touches down with minimal forward speed and energy. I
figure it has saved me twice due to engine outs. One was in a landing with
the rows in a bean field and the second was with the rows in a cross wind in
a corn stalk field.
The problem with three pointing comes if you round out a little too high.
The modification is designed to assist the gear leg in the case of
plopping. I would rather take a little rougher ride on the ground than
to spend time removing, straightening and re-installing landing gear legs.
I hope to be able to test it out tomorrow. If the modification does not
prove out, one snip of the cutters will remove it, and I will have my five
ounces back.
Jack B. Hart FF004
Winchester, IN
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slyck(at)frontiernet.net
Guest
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 6:05 pm Post subject: FireFly Landing Gear Leg Strength Improvement |
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Sounds good enough for me. Now that I look at the angles involved,
that should work ok.
Let us know after the test.
BB
do not archive
On 19, May 2008, at 9:38 PM, Jack B. Hart wrote:
| Quote: |
<jbhart(at)onlyinternet.net>
At 07:32 PM 5/19/08 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
> Jack, are the cables supposed to stretch somehow? If not, haven't
> you lost any
> bounce/terrain suppression the gear were supposed to have?
>
> Maybe big bungees?
>
> Now if you had a rod pushing down at the intersection of the cables,
> attached to a coil spring
> inboard?...........
> BB
> do not archive
Bob and Bill,
My problem is that I do not have much of a free weight margin to
stay under
254 pounds. So, I have to pretty much have to take what I can get
just from
the cables alone.
Most of my flying is off hard surface runways. Once a month I fly to
Hagerstown for an EAA chapter meeting and once a year to the Wilber
Wright
Memorial field south of Moreland, Indiana and land on grass. I
prefer to
three point the FireFly with five degrees of flaperon and to make
soft field
take offs with the same flaperon setting. I do this as my normal
mode of
operation so that if I have to land out and/or take off from grass,
I am up
to it. These approaches minimize the forward velocity and energy,
so that
if I drop a wheel in a hole, it will minimize possible damage to
the FireFly
and/or me. The modification has no effect for a wheel dropping
into a hole.
I feel young, but I am over seventy and so slow is good for me. On
takeoff,
I like to tease it off and I make sure I have the FireFly is under
control
in ground effect before I advance the throttle for climb out. This
has
served me well in the past when unexpected rotors during cross wind
conditions defied my expectations. In one case, I was able to
retard the
throttle and ease the FireFly back onto the grass beside the runway to
prevent being sucked into some trees. Three pointing the FireFly
ensures
that the FireFly touches down with minimal forward speed and
energy. I
figure it has saved me twice due to engine outs. One was in a
landing with
the rows in a bean field and the second was with the rows in a
cross wind in
a corn stalk field.
The problem with three pointing comes if you round out a little too
high.
The modification is designed to assist the gear leg in the case of
plopping. I would rather take a little rougher ride on the ground
than
to spend time removing, straightening and re-installing landing
gear legs.
I hope to be able to test it out tomorrow. If the modification
does not
prove out, one snip of the cutters will remove it, and I will have
my five
ounces back.
Jack B. Hart FF004
Winchester, IN
|
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