Flying in a hurricane Sat May 14

[Frank v B]

Today four Ryerson students showed up to do their data logging flight with the Bix3 (Hobby King, pusher).  Winds were very gusty 30 plus km/h from the north but between rain storms.

Did a jump-jet take-off.  Alton was holding the tail, pushed full throttle and full up elevator and let go.  I wanted to gain about 5-6 feet of altitude as quickly as possible in case there was a wind swirl with a "down" (splat!) component.  The plane was already at flying speed while Alton was holding it on the runway!

Did two passes to trim the plane, then 4 passes to orient the control system.  The first two passes were with about 30 degrees left to right rolls.  The next two passes were with full "up", full "down" roller coaster style flight* to orient the pitch stabilization mode.

The landing was fairly controlled except for the backward flip after the landing when a wind gust caught under the wing.
Then all the stuff was downloaded and we went to the Boardroom (Tim's) to see the results.

Alton will attempt to download some data and video this weekend.  The GPs data was automatically superimposed on a Google Earth photo of the field so you could see the exact track of the entire flight.  Once you see it you will be asking for a breath test of the pilot.

A very interesting exercise.

Frank

* or as Andy calls it "Frank's attempt at level flight"

[altonyeung]

As Frank puts it, despite the strong wind the flight was a success. We have done four passes and performed some tuning in order for the plane to do autonomous circuit in the future. The flight was monitored by telemetry link and we experience no signal lost this time.

Here is a image of the flight path that Frank mentioned.


Alton

[Frank v B]

Queue the breathalyzer test.  .... but officer......

The take-off point was halfway down the runway to the east of the centreline.  The landing point was the 90 degree bend in the lines near the edge of the grass at the farmer's field.  The lines to and from the set-up tables were the hand carry to the take-off point and from the landing point.

Notice how sharp the upwind turns were because the wind blew the airplane over once a right input was made.  The downwind turns at the south end of the field were relatively round because the plane was fighting to turn upwind.

Please note that I did not get anywhere near the road, near the pits or behind the flight line.  There!   At least I did something right... for once.


Frank

[sihinch]

Please note that I did not get anywhere near the road, near the pits or behind the flight line.  There!   At least I did something right... for once.
Frank

Wow!  But Frank, that seems to be all you did right in that flight!  You seemed to fly circuits about as well as you do when you race!!!

[Frank v B]

Simon,

Picky, picky.


Frank

ps: at least my data logging flight lasted a lot longer than yours!  Hah!

[Andy Hoffer]

Today four Ryerson students showed up to do their data logging flight with the Bix3 (Hobby King, pusher).  Winds were very gusty 30 plus km/h from the north but between rain storms.

Did a jump-jet take-off.  Alton was holding the tail, pushed full throttle and full up elevator and let go.  I wanted to gain about 5-6 feet of altitude as quickly as possible in case there was a wind swirl with a "down" (splat!) component.  The plane was already at flying speed while Alton was holding it on the runway!

Did two passes to trim the plane, then 4 passes to orient the control system.  The first two passes were with about 30 degrees left to right rolls.  The next two passes were with full "up", full "down" roller coaster style flight* to orient the pitch stabilization mode.

The landing was fairly controlled except for the backward flip after the landing when a wind gust caught under the wing.
Then all the stuff was downloaded and we went to the Boardroom (Tim's) to see the results.

Alton will attempt to download some data and video this weekend.  The GPs data was automatically superimposed on a Google Earth photo of the field so you could see the exact track of the entire flight.  Once you see it you will be asking for a breath test of the pilot.

A very interesting exercise.

Frank

* or as Andy calls it "Frank's attempt at level flight"

I cannot recall ever referring to any of Frank's flying as even remotely close to level flight.   

Andy