John Glynn
Forum Replies Created
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I have flown many hours on skis and during the winter months. In open frame trikes and in my Revo. For years I flew with a non-insulated gortex rain suit. A guide wear quality fishing outfit. Bibs and jacket separate. Find one that has good Velcro at the wrists. When I flew with the Lynx helmets in very cold weather, I flew with the non-insulated hood up, headphones over the top and under the helmet. To keep your visor clear, a soft cloth with a drop of Dawn dish soap “polished” onto the inside surface of the visor keeps it from fogging up. The surfactant in the soap acts as anti-fog. I currently fly with the Flycom helmets. No need for anything extra. Plenty warm. For your hands, I use have used bar mitts. I attach a disposable body warmer inside the glove. I wore a thin pair of gloves, preferably with the touch screen friendly fingertip for my iPad, inside the bar mitt for when you have to adjust radio frequencies etc. On the coldest day or if you land on the ice (make sure safe on ground first don’t trust ice fisherman) I place a body warmer on the inside of my arm up by your bicep. There is an artery that runs close to the skin and the body warmer warms blood on the way to your fingers. Body warmers last about 10 – 12 hours. I always fly with extra, in flight accessible, eye wear. If your face shield fogs up and you have to open to land, you have to wear some glasses so you can see in the wind. I layer up with a wind stopper vest, and insulated pants under the goretex shell. I also recently have purchased some Milwaukee heated gloves. Great purchase that I also can use when snow blowing etc. I found the palm of the gloves too slippery and requiring a firm grip on the control bar so I roughed up the palms with some sand paper and made them much better. A light touch only needed again. Warm boots are readily available. I have a nice pair of Danner 1200 gram thinsulate boots that are as comfortable as tennis shoes and plenty warm with wool socks. Important if you land anywhere and spend time on the ground. Remember when flying in winter, if you have snow, beware of “flat light”. I do not care how many hours you have, it is easy to accidentally land prior to when you think you should if operating off skis. I typically try to land next to tracks in the snow, etc. for better depth perception in flat light. Lastly, after completely covering all exposed skin you should add a yard “tell tale” or streamer on one of your front flying wires. If you have no clouds, smoke, leaves on trees, etc. wind direction can be hard to determine. The yarn tell tale with help you. Have fun, keep warm, and fly safe. The winter performance of the wing, engine, prop, is all spectacular!.
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As a hang glider pilot first the unintended spiral dive was a mystery to me until I began to teach GA pilots how to fly trikes when I was an ultralight instructor. I found many airplane pilots very hesitant to perform stalls. A stall in a turn in a three axis airplane helped them develop “muscle memory” reactions to prevent a stalled wing and potential spin entry. Airplane pilot – push the nose down and opposite rudder with your feet. That maneuver or reaction to a stall in a weight shift trike we all know tightens the spiral by pushing and opposite rudder with your feet accomplishes absolutely nothing. A little training and a weight shift trike can easily and safely accomplish a descending spiral and like Ted it can be very useful to someone like me that not only likes to thermal up but quickly descend when I choose. Believe it or not it can be pretty intimidating in a hang glider in strong thermal conditions when you have difficulty coming down when you want. Actually having to find sinking air to descend can create some apprehension. Trikes allow you more control and freedom in the air when you are ready and have the training to play in the sky with nice thermals. Get the training. It can actually be fun.
John Glynn
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I have always flown with a hand deploy reserve in my hang glider. BRS in my powered hang glider. I have always and continue to fly with a BRS in my trike. I have had close calls over the years with GA aircraft in pattern, large military aircraft are present and they leave quite a wake especially for a tailless aircraft. I thermal with birds and trust me, many times they are looking at the ground for something to eat and do not clear their turns. Thank God they are so talented. I love to share flying with passengers and if I were unable to see, etc. I like the option of a chute. I mounted my chute more near the center of mass so if I ever was forced to land on a steep hillside if a very small field I could deploy chute as a drag chute to assist stopping in an emergency. Never want to see the color of my chute but if I do it’s my new favorite color. I promised my wife I will always fly the safest way I can and I believe that includes a BRS. Also go to YouTube and watch Mike Patey’s explanation on why he installed a BRS on Srcappy. I shook his hand at AirVenture and thanked him for that video as it may someday save a fellow aviators life. Fly safe so we can all fly together someday.
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Hello Roger, as for visor scratches I have a suggestion. If you want I can try first on one of my old visors this weekend. I have some Novus UV cure epoxy that comes in a syringe. Same stuff used to repair cracked windshields. If you apply just enough to fill in the scratch and then use a piece of Mylar plastic to lay over the epoxy in the scratch, the Mylar will “smooth” out the surface of the epoxy. You then use a UV light source to cure the epoxy. Takes a short couple of minutes. The mylar film does not block the UV light. You can tell when the epoxy is dry when you remove the mylar film. It will make a faint tearing sound. If you need to sand or smooth out where any excess epoxy is I would try a small felt wheel and some jeweler’s rouge, which is polishing compound. In a pinch you could use tarter control Crest as it has some polishing agent in it. (Not any whitening or gel but the paste). I will try on one of my old visors this weekend with before and after photos. I have all the equipment. If you try make sure you keep the UV cure epoxy syringe in a plastic zip-lock bag because the UV light in the sunlight will cure the epoxy on the tip of the syringe. Just poke the tip of syringe out of bag opening and immediately place back in the bag after filling in the scratch. Use the epoxy very sparingly and any polishing would be kept to a minimum or may not be needed at all.
I will get back to you.
Fly safe.
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Hello Carl, I am in Wisconsin and fly all year year. I did purchase some Milwaukee heated gloves which I can also use when snowblowing etc. Most of the time only on the lowest setting. Battery lasts fairly long. I have quite a few tricks for cold weather flying and would be happy to share with you. A little Dawn dish soap on a very soft cloth spread very thinly on the inside of the visor prevents fogging as well. (A hockey visor trick). If flying with a passenger I fly with a few body warmers. Always handy if carefully passed to a passenger to remedy a cold spot prior to landing. A body warmer, not a smaller hand warmer, placed inside you upper arm will heat the blood in you arteries that supply blood to your hands. Using these body warmers which last 10 hours can help keep hands warm fairly inexpensively as well. I use a guide wear Gortex fishing suit that is not insulated as a shell to block the wind. I prefer two piece with the lower piece bibs that do not restrict my body at all. Just layer up. I also fly with at least two sets of sunglasses, you never know if problem with visor you can wear glasses to continue flying to a landing. If landing on a field or lake with no wind sock, I also atttach a small piece of yarn as a tell tale on my front flying wire as you will not be able to feel any wind all covered up. Wing as more lift, engine more power, prop more thrust and air usually smoother. Winter is awesome.
John Glynn
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I have flown most brands of trikes over the years. I own and fly an Evolution Trikes Revo. Love it. Quality product, fantastic support, and world class training. Full range from ultralight to fully equipped weight shift two place that can even be flown as a Private Pilot. Check out Evolutiontrikes.com. Plenty of videos and aircraft choices depending on your individual flying goals. Do I sound biased? Yes I am and I feel comfortable recommending to friends, family, and especially someone new.
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I like to start with the Weather Channel app for a general picture of what to expect. I then check Aero Weather app to see what conditions are on the ground at surrounding airports. I then like to use ForeFlight to select my airport and then drill down and check “weather” and “winds”. That provides me the wind direction, speed, temperatures at different altitudes. In addition the stability of the air is provided which between the wind and stability at the two lowest altitudes gives me good idea of how the air will be. Some days I like it smooth for my new passengers, and some days I like to play and try to soar my trike. Before I take off I like to use 1-800 WXbrief also to see what they have to say.