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Towner

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31 minutes ago, Runtoeat said:

Andy, I started out learning to land in the CT with power.  To transition into power-off landings in our light planes with very little inertia does require a pilot to teach himself to get the timing right for controlling sink, distance above the runway and speed during those final few feet above runway.  Our rotax engine's power and our CT's ability to easily climb with full flaps saved me a lot when I needed to abort a landing during my early power-off landings learning period.

I definitely agree that when practicing power off landings early in one's CT experience, being ready to abort and just climb away from a janky landing is crucial.  Early on I always assumed I would go around and just landed if it all worked out.

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Well, I'm embarrassed to say this, but I've already put 65 hours in the plane since I bought it in December! A lot of landing practice stuffed into those hours, and the landings aren't close to what they should be. I don't feel they are dangerous, just not good! Just FYI, I'm not by any means a new pilot with about 1400 hours, just new to light sport. My last plane was a Mooney, which are also known to float, bounce and have other landing issues for some, but it was a piece of cake for me. I'm sure I'll figure it out, but this is still a wonderful place for advice. 

While I really like the airplane, I'm stuck flying by sport pilot rules now. Since I can only have two seats, but really need 3, can I put my 9 year old in the baggage compartment? Ah, nevermind...

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Another question while I'm here is about the rudder. Before I bought it I read that some of the old nose wheel pants may cause some problems with rudder control. If I'm half a ball left in cruise, I can just tap the right pedal and it goes half a ball right and stays there. It never seems to want to stay directly centered. I've tried rudder trim constantly, but same kind of reaction. There doesn't seem to be any problems with the rudder system itself, the rudder just doesn't like to be dead centered. Could this be from the wheelpant? 

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1 hour ago, Towner said:

old nose wheel pants may cause some problems

Tundra gear perhaps, do you have small tires / fairings or the large one's?  I struggled with coordination all around (flying, turning, power changes, etc) until maybe 100 hours of time, then it seemed to become automatic foot pressure for these events and keep pretty decent ball centered now.  I do notice the rudder / nose gear can stay off center from time to time and a little tap of the foot brings it back, I don't think this ever completely goes away - the rigging and aero handling seems to make this a bit quirky; but I'll take this snappy responding control, light forces, and overall package over any sluggish but coordinated GA bird any day!  Just keep flying it and learn the feel of what it wants.  Makes for good airmanship and not a point a shoot dumb flier from my perspective.

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There were two different rudder centering springs. The early CTSW's had the light spring, and the later ones the heavy spring. I have found the airplanes with the light springs to be like you described. It is possible to swap to the heavier spring. It is not really that hard of a job, but it is intimidating. 

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Mine has the smaller wheels and pants. This is not a coordination problem with me, but the airplane. It does have the smaller wheels and pants, but I read somewhere that they changed the nose wheel pant because of similar issues. Mine was built in May of 2006, so it might be the spring issue too. That would make sense. It's not a big issue, but I just eventually want everything to be the best I can make it. If the spring change is gonna take a fair amount of time, I may just put it down on the list of "things to do". Maybe when I get the condition inspection.

Even though I've mentioned a few quirks, like this rudder issue and the tire balance, I really haven't had any issues with the plane. I did have to replace the door struts. The nose gear was still the spring,  so I had that changed. Luckily, there was no real wear and the original nose gear pin was still great (at least a have a spare now). The composite around the baggage door release in the cabin (older airplane style for you ctls guys) has weakened and needs to be reinforced. The prop is pitched at 5500 wot at 3000 ft and I'd like to get that adjusted. I was pretty much aware of everything when I purchased the airplane and nothing except balancing the tires (which I wasn't aware of) seems like a "must do soon" issue.  So even though there are things I'd like to change, overall I'm very happy with the overall condition! I'm always a little nervous buying a new airplane, but I'm really happy so far. The only real problem with the airplane is that it doesn't know how to land!

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I just went and did a couple of touch and goes and had my wife video the landings from outside the plane. They don't look as bad from outside as they seem from inside!

I also spoke with an F35 pilot who also flies the local Sheriff's Department's CTLS. He said the CT was the hardest airplane to land that he has ever flown. Said it took over 45 hours until he really got it down. This made me feel a little better! Then he jumped in his RV and flew away!

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54 minutes ago, Towner said:

I just went and did a couple of touch and goes and had my wife video the landings from outside the plane. They don't look as bad from outside as they seem from inside!

I also spoke with an F35 pilot who also flies the local Sheriff's Department's CTLS. He said the CT was the hardest airplane to land that he has ever flown. Said it took over 45 hours until he really got it down. This made me feel a little better! Then he jumped in his RV and flew away!

It's definitely true, the CT is not easy to land.  I gave my airplane to two different friends to land (one the owner / chief CFI for the local flight school), and both remarked how hard it was.  The CFI friend remarked "I don't like how that airplane feels, it's just weird."  Another acquaintance took about ten hours of initial training in a CTSW, then switched to a 172.  He said the 172 was "easy mode" comparatively, literally night and day difficulty in his words.  

I think there's a reason LSAs generally have higher accident rates on landing than Part 23 certified airplanes.  The good news is learning to tame a CT will make you a better pilot!

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15 hours ago, FlyingMonkey said:

The good news is learning to tame a CT will make you a better pilot!

That is for sure, it takes learning to get it down, but once you do it becomes second nature. 

Once thing I learned during my practice after first getting my CTSW was that the less you concentrate on it the better your landings become, relaxing is key.  I often go up for pattern work to push the edges of the envelope a bit.  Up to 14 kts xwind and will not be wanting to land in that if I can avoid it, but it's good to know you have the ability to do so if needed.  I've dropped everything I was doing many afternoons to go work the envelope (I'm 5 minutes from my airport), worked on large gust factors a couple weeks back when the winds were 11G17 as well as days with high winds that were variable.  One thing I learned from watching Jason Miller from The Finer Points, is never adjust your personal minimums when you need to, adjust by working them up during practice sessions so they have been set prior to needing to exercise the skill, that's good ADM advice.

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2 hours ago, johnnyjr said:

That is for sure, it takes learning to get it down, but once you do it becomes second nature. 

worked on large gust factors a couple weeks back when the winds were 11G17 as well as days with high winds that were variable.

11G17 is not a big deal in many airplanes, in a CT or other LSA that is no joke.  I usually stay on the ground when it's like that and save myself the punishment, unless I'm trying to go somewhere.  My first "big wind day" in the CT I flew to a pancake breakfast and landed 17G22...I was sweating bullets but it worked out okay.

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I got it! Made 10 landings the last two days and all were pretty darn good except for one! I think watching the videos my wife took of a few landings earlier in the week helped, but sight picture was the biggest problem! Still makes you work, but the touchdowns were pretty nice! Thanks for all the help!

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  • 1 month later...

One way to check for a static leak is to accelerate while staying right over the runway.  

At higher speed the pressure in the cabin is lower, and if your static system is exposed to that the altimeter will think you have climbed.

WF

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  • 9 months later...

Just a follow up to my vibration after rotating and during braking at slow speeds. I put new main tires and tubes on. There were no tire balance weights before the change. As Tom suggested, I was able to balance the new tires while on the axle (Marc rims) and it worked great. I also cleaned the disc pins. All vibration issues are gone. It’s amazing how much smoother it is just during taxi.

Anyway, if you have the Marc wheels, you don’t need to buy a tire balancing stand. Axles work just fine.

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