Free Airplane!

[Calvin19 0]

So... this nice old guy started to have heart attacks and his doc told him no more flying, so he gave me his Aerolite Falcon (single seat part 103 legal canard) for nothing. Pretty sweet deal.

BUT.

she has a VNE of 70mph, and at 65IAS she gets a pretty scary flutter on the main trailing edge/ailerons. I lose roll control and she feels like she is shaking apart. There is a BRS installed, and the airframe and motor seem to be in great shape.

I searched the web for an ultralight forum, and found a few, but none that really seemed active. anyone else have an aviation forum they use? OR anyone have any idea on how I could remove flutter tendencies from a very light and it seems overly-aggressive washed-out wing?


PS- that pic is a week old, I have since painted the winglets white. What a LAME color scheme. seriously.

[NWFlyer 2]

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What a LAME color scheme. seriously.

Yeah, seriously, the guy should have thought of you before he gave you his airplane for free.

Nice deal - enjoy it. I know zero about where to tell you to go for your info, just felt the need to dish a little crap.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Calvin19 0]

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What a LAME color scheme. seriously.

Yeah, seriously, the guy should have thought of you before he gave you his airplane for free.

I know! Right?!
Like I want to spend the $3.99 I did on spray paint. AND I had to replace the fuel lines.
It's like, he thought it was going to be his forever. I mentioned it in my thank you letter to him and his wife.
reason for edit: to add the

[skyrider 0]

That thing looks like a Blast.........

[LongWayToFall 0]

FWIW, flutter problems can be made much worse if there is any slop in the hinges or control mechanism. Seems like the faster you go, the more solid and properly aligned everything needs to be.

Free plane? Bad ass. Least it is good for 1 jump at the minimum...........

[skybill 18]

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So... this nice old guy started to have heart attacks and his doc told him no more flying, so he gave me his Aerolite Falcon (single seat part 103 legal canard) for nothing. Pretty sweet deal.

BUT.

she has a VNE of 70mph, and at 65IAS she gets a pretty scary flutter on the main trailing edge/ailerons. I lose roll control and she feels like she is shaking apart. There is a BRS installed, and the airframe and motor seem to be in great shape.

I searched the web for an ultralight forum, and found a few, but none that really seemed active. anyone else have an aviation forum they use? OR anyone have any idea on how I could remove flutter tendencies from a very light and it seems overly-aggressive washed-out wing?


PS- that pic is a week old, I have since painted the winglets white. What a LAME color scheme. seriously.

Hi Cal,
Ah so whatz' a little "Flutter??!!" Yer Dead Meat that's what sukkah! Sloppy control rigging and linkages are probably the problem then again?? With a VNE of 70mph and flutter at 65 it probably wouldn't be too hard to exceed those limits even if yer trying not to!! Be Careful bud, and just remember that the last thing that goes thru yer mind in an ultralight crash is,"The Engine!!" that last comment spoken by some ultralight geeks out at Scare-us-Valley in the "Old" Bomb Shelter Bar.

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[JohnMitchell 14]

Do you have a BRS on that bad boy?
If the flutter got too bad you'd have a Plan Bravo.

[BobMoore 0]

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Do you have a BRS on that bad boy?
If the flutter got too bad you'd have a Plan Bravo.

Unless the BRS you're talking about is different than the BRS he talked about, then yes the plane has one.

"For you see, an airplane is an airplane. A landing area is a landing area. But a dropzone... a dropzone is the people."

[cocheese 0]

Sweet. Flutter at 70 mph? Try some 100mph tape(duct tape) along the hinge line on both sides.
Seal your gaps.

[skyrider 0]

Just looking at it, it looks like a CG issue....But , I only slept at a holiday in last night, I am not a pilot!

[jrmrangers 0]

lol sky
hey can i give you adress and phone # in case hes looking to get rid of any other sweet stuff!

Wait , I pull what first?

[skyrider 0]

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lol sky
hey can i give you adress and phone # in case hes looking to get rid of any other sweet stuff!

LOL, he seems to be very easy going, you could probably contact him direct...but sure.. He wouldn;t even let me pay shipping!

[MX304 0]

Check to make sure there is absolutely no slop in any linkage, pivot point etc. Try gap sealing the control surfaces and be very careful flight testing afterward as that can sometimes cause more flutter, but that is rare. Also look to see if there are any signs of the control surfaces being static balanced with weights. You might have had a weight pop off somewhere down the road and didn't know it. If you still have issues PM me. I have a bunch of friends that fly ultralights that could probably help.

EDIT: If you look on the BRS website, they have a listing of people that were saved by their systems. One of them is the same aircraft you have and cause of crash was listed as flutter. There are other part 103 aircraft made by the same company that were lost to flutter, loss of control, and in flight breakups. Sounds like yours is not an isolated case.

[Calvin19 0]

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EDIT: If you look on the BRS website, they have a listing of people that were saved by their systems. One of them is the same aircraft you have and cause of crash was listed as flutter. There are other part 103 aircraft made by the same company that were lost to flutter, loss of control, and in flight breakups. Sounds like yours is not an isolated case.

I saw that, Aerolite seems to have a problem with poor surface balancing. My Citab had balancing and never fluttered a bit even at the redline bottom of powered loops. Linkages have NO slop for sure, but aileron control is much better near min speed than cruise speed. seems weird.
I think Ill add balancing anyway, I can fabricate that easy enough.

-SPACE-

[skydiver30960 0]

I got a stomach bug.

You got a free plane.

Ah, the balance of the world.

Elvisio "you suck " Rodriguez

[MX304 0]

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EDIT: If you look on the BRS website, they have a listing of people that were saved by their systems. One of them is the same aircraft you have and cause of crash was listed as flutter. There are other part 103 aircraft made by the same company that were lost to flutter, loss of control, and in flight breakups. Sounds like yours is not an isolated case.

I saw that, Aerolite seems to have a problem with poor surface balancing. My Citab had balancing and never fluttered a bit even at the redline bottom of powered loops. Linkages have NO slop for sure, but aileron control is much better near min speed than cruise speed. seems weird.
I think Ill add balancing anyway, I can fabricate that easy enough.

You might do some tuft testing to see if the airflow is detaching at higher speeds. The could be causing an aerodynamically induce flutter. Some vortex generators could be used to solve that.

[squirrel 0]

what kind of motor? i fly a weight shift (trike) with a rotax 582, love that motor.

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[Calvin19 0]

rotax 277. this thing is a sailplane though, plenty of power. wouldn't mind a 582.

-SPACE-

[squirrel 0]

here is a pic of what i fly. there are part 103 trikes, but i have never seen one with a 582. my trike is the E-LSA designation, which allows a passenger, flying over congested areas. the air cooled 503 is a good motor as well. my friends trike had one, then he changed to the 582. no real difference in cruise speed, but the climb rate did increase. i like the idea of the air cooled motors, one less system to check and maintain.

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[Beerlight 0]

Free :) And you can go from Flutter to Oh Fuck in about 2 seconds... Enjoy!

[MX304 0]

I just found out a friend of mine was part of the company that built the later XP variants. I don't know if he had a hand in any of the early part 103 birds. I am waiting on a call back from him. If he can help, I'll give you his contact info.

[Calvin19 0]

FALCOR sold, to the highest bidder
The boring (albeit, free) training-wheeled, severely limited (read: incapable) flight envelope CANARD is being replaced by a conventionally equipped Al/Nylon AIRPLANE with twice the power and a BRS that has not rotted to hell. I call this a win. Whatever I get with the 4k$ will most likely be a REAL airplane that DOES WHAT IT IS TOLD. (probably a Quicksilver Sport)

[PhreeZone 14]

Excellent choice in the Quicksilver. I put one of those together a few years back and they seem pretty nice.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

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