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Homebuilder’s Workshop: Recent to Ancient, Fast to Slow
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Homebuilder’s Workshop By Ed Wischmeyer RECENT TO ANCIENT, FAST TO SLOW
Some of you may recall that I’ve much that extra drag kept speed buildup cylinders has its own FADEC, and the been working on the Expanded and altitude loss under control, much betwhole shootin’ match is already EASA Envelope Exercises® (E3) for the ter than in fixed-gear airplanes. We also and FAA certified. The variants are 500- past four years, looking to reduce loss-ofsaw the phugoid (speed stability) raise the 600 HP. Currently, they’re looking for control accidents by making pilots more nose in spirals, more pronounced than I’ve certification partners. No word on weight cognitively available so that they can seen in the RV-9A. or price, but as the saying goes, if you detect LOC precursors before they actuE3 in the RV-9A has taught me so have to ask… ally lose control. On Saturday (June 20), much about the edges of the “normal catA curious note in passing is that their I flew E3 with an extraordinarily experiegory” flight envelope and the kinds of past and current presidents are both from enced pilot in my RV-9A and then we pilot psychology that come into play Byelorussia. flew a reduced set of E3 in his Baron (!). there. Hopefully, this knowledge will be
The RV-9A is agile and kind of doesadopted by flight schools and OEMs to • • • • • n’t seem to care whether it’s in the stall help keep our friends alive. buffet or not, and we did all kinds of exerSo who invented the V-8 engine? cises – all within 60-degree bank, 30- • • • • • Henry Ford? bzzt, nope. Cadillac in degree pitch and 2 g. Amazing airplane. 1914? Closer, but the correct answer is
Then we flew some of E3 in the All of us are interested in new Léon Levavasseur in France, who got Baron, recognizing that we did not want engine technologies, of course, wishing backing for his project and then named to stall the Baron as we would the RVthat those technologies could be applied the engine after his financier’s daughter, 9A. In fact, we did not stall the Baron at to GA. Diesels have had a mixed track Antoinette. When the aerodynamics of all. The Baron is much more stately in its record to date with high initial costs and Levavasseur’s first airplane to have this handling, but there were still corners of low time between replacement, not overengine didn’t fly, so to speak, the envelope to explore while observing haul. Still, it’s fun to recall that in WWII, Levavasseur removed the 80 HP engine pitch and bank limits as well as respectthe Germans had a diesel engine that was and burned the airframe, in 1903. ing multi-engine and stall safety. smaller, lighter, and more powerful than The Antoinette engine was then put
Research has indicated that low speed the Rolls-Royce Merlin. into speedboats where it was a great hit, spirals can masquerade as spins and be just They’re at it again. RED-Aircraft winning all kinds of races in 1904. as deadly. We carefully tried some in the GmbH has a 12-cylinder diesel engine, Antoinette airplanes started to show up in Baron with gear down, roughly doubling four-stroke, with the cylinder banks at 80 1910. V-16 engines followed, and even a the aircraft’s drag. I was surprised how degrees (yes, 80 degrees). Each bank of V-24 marine engine. ¡¡¥
Want more trivia? The Antoinette engines all were in a 90-degree V configuration, were the first to use fuel injection, had aluminum crankcases and individual water-cooled cylinders. And hemispherical combustion chambers too! Engine tolerances were 0.01 mm, or 0.0004 inches. Wow. Wild West Showman Samuel Franklin Cody made the first powered flight in the UK with you guessed it, an Antoinette engine. Antoinette also made the first flight simulator, a rather crude device of a seat on a half barrel, curved side down, with “instructors” rocking the barrel.
Other records included altitude (155 m in 1909), speed (77.5 km/h in 1910), and first successful landing in a body of water (it didn’t sink), namely, the English Channel. Bleriot, who made the first successful channel crossing, was a former Antoinette vice president.
Personally, I’d love to have an old Antoinette or Hispano-Suiza V-8 engine from that era, or a Liberty engine, which came in configurations from four to 12 cylinders. No idea what I’d do with one, though… living room isn’t big enough.
Continued on Page 36
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Chief Master Sgt. JoAnne S. Bass Continued from Page 33 while providing 93 percent of the Air be partner, Brown. Both come from enlisted leader and advisor to the comForce’s initial skills training. Army families. Bass lived in several mander on all matters relating to the proShe began her career in 1993 with a overseas and stateside locations, prior to fessional development, proper utilization, posting at Pope Air Force Base, North entering the Air Force. Brown’s father is and the readiness of the enlisted corps. Carolina, and has served at Ramstein Air a retired Army colonel.
The command consists of four trainBase, Germany, as the command chief Brown is the first African American ing wings, 18 groups with 76 operating master sergeant for the 17th Training Wing in history to be confirmed as a chief of locations worldwide, in support of 13,000 at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, and staff for any branch of the U.S. military. enlisted, officers, civilians, contractors and at the Pentagon as chief,Air Force Enlisted Bass will be the first woman to serve as the 36,000 basic military trainees per year. Developmental Education. senior enlisted leader for a military service.
In addition, Second Air Force is home Her service awards include When Brown and Bass move to their to more than 260 Air Force specialties “Distinguished Graduate” from the new assignments, they will confront an through 2,300 courses graduating 150,000 Senior Noncommissioned Officer Air Force in transition. The force is movAirmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Academy in 2009 and the 2011 Senior ing from a heavy focus on combating terinternational students annually in various Noncommissioned Officer of the Year rorism to one that must be prepared to fields including financial management, Award for the 86th Operations Group. confront China, Russia and other peer security forces, cyber, personnel, weather, By coincidence, Bass also shares adversaries. Each will be called on to civil engineer, and aircraft maintenance, two notable similarities with her soon-tocontinue the Air Force’s efforts to
Homebuilders Workshop Continued from Page 34 hence, shorter takeoff and landing dis• • • • • tances, important at my home field where the short runway is only 7,002 feet long.
Any pilot worth his salt has his list of Taxiing is easier and safer when you can favorite airplanes, regardless of affordabilsee over the nose, and poo on the taility or whether they actually suit his misdragger macho appeal stuff – functionalsion. A new addition to my list, meeting ity reigns. (Half of the planes I’ve owned neither of those criteria, is the tricycle gear have been taildraggers and total taildragCarbon Cub Xcub. Yes, tricycle gear. ger time is just shy of 800 hours, so I
The tricycle gear allows more noseclaim exemption from cheap shots).Also, high/tail-down attitudes on the ground, the Xcub has been designed and tested for off-field operations… now that I’ve disposed of all my camping gear.
Cruise speed is also nice at about 150 mph, not fast enough for cross-continent trips but enough to go north to south in a day, with a little luck. I would, of course, get mine IFR with the same avionics as in the RV-9A.
In an ideal world, the Xcub would live in a hangar in the backyard, ready for evening flights over the Arizona high desert improve resiliency across the force and reduce suicides.
They also will be responsible for addressing racial disparity in theAir Force.
Across all those issues and others, Bass, as chief master sergeant of the Air Force, will provide direction for the enlisted force and will represent their interests.
Like previous CMSAFs, she will be the public face of Air Force enlisted personnel and those in all levels of government. As noted by Brown, she will be a personal adviser to the chief of staff and Department of the Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett on issues regarding the welfare, readiness, morale and proper utilization and progress of more than 410,000 enlisted members.
when I didn’t feel like taking the AirCam…
Getting back to reality, if I dare, the RV-9A with the Garmin G3X Touch avionics has given me amazing capabilities, especially for the E3 research. I made a much better decision than I knew when I bought it.
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