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Thread: Recommendations on what to build

  1. #21

    Join Date
    Sep 2011
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    Since you are already comfortable buiding with aluminum, and you want enclosed, high-visibility flight at low speeds, the Kolb MK III would be an excellent choice.

    This aircraft is easy and quick to build, operates from *very short* fields (300 ft or less) and is a baby carriage to handle on the ground and in the air. Engine choices can be 2 or 4 stroke in the 50-75 hp range as needed for your altitude.

    This is a long-proven successful design that you will come to love and respect as the hrs build up.

  2. #22
    turbo's Avatar
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    Sep 2011
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    i think you said,450 ft runway. rotor craft will do the trick. go for a gyro ride to see if it turns you on. have them fly into your strip. a lot to choose from though.

    you only would like to do this one time. i like the just aircraft a lot too. you need super stol man. take off from my front yard, runway nill.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVjOXELKDUU&feature=g-upl&context=G253184bAUAAAAAAAvAA


    Ed DArcy 'Turbo'
    R-44 N7511G 1,300 hrs / RV-6 N26ED 4,700 hrs / helicycle 100 hrs
    Stuart, FL Hartford,Ct Virgin Gorda, BVI

  3. #23
    steveinindy's Avatar
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    Jul 2011
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    i think you said,450 ft runway. rotor craft will do the trick.
    So will some of the stuff coming out of Zenith Aircraft. I'd take a fixed wing over any gyrocopter any day of the week
    Unfortunately in science what you believe is irrelevant.

    "I'm an old-fashioned Southern Gentleman. Which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-***** when I want to be."- Robert A. Heinlein.



  4. #24
    Thanks for all the ideas. When I win the lottery, I'll go for the R44 and have Turbo show me how to fly it from my back yard (surrounded on all sides by 100' douglas firs and a big oak tree -- would require a near perfect vertical ascent).

    In the mean time, I think based on budget and mission, the best options are probably Kolb, Challenger or Quicksilver, but I'll need to do some more research on specific models and hopefully, find some rides before narrowing it down. I do like the Zenith, Just Aircraft and Fisher ideas, but I think something simpler would work for me.

    Thanks again,
    bill

  5. #25

    Low And Slow

    If an added comment encourages you to go a certain way, I will suggest the Zenith line. The fast build kits of the 750 two passenger or the 801 four passenger planes are made for your take-off conditions. The aluminum construction is similar to the RV line, but easier because of the rivets used. I am building the 801 and company support is great. Ken Johnson

  6. #26
    turbo's Avatar
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    Sep 2011
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    hope you hit the loto and get a helo. keep us posted on your adventure. Name:  img1402y.jpg
Views: 689
Size:  61.4 KB
    Ed DArcy 'Turbo'
    R-44 N7511G 1,300 hrs / RV-6 N26ED 4,700 hrs / helicycle 100 hrs
    Stuart, FL Hartford,Ct Virgin Gorda, BVI

  7. #27

    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Nebraska
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    5
    Quote Originally Posted by Spindrift View Post
    . However, I am a bit nervous given that a good friend of mine, who is a much more accomplished pilot than I, balled one up on his first flight after purchase, even after transition training. Luckily he wasn't injured, but the rebuild is taking quite a while.
    Do not be quick to blame the gyro. For example, if your friend took tail wheel training and then "balled up" a cub, would you be just as nervous about a cub being safe, or would you figure that the pilot made some kind of mistake since the cub has a good reputation?

    I am not a gyroplane pilot as yet, but will be in the spring. The latest edition of gyros are much better designed then the early samples from Benson. The same is true of the early ultralights, so don't let "old wives" tales stop you from doing due diligence. Do your own research and get info from actual pilots who are currently flying the model that you are interested in. Don't listen to those who have never owned or flown for many hours, what they are condemning. The most economical airplanes I have owned over the past 48 years have all been the ones that everyone says are bad. i.e. Tri Pacer, Pacer (flying bricks), Cessna 175 (piece of junk engine) etc. I have found all these stories to be untrue, but thank them for making the price much lower because of the bad press.

  8. #28
    turbo's Avatar
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    Sep 2011
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    you can keep track of the gyro world here. http://www.rotaryforum.com/ these are the dirt bikes of the sky. go out and blast around.
    Ed DArcy 'Turbo'
    R-44 N7511G 1,300 hrs / RV-6 N26ED 4,700 hrs / helicycle 100 hrs
    Stuart, FL Hartford,Ct Virgin Gorda, BVI

  9. #29
    taylorcraftbc65's Avatar
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    Oct 2011
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    Texas
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    If you decide that you don't need the passenger option that much, Look at the Weedhopper Ultralights. You can build one in a weekend without busting your butt, and mine will rotate in 90 feet on grass, at a 7,000 foot density altitude. I have flown it in 20 MPH quartering headwinds. For even greater crosswind components, I have a Hurricane Ultralight, that will rotate in 110 feet, sideslips just GREAT, (I have done touch and go's in 20MPH ninety degree crosswinds, side slipping in an almost vertical decent).
    Last edited by taylorcraftbc65; 02-02-2012 at 09:11 AM.

  10. #30
    brian's Avatar
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    Jul 2011
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    an EAA article just came out today on the Challenger http://www.eaa.org/experimenter/arti...ect_patrol.asp
    Brian Meyette, Cornish, NH
    1995 RV-6A - N16RK (Ralph Koger)
    RV-7A - incomplete, supercharged Subaru STi - N432MM
    - SOLD
    2001 Quad City Challenger II LW - N28RT
    www.meyette.us/RV-7Ahome.htm

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