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CTLS vs. Remos GX?


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When we flew with doors off, we did so at slow speed, around 65 to 70 kts. It was comparable to flying in my friend's helicopter with the doors off.  I think the helicopter bubble may be designed to provide less turbulence though.  The buffeting in the CTLS played hell with the headset microphones.  I don't have the ability to fly my CTSW with the doors off and don't miss it.  gbigs is right, it is comforting to have a door between me and the great beyond and to Roger's point, I lost a nice sectional map and grabbed my camera just as it was going out the door.

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"It might be fun on an ELSA CT to get a pair of doors from a wrecked plane to experiment with."

 

Been there done that. It will only leave cracks in the door and window insert area. It will eventually crack the window and it will beat the heck out of the door strut attachment points unless you put stop blocks on the bottom of the wing. The door fixes are expensive. This all gets done in 30 flaps and 50 knots. Take the doors completely off and you can do so without damage, but its the cabin hurricane you have to deal with.

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Understood, thanks Roger.

 

I have a great desire to fly "open air", but the CT might not be the right airplane for it.  I need a second plane, maybe a Rans S7.   :D

 

I went out yesterday early flying over Spooner Summit on Lake Tahoe and saw a large black hot-air balloon at 11,000 feet moving South to North about 30kts.   I was close enough to see the occupants and their hair was blowing crazily.  Maybe that's the experience you are looking for....

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I went out yesterday early flying over Spooner Summit on Lake Tahoe and saw a large black hot-air balloon at 11,000 feet moving South to North about 30kts.   I was close enough to see the occupants and their hair was blowing crazily.  Maybe that's the experience you are looking for....

 

There is no relative wind when in a hot air baloon.  It drifts with the airmass and the occupants experience dead calm.  To me its really boring.

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The flying club I'm instructing with removes the doors from our Remos GX automatically for the summer because the circulation with the doors on is so poor. The airflow in the cabin doors off is not bad, is very manageable, and doesn't interfere with the intercom or the radios.  Some folks really like it, though I'm not one of them.  Takes some mental adjustment to get used to, which is distracting in a training environment, adds drag that changes power settings for everything you do, and Vne with the doors off becomes 110 mph.  And if you and your student are training as the seasons change and the doors come back on, you've got a whole different airplane to get used to.

 

As Dick mentioned, you learn quickly to inhibit your movements with whatever arm is near the door.  I usually carry my iPhone in a belt case on my right hip; that stopped and I started wearing a flight suit because its extra pockets let me store stuff more securely, lessening the chance of dropping something out the door.  There is enough wind in the cockpit where you've got to be very careful about handling charts....

 

The other issue not often considered is the one Andy mentioned, i.e the crash protection that disappears when the doors are off.  We all know how the CT cabin is a good shock absorber in the event of the crash; imagine that happening with your little pink body now open to anything that can come through the opening created.  That applies not only for a takeoff and landing accident but for a mid-air, where any chance of surviving goes immediately to zero if the other aircraft hits you on the perpendicular.  Admittedly, there might not be much of chance of survival there anyway (and you'd be no better off in a fabric airplane with doors), but those are the kinds of things that need to be thought about before stepping into the cockpit and taking the risks.   

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There is no relative wind when in a hot air baloon.  It drifts with the airmass and the occupants experience dead calm.  To me its really boring.

 

Yes, and it was drifting really really fast.  I was surprised how fast.  By the time we looped the Carson Valley it had cross from the Tahoe side to an East then South trajectory.  But the reason I suggest Morden consider going up in one is because it obviously allows someone to peer down at Earth from a platform not troubled by a cockpit full of wind tunnel effect.

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So, interesting discussion about ct vs remos, how about the spring loaded controls? I flew in a remos gx yesterday and I really liked the light controls really responsive and seemed like 1:1 fun. It was very calm great day to get a check ride. Every thing about the plane felt good. So, the next question is, "anyone think the self centering ct springs could come off?"

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Not all CT's have a spring on elevator. The aileron trim system relies on the spring for it to work. I have flown a CT with a weak rudder centering spring. It was easy to fly that way, but on autopilot it would start flying crooked because the rudder would not stay centered. Personally I don't notice the springs when flying, except for a certain range of CTSW's built in 2007.

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At first I didn't like the springs (mine does have the later additional pitch spring) and how heavy they make the controls compared to other LSAs.  Fly the CT a while then get in an RV-12; it feels like something is missing or broken in the RV it's so light.

 

But now after 400+ hours in my CTSW I'm just used to it.  It feels normal to me now.  Would I over control another airplane with lighter controls?  Maybe...but in reality the control forces in the CT are pretty light, and only require some pressure on the stick to make a pretty fast rate change in either pitch or roll.  I'd probably have an adjustment period flying something like an RV-12 or Tecnam that might lead to some go arounds in the flare on landing, but the CT really doesn't feel that much different (I trained and got my SP ticket in a Zodiac and a Tecnam, both very light control airplanes).

 

You just get used to what you are flying.

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I've got a 2006 CTSW, so I don't think mine has the springs.  Before I had flown the Remos, I was told it was more pitch sensitive than the CT by someone who had time in both.  It's true you notice the aileron springs on the ground, but in the air all you get is how responsive the CT is.  I never think about any difference in roll between the two airplanes.  As far as pitch sensitivity, the CT feels more pitch sensitive than the Remos to me and is easier to overcontrol, especially during landing. Electric pitch trim (like the Remos has) might help with that a little; but, like Andy said, you get used to what you are flying.  

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  • 1 month later...

Roger is right.  Try partly opening a door in slow flight sometime.  And remember, make sure you are belted TIGHTLY in...it's a short distance from seat to exiting the plane.   You will remember it.If 

If you exit the plane I doubt you will remember it.   :giggle-3307:

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