Vitamin G for the day

[whifferdill]

Just a visit to a local grass strip, and a mashup of acro. Nice clear air today here for summertime.

 

[Geico266]

Damn man, that looks like fun!


Thanks for posting.

 

[dell30rb]

Hmm it looks like the pitts takes up a fair bit more runway than the cub does. I am usually stopped before that guy's hammock about 700 feet past the threshold on the left side.

Just curious - did you start your takeoff roll at the end of 27 or a little closer to the big hangar/fuel tank? Couple big bumps/ruts if you use the full length. They kinda catapult the cub into the air early in the takeoff roll

 

[whifferdill]

Hmm it looks like the pitts takes up a fair bit more runway than the cub does. I am usually stopped before that guy's hammock about 700 feet past the threshold on the left side.

Yeah you'll never see a Pitts win a STOL contest. It stalls 20 mph faster than the CWC (62 mph) and sits 3-point flatter than the stall angle, so I'm touching down 3-point in the upper 60's, where the Cub is in the low 40's. Apply the 'increase by the square of the speed' thing, and the Pitts takes more than twice the runway. I can touch down on the RWY 3 numbers at TTA and make the first turnoff with light braking 1300' down the runway.

Just curious - did you start your takeoff roll at the end of 27 or a little closer to the big hangar/fuel tank? Couple big bumps/ruts if you use the full length. They kinda catapult the cub into the air early in the takeoff roll

Yeah, I usually start the t/o in the Pitts in front of the last open hangar. In the Cub, I use the whole thing, but use the left side of the runway for t/o, which seems to be a little smoother than the center, and avoids that big hole in the middle just past where the runway levels out.

 

[dell30rb]

Yeah, I usually start the t/o in the Pitts in front of the last open hangar. In the Cub, I use the whole thing, but use the left side of the runway for t/o, which seems to be a little smoother than the center, and avoids that big hole in the middle just past where the runway levels out.

I figured you would do that. Those bumps are pretty nasty. Just from observation your pitts has enough power/weight that it actually takes off in less room than it needs to land.

The field in the video is about 2300ft with an average (its hilly) 2% grade up where he landed. Unless there is significant wind normal practice is to land rwy 9 and takeoff on 27 due to the gradient. When taking off on 27 there are a short cluster of ruts about 400' into the takeoff roll

I use the whole length of the runway but I now taxi real slow over the bumps. I thought I was doing the plane a favor once by lifting the tail, but I got the crap beat out of me at about 25mph with the stick way forward and just the mains riding over the bumps.

On a takeoff roll the cub is light enough by the time I hit the bumps that it just skips over them.

 

[ebetancourt]

Great video. Roll rate is a little faster than mine ;-)

Thanks for posting!

 

[whifferdill]

Roll rate is a little faster than mine ;-)

Nah, from 90 mph if you snapped the Waco and I aileron rolled the Pitts, you'd win. All those fast rolls in the video were snaps. Huge difference in roll rate between snaps and aileron rolls for a given airspeed. I measured a couple of those snaps in iMovie, and the clean ones were 400 deg/sec. It's technique-dependent, though. That outside snap at 1:33 was a little buried and only went around 280 deg/sec. Aileron roll rate at 100 mph is around 100 deg/sec. Max level speed aileron roll rate is about 180 deg/sec. But yeah, a little faster than the Waco.

Aileron roll rate helps at the higher levels of competition, but for me, it doesn't make the airplane any more fun to fly. Once you start aileron rolling at 400 deg/sec like an MX, you just lose the sublety of the inputs needed for a nice level roll. I'd rather watch someone do a nice level roll in a slower rolling airplane than one of those super machines. Did some level rolls in a Great Lakes a couple weeks ago. Takes some muscle with the ailerons and elevator. I'd love to try the Waco.

BTW...we're having our Fall contest Oct. 17-20 in western NC (Morganton) this year. Would love to see you come fly Primary.

 

[ebetancourt]

Nah, from 90 mph if you snapped the Waco and I aileron rolled the Pitts, you'd win. All those fast rolls in the video were snaps. Huge difference in roll rate between snaps and aileron rolls for a given airspeed. I measured a couple of those snaps in iMovie, and the clean ones were 400 deg/sec. It's technique-dependent, though. That outside snap at 1:33 was a little buried and only went around 280 deg/sec. Aileron roll rate at 100 mph is around 100 deg/sec. Max level speed aileron roll rate is about 180 deg/sec. But yeah, a little faster than the Waco.

Aileron roll rate helps at the higher levels of competition, but for me, it doesn't make the airplane any more fun to fly. Once you start aileron rolling at 400 deg/sec like an MX, you just lose the sublety of the inputs needed for a nice level roll. I'd rather watch someone do a nice level roll in a slower rolling airplane than one of those super machines. Did some level rolls in a Great Lakes a couple weeks ago. Takes some muscle with the ailerons and elevator. I'd love to try the Waco.

BTW...we're having our Fall contest Oct. 17-20 in western NC (Morganton) this year. Would love to see you come fly Primary.

I desperately need some time to fly. I don't know that I can get ready, but who knows. Lots of conflicts just now, with weather being a major pain. I did two really OK loops the other day and was going to try to figure out how to post the video. When I looked, it was like I was doing them in IMC, no horizon, clouds everywhere.

Yeah, a fast roll rate means you just do aileron rolls... I'd have to dig it out and get the right wording, but the T-38A dash one (POH) has a caution about full stick being disorienting -- 720/sec. I don't think I ever came close to that to do a level aileron roll.