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Spinning in the New Year

Saber25

Saber25

Well Known Member
Wishing all you buckers and riveters a Happy and Healthy New Year. The final product is well worth the effort and never a flight goes by that I don't land and stand in awe of that little beauty and the enjoyment she has been for us. Maybe this video can provide the bit of incentive to get 'er done and flying. This bird is coming up on 25 years young, 2400+ hrs and still going strong.

Cheers to all, :)

Cobra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzfHGVb_DwA
 
Cool video thanks for sharing.

Can't wait until my kit arrives to get started. With a bit of luck I might get out to play with a friend in his RV-4 tomorrow and do some looping and rolling.

Happy New Year.

Simon
 
My RV-4 is a ways from flying, but doing some calculations with the W&B indicates that with 2 aboard (of course with parachutes), you almost have to fly without any fuel to be within the aerobatic envelope recommended. Even then the CG is pretty aft. My guess is you are taking a risk doing anything more than a 1 G barrel roll in an RV-4 with 2 people. Again just basing it on some calcs I did...I could be wrong.
 
Excellent video!!! Thanks for sharing. Next time, cut in a shot of your face after 6 or 8 of those turns. ;)
 
Weight and balance

Hi Dave

My 4 came out at 1011 lbs from memory and I have already reduced that by 7 lbs by fitting a lighter battery. According to my W and B I can do aeros with my wife on board and 10 gallons (UK) each side. I am about 170lbs and she is 114 lbs.

I am currently making some carbon wheel pants to reduce weight further and may remake the tips in carbon later.
 
Very, very nice, thanks. What altitude were the spins started at? Looks to be near the 14k peaks in altitude.
 
Nice video

Ed_Wischmeyer said:
Lotsa rolls to the right, most folks roll left...
Click to expand...

Nice video Hans!

Ed,
Just curious, how do you know which way most people roll?

I fly with either hand on the stick and it feels more natural for me to roll right regardless of which hand is on the stick. I think it's a visual/brain thing more than a stick thing.

IF one puts someone in the backseat of the-4 and blast off with min fuel to do acro one better know where ones cg is Or you might have an unpleasant flight.

Chris m
 
Hello guys,
Hope you all are having a good New Year day. Some comments I can answer here.
I do almost all my acro solo since my enthusiasm for that activity exceeds the enjoyment factor for most PAX. Occasionally if the rear seater is a small person I will do rolling maneuvers but not any vertical.
The Sangre?s are my playground and high altitude flight here is common as is acro flying. I entered my left turn spins at 15000ft and the RV4 is very stable in that configuration with a predictable recovery. I felt comfortable enough to continue past ten but did not want to exceed viewer interest. The right spins are not as easily entered for some reason since it requires a slightly accelerated spin entry to make her spin to the right. Recovery from the right spin takes just a moment longer.
My continuous rolls to the right followed an equally long series of rolls to the left but in the interest of expedience, that was left out of the video as was quite a bit of that flying session. I agree, rolls to the left are easier for me simply for the ergonomics of a palm pushing the stick, verses fingers pulling for a right roll. I guess after thousands of orbits covering my little bird and the troops in the jungle, left hand maneuvers come more naturally. As for a shot of my face, it normally is frozen in that RV4 grin that only goes away after several hours on the ground.
I?m an advocate of learning and training spins in spin certified aircraft. Not only are they fun but they add another skill set. It also brings you along the trail of wearing the airplane rather than just flying it.
Cheers and happy flying 2014, :)
Cobra
 
Hans
Great video. And gentle lyrical music for it.
Crisply flown as well. I particularly like the 4 point rolls - unhurried and nose stays up.
I am intrigued as to why there is so much snow in the valley, but so little on the mountain ranges. Coming from Australia, I am pretty ignorant of snow behaviour, so I guess the reason is pretty obvious to all but me!
John
 
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I especially liked the tail view of the spins. Looks like after full opposite rudder that the spin stops within half a turn.
 
rjtjrt said:
I particularly like the 4 point rolls - unhurried and nose stays up.
Click to expand...

It was a well done regular ol' positive G roll. Nose basically follows a parabolic up/down path through the roll. Was not a level roll. Not a criticism. Just normal RV aeros. Pretty video.
 
Happy New Year indeed.

Excellent video Cobra.

I watch that and wonder how long it would take to clean the belly on my 6 after that routine. Maybe I'll run the breather back to the tail someday.

Sweet flying.
 
Nice!

Great video! I love the reverse angle on the tail during the spin. Very cool.
 
Thanks to all who enjoyed the video, I really enjoyed the production. To our friends down south, I'm looking at the Crestone Peak located in the Sangre de Cristo range. The mountains here are 13-14000 and most often strong winds blow the snow from the peaks. That day the winds aloft were only about 10-15 kts, a bit unusual but my timing for this video was superb.

Cheers,

Cobra
 
Thanks for posting that Cobra. Well put together, my kind of music and enjoyed your pro aerobatics, and the great scenery we have here in Colorado.
You must live near the Fremont Co airport.
 
acroflyrgirl said:
I watch that and wonder how long it would take to clean the belly on my 6 after that routine. Maybe I'll run the breather back to the tail someday.
Click to expand...

Why do you feel you'd dump oil? I didn't see anything that would dump a significant amount - if any at all. Rolls and barrel rolls were positive G and the Cubans rolled immediately upright before a negative line was drawn. Upright spins don't dump oil. This was all the usual +G RV aeros. Never had a drop on mine doing all this stuff.
 
"You must live near the Fremont Co airport"

Yes Bob, that's where I'm based and consider myself very fortunate to have this for my back yard.

Luddite is quite right, the acro I do in the RV4 is all very basic positive G stuff and the only time I need to wipe oil off the belly is after using smoke at an airshow. Still, I get on my creeper after most flights just to check and keep her clean, sort of a post flight to complement a pre flight.

Cobra
 
Saber25 said:
Wishing all you buckers and riveters a Happy and Healthy New Year. The final product is well worth the effort and never a flight goes by that I don't land and stand in awe of that little beauty and the enjoyment she has been for us. Maybe this video can provide the bit of incentive to get 'er done and flying. This bird is coming up on 25 years young, 2400+ hrs and still going strong.

Cheers to all, :)

Cobra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzfHGVb_DwA
Click to expand...

Great video, Cobra, thanks for posting. Question: did you do your spin with full rudder right to the stop, or something less? I'm wondering if the speed of the spin can be varied....

Thanks.
 
precession said:
Great video, Cobra, thanks for posting. Question: did you do your spin with full rudder right to the stop, or something less? I'm wondering if the speed of the spin can be varied....
Click to expand...

Sure can! Just push the stick forward to around neutral after the spin develops. Rotation will accelerate signficantly. Less than full rudder will have the airplane wanting to fly out of the spin.
 
I use full rudder and elevator input to the limit to hold a nice stabilized spin. As was stated in a previous reply, just releasing a small amount of back pressure really increases the spin rate and it also lets the nose drop more which probably increases the indicated speed making the recovery a bit sporty. I?ve tried the Beggs method for spin recovery and at least in my plane it does not seem to work since after releasing the stick and using rudder to stop the spin, the stick goes to one side and remained there. Prudence dictated that I stay with the normal spin recovery procedure and the plane reacted accordingly. Again, let me state that this is a light RV4 built to early Van?s specs with a 160hp fp. How the other RV?s spin I do not know.

Cheers, Hans :)

aka Cobra
 
Thanks Cobra and Sandifer. Very good info to have, and especially interesting re the Beggs method not seeming to work well. I've limited myself to 3 revolutions, mostly because of concerns over (a) having heard/read someone say "it really spins up if you go beyond a couple of revolutions," (b) fretting over the possible effects of buffeting on the air frame, and (c) I'm probably just overly cautious to begin with. However, Cobra's video doesn't seem to show any evidence of the spins getting progressively faster, which seems to debunk hearsay concern (a), and I take the fact that Cobra's 4 is going strong after all that time and aerobatics as testament to the robustness of the airframe, which tends to indicate item (b) may not be a valid concern. So I think I'll progressively take it for a couple of turns more. Mine's around 1000lbs, and I've always found it comes out of spins with alacrity.
 
precession said:
I've limited myself to 3 revolutions, mostly because of concerns over (a) having heard/read someone say "it really spins up if you go beyond a couple of revolutions,"
Click to expand...

This may be the case for the RV-6 with the original vertical fin, but in my experience, the other aerobatic RV models spin normally. And in any case, rotation rate is not a cause for concern. It simply might spook a pilot who is uncomfortable or inexperienced with spins. All RV's (including the RV-6) will recover from a spin using the standard inputs as long as the airplane is within W&B specs.

precession said:
(b) fretting over the possible effects of buffeting on the air frame...
Click to expand...

No need. The spin itself is a very low airspeed, 1G maneuver. There is no significant stress on the airplane during the spin. The load on the airplane comes when you pull out of the dive after recovering the spin. The airplane is designed for aerobatics and +6/-3G.

precession said:
and (c) I'm probably just overly cautious to begin with.
Click to expand...

Well that's much better than being overly careless. :)
 
Thanks for those good points, Sandifer, esp re spins as low stress maneuvers. I like knowing I'm taking good care of the airframe.
 
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