---------------------------------------------------------- Kolb-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Sat 06/27/15: 4 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 06:58 AM - London,Ky airport open house (Herb) 2. 11:04 AM - Just bought a Firefly (Keith84) 3. 06:04 PM - Re: London,Ky airport open house (Bradley Nation) 4. 06:43 PM - Re: Just bought a Firefly (Stuart Harner) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 06:58:45 AM PST US From: Herb Subject: Kolb-List: London,Ky airport open house I suspect that the Open house at the London/Corbin airport is not on for today... Lots of weather over there...Herb ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 11:04:58 AM PST US Subject: Kolb-List: Just bought a Firefly From: "Keith84" I wanted to introduce myself, name is Keith and I live in central texas. I have 40 hrs between a cessna 152&172 but lost my medical while I was preparing for PPL oral and check ride. Well that was a year ago, a couple weeks ago I bought a part103 legal firefily! So far it seems to run pretty well, i have only done a few high speed taxis but it seems to get squirly rather fast. I have been pretty hesitant to fly it honestly, every time i go to the grass strip its based at I am determined to crow hop it. Then once i try i get nervous at how squirly it is. The tail wheel configuration is pretty foriegn to me! I suppose their is no reason to rush! If you guys have any tips I would love to hear them! -------- 98' Kolb FireFly Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=444100#444100 Attachments: http://forums.matronics.com//files/image_635.jpg ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 06:04:25 PM PST US Subject: Re: Kolb-List: London,Ky airport open house From: Bradley Nation Yes it was, rain and all. > On Jun 27, 2015, at 9:58 , Herb wrote: > > > > I suspect that the Open house at the London/Corbin airport is not on for today... Lots of weather over there...Herb > > > > ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 06:43:01 PM PST US From: "Stuart Harner" Subject: RE: Kolb-List: Just bought a Firefly Welcome Keith! Great to have another Firefly owner. There are lots of great people here to help you along. First off, be very, very careful if you don't have any time in a tail dragger. They are not hard to handle but are most certainly different than the nose gear aircraft you mentioned. I am an old time type that thinks everyone should learn to drive a stick shift before an automatic and everyone should learn to fly in a tail dragger before moving on to a tricycle gear. That's just me, others may be different, so take it for what it is worth. The main difference is on a tricycle gear airplane the center of gravity is between the main gear and then nose wheel. The tail dragger has the center of gravity between the wheels too, but that puts it behind the main gear. So, the center of gravity is always trying to get in front. It is up to the pilot to keep it in place. This is not difficult to do, but it does take some getting used to. I am sure there are some pilots that could teach themselves to drive a tail dragger, but for the most part I am betting most people here will recommend you get some training in a tail dragger before you venture out on your own. If you could get some training in a two seat Kolb that would be the best thing I could think of. Short of that, another very light tail dragger. Short of that, a full sized aircraft such as a Champ, Cub or Taylorcraft come to mind. They are a little heavier but the basics of tail wheel aircraft are the same. One thing that you did not mention is what engine and prop setup you have. If a Rotax with a gearbox, even though the prop turns the same way as say a Cub, the Firefly will require left rudder on takeoff, not the right rudder that the other mentioned tail draggers require. Not hard, just different. Also, the Firefly is an Ultralight and will behave differently than the "heavy" aircraft you are used to. There is a significant amount of drag and very little mass (or inertia) so when the power is reduced, you see a rather instant reduction in airspeed. Not dangerous, but you need to be ready for it. And the high thrust line of the engine causes some different motions than the forward nose mounted Cessna's. Again, not hard but different. Now, don't take any of this as a negative. You can do this, but you are probably going to need some help. Sometimes instruction in a tail dragger is hard to find. Instruction in a very light aircraft can be even more so. Look around, even if you have to travel some. Since you already know how to fly, it will probably only take a few hours of instruction to get the hang of a tail dragger. It might be possible to get it done in one day. There is a fair amount of "discussion" about "crow hops". I won't get into that here except to say in your situation I would not recommend it. I would really hate to see something go wrong and for you to ball up your Firefly on the edge of the runway. That might end your desire to fly ever again. The Firefly is in my humble opinion one of the most fun things to fly I have ever been in. My first flight in the Firefly was an eye opener. I had never flown anything that light weight and managed to get into some turbulence at about 200 AGL. The Firefly is so responsive that I found myself in Pilot Induced Oscillations (PIO). Fortunately I heard my first instructor saying "cut your corrections in half". That helped me finish the first flight without incident. The next best piece of advice I got was a good friend who is a helicopter pilot. He said to quit flying with my arm and hand. "put your elbow on your leg and fly with your fingertips. That combined with really smooth air on the second flight made it a complete success. A bit of background for you to relate this to: I learned to fly in an Aeronca Chief while in high school more than 40 years ago. Flew Cessna 150's, 172's and Various Piper products but never a Cub. Flew a Cherokee 180 for several years and that is by far the easiest aircraft to fly. You have to work at it to make something go not right. Made my first flight in my Firefly last Fall and have amassed nearly 10 full hours in the air since then! Wow huh? So as you can see I am no expert, but rather am nearly where you are although a little more experience in tail draggers. The Chief was a great airplane but it kept you honest and would remind you of what could go wrong if you ignored it. If you can't find tail dragger instruction, maybe you can find a fellow pilot with one that will help you out for say gas and a wash job. When you finally do make that first flight and get it back on the ground without bending anything, it will be one of the most memorable things you ever do. Keep asking questions we are here to help. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Stuart Firefly Serenity P.S. Take some time and read the archives on this site, they are chocked full of good stuff. -----Original Message----- From: owner-kolb-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-kolb-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Keith84 Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2015 1:05 PM Subject: Kolb-List: Just bought a Firefly I wanted to introduce myself, name is Keith and I live in central texas. I have 40 hrs between a cessna 152&172 but lost my medical while I was preparing for PPL oral and check ride. Well that was a year ago, a couple weeks ago I bought a part103 legal firefily! So far it seems to run pretty well, i have only done a few high speed taxis but it seems to get squirly rather fast. I have been pretty hesitant to fly it honestly, every time i go to the grass strip its based at I am determined to crow hop it. Then once i try i get nervous at how squirly it is. The tail wheel configuration is pretty foriegn to me! I suppose their is no reason to rush! If you guys have any tips I would love to hear them! -------- 98' Kolb FireFly Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=444100#444100 Attachments: http://forums.matronics.com//files/image_635.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message kolb-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/Kolb-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/kolb-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/kolb-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.