Whats the weirdest PPL a/c you've come across?
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Whats the weirdest PPL a/c you've come across?
Hey Guys!,
Hus wondered what is the most weird/exotic aircraft (light) u've come across?. Know this sounds silly just thought it would be interesting!.
Happy Flying
Int.
Hus wondered what is the most weird/exotic aircraft (light) u've come across?. Know this sounds silly just thought it would be interesting!.
Happy Flying
Int.
Join Date: Apr 2001
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For out and out oddness I think the Helio Courier 295 wins hands down. Very strange; roll spoilers, four independent slats, a geared 480 lycoming which turns at 3400rpm for take off & gets shut down in coarse pitch, electric only elevator trim, 'crosswind' main gear, transfer fuel system and nine pages in the flight manual telling you how to operate it on the runway. Since it only needs about 100 yards thats a lot of words per foot.
Wilga 2000 is quirky but very reassuring and seriously good fun but a little slow. Again, a fantastic short strip machine and it just looks SO imposing.
FLS Sprint (nee Trago Mills SAH-1) - a sort of rehashed Bulldog. Quite pleasant but not a step up from the Bully.
Beagle Airedale: A truly British lightplane. Awful ailerons but a rudder that could flick-roll the Titanic. Buttons & switches on the ceiling. Absolutely hilarious.
Most of the available Russian stuff. All absolutely great fun.
I recommend anyone to try something different. You'll learn all about different systems, control feel & harmony as well as a different perspective from everyday aviation.
Cheers all
Wilga 2000 is quirky but very reassuring and seriously good fun but a little slow. Again, a fantastic short strip machine and it just looks SO imposing.
FLS Sprint (nee Trago Mills SAH-1) - a sort of rehashed Bulldog. Quite pleasant but not a step up from the Bully.
Beagle Airedale: A truly British lightplane. Awful ailerons but a rudder that could flick-roll the Titanic. Buttons & switches on the ceiling. Absolutely hilarious.
Most of the available Russian stuff. All absolutely great fun.
I recommend anyone to try something different. You'll learn all about different systems, control feel & harmony as well as a different perspective from everyday aviation.
Cheers all
It's mine, and frightens me every time I fly it.
A Eurowing Goldwing, for those not in the know. Non-linear in roll, very twitchy in pitch, very little yaw control, won't recover from the stall without power.
The POH was written for the American Ultralight market, and starts by explaining how to teach yourself to fly in a single seater. Not, thankfully, a habit encouraged this side of the Atlantic.
G
[ 15 December 2001: Message edited by: Genghis the Engineer ]
A Eurowing Goldwing, for those not in the know. Non-linear in roll, very twitchy in pitch, very little yaw control, won't recover from the stall without power.
The POH was written for the American Ultralight market, and starts by explaining how to teach yourself to fly in a single seater. Not, thankfully, a habit encouraged this side of the Atlantic.
G
[ 15 December 2001: Message edited by: Genghis the Engineer ]
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You really are quite mad. It's rather
like the thing Tony Hancock flys in 'Those Magnificent Men...': "I got the idea whilst sitting in the bath..."
For those of you who haven't seen the film, the contraption flies off backwards!
like the thing Tony Hancock flys in 'Those Magnificent Men...': "I got the idea whilst sitting in the bath..."
For those of you who haven't seen the film, the contraption flies off backwards!
I flew a Kittiwake I once. It's a single seater all aluminium jobbie. This one was built by Royal Navy apprentices and was still in RN colours.
Great fun, bubble canopy, short wings and a great roll rate. Wish I had a pic of it and I'd love one now.
Great fun, bubble canopy, short wings and a great roll rate. Wish I had a pic of it and I'd love one now.
Ghengis, you are brave - very brave!
I've flown a couple of 'interesting' PPL types in my time, the Pazmany PL4 springs to mind as being particularly bad. But most PPL types don't come as bad as some of the gliders that are around. Amongst the ones I've flown, the Scheibe SF26 with an elevator so innefective that anyone weighing more than a 150lbs doesnt have enough pitch authority to flare so has to fly the thing onto the ground every on landing, and several Vintage types with yaw balance so critical that innapropriate use of the rudder close to the stall will spin them like a top (Flying training through Darwin principles!) are noteable. But the worst has to be the French Fauvel AV36, a flying wing glider with a huge elevator bodged onto the wing just aft of the pod like fuselage. A swift rearwards pull on the control column would induce a 'flick loop' with the contraption (I hesitate to call it an aircraft) rotating rapidly about it's lateral axis. There used to be one that the RAF gliding centre at Bicester, and I was forced to fly it during my instructor's course. I tried a flick loop at height, and nearly poohed myself, subsequently vowing never to fly the thing again. A very light mate of mine got snatched off the ground on while flying the thing on a winch launch. He couldn't control the pitch up, the nose went up to about 90 degrees, the cable back (auto) released and he completed a flick loop at about 200' before getting a semblance of control and managing to land it straight ahead. It tool several hours for him to regain the power of speech, and several more for him to calm down enough to hold a pint without spilling it.
The thing got farmed out to a regional club soon after, where the CFI 'accidently' ran over the wingtip with a tractor. A few years later, a mate in my Strut bought the wreckage and enquired as to the possibilities of me test flying it once he'd fixed it. My answer was short, succint and to the point. "F@(k off!"
I've flown a couple of 'interesting' PPL types in my time, the Pazmany PL4 springs to mind as being particularly bad. But most PPL types don't come as bad as some of the gliders that are around. Amongst the ones I've flown, the Scheibe SF26 with an elevator so innefective that anyone weighing more than a 150lbs doesnt have enough pitch authority to flare so has to fly the thing onto the ground every on landing, and several Vintage types with yaw balance so critical that innapropriate use of the rudder close to the stall will spin them like a top (Flying training through Darwin principles!) are noteable. But the worst has to be the French Fauvel AV36, a flying wing glider with a huge elevator bodged onto the wing just aft of the pod like fuselage. A swift rearwards pull on the control column would induce a 'flick loop' with the contraption (I hesitate to call it an aircraft) rotating rapidly about it's lateral axis. There used to be one that the RAF gliding centre at Bicester, and I was forced to fly it during my instructor's course. I tried a flick loop at height, and nearly poohed myself, subsequently vowing never to fly the thing again. A very light mate of mine got snatched off the ground on while flying the thing on a winch launch. He couldn't control the pitch up, the nose went up to about 90 degrees, the cable back (auto) released and he completed a flick loop at about 200' before getting a semblance of control and managing to land it straight ahead. It tool several hours for him to regain the power of speech, and several more for him to calm down enough to hold a pint without spilling it.
The thing got farmed out to a regional club soon after, where the CFI 'accidently' ran over the wingtip with a tractor. A few years later, a mate in my Strut bought the wreckage and enquired as to the possibilities of me test flying it once he'd fixed it. My answer was short, succint and to the point. "F@(k off!"
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Dan W - I was a member of Derby & Lancs Gliding Club at Camphill circa 1977/8, and there was a Fauvel in the hangar then. It was right at the back, never saw the light of day, and covered in dust. 'Old hands' used to mutter that it was 'unusual' to fly, and 'a bit strange'. I never once saw it fly or even come out of the hangar. I wonder if it was the same one? If not, it may be still there!
SSD
SSD
Unlikely, as the one I flew had been in the ownership of the RAFGSA several years when I flew it in 1983.
My spotters big book of gliders writes about the AV36 'The AV36 showed that the problems of stability and control often associated with tailess aircraft could be avoided by sound design , as could unpleasant handling characteristics'. Hmmmm! Stuck at the back of a hangar covered in dust is about the limit of airborne actions these things should see IMHO.
My spotters big book of gliders writes about the AV36 'The AV36 showed that the problems of stability and control often associated with tailess aircraft could be avoided by sound design , as could unpleasant handling characteristics'. Hmmmm! Stuck at the back of a hangar covered in dust is about the limit of airborne actions these things should see IMHO.
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Ohmygod!!!
I've just remembered the wierdest of the lot:
The Max Holste Broussard; it looks like a DH Beaver that's been rear ended by an Avro Lancaster. It comes with a chronometric tach (tick! tick! 1500rpm tick! tick 1600rpm) and has a general feeling of a flying french railway carriage. I seem to remember that the rudder did very little below 70kt other than overbalance hugely.
I did my worst landing so far in that machine - I bounced a good eight feet.
SC - my cover is blown!
OK guys, so what's the best PPL aircraft you've flown?
I've just remembered the wierdest of the lot:
The Max Holste Broussard; it looks like a DH Beaver that's been rear ended by an Avro Lancaster. It comes with a chronometric tach (tick! tick! 1500rpm tick! tick 1600rpm) and has a general feeling of a flying french railway carriage. I seem to remember that the rudder did very little below 70kt other than overbalance hugely.
I did my worst landing so far in that machine - I bounced a good eight feet.
SC - my cover is blown!
OK guys, so what's the best PPL aircraft you've flown?
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Best in my limited experience is a Robin - a 2160 for me but I've heard that it's good points are common to the range.
why...
A quality bit of kit, and at my club the same price as the 40 year old stinkers that dominate UK club flying.
Stupidly good handling. Spin recovery method might as well say "let go, close eyes and count to three". Anecdotally, I've heard that this has even been proven to work inverted. ;-)
"A pilots aeroplane" - stick not yoke, bubble canopy, just the 2 seats rather than the full minibus, all that kind thing.
The only changes I'd make would be a throttle quadrant rather than a plunger (not so ergonomic for the constant tweaking during aeros)...
...oh yeah, and lean cut to be in a completely different place/shape than carb heat. Can be mixed up. (I wasn't there, I didn't do it, and I when I didn't do it I wasn't on downwind. )
why...
A quality bit of kit, and at my club the same price as the 40 year old stinkers that dominate UK club flying.
Stupidly good handling. Spin recovery method might as well say "let go, close eyes and count to three". Anecdotally, I've heard that this has even been proven to work inverted. ;-)
"A pilots aeroplane" - stick not yoke, bubble canopy, just the 2 seats rather than the full minibus, all that kind thing.
The only changes I'd make would be a throttle quadrant rather than a plunger (not so ergonomic for the constant tweaking during aeros)...
...oh yeah, and lean cut to be in a completely different place/shape than carb heat. Can be mixed up. (I wasn't there, I didn't do it, and I when I didn't do it I wasn't on downwind.
)
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Best - without doubt, the Yak52. Power, responsiveness, quality, character, 'prescence' - oh heck, just go fly one and see! I've flown a lot of GA aeroplanes, but none come close to the 52 in big grin factor.
I'd love to try a Yak50. I hear they are even better. They were the late Mark Hanna's favorite - and he'd flown every interesting type there is.
Number 2 - the Chippy
Number 3 - the L4 (J3) Cub (NOT Super Cub)
SSD
[ 18 December 2001: Message edited by: Shaggy Sheep Driver ]
I'd love to try a Yak50. I hear they are even better. They were the late Mark Hanna's favorite - and he'd flown every interesting type there is.
Number 2 - the Chippy
Number 3 - the L4 (J3) Cub (NOT Super Cub)
SSD
[ 18 December 2001: Message edited by: Shaggy Sheep Driver ]
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The Zoinkoneg, though not sure about the spelling.
Single seat, parasol wing, leading edge slats, full span flaps with ( I think )drooping ailerons, and powered by a small Walter Micron around 60hp
Someone else might be able to confirm that it was designed by a small team of German university aeronaautical students as an aircraft that a person could fly without the benefit of any dual instruction.
Single seat, parasol wing, leading edge slats, full span flaps with ( I think )drooping ailerons, and powered by a small Walter Micron around 60hp
Someone else might be able to confirm that it was designed by a small team of German university aeronaautical students as an aircraft that a person could fly without the benefit of any dual instruction.
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I think it's spelt Zaunkoenig - but I'd need to look it up. I have some info on it in a book or two at home ("On Home Made Wings" and "Flight On Frail Wings" - both by Arthur Ord-Hume). Fascinating books actually with some amazing aircraft from the 30s and 40s (& 50s and...)
From memory I think they (students at Brunswick University) built the Z**** thing (however its spelt) to check out various high lift & STOL devices including a variable incidence wing, but the one that made its way to the UK was fixed incidence (I think).
Strangest PPL a/c I've flown? Nothing as adventurous as some I'm afraid, but I suppose the AN2 was very interesting - especially as I took 10 of my mates up with me in one go! I was amazed at (a) how high off the ground I was & the subsequent judgement needed for roundout and (b) how it just seemed to float off the ground as soon as the power was turned on.
Nicest? - Would have to be a toss up between a couple - CAP10 & Bucker Jungmann probably, though Stampe and Chipmunk would be pretty close. Oh and out of pure nostalgia, the Slingsby T21 glider.
From memory I think they (students at Brunswick University) built the Z**** thing (however its spelt) to check out various high lift & STOL devices including a variable incidence wing, but the one that made its way to the UK was fixed incidence (I think).
Strangest PPL a/c I've flown? Nothing as adventurous as some I'm afraid, but I suppose the AN2 was very interesting - especially as I took 10 of my mates up with me in one go! I was amazed at (a) how high off the ground I was & the subsequent judgement needed for roundout and (b) how it just seemed to float off the ground as soon as the power was turned on.
Nicest? - Would have to be a toss up between a couple - CAP10 & Bucker Jungmann probably, though Stampe and Chipmunk would be pretty close. Oh and out of pure nostalgia, the Slingsby T21 glider.
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Shaggy Sheep Driver,
Been meaning to ask you for a while, was it you orbiting over the Hunts Cross area of Liverpool about 5/6 weeks ago in your Chippy ? If so, it was right over my house and brought back some cracking memories from ATC days gone by.
It may also have been you when I had to hold over south Liverpool waiting for a Chippy to clear. Fantastic aircraft, long may it continue.
all the best,
GB. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
[ 20 December 2001: Message edited by: GonvilleBromhead ]</p>
Been meaning to ask you for a while, was it you orbiting over the Hunts Cross area of Liverpool about 5/6 weeks ago in your Chippy ? If so, it was right over my house and brought back some cracking memories from ATC days gone by.
It may also have been you when I had to hold over south Liverpool waiting for a Chippy to clear. Fantastic aircraft, long may it continue.
all the best,
GB. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
[ 20 December 2001: Message edited by: GonvilleBromhead ]</p>