Cessna Skycatcher had the weirdest ?spoilers? or whatever they are
grafted on to the end of the trim tab. Any idea what they are
about? s dorr
They make the tab much more effective at the expense of a bit more
drag. It is like a so called spoiler on the trunk of a car
generating down force.
Why they did not make the tab larger is a bit of a mystery.
That may have caused a flutter problem. My guess is something like
this may have added to the flutter potential.
Paul Lamar
Hmmmm, yes, flutter is always a potential problem. It is fun to wander
around a show like S n F and see all these weird little
aerodynamic tweaks they come up with to fix problems that crop up
in testing. I saw another airplane with oddly shaped fence tabs on
the ends of the ailerons .... obviously another afterthought patch
to fix a problem that would otherwise have required a major redesign.
Likely why an old friend used to refer to the subject as
"aero-god-damn-ics!"
SD
SD, did you see any rotary powered airplanes on the flight line
this year? They are usually parked on the first line on the left
end. Facing the airshow. As I understand Tracy Crook did not make
it but I can't get in touch with him. Anybody know what happened?
Paul Lamar
The economy has really hit the show hard. It was most dramatic at
the east end known as "Chopper Town." They usually have at least a
couple dozen exhibitors. This year there was ONE!
The main area was reasonably well filled but not packed as usual.
The old ultralight area was also a ghost town compared to all previous
years. I wanted to see Pipistrel and that is where they put them ...
along
with maybe a dozen other vendors, half of them hang glider trikes......
where there usually are 50 or more.
The exhibit halls were reasonably filled with vendors but not
nearly as crowded as I am used to.
I was impressed by the J model C130 .... 6 bladed propellers! I wonder
how
many shaft HP they have now?
And a trio of F16s was aurally impressive, definitely way above
the normal control zone speed limit! and NOISY! And they never
even touched the after burners! Made half a dozen T-6s in
formation at full RPM sound like mosquitoes!
I did not see any rotary powered airplanes in the display areas.
I did not get out onto the flight line because they started the
airshow much earlier than usual and it ran to past 1800 so there
could have been one or more out there.
In the engine area, I saw all the usual suspects but what
impressed me was the number of airplanes with this Viking engine
.... a Honda I-4 flopped on its side and with lots of special parts
to make its oiling work in that position. I kept seeing them in
many LS airplane vendors areas.
There was a really neat 2/3 scale Spitfire with a Chevy LS3
powerplant.....
out of Australia and they are making their own gear reduction drive.
SD
Tracy came in on Thursday, and was doing programs on Thursday and Friday
(I
think). He was parked at the west side of the parking area. I
didn't get to see or talk to him, but friends did. Scuttlebutt is
that he has been hard to get a hold of, has divorced, re-married,
and moved to California. The preceding is all 2nd or 3rd hand info,
and I am not vouching for it. Just what I heard. Personally, I hope
it's not true. Both he and Laura are nice folks! Herb Karkheck
Tracy told me earlier that he would only be at SunNFun for a couple
of days- said he had a prior commitment.
I visited him at his Bell FL home late last year, and it looked like
"home", saw no evidence of moving. However, that's been several months.
I can confirm that he and Laura divorced- Laura has married Dominic
and they work distributing the parts from TN, according to Dominic.
From a conversation with Dominic, the divorce left Tracy with the
RWS business, the PSRU, etc, and Laura and Dominic moved to TN with
the distribution part. Kind of strange that the court let them
remain connected with the business, I know from experience that
courts typically frown on that. Usually leads to problems later. The
court ordered my business of over 20 years sold off in pieces
because of my X's "association" with it and the company name carried
my, and hers too at the time, last name.
I cant confirm whether or not Tracy remarried, however there was a
lady at his home when we visited. She kept my 10 year old stepson
occupied while Tracy and I talked about airplanes.
I know that in my personal case, I used to live in NC, now I live
in FL. My X of almost 5 years hires a helicopter to fly over and
take pictures of my home at least twice a year. Yes, she lives
almost 900 miles away and hires a helicopter to spy on me. I got the
tail numbers off of the helo and looked up the pilot and he and I
had a lengthy discussion regarding why he was hovering over my house
on Saturday AM last March 14 at about 300' with a long camera lens
hanging out of his side window. After a reminder about FAR 91, and
the legality of flying below 1000' in a congested area, now he flies
a bit higher, or at least he did when he last flew over in November.
This time was in a different helicopter and he had a longer lens :).
He offers helo flight training, and charter flights as well, and has
4 Robinson R44s. Thankfully, his tail numbers are big, and easy to
see. Its about time for him to come back, so I will keep a look out
and wave at him when he flies over.
I like it here in FL, but at times I think farther away would have been
better. I hope Tracy has a better time with it than I did.
Kevin Alderman
Tracy has a cabin or home in Colorado. He goes there every summer I
think.
Paul Lamar
He does, he told me this when I went to see him. I hope he doesn't
move to CA, in the next few months I hope to be installing my engine,
and its much closer to go to Bell Fl than to CA. I can look at
pictures and information all day, but nothing replaces removing the
cowl and sticking your head inside [?]
Kevin Alderman
Kevin,
Where in Fl do you live? I am in Seminole, between St Pete and Clearwater.
Herb Karkheck
Herb, I live in Islamorada. have flown into St. Pete, and have visited
Clearwater. I am the only house in the Keys that I know of with 2 airplanes
under the house! The wheeler is under my bedroom, and the viking is beside
it covered- I keep taking parts off of the Viking to use on the new Wheeler.
Kevin Alderman
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