Summer 2016 - Western Cape Microlight Club

Transcript

D N U ARO H C T A P E TH THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE WCMC Silent Night at the Clubhouse ISSUE: SUMMER 2015/2016 LIST OF CONTENTS PAGE FROM THE FRONT SEAT 3 FROM THE CHAIR 4 WHAT’S NEW IN AND AROUND THE CLUB 5 UP AND COMING EVENTS 6 FEATURED CLUB AIRCRAFT – Len Neynes’ THATCHER CX4 7 LET’S GET TECHNICAL 11 WHAT LIES BENEATH – Aerial photography gyrocopter style 13 DOWN FACEBOOK MEMORY LANE – Photo spread 18 PONDER THIS – Mastering no power approaches 13 RULES OF THUMB – AIDES TO HELP YOUR FLYING 24 HOW TO ARTICLE – The Good, the Bad and the LED of aircraft lighting 25 SAFETY FIRST – How to scare yourself when flying an airplane 27 CLASSIFIEDS 30 AVIATION QUIZ 31 CLUB OFFICERS CHAIRMAN CHARL STARKE 083 653 3060 TREASURER ALAN FERGUS 083 309 6093 SECRETARY MIKE LOMBERG MEMBERSHIP GUSTAV JANSEN TECHNICAL MIKE DAVIES SAFETY ALBERT QUESTIAUX HANGARS RICHARD ADCOCK AIRFIELD MANAGER BARRY RYAN 082 331 8038 083 299 8512 084 250 7576 082 650 9656 083 650 8484 082 569 2839 NEWSLETTER EDITOR – ROSS LEIGHTON [email protected] PHOTOS – Tim Irvine [email protected] Photo Front Page: The clubhouse at night taken by Rael Ressel using his DJI Inspire drone at the Christmas Party. 2 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 FROM THE FRONT SEAT…… IT’s 2016 and we have flown through another business increase their export efforts because the local market cannot tolerate such a big price increase. Counting against us is the cANCer running the country and the fact that the rest of the world is also in serious economic straits. I’d say we need a 5belt harness to see this one out! year. Let’s hope 2016 is a good one. This is the second edition of the revived Club newsletter but in keeping with the information age, it will only be available online via the Club website – www.wcmc.co.za. Summer is upon us and it’s a hot one. Last year was the hottest on record and it looks like that will be broken in 2016. Blame it on El Nino! However, the heat brings its own challenges to our flying. Remember Density Altitude? It is the altitude relative to the standard atmospheric conditions and an increase in temperature (and to a lesser extent humidity) or a decrease in atmospheric pressure will cause an increase in density altitude. For example, I was flying back from an outing recently and my altimeter was indicating1800ft but when I checked my DA it was 4500ft. That has all sorts of implications for aircraft performance, especially on take off and landing. Beware and please do proper flight planning! On the plus side the sun still shines, the beer is still cold and flying beckons. This year some members are off on a Botswana and Namibia odyssey. Others are heading to the Serengeti. Add to that all sorts of shorter trips being spoken about and the year starts looking busy. Crisis? What crisis? There have been laudable efforts by some of the newer pilots to spread their wings and arrange fly outs for breakfast or lunch. That is an excellent way to gain experience, build club camaraderie and be fed! Let’s do more of this. Check the WCMC Facebook page for occasional postings of planned trips. There are new joining procedures in place at Morningstar Airfield. Now we join overhead at 1500ft, descend on the dead side and join for circuits at 1000ft. Please try to extend your take off climb out on the runway heading for about a mile before turning to ensure separation from aircraft inbound from the dead side or passing overhead. It seems that there are always challenges thrown at us in our attempts to fly. If it’s not the CAA, it’s the oil price and now it’s the Rand. Two years ago the Rand was trading at R11=1US$ but it hit nearly R17 recently. The net effect is that the cost of imported aircraft and bits has risen more than 50%. Luckily the oil price has collapsed and so our fuel price is still somewhat stable. What does this mean? Maintaining ZS aircraft just got very expensive and the existing fleet of aircraft in SA will naturally see a rise in price to counter the weak Rand. Similarly, the existing fleet of LSA/Experimental aircraft will also see a natural increase in second hand prices as the realisation of what a new, imported aircraft or kit will cost sinks in. Once again thank you to all those who contributed to the newsletter. Right stuff, y’all! If you have any comments, questions or complaints regarding the newsletter just email me. Clear Skies! What to do? Well as my old economics lecturer used to say, “earn more Rands”, but that’s easier said than done. However, a currency depreciation of this magnitude usually sees Editor Ross Leighton [email protected] 3 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 A WORD FROM THE CHAIRMAN I am often asked by members why the WCMC has never made an attempt to approach our Landlord with the purpose of purchasing the land that we find ourselves on. From my perspective, I have some reasons why I am not in favour of this happening. Let’s take a walk down memory lane. During the early 1990’s at a meeting of the FAFK Association (old Fisanterkraal Airfield), it was decided that we as management should approach the Department of Public Works with the view of acquiring the property. At the time I was the Treasurer and Frans Grotepass was Chairman. Within about a year of the application to government, we were informed that our request would be granted and the sale would take place via public auction. This was not first prize but at an auction one can at least see who you are bidding against and adjust prices accordingly. As it turned out the government decided at the last minute to accept bids via closed tender – in other words - without knowledge of who is in the bidding process or for what amount. We were in a difficult situation. We then decided to involve the quorum and make a decision. An urgent meeting was then called and held in the old “EAA” clubhouse, which was attended, by most of the role players and members of the FAFK Association. An individual sum payable was agreed on by all present and was to be kept in strictest of confidence. The tender sum amount was then determined by adding up individual amounts. As it turned out one didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to count the souls at the meeting multiplied by the sum agreed so as to produce a total! So if you were a dishonest @%$&# you could tender for a little more than what was discussed and-viola - you’re the owner of an airfield! Not only did the successful purchaser screw everyone over with rental amounts and levies, it then elected not to pay for the property within the time period allotted by tender (I think 30 days). It only paid the sum some two years later. During which time it had collected the entire amount – and more – from plot rentals and hanger owners. Many tucked their tails between their legs and either complied, left or abandoned. I personally took it on and won a high court decision with costs. Anyway that is history but I promised myself to never let something like that happen again, at least, on my watch. The second reason for not purchasing the land is that I feel the City owes us a playground for our toys. We are probably the only City in SA without a dedicated GA airfield. This particular land that we are on is protected by the “Outspan Act” and is the property of all the citizens of SA given by Crown Grant in the 1920’s. It is, however, managed by the City of Cape Town. I have also been informed that the City cannot be called a “Unicity” without the convenience of a General Aviation airport? Why should we pay for something when we can lease/rent at affordable rates? Rather spend the money on better things! Until next time – FLY SAFE 4 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING IN AND AROUND THE CLUB • Mick Davies at the Sky’s The Limit day, doing what Mick does best • • • The Sky’s the Limit; our outreach day was a major success. Some 50 kids descended on the Club for a day of aviation fun organised by Hilton Mundy, his Club team and the Sakhikamva Foundation, headed up by Fatima Jakoet. Well done to all concerned. The Club lease negotiations took a positive turn towards the end of the year and it looks like we may be on our way to sorting that out. But, Committee member for airfield development, Richard Adcock, would like to remind all that new building work is still not allowed until these negotiations are complete. Please have patience. A new build Sling 4 is underway in Gary Ressel’s hangar. Gary is very particular about his vehicles and we expect that his Sling 4 will be no different. He intends powering the aircraft with a Jabriu 120hp • • motor, converted to water-cooling, fuel injection and turbo. Expected power is 135-140hp and when one of Donald’s constant speed props is added that should make Gary’s Sling 4 a very nice aircraft. Last we heard MGL would provide the EFIS equipment. New gyrocopters have been descending on the airfield in numbers but the latest is Jean Tresfon’s Auto-Gyro MTOSport. Jean does a lot of aerial photography of the oceans and its wildlife and felt that he needed a new modern and more powerful gyro. At the north end of the airfield a new RV7 kit has arrived from the US. Giovanni Human found a partially built kit on www.barnstormers.com and decided to make the leap. A Superior IO-360 married to a Hartzell blended tip propeller will power it. A full set of Dynon Skyview touch screens, autopilot and two Garmin Navcom radios, will make this a full IF machine, as befits an airline Capitan! Gunter Klampfl has traded his Robin DR160 and bought himself something very unusual - a Long-Ez that was based at FASH. This is a Burt Rutan canard design powered by a Lycoming O-360 with a fixed pitch prop. It is an aircraft built for efficiency and economy – up to 2000 miles depending on engine configuration. Gunter Klampfl’s Rutan Long - EZ 5 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 UP AND COMING EVENTS • EAA of South Africa 2016 Annual Convention – to be held at Mossel Bay Airfield from 29 April to 1 May 2016. All experimental and NTCA planes welcome. Contact [email protected] for more details. • SA Aerobatics – Western Cape Regionals. To be held at Swellendam Airfield, April 2-3, 2016. • FASH Fun Air Rally – Saturday, 27 February 2016. Meet 08h00 in the FASH clubhouse for briefing. Don’t forget your navigation kit! Contact Alewyn Burger – [email protected] • Stanley Island Weekend – An excellent location for a weekend away. Land on the island in the middle of the Keurboom’s river. See WCMC Facebook page for more details. • Presidents Trophy Air Race 2016 – This year to held at Bethlehem, Free State. Usually held last weekend of May. See www.sapfa.co.za for more details. • ZIM Air Rally – June 8 – 11, 2016. This year back in Kariba but finishing at Vic Falls. Again check the Club FB page for details as they become available. • WCMC Does Botswana & Namibia – Club fly away is being planned in June. Details sketchy but talk to Andrea Starke or Kevin Pope if interested. • Club Meetings – last Wednesday of every month. Always fun and usually an interesting speaker to entertain the members. Morningstar Flight Academy News Total number of students: 30 active In the last 3 months the following gained their Private Pilots Licence: • • • • • • Andrew Mews Valintine Nemeth Jacques Theron Martyn Swain Aeron Thompson Fiona Wherley Hearty congratulations to them all. 6 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 FEATURED CLUB AIRCRAFT –The Making of Dennis, the Thatcher CX4 or Tin Lizzy By Len Nyenes For a very long time I had contemplated designing and building my own aircraft. I even went so far as to complete the design and drawings of a wooden / tubular frame low wing monoplane. It was only after I visited the Oshkosh Air Venture in 2008 that I realised it was much easier to buy the plans of a proven aircraft instead. I had seen the Thatcher CX4 at Oshkosh and decided this was the plane for me. Easy to build, and easy to fly with the minimum of technology involved. A note on making all the ribs, bulkheads and firewall. These are all shaped over wooden formers to create the flanges and basic shape of the part. Curved flanges are formed by creating notches in the wooden form. While bending the aluminium flange over the form, it is hammered into the notch to stretch the metal over the curve. I needed to make about 40 timber part forms and 40 timber backing forms. For each part (say the wing rear rib) the aluminium is bolted between the part and backing form and then hammered over the part form to create a completed part. The hand drawn plans were purchased from David Thatcher in the USA and arrived in May 2009. Thereafter Alclad sheets were purchased from Alclad Sheetmetal at Lanseria airport. All hardware, nuts, bolts, wheels, etc. were purchased from Aircraft Spruce and Speciality in the USA as well as all the structural extrusions (angles, flat bar, tube and solid bar) being purchased from Wicks Aircraft Suppliers in the USA. WING CONSTRUCTION: The front and rear ribs were attached to the spar and then the wing was sheeted using 0.040” Alclad. The trailing edge skins were installed first, followed by the leading edge skin. The rear spar was attached before the top skins were fitted. The rear spar consists of a 1”x1” angle of 6061-T6 aluminium. The left-hand wing also has the pitot and static tubes installed. The PVC pipes were also installed prior to fitting the leading edge skin. The wing tip structure was fitted after the main wing was completed. After completion, the fibreglass tip was made. This was shaped from a piece of polyurethane foam and glassed in place. It was then removed and cleaned up. After the wings were completed, the ailerons were constructed from sheet aluminium bent to the correct shape. The wingtip ribs were installed and the ailerons attached to the wing with piano hinges at 3 places. I began by finding a suitable place to build the plane (my hangar at Morningstar was still a distant dream at this stage). The dining room table looked like an ideal place. Well, let's just say that negotiations did not work out so I settled for my workshop at home. The room was not big enough as I needed a 4m long workbench. Luckily there was an adjoining bathroom – so out came the brick wall between them. The first job was to build the wing spars and centre section spar. Once these parts were made and matched, the rest of the build was straightforward. The spars consist of an alclad sheet web with 1.5” 6061-T6 aluminium angle top and bottom caps. The caps were bolted and solid riveted to the web. This was the only part of the build that required solid rivets. The wing to centre section joint consists of 4130 steel flat bar bolted to the spars and joined together with a ½” bolt – one on top and one below. During the drilling of the ½” holes, the wing spar were set in a jig to achieve the correct dihedral angle. CENTRE SECTION: The centre portion consists of the centre spar onto which ribs are attached as before. The rear ribs form the seat pan while the forward ribs will support the cockpit floor. 7 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 The joystick and controls structure was constructed from 4130 tube and welded up to form the elevator and aileron controls. This was then fitted to the seat ribs and bolted in place. 1/2” 6061-T6 aluminium angle horizontal ties. These ties will also support the engine mount. Shaped aluminium bulkheads are riveted and bolted to the stringers. The aft fuselage consisted of 5 fabricated bulkheads set in position and fixed to 2 upper stringers consisting of 3/4” 6060-T6 aluminium angles. The top and bottom alclad skins were then fitted and riveted to the bulkheads with stainless cherry rivets. At this point the aft fuselage was rigid enough to attach it to the forward section. The side skins were then added to the aft section. The instrument panel was then fitted after the cut-outs were complete. The fuel tank was fabricated from 1mm alclad and welded together after the level sensor, welding flanges and filler cap openings were complete. The tank was fitted with support cleats that are bolted to the upper stringers. All fuel fittings consist of AN couplings and 6mm aluminium fuel line runs. There are 2 electric fuel pumps as the engine is not fitted with a pump. In the photo below, the right hand wing structure is being assembled on the worktop. The worktop has been constructed perfectly flat to ensure no warping of the wing during sheeting. Note the rear wing ribs that match the timber forms shown previously. Also, note the bathroom tiles on the wall behind as well as the remnants of the wall I demolished. The wing centre section with the seat pan about to be riveted in place. The white joystick and controls linkage are shown in position about to be bolted in place. The centre section rear spar will be bolted to the wing rear spars as well at a later stage. AFT FUSELAGE ATTACHMENTS: The vertical fin was set in place on the fuselage and drilled to accept AN 3 bolts on the forward and rear fin spars. The forward bolts have blind nuts fitted to the fuselage bulkhead while the rear bolts have locknuts. The rudder was then fitted and the control cable positions marked on the fuselage. The openings for these cables were then made and the fixing brackets attached to the fuselage along with the fairings for the cables. The tailwheel is steerable by means of springs attached to the rudder bellcrank. TAIL FEATHERS: The fin, rudder, elevator and stabilizer structures were similar. Formed aluminium ribs were riveted to the spars. The ribs and skins were all 6061-T6 Alclad sheet. Aluminium brackets were made and bolted to the fin spar for the rudder attachment points while the elevator uses piano hinges. FUSELAGE: The forward section was built first. This consisted of 1-1/2” 6061-T6 aluminium angle top and bottom stringers shaped and bent to suit the plans. Flat bar doublers are bolted to the bottom stringers at the bend to add strength. The firewall was made from 1mm galvanised steel plate and attached to the stringers with a 1- The aft fuselage showing the fin and rudder in place . 8 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 MAIN LANDING GEAR: The main gear consists of a plate of EN45b spring steel (150mm x 10mm thick) shaped and bent to suit the dimensions on the plans. After tempering, the gear was primed and the wheel axles fitted. The axles were 19mm steel bolts welded to attachment plates. These were then bolted to the main gear. The brake calliper brackets were drilled to accept the attachment holes of the axle. An aluminium plate was fabricated to accept the fibreglass wheel spats when these were finally fitted. FIREWALL FORWARD: The first item to be fabricated was the engine mount. This was cut from ½” 4130 steel tube cut to shape and welded while held in a jig. The mount was primed and painted before being attached to the firewall with 4 number AN 5 bolts in previously drilled holes. The various electrical components were then fitted as per the plan, including the coils, voltage regulator, solenoid, battery compartment, fuel pumps and gascolator. The engine mounting flange was temporarily fitted to ensure clearance with the starter motor, alternator, etc. The engine wiring being installed to the various probes and terminals. The system uses a 12V battery. The engine cowling being installed and tested for fit after being trimmed for the exhaust and baffle plates. FINAL ASSEMBLY: By the time I was ready to do the final assembly, my hangar had been completed so I was able to move all the subassemblies out of my cramped workshop. The wings were fitted followed by the ailerons and the control linkages were fitted in June 2011. The engine installation was completed in June 2011. The horizontal stabilizer, elevator, fin and rudder were installed and control cables and pushrods fitted. (Engine mount tubing fitted in jig prior to being welded.) The correct travel for the various control surfaces was done to match the drawing, namely: Ailerons – 15° down and 15° up. Elevator – 25° down and 20° up. Rudder – 20° left and right. The windscreen was cut from a sheet of 3mm polycarb and fitted with retaining skirts. The canopy was then fitted and trimmed to suit the cockpit before being installed on the sliding rails. (Various electrical and fuel components fitted to firewall while engine mount is in position to ensure clearance with all parts.) ENGINE & PROPELLER The engine is an Aerovee 80HP engine purchased as a kit from Aero Conversions in the USA. The engine was easily assembled (it's basically a VW beetle engine) and fitted to the mount with 4 bolts. . The propeller is a P-Prop type W54JV5L wooden fixed pitch model. The exhaust was initially made up of 38mm PVC plumbing pipes, bends etc. to form a template. This was then used to make the exhausts at a local exhaust manufacturer. The glass fibre engine cowling was trimmed to suit the baffle plates, exhausts and air filter. Once all engine related items were fitted (oil cooler, coils, fuel lines, breather pipes, and electrical connections) the engine was filled with 3 quarts of oil. The dipstick was then calibrated to suit the specification. The complete engine installation was completed in June 2011. The cockpit instruments and avionics were all fitted and finally the fuel tank was installed and all aluminium fuel lines plumbed. The seat was upholstered and fitted with the seat belts installed and adjusted. Finally, with all the components installed on the aircraft, it was levelled and weighed. The empty weight and calculated maximum weight were added to the nameplate fitted on the firewall. The c-of-g limits were calculated and found to be within the designer’s specifications – a great relief. Then the tank was filled with fuel and 9 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 checked for leaks. The fuel pumps were tested, engine starter was tested and all relevant instruments marked with green arcs and red lines as per the specifications of the airframe and engine. We were now ready to start the engine and begin testing. One huge disappointment turned out to be the AeroVee sliding throttle body. Despite various set-ups, the engine would not run smoothly for any length of time. Dick Henry attempted several test flights but eventually the unreliable throttle body had to go. I replaced it with a Zenith carb – used on other VW installations. This turned out to be a perfect combination and the engine ran smoothly throughout the throttle range. At about the same time I chickened out and decided to convert the aircraft from a tail- installation to the back of the firewall. The main gear was moved backwards by about 150mm. FINAL COMMENT: The new configuration finally took to the air some time in February 2012 in the capable hands of Iwan Davey. The test flight was a huge success and no modifications were required. I flew her about a week later and became hooked. What a dream to fly. Take off is very docile. Holding the joystick in the full back position, apply full throttle. As speed builds up, slowly move the joystick forward until equilibrium is felt. This will eliminate any nosewheel shimmy tendency. For the landing, final approach to the runway should be made at 65-75 mph (57-66 kts) with touchdown planned for just past the threshold. The aircraft has a tendency to float in ground effect and this must be taken into account on very short runways. Typically, expect to use about 1500 ft of runway for the flare out and ground roll. Some useful data based on a weight of 750 lbs (340.2 kg) 1. Cruise speed = 125 mph (109KTS) at 3000rpm dragger to a tri-gear. This required removal of the fuel tank and fitting a new nose gear 2. Stall speed Vso = 40 mph (35 kts) 3. Never exceed speed Vne = 155 mph (135 kts) 4. Take off roll = 700 ft (213 m) TIN LIZZY 10 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 Let’s Get Technical By Michael Davies Let’s get Basic this month! I don’t want to get intensely into major technical issues but lightly touch on some aircraft basics that you can look out for your aerie even if you are not so mechanically minded. Ever checked how some bolts and nuts are neatly knitted with wire and not given it much thought why it’s there? Not to worry many seasoned aviators I’ve come across also didn’t know until it was explained to them. The reason is that we don’t want the risk of having bolts and fasteners coming adrift on any part of our plane, be it engine or airframe while its operating as the consequences could be dire. Vibrations and perhaps movement of fasteners holding moving parts lets the “tightness” of bolts loosen up over time and then if unchecked – uh oh! To counter this and to keep us safe, aircraft bolts have holes in their heads to enable them to be wire – locked in a positive locking – which is fancy aeroplane mechanic speak for letting the bolt to be tied with the wire to a point or another bolt in a way that if it should try and loosen it will be pulling against the tightening direction. It’s easier if you refer to the figure I’ve blatantly lifted off the net above – notice how the heads are being pulled tight and if joined to another bolt, it too is being pulled tight – if one had to try and loosen his buddy will stop him and all in the cluster will stay secure. The enemy is the anti locking where by guys get it wrong and the wire pulls the bolt loose – remember its lefty loosey , righty tighty. It’s even more difficult if you are looking upside down and easy to make a wrong locking. Using a ratchet, set to tighten, quickly helps you orientate yourself to do it in the correct direction. How it’s done requires a little patience as well as practicing locking takes a bit of time, some of your first attempts will be unsatisfactory. Remember that it’s got to be tight, positive and about 6 – 8 twists per inch and the twist off at the end should be a minimum of 6 twists and folded over so that the sharp end doesn’t impale somebody’s skin, that somebody will probably be you. The twists can be made by hand or with locking pliers. Its not only bolts that can be secured in this fashion on our planes, in fact any threaded part can be prone to screw itself off so provision is made for wire holes, examples being on filters and pipe fittings. The internet has numerous sites on how to perform a locking, which will do more justice than my little paragraph and will demonstrate the use of these locking pliers better and more interestingly than I could so please check it out if you are interested. Alternately if I’m around on the field and need some help with your wire locking I’ll gladly help you out. Projects Huge congratulations to Bobby & Gary Heimann and Ian Martin for getting their Sling 2’s completed and then flying late last year. It was fantastic watching the aeries being built throughout the year and many safe hours to you all. Not to be outdone the Bushbaby guys also stepped up their game as the Sling owners were getting slightly cocky and disparaging of the old favourite plane, Gerhard van Rooyen completed his beautiful Safari and Dave is hard at work covering his Explorer which will probably take to the skies soon – Well done. 11 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 Johan is prepping his RV 8 for spray painting in a funky colour scheme, Craig Romburg is fixing up the Lancair project, the Gary Ressel is steaming ahead with a Sling 4 build, while ace photographer, Franscois Potgieter, has swapped camera for rivet gun and is building a Sling 2. Lance and Tyrone are busying themselves completing a Zodiac. Reports say Gio Human has also been seen skulking around with a RV 7 project. Donald has another AX sport on the way, soon, the skunkworks says The gyro’s boys have outdone themselves, bringing in a Cavalon – congrats Nickmand a Auto-Gyro MTOSport flown by Jean Tresfon. 2016 smoke on! Go...... Propman and his side kick Electron otherwise known as Donald and Johan have been hard at work on developing their propellers throughout last year with greater things to come – keep it up! It is very encouraging that in the gloomy economic climate we find ourselves in, the Morningstar gang have soldiered on with practicing sport aviation as actively as we possibly can and congratulations to each and every one of you for making our club one of the best places to achieve this. [Editors Note: The author of this piece modestly forgot to mention that he is building a Vans RV6. Not an easy task as it is an early Van’s kit and does not feature pre-punched holes. We can assume that the finished article will be better quality than the Airbus’s and Boeings, which Mick looks after in his day job!] Plenty of these at the club and more on their way, judging by the number being built Meanwhile Johan is just finishing off one of these with as fancy a colour scheme 12 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 Aerial Photography Gyrocopter Style… What Lies Beneath! Looking deeper into our oceans… By Jean Tresfon In a popular flying club with hundreds of members it’s not really necessary to explain the thrill of flying. We all fly for different reasons, mostly fly different aircraft and find different rewards in pursuit of our pastime. For some it’s the freedom of the skies. For others it’s the rush that comes with the triple opiates of speed, power and altitude. For me it’s the altered perspective of looking down from above, seeing places we thought we knew from an entirely different angle, and then trying to capture that vision on a tiny electronic sensor made up of millions of pixels. Unlike many of the members of WCMC, relatively speaking I am a latecomer to the flying fold, having only obtained my license in 2011. I fly an open Seen by some as noisy, slow and ugly aircraft (the old joke about gyrocopters being aerodynamically unable to fly, but so ugly that the earth repels them being a case in point!), you would be hard pressed to find another aircraft type better suited to this role. Although this article what more could you ask for! When not flying I work mostly as an underwater cameraman, shooting both stills and video and documenting extraordinary animal behaviour beneath the surface in locations all over the world, but especially right here in South Africa. A great white shark cruises the backline at Surfer’s Corner at Muizenberg. For the most part the surfers are completely unaware of the sharks and the sharks are not interested in the surfers allowing the two species to co-exist peacefully. is not specifically about gyrocopters, the fact remains that they are easy to fly, capable in the wind, provide a steady camera platform with great We have an incredible coastline with huge diversity, both in terms of habitat and inhabitants. From the tropical waters of northern Kwazulu Natal to the temperate waters of the Cape and the West Coast the sheer biodiversity is astounding. I got my diving ticket in 1990 A large great white shark patrols the shallow waters of the inshore pinnacles near Skipskop Point near De Hoop Jean and Dave Lehr in their Magni gyros ready to launch from Andrews Field on a shark spotting sortie cockpit gyrocopter, the perfect aircraft for my purpose, which is photographing, surveying and observing marine wildlife. visibility and no windows to shoot through… 13 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 and over the course of twenty-six years have accumulated in excess of five thousand hours underwater. The flying I do for fun and to learn more about the marine environment. Strangely enough I have learnt more about the ocean and its inhabitants during the last five years of flying than I did during all my years underwater. I have seen quickly, yet be slow enough to really observe what is going on is key to its suitability to this role. Having flown now for several years I am starting to see the patterns in terms of wildlife behaviour. The arrival of the southern right whales in winter, the migrations of the humpback whales and the inshore movement of the great white sharks in A superpod of thousands of common dolphins travelling at speed is an awesome sight. Frothing the water surface over an area almost a kilometre in diameter, they can be spotted from a long way off. This pod was spotted near Hout Bay. animal behaviour from the air that I did not believe was possible. Fish ramming and chasing away a great white shark; huge diamond squid shimmering in the sun; thousands of hammerhead sharks spread across the surface and hundreds of humpbacks whales feeding together on pockets of krill. Thousands of common dolphins gathered in a super pod; vast shoals of cape yellowtail spawning on the surface and massive bait balls of sardines with only a few hungry cape fur seals in pursuit. Orcas attacking chased by common dolphins. These are just some of the things I have been lucky enough to witness and/or photograph. The ability of the gyrocopter to cover ground the summer, all start to make sense. Then it’s possible to spot anomalies in the patterns. A summer feeding aggregation of southern right whales in Table Bay? Tropical diamond squid on the surface during the day and in the shallow frigid waters of the West Coast? Every sighting adds to our database of knowledge and I happily collaborate with many marine whale, shark and fisheries scientists and researchers. There is just so much about the ocean that we don’t know and every verifiable sighting adds tremendous value. Working with volunteer organisations such as Shark Spotters is also rewarding, however a flight over Muizenberg on a Saturday afternoon before a Sunday morning surf is never a good idea. The mental image of big great white swimming along the backline is very hard to scrub from the mind. Some things cannot be unseen! The aerial perspective has also allowed me to see the ugly side of our marine environment. As a city we dump fifty-five million litres of untreated sewage into Table Bay every single day and the sewage plumes are clearly visible from the air. What is an out of sight, out of mind everyday occurrence from the ground, is quickly recognized as an environmental catastrophe when viewed A mating aggregation of spotted gully sharks in the shallows near Cape Point. I have tried many times to approach these groups underwater without success, but an image shot from above tells the story better than any close-up. 14 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 from above. Oil slicks from vessels pumping their bilges, illegal fishing and abalone poaching are also very easy to spot from the air, although care needs to be taken not to be recognised as the spotter aircraft. Light sport aircraft are not famous for being bulletproof! Spotting marine wildlife from the air takes a practiced eye and it goes without saying that you should be completely comfortable behind the controls of your aerie before attempting to spot or photograph wildlife while flying. Also be cognizant of the conditions and when it gets a little bumpy flying becomes the priority and the camera needs to take a backseat. Mola mola near Kommetjie. The heaviest bony fish in the sea, these awkward looking animals are often seen alone or in pairs, but hardly ever in large groups. Seeing a great white shark predation on a cape fur seal as it happened underneath me while flying along the fur seals making a half hearted attempt at another mouthful. Seeing a feeding aggregation of over a hundred humpback whales in a tight bunch as they feed on small balls of krill just offshore from Kommetjie. A lone sunfish or Mola-mola demonstrating the behaviour from which it gets its name. Lying flat on its side at the surface it sunbathes and at the same time allows seabirds access to remove the parasites from its skin. Also take care to observe the applicable legislation. Minimum height over whales is one thousand feet. To go lower requires your aircraft to be specifically registered on a valid whale permit from the Department of Environmental Affairs. Some of the highlights of the behaviour I’ve spotted over the last five years include: backline at Muizenberg. The initial strike almost cut the seal in half and as the shark circled back to slowly devour the hapless pinniped I managed to take some Seeing a huge shoal of sardines trapped in the shallows near Scarborough, with two fat and happy cape Watching a great white shark approach a large shoal of Garrick or leervis only to hastily retreat as two of the larger fish rammed it repeatedly just behind its pectoral fins Watching a pod of orca or killer whales as they are also known chase down and kill common dolphins near Roman Rock lighthouse in False Bay. Seeing huge shoals of yellowtail spiralling on the surface near Cape Point as they spawn. These aggregations are very seldom Two bloated cape fur seals chase a shoal of sardines into shallow water just offshore from Scarborough Beach. The seals could eat no more! Spotting a Brydes Whale mother and calf pair in Table Bay. These super shy whales are permanent residents off our coastline but are seldom seen unless feeding on surface bait balls. Spotting a feeding aggregation of sunfish or 15 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 feeding and the boats can be seen throwing spinner after spinner with no bites. Clearly sex is a higher priority! Overberg coast where they are more common. Finding a mating aggregation of spotted gully sharks in the About 4% of southern right whales are born with white colouration. These are not albino animals but rather brindles. Almost every brindle is a male. Finding one of these white southern rights is always rewarding. Seeing a white calf stuck in the kelp was just unbelievably sad. The gyrocopter has also given me the ability to spot something from the air, land and head straight out to sea to jump in the water and hopefully capture some unique footage. On several occasions this has resulted in totally unrivalled footage. Lunge feeding on tightly packed balls of krill these humpback whales gathered in huge numbers. There are almost as many animals under the water as there are on the surface. Seeing hammerhead sharks and thresher sharks swimming along the backline at Fish Hoek and Muizenberg, far from the shallow waters just off Cape Point. This actually happens fairly often but getting a decent image is always a challenge. As pilots who get to enjoy flying around the peninsula and along the coast there is a huge amount going on literally right under our noses. It always amazes me how few pilots look down from time to time and notice what is happening in the ocean, but then again to be fair it has always been my focus. So the next time you go for a flight around the peninsula spare a thought for what is happening below and look down from time to time! You never know what you might see next. As for the one hundred and sixty knot plus RV boys, you can carry on impressing us with the stunning aerobatics displays while us gyrocopter jockeys look on in envy, and in return, we’ll tell you what you missed below you! More photos from Jean on the next page: 16 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 Black & White – a mating pair of southern right whales rests on the surface at Kommetjie. The white animal is a brindle and is almost certainly a male. A hammerhead shark swims along the surface in search of an easy meal. A brindle southern right whale calf struggles to free itself just offshore from Pearly Beach. Its tail was heavily wrapped with kelp and the chances of this animal freeing itself were next to zero. A small pod of dusky dolphin playing in the shallow waters off Blouberg. A tightly packed spawning aggregation of Cape Yellowtail. Note the fish turning on their sides to release sperm. Image shot at Kalk Bay. 17 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 Members’ Photos, from Facebook and as submitted….. Photo Editor, Tim Irvine These beautiful photos by Steve Palmer taken from his Pipistrel Virus one fine day at the end of winter The photos below are an assortment put together by Tim Irvine, Photo Editor. If you have any photos you’d like to share, don’t hesitate to contact Tim – [email protected] Top L to R: Bob Heimann & Fatima Jakoet; Mark Becker delighted with his new prop; Aircraft awaiting passengers at the Open Day; the club grows and grows 18 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 en Sc e rom sf the C as tm s i hr ol co e m b So Clu e th ai rty pa ft s a r rc n ee at 19 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 Ponder this…Mastering No-Power Approaches How to get back on the ground safely without using engine power. By PIA BERGQVIST Posted MAY 13, 2015 Courtesy Flying Magazine "What's that?" you wonder, as your back straightens and your ears come to attention. The engine coughs and continues to cough, spitting and hesitating before, suddenly, it dies and all goes eerily quiet. You pitch for best glide, run through your flows, read the checklists, but the engine refuses to restart. It has just become very real. What started as a simple powered flight has turned into an unplanned adventure in flying a really bad glider, a journey that no sane pilot wants to make. With no power and no go-around opportunities available, you have only one attempt to make a successful landing. "Let's face it: The first time you have an engine failure, your heart is going to be in your throat," retired space shuttle commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson says. But the only way this flight will end happily is if you can stay calm. The only way you can stay calm is by saying to yourself: "I've got this." And you can only gain the confidence and the skills required to honestly say those words if you have practiced no-power approaches to proficiency. had the potential to destroy a multimillion-dollar piece of equipment and end the lives of those inside it. No doubt, the stakes were high. Because of the precision involved with this nopower approach, an incredible amount of training was required of the shuttle commander and co-pilot. Countless hours in a simulator were not enough. The commander would have to complete at least 1,000 no-power approaches in NASA's Gulfstream II, which had been modified by Grumman to simulate the response of a space shuttle, Gibson says. Despite his extensive training with no-power approaches as an astronaut, Gibson has not stopped practicing. "I practice a dead stick landing every time I fly my Cassutt," Gibson says. He has had his share of emergency approaches while racing at the Reno Air Races. With the rough terrain in the brushy Sierra Nevada foothills desert land, "your chances of survival are very slim if you don't put it on a runway," Gibson says. Preparing for the Unthinkable Even though we know engines sometimes quit, it is rare for us pilots to practice approaches at idle power. The optimism is not Ultimate No-Power Approach The ultimate no-power approaches were done by space shuttle pilots such as Gibson. The space shuttle would begin its long glide to the ground bursting into the atmosphere at about 400,000 feet. While the re-entry was completely smooth, Gibson says, the shuttle would be surrounded by fire until it slowed to 10,000 feet per second (more than 5,900 knots). A mistake 20 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 unreasonable because, if you take care of your engine and use your airplane only as a mode of transportation, the chance of having an engine failure is very small. "With 24,000 hours plus with the majority of it being in piston engine airplanes, I've never had an engine failure," says Kirby Ortega, a highly experienced instructor and designated pilot examiner who worked for Cessna for more than 30 years, most recently as the chief pilot for piston engine airplanes. While emergency approaches are required for the Private Pilot certificate, it is not until you apply for the Commercial certificate that you need to demonstrate your ability to land without engine power with precision. The power-off, 180-degree accuracy approach and landing was added to the Commercial Pilot Practical Test Standards in 2002. It requires the applicant to fly from an altitude 1,000 feet agl or less on downwind to a preselected point on the runway or no more than 200 feet beyond that point at idle power. This is a good manoeuvre for any pilot to practice, and there is no question that it is a tough one to get right. "I had a young guy the other day doing a commercial check ride and he missed it twice," Ortega says. "Part of it was because he wasn't factoring in the winds enough." While challenging, the ability to consistently complete a successful no-power approach is definitely achievable. Glider pilots make one every time they fly. While you may never experience a true emergency, the day you do you will thank yourself for practicing dead-stick landings in various conditions. "I would rather have a skill that I don't need than need a skill that I don't have," says Bruce Bohannon, a flight instructor out of Angleton, Texas, who specializes in teaching upset recovery training and no-power approaches. Bohannon is likely one of the most experienced flight instructors in the world when it comes to real-life emergencies. He has lost count of the number of actual engine failures he has experienced through his years of crop-dusting, racing at the Reno Air Races and pushing airplanes to the max in attempts to break altitude records in the Exxon Flyin' Tiger. During a record attempt at Sun 'n Fun one year, Bohannon blew up the engine in the stunt plane, based on a highly modified Van's RV-4. "Piston rings came out of the engine and landed on the baffling. It was trash," Bohannon says. "The airplane was absolutely covered in oil. But when I got to my key position I relaxed. I knew what to do. I had practiced it a gazillion times." In case you were to lose your engine, you have likely been taught to fly at best glide speed, which will maximize your time aloft, target a point on the runway or an off-airport landing site, and circle to land at that spot. While this may result in a successful landing, there are other techniques that may have more predictable results. You should absolutely target the best glide speed as soon as you lose power to give yourself the maximum amount of time to troubleshoot and get to the perfect spot for landing. It is once you get closer to the landing area that things can become more interesting. Rather than target the runway itself, glider pilots are taught to target an initial point (IP), a visual reference point from which to begin the final approach. The IP may be over the glider port or at a location near or in the traffic pattern. "I emphasize always starting the pattern at exactly one position and height, since the pattern itself has to be improvised," says Dale Masters, an instructor at the Southern California Soaring Academy. The improvisation Masters refers to is the adjustment required for the current wind conditions. "The nationally approved method is TLAR for That Looks About Right," Masters jokes. 1 Entry Leg 2 Initial Point (IP) 3 Downwind Leg 4 Base Leg 5 Final Approach 6 Touchdown Point Keys to Success There is a method to the madness. Rather than using the best glide speed once in the pattern, Masters teaches to use the best glide speed plus half the headwind on final. (You should, of course, always attempt to land into the wind.) Any excess speed or altitude can be bled off using spoilers, flaps, dive brakes or a forward slip. In a procedure similar to the IP concept, the 21 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 military uses key positions. "You have a high key position, right over the approach end of the runway, where you're going to be making a constant 360-degree turn," Gibson says. "The 180-degree position is called low key, and that is probably going to be 1,200 to 1,500 feet. You need to know what your high key altitude is and what your low key altitude is for your particular airplane because, if you're headed to a runway and you get yourself down to an altitude that is below high key, you know you can't make a whole 360-degree turn. In that case you have to drive to your low key position." The only way you can know the numbers to target for high and low key is through practice or by flying with an instructor who is familiar with no-power landings in your airplane type. Bohannon recommends that you find out the minimum altitude you can lose during a 180-degree turn with no power and then double that altitude for a comfortable altitude to start from abeam the runway on downwind. While in many airplanes that number may be 1,000 or 1,200 feet, in the Pitts, Bohannon says, it is 2,000 because its wing produces so little lift. Bohannon jokes that a good glideslope indicator in a Pitts during an engine failure is a brick. "We all carry them," he says. "If the engine quits you throw it out and follow it, because that's about your best glide angle." from the stall. You lose airspeed quickly once all that power is gone. There are many factors that affect your glide ratio. If you fly an airplane with a constant-speed propeller, you may be surprised at the amount of drag produced by the high-pitch angle of the propeller with the power at idle and how bringing the prop control back will affect your glide range. In the Cub Bohannon uses for teaching, the approach speed is 60 mph. "On a no-wind day, we're doing 60 over the ground," he says, "but that same day with 15 miles of wind I'm only going 45 miles per hour. That's 25% longer to descend, which means I'm going to hit the ground way sooner in that wind. The time doesn't change. It's how far you go during that time." If there is a lot of wind, you need to give yourself even more of a margin. You may want to increase your approach speed a few more knots, but you should also either make a shorter radius turn to the runway or set yourself up at a higher key position on a high wind day. You should also know how much drag the landing gear and flaps will add. In many cases, the first notch or two of flaps adds more lift than drag. Bohannon recommends playing around with the best configuration at the key position — likely one or two notches of flaps and landing gear down — so that your main focus can remain on getting the airplane to the targeted landing spot. Whatever the configuration you choose, you should always use it consistently during practice so that you have predictable results. Another factor to consider with higher-powered airplanes, particularly if you lose the engine during the climb, is that you may need to lower the nose quickly to get to the best glide speed and away While you should target the best glide speed initially, it may not be the optimal once you get closer to the ground. "I would not ever use my best glide speed as the approach speed because you have no options if you're short," Bohannon says. "If I use 15 to 20 mph over my best glide speed in the circle to land, it keeps me a lot closer to the runway because I'm diving down and turning in a smaller radius than if I slowed the airplane to best glide and tried to do a circle to land based on that." With a strong wind, Bohannon contends, you may not make it to the runway. Also, seeing that you may end up short, you may be tempted to raise the nose. "It makes you feel good for one second and then you start sinking faster," Bohannon says. It is an evil start of a cycle that has resulted in many pilots landing short of the runway and even stalling the airplane with devastating outcomes. With a few extra knots in the bank, you can trade speed for altitude if you get low. And if you need to bleed off speed or altitude, there are many options. You can add flaps, bring the prop forward, add speed brakes (if available) or slip or skid the airplane. Crosswind components are also important to take into consideration because they have the potential to create very dangerous situations during the base-to-final turn that has ended the lives of far too many pilots. With a tailwind on base, the tendency is to fly past the centreline, steepen the bank, add rudder into the turn and, 22 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 if you're low, pull back on the stick. It is the perfect setup for a snap roll, which is impossible to recover from at such a low altitude. Instead, turn early! The wind will drift you to the runway centreline. Slip by pushing rudder opposite to the turn to slow down. However, with a headwind component on base you don't want to slip. As you turn you have the wing into the wind up. Since you need to transition that wing to down once aligned with centreline, you may fly through the centreline in this situation. If you need to dissipate speed, skid the turn. Since conditions are always changing, you have to use the TLAR method Masters mentioned. Unless there is a mountain at the end of the runway, it is better to land a little long than a little short. "Very few people get killed overshooting the runway," Bohannon says. Learning to execute precision landings without power is no mystery. Glider pilots do it every time they fly using a number of tried-and-true techniques. Another mistake pilots make is trying to save their airplanes instead of minimizing the impact to save their own lives. You shouldn't worry too much about damaging the airplane. If you need to skid the airplane sideways or put the gear up to prevent going off the end of the runway, do it. Since the most critical phase of the no-power approach is the segment from the low key position to the runway, it is worth practicing these procedures in the pattern as often as you can. "You can practice this any time you've got a pattern with nobody in front of you," Bohannon says. "It's absolutely free! And it's fun." And since you are already in the pattern, shock cooling should not be a concern, which is one excuse pilots give for not practicing no power approaches, Ortega says. You may never have the displeasure of experiencing a real engine failure, but if you do, you will be happy you practiced no-power approaches. Bohannon claims that, at the end of his course, he shuts down his Cub's engine completely and lets his students dead-stick the airplane all the way to the ground. "And after they've done two or three of those they leave here going, 'This is really easy.' And that's the key to this; you practice it until it's easy," he says. Practice EFATO regularly so your skills are ready for the day it happens To avoid ending up like this…. 23 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 RULES OF THUMB….. Aviation, more so than any other activity you can care to name, is full of rules of thumb, probably because we are required to make so many decisions on the fly (so to speak) that pilots have come up with so many aides memoir of what has to be done. TAS Quick Calc • • Divide your altitude in feet by 1000 then multiply by 5 and add to your indicated airspeed. Example:- Altitude 5500ft / 1000 = 5.5 * 5 = 27.5 => If IAS = 100 => TAS ≅127.5Kts OR Increase your indicated airspeed by 2% per thousand feet of altitude. Example:- IAS 100 kts @ 10,000ft = > TAS = 100 * 1.20 (1+(10 x 2)) ≅ 120kts Convert Knots to KPH – Multiply by 1.85 Convert Knots to MPH – Multiply by 1.15 Descent Calculations Here are some nice calculations to do on the fly to keep old brains fit and young ones occupied. • 3-Degree Slope – to maintain a 3-degree glideslope simply multiply your groundspeed by 5, which is approximately the required decent rate in feet per minute. • How far out do I begin to descend in order to fly a 3-degree glide slope? Multiply Number of thousands of feet to lose by 3. Example: 8500ft down to 3000ft => 5.5 * 3 ≅ 16.5nm out you would begin a descent. • What rate of descent will you need to fly to achieve the above at a given GS? Divide distance to be covered during descent by Ground Speed per minute = Descent Time (DT). Then divide height to loose (H) by DT => H / DT = Rate of Descent (ROD) Example: GS = 120 kts ÷ 60min = 2 nm/min => Distance = 16.5nm ÷ 2 nm/min = DT of 8.25mins => Height to lose = 5500ft ÷ 8.25 ≅ ROD of 667 fpm. Remember this is an approximation and you can just as well round up to 700fpm. Also you need to set your GS in the descent. Alternative descent calculation: assuming a 600fpm descent (ROD), which roughly equates to a 3-degree glideslope in our aircraft. ROD = 600fpm. H = 5500 => H ÷ROD = Minutes in Descent (DT) = 9.2 mins @ GS = 120Kts => (S) 2nm/min Thus we start our descent at DT * S = 9 * 2 = 18nm (D). Top Tip: Round your numbers to the nearest whole to make mental arithmetic easier, all the answers are approximates anyway. Some Acronyms • • • Engine out procedures => ABCDE :– Airspeed, Best place to land, Checklist, Declare, Execute Before Landing => GUMPS :- Gas_Undercarriage_Mixture_Propeller/Pump_Switches/Seat Belts Lights Camera Action o Lights - strobe, nav lights as required and landing lights. o Camera - transponder set to given squawk and ALT on. o Action - fuel boost pump on, controls free and clear, flaps/trim set, runway heading check 24 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 How To Article By Jonathan Starke THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE LED OF AIRCRAFT LIGHTING When looking at using LED lights for Aircraft I think it is best to evaluate them on a PRO and CON basis: PROS Relatively Cheap Small and hence low wattage LED’s are used in thousands of electronic devices and hence are very cheap - small indicator lights can be as low as a few cents. When one looks at the larger higher wattage versions, they tend to be more expensive. The expense is not directly related to the size or number of LED’s but rather to the additional circuitry to drive them, more about this later. Light Weight LED’s are semiconductors and thus do not need an enclosure like an incandescent bulb requires, and thus tend to be lighter in weight. Long Lasting 50000 hrs plus This is one of the big features of LED’s they can last a very long time, as there is no filament that is heated up and cooled down every time the light is switched on. As there is no filament, they are less susceptible mechanical jarring. Multiple flavours not just white and white When one wants an incandescent bulb to be in a different colour, you have to change the lens colour. This change only allows the colour of the light, that you want, to filter through the lens. LED’s are different, as using different materials in the semiconductor can make different colours. Thus a true Blue or Red LED can be made; there are even ultraviolet and infrared LED’s. CONS There are LED’s and there are LED’s For us humans it is difficult to distinguish a bright light from a not so bright light. Thus everyone tends to think of all LED’s having the same ‘brightness’; this is most definitely not the case. To make matters worse LED’s are very seldom quoted using our familiar watt rating. Operate in a voltage range that Aircraft do not use We are all used to lights, as used in cars - being used on our aircraft. This is simple, as most of our aircraft are 12V based, and it is thus fine to use these car bulbs. LED’s on the other hand use strange voltage ranges for example 3.7V. Must be driven correctly LED’s MUST be driven or powered by a constant current source. This is foreign to us, as we are used to motor vehicle bulbs, as long as it is rated at 12V, we are good to go. With LED’s we have to ensure that the amount of current flowing through the semiconductor does NOT exceed the manufacturer's specification, irrespective of the voltage applied. Too much and the LED will have a very short life span, too little and it will emit less light. Thus LED’s need additional current limiting electronics to ensure a long bright lifespan. These ‘drivers’ for LED’s is an additional source of problems for Aircraft, and more specifically the archaic AM radios we all use. A PROBLEM Whilst trying to help sort out an Aircraft radio (from a reputable manufacturer) it was brought home to me what a hazard LEDs light can be, for Aircraft Radios. We were in the hangar, trying to figure out why the squelch on the radio was almost permanently open. Little did we realise that the whole hangar was lit with LED lights. These LED lights, or more correctly the driver / power supply for them was causing a huge amount of RF noise. RF noise is what makes the snap crackle and pop on our Aircraft Radios and this noise was so great that it was opening the squelch of the radio. If we turned down the squelch, the radio was then so insensitive it would not open for a normal Rx. So what is it that causes this problem, because as we have all seen, there are many small LED indicators in Aircraft cockpits, these days, and they don’t cause problems! LED’s are Semiconductors, and need to be ‘driven’ with a constant current source, ever tried 25 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 to connect a 5mm LED across a 12V battery? The LED glows very bright for a very brief period of time. Add a suitable resistor in series, with the LED, to limit the current flowing into the LED, and it will last for years! What is meant by Current Limit, well we all know that V = (I * R) (V=Volts,I=Amps and R=Resistance) Thus if we have a Voltage of 12V and a maximum forward current for the LED is 50mA then a resistor of 240 Ohms will ensure that no more than 50mA will flow thru the resistor, and it will glow for a very long time. How do we know what the forward current for a particular LED is? Well a simple look up the value in the manufacturer’s specification sheet. This is all well and good, but how much power the resistor, in the form of wasted heat, is dissipating? With a 50mA LED, there is NOT much energy that has to be dissipated, but when you start using bigger and brighter LED’s this becomes a huge factor. To make it more interesting, as mentioned above different LED colours require different current limiting. What that means is there is a different circuit for different colour LED’s, what a pain! can switch the 12V battery on and off slowly enough, we can attach a 3V bulb to the battery, and it will not burn out. More correctly we switch it on for a very short period, and off for a longer period. We cannot see the ‘flicker’ that results, as our eyes just cannot react fast enough, and we see the light as on. If we vary this frequency we can dim the light as well! Thus using this newfound knowledge, we can use a 3.7V-based LED, on a 12V system, if we add a bit of electronics to drive the LED’s. This electronics is where the problem is. These drivers switch at high frequencies. This switching is what causes the RF noise. There are ways of shielding this electronics, but one of the simpler ways is to have the electronics as far away from your radio and it’s antenna as possible. Thus strobe LED drivers, for high power LED’s must be as far away from the cockpit as possible - put the driver with the strobe on the tip of the wing, simple. Don’t put LED-landing lights under the cowl at the front put them in the wings instead. Don’t fly in a hangar, lit by LED spotlights! To prevent our aircraft from becoming glorified flying heaters, with all the dissipation of the heat energy required, when running larger LED’s, we use something called a switch mode current limiting driver. A simple analogy for this is if we 26 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 SAFETY FIRST – HOW TO SCARE YOURSELF WHEN FLYING AN AIRPLANE EDITOR 1. IGNORING DENSITY ALTITUDE WHEN TAKING OFF HOT & HIGH will be longer, your climb out angle needs to be flatter and you must maintain runway heading for longer to achieve a safe height before you turn. In addition, at 5000ft and above if you have mixture control lean for best power before take off. Finally, when up north, plan to arrive or leave early in the morning when it’s cooler. 2. VFR into IMC and scud running The problem with us WCMC coastal bumpkins is we mostly take off at or near sea level. Picture a scenario: you were invited by the A Team on a Club fly away to a game lodge near Kruger, it’s mid-day, the temperature is +40degs C and you have just jumped into your pride and joy on the runway, with your co-Joe and 120kgs of luggage and camping gear (which you have not used because you just found out the A Team don’t camp). While you are still marvelling at the fact that you were lucky enough to be invited by the A team on this fly away, you forget all you have been taught, fire up the engine, do your usual cursory checks and line up at the hold. Field elevation is an air thin 5200ft. You bury the throttle and notice that it takes way longer to reach lift off speed and as the bushes keep rushing by, you decide some assistance is required and you yank your baby off the ground and pitch for your usual climb out. Suddenly you notice the trees and bushes are not getting smaller, the aircraft seems down on power and you are not climbing like you usually do. So you pitch more to increase the climb rate and start your usual turn out. Before you can say A Team, the trees and bushes fill your windscreen, as you plunge into the undergrowth. A stall spin statistic! Simplistic? Maybe, but it happens. Remember, when taking off hot and high, wings don’t work as well as they do back home and normally aspirated engines don’t produce as much power (power can be down 15% or more). So you need to remember that your take off run Hang around the bar at Morningstar and sooner or later you’ll hear an A Teamer regaling his audience with stories of how he was coming back one winters day from up North and had to fly low level through the valleys with the clouds pushing him ever lower. “I just got in by a whisker!” he’ll say before downing a large brandy and coke. Truth be told few of these guys are proud of what they have done and mostly are just thankful they made it. Trouble is every year around the country there are a few who don’t make it and they are usually experienced, confident pilots. Yes there are Air Regs to define VFR flying. SA CAA regs define a VFR flight as one that is conducted with visual reference to the surface by day and to identifiable objects by night and at no time above more than three eights of cloud within a radius of 5 NM of the aircraft in flight. Nowhere does it say you can fly above cloud cover that is greater than 3/8th or through it at any time. But you can fly below in uncontrolled airspace as long as you have 5km visibility and the there are no clouds within 2000ft horizontally 27 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 or lower than 500ft above you. There in lies the rub, you can try to scud run but as the clouds get lower and closes in, the weight law starts to descend on you too. So does your chance of survival. When planning a flight in the rainy season – winter down here and summer over the Berge – do as detailed a weather plan as possible. Cape Town Met are very helpful in giving you route forecasts, as is SA Weather. Trust the trend in the weather. Kobus Botha’s website http://www.weatherphotos.co.za/ - is very useful to gauge the weather trends using his satellite photo forecast images. If you have Easy Cockpit Weather, use it! When planning to fly in doubtful weather, think of your trip as a series of “go a little further/stop going” rather than a single “go/no go” decision. Be fully prepared to divert to the nearest safe airport and sit out the weather. Most towns have great B&B’s and a reasonable pub and your families will forgive you for spending an extra night away. 3. Use proper decision making and risk assessment techniques during pre-flight and in-flight operations. When in doubt ask a second opinion of an instructor or more experienced pilot! 4. Manage distractions so they do not interfere with your operations. When on final approach to land and your wife sitting next to you reminds you her mother is coming to stay for the weekend, take a deep breath and re-do you final checks. 5. Maintain your currency and proficiency in the equipment you use and the aircraft you fly. If in doubt, fly with an instructor to regain proficiency. 6. Recognise your skill limitations. If the wind is 25kts and directly across the runway at Morningstar, it’s probably not the time to wheel out the Bushbaby taildragger if you just got your rating (or even if you have 2000hrs on type) rather go have a beer at the Clubhouse. Trust your training and instincts, don’t do stupid things and you will be just fine up there! 3. Loss of control 4. Running Low on Fuel The FAA has identified Loss of Control as one of the primary causes of accidents within the GA population. “How can that be?” you cry, “When last did you hear of someone losing it and auguring in?” Well the term loss of control accident covers all scenarios where the pilot makes an incorrect control input for the condition he faces. Whether that is a stall spin, a pilot induced kangaroo hop down the runway or a ground loop in a tail dragger, they are all loss of control accidents. In the USA, where there is an airfield with a gas pump around every cloud, running out of fuel is probably criminal. In SA, it’s a little more complicated and requires more planning. Airfields where you can purchase Avgas are few and Mogas even scarcer. Fuel planning isn’t easy. What can be done to avoid loss of control? Simply put, as pilot you should avoid conditions that can lead to a loss of control. Pilots should: How did it happen? 1. Be prepared to recognize the warning signs of an impending stall. When your aircraft starts buffeting you have not just run over an aerial pothole, smartly push the stick forward to unload the wing. 2. Be honest with themselves as to their knowledge of stalls, ability to recognize them and handle them. Fly with an instructor and practice these things. How do we get into those low fuel situations? Consider the following scenario: you took off from Gariep one fine winters morning and headed south into forecast worsening weather. You utter those most dangerous words in aviation, “it’ll be alright” and set course. The weather deteriorates; you start scud running into 28 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 the teeth of a cold front. The wind is on the nose at 35-40kts and you are at 75% power to maintain some semblance of ground speed. All the time your eyes flick back and forth to the fuel gauges. Halfway there you realize that you are consuming fuel at a rate that is going to make it dicey getting home. But, after briefly considering diverting to Oudtshoorn, you push on, gripped by a “get home” fever. You pass by the Ney Gap and Worcester, putting all thoughts of diverting out of your head, “I’ll get home” you say. Finally, you wiggle your way through the mountains at Tulbagh and pop out into the Swartland only to discover that the front has closed in; FACT is IMC, FAFK is IMC and Morningstar is IMC and your fuel so low you can hear the engine pump starting to cavitate. Suddenly, your seat cushion is sucked up into your crack. Then you remember the Diemerskraal airfield is on the nose, so you quickly land, park the aircraft and rush into an open hangar to escape the deluge that descends at that moment. You sit it out over coffee with the hangar owner for an hour and then skies start to clear. You can get out and back home. The hangar owner kindly drains some fuel from his own aircraft so you have enough to get back to Morningstar. Fuel level was that dicey. True story, only the name has been withheld to protect the idiot that did this one! The lesson learned is: • • • 29 Be pessimistic in your fuel planning. Assume a worse fuel burn than the book says and then add a bit for contingencies. Establish a personal minimum that says, for example, you will always land with one hour’s fuel even though the regulations allow you 30 minutes. Land before the situation becomes critical. Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 CLASSIFIEDS: Things for sale or to swap This column is for members to post items for sale or to swap of an aviation nature, please email the editor with any items you would like to advertise: FOR SALE 2007 AK1-3 Helicopter ZU-RDN with only 72hours TTSN for R1,250,000 + VAT Contact John Lawson [email protected] or Albert Questiaux [email protected] REPORTED STOLEN Klaus, reported a break in at his hangar and following items stolen: 1x new O360 carb; 1x used O360 starter motor; 1X new O360 starter motor If you are offered these items, call Klaus. Klaus de Jongh - [email protected] Cell: (082) 8222545 FOR SALE - 2012 BUSHBABY EXPLORER Airframe Hours: 130.00 Engine and Gearbox: Rotax 582 Blue top with E-box (model99) Prop Type and Hours: GSC 3-blade Ground adjustable with 100hrs Avionics and other Equipment: • • • • MGL Enigma EFIS Icom A200 with Aux cable MGL fuel flow meter Fuel Pump , 250 R ICE PR 000 Other Info: Annual inspection completed. NEW high-tensile foam seats installed. Vortex generators on leading edges. Enigma includes updated airfields, boundaries, etc. Cruise 85-90 mph @ 5800rpm. Auto lube system available. Contact: Yeager Starke 0836563254 [email protected] Charl Starke 0836533060 30 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 Aviation Quiz – Test you General Aviation Knowledge Answers bottom of the page 1. Which of these is a correct description of spatial disorientation? a. the feeling of weightlessness you get during some aerobatic manoeuvres. b. Mistaken perception of a pilot’s position/motion in relation to the earth. c. Becoming uncertain of one’s position when navigating by dead reckoning. d. the initial symptom of anoxia. and the outside temperature is 6°C and frost lies on the ground. Is this temperature…. a. warmer than the ISA standard. b. exactly ISA standard. c. colder than ISA standard. 5. What is the static discharger on an aircraft? a. a semiconductor circuit in a VHF radio that reduces background interference. b. An electrical device that prevents the alternator over-charging the battery. c. A capacitor that stores electricity. d. A wire bundle rod that is used to dissipate an static built up in an airframe. 2. What is the approximate percentage of accidents caused by spatial disorientation that result in fatalities? a. 35% b. 50% c. 66% d. 75% e. 95% 3. Which of the following is the safest course of action for a non-IFR pilot to take if he finds himself inadvertently flying in IMC? a. reduce power, level wings and fly a straight descent until VMC conditions are regained below the cloud. b. use the instruments to continue straight & level until he flies out of the IMC again. c. make an immediate 180° steep turn at a bank angle of at least 60° in order to reenter VMC quickly, in case he begins to experience spatial disorientation. d. without delay, use instruments to make a level rate 1 turn of 180° to get back to the VMC he just left. 4. You are at Fly In Park, Gauteng early one fine, chilly winters’ morning. Field elevation is 5300ft, QNH 1013 6. ASI readings depend on the difference between static & pitot pressure. Pitot pressure depends on… a. b. c. d. air temperature barometric pressure the speed of the aircraft air density and the square of the speed of the aircraft 7. Nice aircraft but what type is it? a. b. c. d. Tiger Moth Stampe SV4 DH60 Gypsey Moth Bucker Bu 131B Answers 1_b 2_ e 3_d 4_ ISA temp @ MSL= 15°C MSL and drops 2° per 1000ft. ISA temp = 15-(5.3*2) = 15-10.6 = 4.4 5_ d commonly called static wicks 31 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016 To End, some aviation humour… 32 Issue: SUMMER 2015/2016