Chris Bott - Moderator Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Brilliant job Ady those pictures look superb. You need to fly these models at Barkston Heath, isn't that one of the places these went from on D day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ady Hayward Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Hi Chris, many thanks. All credit for the pics must go to Richard as he's done me very proud. I believe you are correct with Barkston being one of the many launch sites. The C-47 isn't far from home either representing the BBMF Plane. It may be possible as i'm not too far away from there. Ady Edited By Ady Hayward on 31/08/2012 22:51:42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Nice one Ady The nose wheel is missing in some of the shorts. Did you knock it off? Interesting that you also discovered that landing with full flap requires some judgement to get it right - just as warned in the original pilots notes! It was apparently easier to land with half flap but needed a bit more space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ady Hayward Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Hi Simon. Yes. the first landing I made with full flap. It slowed up too much when i flared out and dropped on it. The wire leg is threaded where it pivots (Between two T nuts) and it broke on the start of the threaded portion. It has been fixed now and won't break in that fashion again. It floats on quite nicely in a flapless landing so some experimentation is needed to find the best compromise. The flaps do excel as airbrakes though and the last flight of the day had it land with full flap in a 6- 10kt wind with a landing roll of about 1/3 fuselage length. It did gain height on a couple of occasions today so is capable of soaring and is quite nimble on the controls unlike the full size. The glide was far better than I had expected so can offer a bit of fun between release and landing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverlandgirl. Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 What facsinating project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Last evening on Yesterday's "Secret war" They showed a clip of a Horsa in a snatch take off with a DC-3. Now how about replicating THAT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ady Hayward Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Hi Peter. That method is definately one we would like to try. We did two aerotows with the DC-3 today and both went well indicating that the DC-3 has ample pulling power, though the first attempts will probably be behind the trusty Mentor on 4s.Current thinking is around 2 metres of 3/16 diameter bungee cord in the 30m towline should provide the damping for the snatch loads. The big issue is how to snatch it up. I'm leaning towards making a small 3 prong grappling hook on around 5 metres of line to fly off the tow attachment, and have the pickup loop close to the glider so we have acceleration time from pickup of the line and the 1st loading on the glider. Any thoughts, ideas will be gratefully received Ady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Sounds like a good system but don't ask me. I have no expience along those lines/ As point of interest in the Errol Flynn film "Destination Burma" they show a Dak doing a Snatch Take -off with a Hadrain in the last few minutes of the film. I always wtahc that bit but not the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Ady The full size setup in the tug was quite complex. The winch was initially free running then the drum was slowly brought to rest by a disc brake. This spread the period of speed differential between the glider and the tug to several seconds so reducing the loads. By this time the tow line was rather too long so the winch was then used to reduce it to the standard tow length. The normal tow line was braided nylon (as it still is on full size) which has sufficient stretch to avoid shock loads but limited rebound to avoid the glider and tug getting into a longitudinal oscillation. I have not been able to determine if they could snatch a MkII Horsa with its nose wheel mounted hook. I have my doubts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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