Need help with soft field take off

[denverpilot]

Code for "My plane is better than your plane. Let's have a contest and take bets!"



David

Actually White Lightning outperformed the 182 in a number of ways. David had a cool little bird there, but I know he later suffered some mechanical issues that said it was time to sell...

We're in the middle of a fairly expensive Annual/Simultaneous Maintenance Visit (nothing major, just timed out stuff... mags, vaccuum pump, a right center aileron hinge that has finally worn enough it's time to just pull the aileron and do all three, and a couple of cracked rubber motor mounts) just to remind us that we are just caretakers of these old birds...

They're like classic cars, always something to do on them.

Next year we may need a pilot side seat track (we have cracks, so we're at the AD limit but not over yet -- a nice set of McFarlane's will eventually be needed), and maybe a prop and governor overhaul (we're under hour limits but over recommended number of years -- six -- with no major signs of trouble but they can always start...) and definitely brake discs... They're slightly over limits on the right and a little better on the left. We must turn right more than left. Ha. More rolling out and less trying to make the first taxiway I guess.

Our new AI did an incredible job on documenting every little detail. This year was a test of having a different set of eyeballs look at the airplane than in the last decade plus, and the geek/engineer in me loves the better reports and more detail this shop has provided over the old.

AI shared the sad story of a guy who has an A36 Bonanza on the field who pours money like water into every tiny detail. The airplane flew only 13 hours this year. What a waste. He keeps the thing pristine but never flies it. That's definitely not our MO. We shoot for flyable without worrying too much about cracked plastic stuff and pragmatic maintenance. I'd probably be a bit more picky as a single-owner but we discuss and come to consensus on stuff very well in our little group.

So... We don't do the bragging game much. We just fly the thing.

 

[Dan Thomas]

*Also "banging the tail", really?? Never done it or had a student do it, that's a... impressive feat

Then you're not using a 172. I've had students do it. Very easy to do in that airplane, and multiple tailstrikes does considerable damage. It can bend or break the tiedown ring, of course, and the ring's anchor nut inside the aft bulkhead. It can break that bulkhead. It can deform the aft stabilizer spar in an extreme case, and it also results in broken rudder hinges, eventually. The mass balance at the top of the rudder shoves down hard when that tail hits pavement, bending the hinge brackets repeatedly until they crack.

Dan