Having trouble getting in her!

[gbigs]

Here I just got my chain saw running! I'll give those suggestions a try! Thanks!

 

All I'm doing is hanger flying waiting for my CFI guy to sign me off after a few hours of air work and touch and goes.

 

The trouble is it 5 below zero and wind chill of 26 below. I'm not flying her until it back up in the mid 20's. I ran a strip of aluminum tape across the radiator.

 

I wonder if she would ever get to 124 degrees in temperatures of 5 to 15 degrees? I once rode my Harley when it was 15 degrees and it never did warm up.

 

Like all aircraft engines the Rotax will be damaged if you start it after it's been sitting under 20f without some kind of preheating (see threads on engine block heater).  You may think you are getting away with it, but the damage will get you eventually.

[Buckaroo]

I don't think anyone within 500 miles has more experience than I do with three landings! ????

 

My CFI guy does have thousands of hours in many aircraft. The only thing we have going for us are recommendations from this forum. I've got the airspeed numbers on a bright note pad in the cockpit. Also I've forwarded him forum suggested landing flap recommendations from this forum.

 

This is ojt Montana style! ????

[Buckaroo]

Concerning engine temps. I forgot to say she's in a heated to 45 degree hanger and she has equipped a Tanis engine heater. My plans is to start the heater two hours in advance.

 

I still wonder if the engine would ever warm up with temps on the ground at 5 degrees like today? The wind chill is currently 26 below.

[gbigs]

Concerning engine temps. I forgot to say she's in a heated to 45 degree hanger and she has equipped a Tanis engine heater. My plans is to start the heater two hours in advance.

 

I still wonder if the engine would ever warm up with temps on the ground at 5 degrees like today? The wind chill is currently 26 below.

 

You are good to go then.  Flying in the cold once the engine is warm is fine...just make sure your CHTs stay in the green which you likely already know.  Descending in the CT with it's Rotax is easier than in a plane with a Continental and Lycoming engine...shock cooling doesn't seem to be an issue with them.  But you have carbs so icing is always a danger.  I flew the ECU/Fuel Injected version so don't have experience with the Bing carbs in the CT.  But I have seen the board discuss the issue and apparently there is no carb heat control since the CTSW and CTLS with carbs have some kind of deflected engine heat.

[Buckaroo]

No one in their right mind will come here in the winter. This is going to be a very slow and cautious transition by both of us.

 

 

That's good news on the cold temp operating tendency!

[Buckaroo]

Hey you can't live forever! ????

[Buckaroo]

From Montana who has them?

[Buckaroo]

Too much hassle and money! I'll figure it out. ????

[Doug G.]

I know of one here in Fargo and one in Fergus Falls, MN, and Stanton, MN. All long trips though, and the first two don't have CTs at the moment.

[Buckaroo]

Getting services or expertise is normally difficult in Montana. We get used to working this stuff out by do it yourself!

[rhanson]

I'm a new owner of a 2007 CTSW and so far am in love except for one thing. At 6'4" and old it's challenging getting in the plane. I seem to try it different techniques every time searching for the answer.

 

Any techniques would be greatly appreciated!

 

Dave

Buck,

 

I concur with Roger Lee on the correct entry method.

I am 6'3", 37" from head to seat ( scratched a few canopies in the old days ),

230 lbs.

Grab the overhead cross-bar ( not the sparbox handle ) with your left hand, support your body with your right

hand on the seat or console, pull yourself into the seat, then swing your legs in and

over the stick.  Voila, you're read to go.  ( passenger could use the same technique ).

 

The spar box is at forehead level for me, so I am using carpenter/plumber knee padding on the box

to relieve the headaches. ( I can still see the mag. compass hanging from the cross-bar ).

 

On the training temperature subject, I suggest that you vacation in AZ and schedule a checkout

with Eric at Bisbee, instructor at Coppercity aviation; he has a CT, and is expert in CT training.

( Tucson temp on Tues. was 70F., perfect for flying )

 

Good Luck,

RH

SEZ

[Buckaroo]

???? Very tempting! I'm still hunting for my bull elk this year! We'll see !

[cdarza]

Shame on me for having a dirty mind. Rogers post didnt make it any better.  

[Buckaroo]

My post title has gotten a lot of attention!????

[CTMI]

I'm between 6'4" and 6'5" and weigh around 230. I bought my plane without ever sitting in one. The day it arrived I almost fell down when I saw it; I thought I'd never fit in it and that I had made a hugely expensive mistake. Then I got in it. It's the roomiest plane in its class by far. I love it, and I can fly comfortably with my brother in law who is 6'4" as well.

 

Because of my height, I've well mastered the trick of getting in. Stick your keister in first, (at my height I'm well in that position to get under the wing) then I lean my body forward in a quasi fetal position, bringing my knees up and my head down and turn my body clockwise, head goes first, then my legs. I don't use the crossbar personally, I place each hand on the seat bottom edge.

 

In summary:

 

Getting in: keister, head, legs

 

Getting out: legs, head, keister

 

 

I'm on track to losing 25 lbs myself, so I can carry full fuel and gear and a pax.

[CTMI]

Oh and one more thing, with my height I fit better with the seat at the third hole (seat bottom slightly forward) and the seat back barely off the back bulkhead. Although this position requires slightly more bend in my knees, it reclines the seat back and thus lowers my head substantially, so that when I lean forward my head easily clears the spar box which I consider safer. Think bucket seat.

[gbigs]

Wow, where are all you giants coming from...gotta tell ya...you guys are really pushing the envelope of SLSA.  This is a big reason why they need to raise the gross limit of SLSA to 2000lbs.  Esp since guys can now fly up to 6k pound aircraft with no medical now.

[WmInce]

Just as a friendly reminder, regarding the seats.

After the seats are adjusted fore and aft (using the adjustment holes and spring loaded pins underneath), make sure the seat "suspension strap" (located behind the seat) is tight enough, to keep the seat from contacting the aft bulkhead ("bottoming out") when weight is put on it. During firm landings, if the seat "bottoms out," and smashes into the bulkhead, it may break the carbon fiber seat frame. Those frames should be inspected for damage at each annual condition inspection.

[gbigs]

The 3rd class medical reform took years to get.  You still need to have had an aviation medical cert in the last 10 years to qualify to fly on a self-assesed status along with doctors okay.  Similar to Sport which is self-assessed and a DL. 

 

The difference between a Sport License and a PPL is trivial.  But the privileges are very different.  The Sport written is a little shorter but has the same set of questions.  A Sport Pilot may not fly at night and is not required to do night cross country work.  The solo cross country flights are slightly shorter for Sport.  And there is a little less time under hood, but all other requirements are the same.  

 

Yet a Sport Pilot may not fly anything other than a ELSA or SLSA with a 1320lb max gross and only up to 10k feet msl in VFR only..  While the PPL with a reformed medical status can fly aircraft up to 6000 lbs, non complex up to 18k msl and in IMC if rated.

 

So it would be good since the government changed the rules and left SLSA a little in the dust.  Why not raise the weight limit to 2000?  It's doesnt affect the certified world at all and many of the SLSAs already designed and being made can easily be fitted with the next more powerful Rotax engines coming out.

[Tom Baker]

Yet a Sport Pilot may not fly anything other than a ELSA or SLSA with a 1320lb max gross.

A Sport Pilot may fly any LSA, not just those certified as ELSA and SLSA.

[FlyingMonkey]

 Sport Pilot requires only 20 hours while Private Pilot requires 40 hours.

 

That is true, but the training requirements are almost identical.  I don't know of any Sport Pilot who, with no prior experience, got a certificate in less than 40 hours.  And once both a PP and an SP are each at 100 hours, their training and experience is essentially the same with the exception of night flight.

[Tom Baker]

That is true, but the training requirements are almost identical.  I don't know of any Sport Pilot who, with no prior experience, got a certificate in less than 40 hours.  And once both a PP and an SP are each at 100 hours, their training and experience is essentially the same with the exception of night flight.

 

I've had a few students at 35 hours in the CT. I think I could get that number closer to 20 in a airplane that is not as tricky to fly as the CT.

[FlyingMonkey]

I've had a few students at 35 hours in the CT. I think I could get that number closer to 20 in a airplane that is not as tricky to fly as the CT.

 

That's great, You must be a hell of a trainer!  

[gbigs]

That is true, but the training requirements are almost identical.  I don't know of any Sport Pilot who, with no prior experience, got a certificate in less than 40 hours.  And once both a PP and an SP are each at 100 hours, their training and experience is essentially the same with the exception of night flight.

 

Correct.  The 'required' hours stated for these licenses is a misnomer.  It is the MIN required the DPE checks in a log book but few to none log these few hours prior to their checkrides.  What's the rush anyway?  In the end safety should be the goal and why not get saturated with training when you are low time?

 

Sport training is identical to Private Pilot training in every respect.  And it takes the same number of hours and effort to get either of them done.    No one gets to solo sooner just because you are trying for Sport versus Private.  No one gets proficient enough to pass the PTS (which is the same for Private and Sport) in any fewer hours.  Again, the night work, a slightly longer solo cross country, and an extra hour under hood are the only differences (and the 20 extra questions on the Private written).    The ATC radio requirement and the higher speeds above 80kts are endorsements on the Sport and few forgo that portion also.

 

The only real reason to get PPL over Sport (if you can pass the medical) is to be able to fly over 1300 lb aircraft and get an instrument ticket.  If neither of those is a desire then Sport works just dandy.

[sandpiper]

...and to fly at night, to fly 4 place and take your family, to fly about 10,000 feet, to fly VFR on top, to fly outside the US, to fly in furtherance of a business, etc.  We all know the difference between Sport Pilot and Private Pilot.  I am quite confident a sharp 18 year old could get a Sport Pilot certificate in little over the REQUIRED 20 hours.  It's the old guys that take up flying later in life that take 40 to 60 hours to get a Sport Pilot certificate.  I got my Private in 44 hours, but I was only 17.

 

Beat ya! Got mine in 36.5 (plus the check ride) and I was 20. But, it was a controlled R.O.T.C. program condensed into a 3 month time frame, in Fairbanks during February, March and April. A big incentive was that anything over 36.5 was out of your own pocket.