A reminder: this work is (c) 2010 by James Wiebe. Reproduction is prohibited. You may link to this blog or this posting.
Chapter 1: First Flight
I grew up in Hillsboro, KS -- a town of about 3000 people in Marion County, Kansas.
Having lost my father before my fourth birthday, I have treasured experiences which I was given by other male figures in my youthful years.
I attended Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church in Hillsboro. There was a man there, by the name of Dave Breese. He was large man -- not necessarily in girth, but certainly in height, and also certainly in stature within that Church. He was an 'evangelist', a radio speaker, an author, and -- a pilot. I remember an odd characteristic of Dave Breese: he attended our Church, but he was not a member. Odd. I don't quite know how to explain it.
As it pertains to flying, I do not remember how the invitation was made, but I do know that one Sunday afternoon, probably when I was 12 years old, he offered to give me a ride in his twin engine airplane. This was an opportunity nearly on the level with Red Ryder BB guns. An airplane ride.
I am positive that afternoon was a sunny day with bright white cumulus clouds. A perfect flying day.
I do remember being in the airplane as he started each engine -- and I remember my anxiety that the engines wouldn't start. But they did.
In those days, the Hillsboro airport was a grass strip. In later years, it was paved; it suffered a fatal aircraft accident; (hence it's name, Alfred Schroeder field, honoring one of the dead) and I flew often from it.
"The Standard Pilot Blog"TM The Chipper and Radiant Blog for Experimental and Ultralight (Part 103) Aircraft (c) 2010 thru (c) 2020 by James Wiebe.
Showing posts with label flying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flying. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thorough Belite Superlite Review Published!
This extensive review covers the flight characteristics of our Superlite plane, along with an excellent description of our assembly facility.
Please enjoy the reading and pictures, which you may find here in PDF form. Alternatively, read the 'text only' version after clicking on this alternative text only link:
My thanks to Scott for writing such a thorough article.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Bunny Hops & Flying POV
I received a call from my daughter earlier today. She's currently a counselor at Camp Quaker Haven and it was the first time I'd heard her voice since she left last week. She's also our 'corporate cinematographer', and has produced almost all of the videos that Belite has posted on Youtube.
"Hey Dad," she said. "Did you know that I posted another Belite video before I left Wichita?"
No, I didn't know that.
It's great having a cinematographer in the family! More video to show people what we are doing.
I had taken quite a bit of video, shot from my Point Of View, while flying the Superlite several weeks ago. It does a great job of showing the world flying by while piloting an agile single seat airplane. You can see it here:
Also, we shot some video of our Trike a few weeks ago. It's just a series of bunny hops, mostly up and down the runway, but it shows the gentle landing characteristics of the Trike.
(A little off topic: I flew both of these planes earlier today, in Kansas strong winds. They handled the wind with no difficulty).
Anyway, here's the video of the Trike doing bunny hops.
The Trike has free castering nosewheel steering. You turn the airplane by applying either left or right heel brake. I'm reminded of when I first flew a Grumman Cheetah back in 1978 or 1979: ground handling works basically the same.
"Hey Dad," she said. "Did you know that I posted another Belite video before I left Wichita?"
No, I didn't know that.
It's great having a cinematographer in the family! More video to show people what we are doing.
I had taken quite a bit of video, shot from my Point Of View, while flying the Superlite several weeks ago. It does a great job of showing the world flying by while piloting an agile single seat airplane. You can see it here:
Also, we shot some video of our Trike a few weeks ago. It's just a series of bunny hops, mostly up and down the runway, but it shows the gentle landing characteristics of the Trike.
(A little off topic: I flew both of these planes earlier today, in Kansas strong winds. They handled the wind with no difficulty).
Anyway, here's the video of the Trike doing bunny hops.
The Trike has free castering nosewheel steering. You turn the airplane by applying either left or right heel brake. I'm reminded of when I first flew a Grumman Cheetah back in 1978 or 1979: ground handling works basically the same.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Sharpness
Chapter One: Clouds
The recent rains and intermittent sunshine have caused the countryside around Wichita to explode with green. Planted fields are already substantially sprouted. Trees have all their leaves. Plowed fields provide a dark, wet contrast.
I am looking it all over; I am sitting in my airplane, looking out. To the north, I am struck by the dark charcoal clouds. They are hanging over the fields -- providing even more enunciation of color, dampness, wetness, nature. 500 feet off the ground; perhaps a little more. Occasionally my altitude wanders lower.
The clouds are like slashes of charcoal across a matte paper.
It has rained heavily. A creek is roaring between its banks -- all waters are thick brown. A bit of foam dances up to one bank, but somehow is repelled away. The vision recedes behind me.
I cross the Kansas turnpike. I see a plaza between the lanes. Cars can pull in; get gas; eat at the McDonalds, and go on their way. I wonder who is looking up from the cars, and what they think of my airplane. I'm sure almost all are puzzled: my airplane looks like a dragon.
A few days ago, a trio of deer had run across a field while I circled my dragon above them. Did they see me? I saw them.
I am, in some oblique sense of the word, wasting time.
I find myself once again flying over my friend Terry's home. I don't see his truck; I do see his airstrip. The airstrip is oddly hidden, because of the depth of the grass. (Terry, it needs to be mowed.)
Glancing at the gas gauge, I see 60% fuel remaining. Lots of time to continue to waste.
I can feel a bit of vibration coming up through the heels of my shoes. I've not noticed it before. Like many other pilots who've mused over an odd vibration or sound, I start to think about what could be wrong.
Nothing. Nothing is wrong.
Looking south, I can see 30 or 40 miles to the horizon.
Looking to the north again, the sky is a little hazier. The north horizon is not nearly as sharp as the south. There is more humidity in the air.
An odd thing happens: it starts to rain. Just lightly; but enough to patter the windshield. The doors are not installed on this airplane, and even so, I remain dry.
I have my leather coat on. I'm also wearing a stocking cap, noise cancelling headphones, and light gloves. It's a perfect combination. I can feel the wind beating on the sleeves of the coat as they rest on the sides of the fuselage. My torso and head stay in calm air.
Now I'm even more relaxed: I've pulled my feet off the rudder pedals. The airplane now moves wherever I want it to using just the control stick.
Above the clouds, the sun is shining. Below the clouds, there is ample evidence of the sun and its working: green-ness; creeks; fields; rain; cool flyable air; much more.
Chapter Two: Technicalities
The Belite uses a 5 gallon tank. The purposes of my flight today was to verify instrument functionality and to also nail down fuel consumption. We I flew the plane for exactly one hour and then measured the reserve. I had 1.6 gallons of fuel remaining.
This means that the Superlite fuel consumption with a Hirth 50HP F23 engine @ 5800RPM is about 3.4 gallons per hour. This allows 1 hour and 25 minutes from full to dry tank. Based on a cruising speed of about 60 mph, this gives a reachable radius of about 75 miles in calm winds. I may be able to improve this a little; I've ordered a cruise prop to go with my engine.
Chapter Three: Crosswinds
Our airstrip is 2600 feet long and about 75 feet wide. Beyond each side is an ample unmowed area.
A few days ago, we had a very blustery crosswind.
I looked at the runway a little differently. I walked across it, and picked up some grass. Tossing it up, and looking diagonally backwards, I saw a new runway, constructed by landing on the existing runway diagonally.
"I know what you are doing," said Doug, who runs his small business out of a hangar close to mine and had walked up behind me.
Doug practices whenever possible in one of his helicopters (he's a dealer). He understands the importance of practice, and he saw that I was trying to increase my practice time by overcoming the crosswind blues.
Comfortable with my new 'make-do' runway selection, I took off into the sharp crosswind. I started making circuits around the pattern and the field, re-creating the new pattern.
My new pattern works beautifully. I land without event, diagonally across the existing runway. I take off again. I land in some slightly taller grass. The feeling of moving through the grass on touchdown is ... I struggle for the right word. Great?! Wonderful!? Smooth?? These are not the right words.
There is no adequate word. Landing in the taller grass makes me feel like an adventurer. I don't know how to put that into one word.
This reminds me of when I landed in the flint hills, nearly a year ago. I remember the flow of the grass in the wind, and the feeling of gentleness, as my airplane settled into the thick grass on touchdown.
I take off and land again. Each landing builds confidence.
Chapter 4: El Dorado
The lineman at the El Dorado airport can't believe his eyes: He's never seen a plane as small as mine. We full my gas tank up with 100LL. Total bill, about $8.
Smallest plane he's ever seen; smallest gas sale ever as well.
Chapter 5: Instruments
I occasionally glance at the instruments on the panel. I like what I see! The clouds have completely blocked the sun; I flip the switch over to the 'dim' setting. The LEDs in the panel have a soft glow.
I roll the plane into a turn to the left; the turn gyro shows the turn. I note that my trim tab on the rudder is not quite set correctly: the slip indicator shows a constant 'one dot' slip to the left. I see that I have 30% of my gas remaining: perhaps it's time to land. I've throttled back and the airspeed is showing 55. All is well.
These instruments provide a sharpness about the condition of the airplane: I know my range; I know my speed; I know if I'm straight and level; I know how I'm doing. I like what I see.
I look back at the ground. There is so much green, and so much sharp definition between fields, prairies, creeks, horizon, and clouds.
I can't wait to fly again.
The recent rains and intermittent sunshine have caused the countryside around Wichita to explode with green. Planted fields are already substantially sprouted. Trees have all their leaves. Plowed fields provide a dark, wet contrast.
I am looking it all over; I am sitting in my airplane, looking out. To the north, I am struck by the dark charcoal clouds. They are hanging over the fields -- providing even more enunciation of color, dampness, wetness, nature. 500 feet off the ground; perhaps a little more. Occasionally my altitude wanders lower.
The clouds are like slashes of charcoal across a matte paper.
It has rained heavily. A creek is roaring between its banks -- all waters are thick brown. A bit of foam dances up to one bank, but somehow is repelled away. The vision recedes behind me.
I cross the Kansas turnpike. I see a plaza between the lanes. Cars can pull in; get gas; eat at the McDonalds, and go on their way. I wonder who is looking up from the cars, and what they think of my airplane. I'm sure almost all are puzzled: my airplane looks like a dragon.
A few days ago, a trio of deer had run across a field while I circled my dragon above them. Did they see me? I saw them.
I am, in some oblique sense of the word, wasting time.
I find myself once again flying over my friend Terry's home. I don't see his truck; I do see his airstrip. The airstrip is oddly hidden, because of the depth of the grass. (Terry, it needs to be mowed.)
Glancing at the gas gauge, I see 60% fuel remaining. Lots of time to continue to waste.
I can feel a bit of vibration coming up through the heels of my shoes. I've not noticed it before. Like many other pilots who've mused over an odd vibration or sound, I start to think about what could be wrong.
Nothing. Nothing is wrong.
Looking south, I can see 30 or 40 miles to the horizon.
Looking to the north again, the sky is a little hazier. The north horizon is not nearly as sharp as the south. There is more humidity in the air.
An odd thing happens: it starts to rain. Just lightly; but enough to patter the windshield. The doors are not installed on this airplane, and even so, I remain dry.
I have my leather coat on. I'm also wearing a stocking cap, noise cancelling headphones, and light gloves. It's a perfect combination. I can feel the wind beating on the sleeves of the coat as they rest on the sides of the fuselage. My torso and head stay in calm air.
Now I'm even more relaxed: I've pulled my feet off the rudder pedals. The airplane now moves wherever I want it to using just the control stick.
Above the clouds, the sun is shining. Below the clouds, there is ample evidence of the sun and its working: green-ness; creeks; fields; rain; cool flyable air; much more.
Chapter Two: Technicalities
The Belite uses a 5 gallon tank. The purposes of my flight today was to verify instrument functionality and to also nail down fuel consumption. We I flew the plane for exactly one hour and then measured the reserve. I had 1.6 gallons of fuel remaining.
This means that the Superlite fuel consumption with a Hirth 50HP F23 engine @ 5800RPM is about 3.4 gallons per hour. This allows 1 hour and 25 minutes from full to dry tank. Based on a cruising speed of about 60 mph, this gives a reachable radius of about 75 miles in calm winds. I may be able to improve this a little; I've ordered a cruise prop to go with my engine.
Chapter Three: Crosswinds
Our airstrip is 2600 feet long and about 75 feet wide. Beyond each side is an ample unmowed area.
A few days ago, we had a very blustery crosswind.
I looked at the runway a little differently. I walked across it, and picked up some grass. Tossing it up, and looking diagonally backwards, I saw a new runway, constructed by landing on the existing runway diagonally.
"I know what you are doing," said Doug, who runs his small business out of a hangar close to mine and had walked up behind me.
Doug practices whenever possible in one of his helicopters (he's a dealer). He understands the importance of practice, and he saw that I was trying to increase my practice time by overcoming the crosswind blues.
Comfortable with my new 'make-do' runway selection, I took off into the sharp crosswind. I started making circuits around the pattern and the field, re-creating the new pattern.
My new pattern works beautifully. I land without event, diagonally across the existing runway. I take off again. I land in some slightly taller grass. The feeling of moving through the grass on touchdown is ... I struggle for the right word. Great?! Wonderful!? Smooth?? These are not the right words.
There is no adequate word. Landing in the taller grass makes me feel like an adventurer. I don't know how to put that into one word.
This reminds me of when I landed in the flint hills, nearly a year ago. I remember the flow of the grass in the wind, and the feeling of gentleness, as my airplane settled into the thick grass on touchdown.
I take off and land again. Each landing builds confidence.
Chapter 4: El Dorado
The lineman at the El Dorado airport can't believe his eyes: He's never seen a plane as small as mine. We full my gas tank up with 100LL. Total bill, about $8.
Smallest plane he's ever seen; smallest gas sale ever as well.
Chapter 5: Instruments
I occasionally glance at the instruments on the panel. I like what I see! The clouds have completely blocked the sun; I flip the switch over to the 'dim' setting. The LEDs in the panel have a soft glow.
I roll the plane into a turn to the left; the turn gyro shows the turn. I note that my trim tab on the rudder is not quite set correctly: the slip indicator shows a constant 'one dot' slip to the left. I see that I have 30% of my gas remaining: perhaps it's time to land. I've throttled back and the airspeed is showing 55. All is well.
These instruments provide a sharpness about the condition of the airplane: I know my range; I know my speed; I know if I'm straight and level; I know how I'm doing. I like what I see.
I look back at the ground. There is so much green, and so much sharp definition between fields, prairies, creeks, horizon, and clouds.
I can't wait to fly again.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The Magic Carpet Ride...
On Labor Day, earlier this week, I tried to fly our first production Belite 254 airplane for the very first time. The weather was great, the airplane was ready for its maiden flight.
My friend Terry had flown his faithful Kitfox Lite over from his home base so he could help and see the maiden voyage.
I started with taxi tests, and if those went well, I would proceed to a flight test.
Unfortunately, the taxi tests did not go well that day. We had a problem with the brakes, and so we had to get them fixed before proceeding to the test flight. And then for the next 3 days, the weather was terrible. In one day, Wichita had 5 inches of rain. Not exactly weather for first flights in an airplane.
This afternoon, the rain stopped, the wind eased and the skies cleared enough for a test flight. Terry met me at Jabara so we could give my FAR part 103 legal airplane another try. (FAR Part 103 -- google it! It means you or I can fly it anytime without a pilot's license, without a registration, and without even the need for a medical in this class of aircraft).
The pictures tell the tale. The very light airplane looks fantastic, taxied like a dream, and took off without hesitation. In fact, I got a little higher than what I planned. (This was supposed to be an up and down test hop, straight down the runway.)
I weigh close to 200 pounds, so this particular bird will provide spectacular performance for anyone around 180 pounds or less. Empty weight is currently 239 pounds. The cowling will add another 3 pounds.
We've still got a little work to do before this plane is ready for customer delivery, but not much. For example, one problem is that the airspeed indicator seems to be off by a large amount -- it was indicating far too slow a number. We'll check it against another airspeed indicator very soon.
Another minor glitch is that the cowling is not yet installed on this airplane. It doesn't need it, but it's supposed to be there, we're still a few weeks away from receiving them from our vendor.
I enjoy the feeling of flying right over the runway at a low altitude. It feels like a magic carpet ride. I also enjoy the open frame look on the rear fuselage of this airplane. I wasn't sure, but looking at it now, it looks so sharp!
Do you like to fly? This airplane provides a spectacular experience.
In a few days, we'll have an Inventory tab added to our website, with a complete line item description of this particular airplane. We'll be offering this one Ready To Fly, FOB Wichita, $29,995. It includes a few options that aren't supposed to be in the base configuration, but hey, they are already installed. (For example -- electronic fuel gauge with capacitive sender -- works great -- far better than sight gauge.)
Enjoy, fly safe -- James Wiebe
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The weight of a Belite 254
If you were around our workshop on a daily basis, would see that we are constantly weighing things. We are passionate about reducing weight, staying legal, and increasing utility in the design of our Belite 254 Carbon Fiber ultralight aircraft.
I weighed the Belite 254 demonstrator aircraft on certified aircraft scales today. This particular aircraft is loaded with options. It came in at 255 pounds, without fuel tank. Because the limit is 254 pounds (actually, 253.99999 pounds) this would seem to be a failure. (I mistakenly first weighed it with the fuel tank and with fuel, and it was way over... ooops.... take out the fuel tank and reweigh...)
Our fuel tank weighs about 3 pounds dry, so today's final weight was 258 pounds. Consequently, we were 4 pounds overweight relative to FAR 103. I'll explain how we solved the problem in a few moments.
Here's what's on the airplane:
1) 4130 Steel airframe / elevator / rudder
2) Covering system with UV protectant
3) Bungee landing gear
4) Grove gear
5) Grove hydraulic brakes
6) Enlarged tail wheel
7) Rudder steering
8) 45HP engine, derated to accommodate part 103 cruise speed (with more work to be done)
9) 3 blade Powerfin prop
10) 5 gallon fuel tank
11) Electric Fuel gauge
12) Airspeed indicator
13) Altimeter
14) Tachometer / Hourmeter
15) EGT / CHT
16) Voltmeter
17) Turn & Bank
18) Instrument panel, made of wood
19) Transceiver and permanent antenna
20) Transponder and antenna
21) LIPO Battery System with current system
22) Engine Starter Relay (but no electric start with this current engine)
23) Voltage regulator for radio
24) Alternator (this airplane generates electricity to run avionics and charge the battery)
25) Gizmo Dock
I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It's loaded with goodies. The panel would be comfortable and pleasing to any VFR pilot.
My goal was to have a FAR 103 airplane with high technology construction (Carbon Fiber), amazing power, full panel, etc. So now I've crammed all this stuff into the demonstrator, and I'm 4 pounds overweight.
Here's the solution:
1) We quickly reconverted the gear from bungees to solid. This saves about 28 ounces. I then removed the turtledeck, as it is not necessary for flight. Another 22 ounces saved. Finally, I removed a chunk of aluminum which was simply not necessary. (We'd been using it as a base for fuel tank in the baggage compartment; no longer necessary.) It also weighed 22 ounces. Total savings: 72 ounces, exactly 4.5 pounds.
Final weight, as adjusted: 253.5 pounds. FAR 103 legal! Loaded with features, engine, and performance! It can be done. (If configured with a smaller engine, performance remains VERY SIMILAR and weight drops further -- the 28HP engine weighs 18 pounds less!!)
I've heard reports of guys breaking their bungees and consequently hitting the props/destroying the engines. I'm OK without bungees for awhile. We'll figure out something to add them back to the demonstrator sometime soon.
The demonstrator still has a little work to do in Wichita, but it will soon be ready to move to Oshkosh. For example, Friday morning, we're doing an air to air photo shoot.
I weighed the Belite 254 demonstrator aircraft on certified aircraft scales today. This particular aircraft is loaded with options. It came in at 255 pounds, without fuel tank. Because the limit is 254 pounds (actually, 253.99999 pounds) this would seem to be a failure. (I mistakenly first weighed it with the fuel tank and with fuel, and it was way over... ooops.... take out the fuel tank and reweigh...)
Our fuel tank weighs about 3 pounds dry, so today's final weight was 258 pounds. Consequently, we were 4 pounds overweight relative to FAR 103. I'll explain how we solved the problem in a few moments.
Here's what's on the airplane:
1) 4130 Steel airframe / elevator / rudder
2) Covering system with UV protectant
3) Bungee landing gear
4) Grove gear
5) Grove hydraulic brakes
6) Enlarged tail wheel
7) Rudder steering
8) 45HP engine, derated to accommodate part 103 cruise speed (with more work to be done)
9) 3 blade Powerfin prop
10) 5 gallon fuel tank
11) Electric Fuel gauge
12) Airspeed indicator
13) Altimeter
14) Tachometer / Hourmeter
15) EGT / CHT
16) Voltmeter
17) Turn & Bank
18) Instrument panel, made of wood
19) Transceiver and permanent antenna
20) Transponder and antenna
21) LIPO Battery System with current system
22) Engine Starter Relay (but no electric start with this current engine)
23) Voltage regulator for radio
24) Alternator (this airplane generates electricity to run avionics and charge the battery)
25) Gizmo Dock
I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It's loaded with goodies. The panel would be comfortable and pleasing to any VFR pilot.
My goal was to have a FAR 103 airplane with high technology construction (Carbon Fiber), amazing power, full panel, etc. So now I've crammed all this stuff into the demonstrator, and I'm 4 pounds overweight.
Here's the solution:
1) We quickly reconverted the gear from bungees to solid. This saves about 28 ounces. I then removed the turtledeck, as it is not necessary for flight. Another 22 ounces saved. Finally, I removed a chunk of aluminum which was simply not necessary. (We'd been using it as a base for fuel tank in the baggage compartment; no longer necessary.) It also weighed 22 ounces. Total savings: 72 ounces, exactly 4.5 pounds.
Final weight, as adjusted: 253.5 pounds. FAR 103 legal! Loaded with features, engine, and performance! It can be done. (If configured with a smaller engine, performance remains VERY SIMILAR and weight drops further -- the 28HP engine weighs 18 pounds less!!)
I've heard reports of guys breaking their bungees and consequently hitting the props/destroying the engines. I'm OK without bungees for awhile. We'll figure out something to add them back to the demonstrator sometime soon.
The demonstrator still has a little work to do in Wichita, but it will soon be ready to move to Oshkosh. For example, Friday morning, we're doing an air to air photo shoot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)