---------------------------------------------------------- Kolb-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Wed 10/12/05: 9 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 01:30 AM - Re: Hanger Update (pat ladd) 2. 03:30 PM - BRS (ray anderson) 3. 04:33 PM - BRS (Chris Mallory) 4. 04:42 PM - weight and balance (Ken Richter) 5. 04:48 PM - Re: BRS (robert bean) 6. 05:09 PM - BRS (Chris Mallory) 7. 05:34 PM - Re: BRS (Ralph) 8. 06:11 PM - Re: BRS (ray anderson) 9. 06:50 PM - Re: BRS (N27SB@aol.com) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 01:30:05 AM PST US From: "pat ladd" Subject: Re: Kolb-List: Hanger Update --> Kolb-List message posted by: "pat ladd" I want a roll up door, >> Hi, you move in more exalted circles than I do but if security is not a problem do you really need a door?. I built a hangar in a farmers field entirely of scaffold tube. This was clad with green plastic corrugated roof sheeting for the roof and three sides. For a front I have used a light woven tarpaulin type sheet called a Gale Breaker. This has hooks about 3 feet apart down the vertical edge. These hooks are designed to fit round the edge of a vertical RSJ. Most barns here are built opensided but if a farmer wishes to make a bay weatherproof he just puts a Gale Breaker across the gap. The hooks are attached to straps which are built in to the main sheet and there is a crank on each one so that the sheet can be pulled up tight. Mine covers an entrance of 36feet x 10ft high and leaves about 18" exposed at the bottom. Cost was around say $200 and I have replaced it once in about 14 years. Just a thought. Note. It doesnt keep birds out so you may need covers. Pat do not archive -- ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 03:30:20 PM PST US From: ray anderson Subject: Kolb-List: BRS --> Kolb-List message posted by: ray anderson < Many times people have died with recovery systems that were never used. One must train themselves to use the recovery system. It has to be more than a mental process. One must got through the process while sitting in the cockpit. > Sound advice from John H. I do that from time to time just sitting in my UltraStar. I have my deploy handle as close as possible to where I normally rest my left hand. Close to throttle and ign. switch. As John says, memorize and refresh the movements one must make to deploy after one recovers from the near heart attack when something lets go with a big bang and violent maneuver. I had that very thing give me a near heart attack a few years ago and that encourages one to practice what to do quickly in those circumstances. I was flying my Rutan 'Quickie' at about 2000 ft., cruising at 115 mph ( 23 HP Onan, burning 1-1/2 gph ), beautiful day, just enjoying the scenery, totally relaxed. Suddenly there was a crack like a shot gun going off in the totally enclosed cockpit. The control stick, a short 6-7 inch one mounted on the end of the right arm rest, jerked out of my hand and suddenly I was straight nose down at about 115 mph, watching the trees get greener quickly. That gets one's attention quickly. I can't say how fast I really decided to try and make corrective action, but I remember I must have thought close throttle and grab the little stick, start pulling up slowly if possible. Pulling back on the stick required tremendous force but it did start coming out of the dive without pulling the canard or the rear wing off. Thanks to the 2000 ft altitude I did have some to spare when level. It took a little help with the left hand assisting the right to comfortably fly back to my home field in Shelbyville. A quick check showed that the steel strip, pulled into various notches in the panel, and used to trim the canard, had broken, allowing the very heavy trim springs that Rutan designed there to snap the canard instantly into dive position. That's when I really started trying to imagine myself in various emergency conditions and practice the best action. Didn't have a BRS on the Quickie but I probably would have popped it before finding that the trouble wasn't as serious as I felt at the time, although it would have been fatal if I had been at 800-900 ft. or less. Take John's advice and practice what you should do and quickly. Ray UltraStar Tenn. Do not archive. --------------------------------- ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 04:33:42 PM PST US From: "Chris Mallory" Subject: Kolb-List: BRS --> Kolb-List message posted by: "Chris Mallory" I agree with Ray and John on the importance of practicing the necessary moves for the ultimate "Worst Case Scenario". Flight training is 10% flying and 90% what to do in case of everything else, it's why we practice all those "what if" things for as long as we fly. What really puzzles me more than those individuals that for whatever reason, didn't "Pull the Handle" is all the people that fly and don't have a recovery system on their planes in the first place. We pay for life insurance our entire life with absolutely no expectation of it keeping us from dying but many are reluctant to spend the three thousand or so dollars it cost to "almost" guarantee survival of an airplane crash. I hope that I never get to find out what the ride down would be like under an inflated BRS but I sure feel better knowing that "little red handle" is down there. Chris Mallory do not archive ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 04:42:26 PM PST US From: "Ken Richter" Subject: Kolb-List: weight and balance --> Kolb-List message posted by: "Ken Richter" Does anyone have the specs and procedure for weight and balance for a kolb mk2 (most forward and most rearward CG) I am in the process of n numbering my mk2 but I do not have any of this info, Thanks Ken ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 04:48:17 PM PST US From: robert bean Subject: Re: Kolb-List: BRS --> Kolb-List message posted by: robert bean > > What really puzzles me more than those individuals that for whatever > reason, > didn't "Pull the Handle" is all the people that fly and don't have a > recovery system on their planes in the first place. > I guess you will have to ask all those J3 cub owners and their like why they don't have one. Do they require an STC for a certificated standard category aircraft? Is a Kolb MkIII(C/X) with a reliable engine any less safe? -BB do not archive. > > ________________________________ Message 6 _____________________________________ Time: 05:09:38 PM PST US From: "Chris Mallory" Subject: Kolb-List: BRS --> Kolb-List message posted by: "Chris Mallory" BB, I was actually referring more to non certified aircraft with two stroke engines, although having one on any type aircraft can't hurt. Chris Mallory do not archive ________________________________ Message 7 _____________________________________ Time: 05:34:33 PM PST US From: "Ralph" Subject: Re: Kolb-List: BRS --> Kolb-List message posted by: "Ralph" "What really puzzles me more than those individuals that for whatever reason, didn't "Pull the Handle" is all the people that fly and don't have a recovery system on their planes in the first place." Having a BRS is no guarantee that it will work in any situation. There have been numerous fatalities where a BRS was installed and the handles never pulled. One of the most famous ones was a flight test engineer with close ties to the BRS company who had a wing failure during the testing phase of the Cumulus motorglider. His BRS handle was pulled, but the bridle wrapped itself around the tail of the spinning plane. He was not saved by the BRS. How many GA aircraft, sailplanes, rotorcraft, and balloons have BRS's installed? Are they more safe than what we fly? PPC pilots will tell you they already have a parachute over their heads. Why have another one? A BRS will not make you a safer pilot. In fact, there are pilots who push the limits because they have a BRS. Ralph Original Firestar 18 years flying it without a BRS -- "Chris Mallory" wrote: --> Kolb-List message posted by: "Chris Mallory" I agree with Ray and John on the importance of practicing the necessary moves for the ultimate "Worst Case Scenario". Flight training is 10% flying and 90% what to do in case of everything else, it's why we practice all those "what if" things for as long as we fly. What really puzzles me more than those individuals that for whatever reason, didn't "Pull the Handle" is all the people that fly and don't have a recovery system on their planes in the first place. We pay for life insurance our entire life with absolutely no expectation of it keeping us from dying but many are reluctant to spend the three thousand or so dollars it cost to "almost" guarantee survival of an airplane crash. I hope that I never get to find out what the ride down would be like under an inflated BRS but I sure feel better knowing that "little red handle" is down there. Chris Mallory do not archive Try Juno Platinum for Free! Then, only $9.95/month! Visit http://www.juno.com/value to sign up today! ________________________________ Message 8 _____________________________________ Time: 06:11:02 PM PST US From: ray anderson Subject: Re: Kolb-List: BRS --> Kolb-List message posted by: ray anderson Ralph, I think the important figures are not those that have a BRS and for some unknown reason didn't pull the handle, but the many who did pull the handle. I believe their families, wives and children, would whole hardily agree that this debate, for them, is a no brainer.. The guys who spend the money, install them and don't use them, are no worse off than if they didn't install one, and on the other hand, no better. They won't have any need for the two-three grand anyhow. Do not archive. Ralph wrote: --> Kolb-List message posted by: "Ralph" "What really puzzles me more than those individuals that for whatever reason, didn't "Pull the Handle" is all the people that fly and don't have a recovery system on their planes in the first place." Having a BRS is no guarantee that it will work in any situation. There have been numerous fatalities where a BRS was installed and the handles never pulled. One of the most famous ones was a flight test engineer with close ties to the BRS company who had a wing failure during the testing phase of the Cumulus motorglider. His BRS handle was pulled, but the bridle wrapped itself around the tail of the spinning plane. He was not saved by the BRS. How many GA aircraft, sailplanes, rotorcraft, and balloons have BRS's installed? Are they more safe than what we fly? PPC pilots will tell you they already have a parachute over their heads. Why have another one? A BRS will not make you a safer pilot. In fact, there are pilots who push the limits because they have a BRS. Ralph Original Firestar 18 years flying it without a BRS -- "Chris Mallory" wrote: --> Kolb-List message posted by: "Chris Mallory" I agree with Ray and John on the importance of practicing the necessary moves for the ultimate "Worst Case Scenario". Flight training is 10% flying and 90% what to do in case of everything else, it's why we practice all those "what if" things for as long as we fly. What really puzzles me more than those individuals that for whatever reason, didn't "Pull the Handle" is all the people that fly and don't have a recovery system on their planes in the first place. We pay for life insurance our entire life with absolutely no expectation of it keeping us from dying but many are reluctant to spend the three thousand or so dollars it cost to "almost" guarantee survival of an airplane crash. I hope that I never get to find out what the ride down would be like under an inflated BRS but I sure feel better knowing that "little red handle" is down there. Chris Mallory do not archive Try Juno Platinum for Free! Then, only $9.95/month! Visit http://www.juno.com/value to sign up today! --------------------------------- ________________________________ Message 9 _____________________________________ Time: 06:50:38 PM PST US From: N27SB@aol.com Subject: Re: Kolb-List: BRS --> Kolb-List message posted by: N27SB@aol.com A quick check showed that the steel strip, pulled into various notches in the panel, and used to trim the canard, had broken, allowing the very heavy trim springs that Rutan designed there to snap the canard instantly into dive position. Ray, I know what you mean about the Rutan Trim. I am surprised you survived. In the Long EZ it was similar to yours. If a failure occurred at 200 mph it would probably render the Pilot unconscious in a second. I exchanged the tension type to the compression type. The point is, even in a Kolb design it is a good idea to consider what type of spring you use on flight controls. Steve B Do not archive