FLYER Forums

Today at Wellesbourne...

Lovely pic. Never seen that Chippy before .... where is it based?
And as for the Mustang .............. Simply Fabulous.

Last time I saw the Chippy at Wellesbourne someone parked the tailwheel in the crop from taxying too close to the field when parking then swinging the tail out. I guess it was a nosedragger pilot doing t/w conversion with Ontrack.

I guess that the P51 is Jumpin Jacques. PT sometimes pops in.

The P51 certainly is Jumpin' Jaques from North Weald. The Chipmunk normally lives at Enstone. Enstone Flying Club and On-Track at Wellesbourne use it for T/W and aeros instruction. I popped in to meet someone for a coffee and was surprised by the line of people with cameras. A couple of minutes later the P-51 arrived and all became clear!

I did my AOPA Aeros certificate in this Chippy last July.

Al N recounted to us the other day about how someone tried to do a stall turn to the *right* when in James's Chippy.

BlueRobin wrote:Al N recounted to us the other day about how someone tried to do a stall turn to the *right* when in James's Chippy.

I would have thought that to the right would have been easier with the engine rotating that way


FG

Foie Gras wrote:

BlueRobin wrote:Al N recounted to us the other day about how someone tried to do a stall turn to the *right* when in James's Chippy.

I would have thought that to the right would have been easier with the engine rotating that way


FG

Yup. The difficult stall turn is to the left with the Chippy. However, this one has a light composite prop, so less gyroscopic effect than with the original metal type. Mind you, I'm still trying to get the easy direction stall turns sorted out without having that interminable hanging feeling while the aeroplane makes up its mind whether to go round or slide out on its back! Guess I need (a lot) more practice. I envy those airshow guys who pivot neatly on a wingtip.

Yup. The difficult stall turn is to the left with the Chippy. However, this one has a light composite prop, so less gyroscopic effect than with the original metal type. Mind you, I'm still trying to get the easy direction stall turns sorted out without having that interminable hanging feeling while the aeroplane makes up its mind whether to go round or slide out on its back! Guess I need (a lot) more practice. I envy those airshow guys who pivot neatly on a wingtip.

Just before I stall turn I check that I'm still vertical & add a touch of forward stick (not much) just before the turn to check any tendency to continue backwards.

I've found that a stall turn 'the wrong way' to the right in the Firefly works well if you half close the throttle when at 70kts and fully close at 60 just before you rudder the turn. It works consistently. To the left you can simply leave the throttle alone and rudder the turn at 50.

Maybe the same approach would work in a chippie if you played with the speeds to suit?

I don't do competition stuff so this may be technically incorrect but it feels right to me and works consistently.

Ray

[b]jloxsemi[/b] keep at it, I found it kinda "clicked" one day and now they are reasonably consistant every time.

In the dawg, I tend to feel the way the aircraft is "talking to me" - vibration, sound of the air past the canopy (or rather the sound of the air noise dropping off to near silent) and finally the amount of right rudder that I have been feeding in to keep the left wing level with the horizon... then its time to kick left and waggle the stick about :lol: (normally forward and right) so the nose goes through where the wing was..

Thats the easy one on the dog, to the left, with the propellor.

Going right, every one Ive ever done has needed a helping hand with a reduction of throttle to drag me round past the 45deg "like an elastic band" as I was once told. Seems to work...the ruddering time is slightly earlier.

Out of interest I read a very recent AIIB report on a chippie that lost engine power in a low altitude stall turn and didnt re-start... Mmm I do mine quite a bit higher than they did, my Balls arnt big enough for that :0)

[b]Ray [/b]- what engine have you got in the Firefly? (I believe there are various types?)
[b]jloxsemi[/b] how does it compare to the Bulldog XX521? (Im guessing thats yours)

'Almost' asked about the Firefly engine..

The only ones I've flown are the T67M260 models which have a 260 HP LYCOMING AEIO-540-D4A5 engine with 3 bladed VP prop. Of the two I've flown G BYOB is a 1999 model and is based at Stapleford, G EFSM is the same model, but was built in 1992 and is normally based at Cambridge.

There are other models with smaller engines and 2 bladed props but I can't speak for them.

[quote='Almost']
Out of interest I read a very recent AIIB report on a chippie that lost engine power in a low altitude stall turn and didnt re-start... Mmm I do mine quite a bit higher than they did, my Balls arnt big enough for that :0)

[b]jloxsemi[/b] how does it compare to the Bulldog XX521? (Im guessing thats yours)[/quote]

I suspect you are right - more practice required, and an instructor to critique it. I trade altitude for ineptitude - start my aeros at 6000ft and stop at 4,500ft. There was a recent 'Chirp' about Chipmunks with 4-point harnesses (no -ve g strap) allowing the rear seat cushion to slide out when inverted (and no one sitting on it, of course) - that little lesson was learned by someone flying my Chippy!!!!!

In general, aeros in the Chipmunk are much more aerodynamic than the Bulldog - in the 'dog you do it like is says in the instructions (e.g. dive to 140kt and pull to 3.5g for a loop) and round it goes. the Chipmunk give much nicer aerodynamic feedback - you feel like you are riding on the air rather than shoving through it, in my experience, and loops and barrel rolls are a delight. I suppose as soon as you go vertical aerodynamics loses out to gravity, and my results are similar in each aircraft. I really think I don't do enough to be good at it, so my new years resolution for 2008 is 'practice stall turns'.

Thanks for the advice.

James

Perhaps a short flight to the South West to visit the Dark Side?

You know you want to...........