Larry Mednick
Forum Replies Created
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I solder in new mics often enough for customers. I get the mics from Flycom, but I would love to get a link to the mics you are using.
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Some of the info I have is directly form Airborne, some is from their dealers.
Airborne was operating in one of the most viciously locked down areas on the planet during Covid, equally or worse were the lockdowns still happening today in China. You may be asking why that is a factor. Well Airborne’s largest market had become China over the last few years, and I can tell you first hand NO ONE in China is buying any trikes or even thinking about flying for the most part. Everything is on hold there, so they lost their largest sales market at the very same time. And to top it off the Husband and Wife that have made every wing sail for Airborne retired earlier this year. And that folks is the tri-factor…
Regarding moving over seas, well that has turned out to be pending at the moment and nothing has moved to the best of my knowledge. I sure hope something can come of the company, but if you have been following how that went with P&M, I feel the momentum has been lost at least in their established markets, and it will take a lot to get that momentum back in the industry… Also certain countries are trusted more than others regarding materials and quality assurance, so depending on where it goes can make or break the brand. Don’t count them out yet, but don’t hold your breath either at this point is my best assessment.
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Hi Roger B, the first thing I will say regardless of brand trike is that wheel pants are your worst nightmare when it comes to unimproved landing areas. And the REVO like most 80+ MPH podded trikes cannot fly without them because of the spat attached to them. The REVO requires literally double the takeoff and landing distance of a REVOLT. The REVO is not STOL at all… but again if you want to land on 1500’ grass strips then great!
The limitation of the top speed on the REVOLT is the drag cubing with speed on a draggy carriage. The drag is double from 60 to 80 MPH and the REVO has only 1/2 the drag. However that drag is what allows high energy approaches in heavy turbulence not to run you off the end of the runway.
We used to bring a 12m RIVAL S to Oshkosh which is 1100’ sloped with trees at 1 end and a tree line next to the runway. One of our REVO guys would struggle both on takeoff up hill with obstacles when there was a strong crosswind and landing downhill from over the obstacle when the Xwind was strong. Then he switched to a RIVAL X and no longer is it close, but he uses 80% of the runway on high Xwind days due to higher approach speeds and Xwinds drastically increase ground roll in a trike for take off. By comparison the REVOLT with RIVAL X wing only needs about 1/2 the runway and the REV X only 1/4 the runway. Although it’s only 2 up that the REVO with RIVAL S had an issue on the challenging strip 1 up cuts things down nearly in half. But that’s true on real STOL planes as well
As mentioned before you can have the top end without the slow end or the slow end without much top end. Trikes have a limited speed range in general which means they seldom can do both well.
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Dancing with Revolts Desert Trike Flying by Larson Adventures.
https://youtu.be/gNmaytxXFOIDancing with Revolts Desert Trike Flying by Larson Adventures.
https://youtu.be/gNmaytxXFOI -
ROAD TRIP
https://youtu.be/PEq4DGu7zM0ROAD TRIP
https://youtu.be/PEq4DGu7zM0 -
Regarding things like shown in the above example, yes, sure no problem. A quick search for Larson’s Adventures or TTabs on YouTube will show examples of trikes doing what I think you are asking about.
Truthfully most pilots flying actual STOL planes (not a Kit Fox) are not using the full capabilities of their plane anyway. BUT when you get the right STOL plane in the hands of the right pilot, the results are insane. Meaning they are able to use 100-250 foot landing areas. This is where a trike cannot compete. But if you are wanting to land on 900 foot strips and explore the mountains, then you don’t really need a true STOL plane anyway.
Typical STOL performance looks like 17 MPH stall with 100+ MPH top speed. Typical trike is either 28 MPH a stall with 60 MPH top speed or 35+ mph stall with a 80+ mph top speed. There are exceptions, but the fixed wing speed range is unchallenged by trikes against slatted winged STOL Bush Planes
The real question is after flying a trike, is the airplane fun enough to not want to be in a trike covering the same land scape.
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Yes, so a midfield cross over may not be ideal either if you are approaching from the traffic pattern side either. I like to stay at 1500 AGL (mind you jets fly the pattern at 1500’) and use a teardrop entry. The same recommended entry the FAA describes for if you are crossing midfield. But in this case I come in from 180 off or roughly any direction I like above the pattern to that point. Not only do I avoid crossing multiple fast down wind legs, but I can circle (example: “trike is circling at 1,500 just north of the field”) and while circling I can decide WHEN the tear drop is most desirable. Once I enter my tight downwind at pattern altitude, no one should be able to catch me unless that are not where they should be regardless of their speed. We are all doing 5-6 minute patterns.
The only thing that becomes tricky is turning both crosswind and base while aiming at another aircraft initially. The key when I turn base , for example is to say “turning base behind the Cirrus” even though he is on a mile final and I am turning a 1/4 mile base. You simple need 500’ spacing at all times and good 2 way communication. Plus I am 500 feet above his 1/4 Mile short final if we both arrive by accident to the 1/4 mile final at the same time. Then he is landed and off the runway or touch N go before my wheels are down. I can chase the fastest planes around the pattern with ease…
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Blair, I would avoid a straight in especially at your airspeed in all cases. Trikes on long final is probably the biggest danger. At least on downwind we are all (supposed to be) at the same altitude so we can see each other. On final trikes tend to be much higher and the other pilots are probably not looking up for traffic as we descend onto them. But more importantly Traffic really need to turn base where they need to turn base or they become the menace in the pattern for whoever is following them. So if a long final stops them from being able to do so, that is a problem by itself.
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Good point! On windier days slower aircraft need to watch their time/distance on final. Assuming you are landing into the wind the difference in ground speed starts to change ratio with faster aircraft. Example: no wind 50MPH trike is 1/2 the ground speed of a 100MPH plane. Add 25 mph head wind and now the plane is 3X faster instead of only double the ground speed (25 vs. 75). So the length of our final when there is a strong head wind really needs to be shortened even more, so we don’t get run over on final by the plane behind us.
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Flying at different speeds in the pattern should generally be no conflict if everyone is where they should be. And what I mean by that is the faster an aircraft is going, the larger their pattern should be. I have flown all over the world and there seems to be a very consistent 5-6 minute pattern time. So a Cirrus and a Champ should be able to stay in the pattern shooting a dozen touch N goes with no interference from one another. Unfortunately every once in a while some “Yahoo” in an RV 4 is shooting T+Gs in the “Champ pattern” every 3 minutes and some Cessna 152 is setting up his 2 mile final. These aircraft not only can’t mix in with us, they can’t mix in with ANYONE ELSE in the pattern. They are a danger and inconvenience to others.
However when everyone is where they are supposed to be , then speeds within the same pattern are almost irrelevant and everyone should be in synch with good separation.
The problem I have discovered for trikes and other slow aircraft is the 45 entry. In order to do so we must cross the downwind of several faster, larger “downwind legs” to get to our “inside” down wind leg. This is not only dangerous, but impossible when there are 4+ fast aircraft in the pattern at once.
I have a solution to this, but would like to hear others thoughts.
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Not yet
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The best solution is we need to open up a messenger within Trikeaction. In the mean time maybe see if they are on FB or just call out here on Trikeaction the name and ask him to call or email you.
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The Streak III as well as all Airborne wings is an in house product so there is no way to get them at the moment. We have a direct bolt on for all of the Airborne’s and have many “REBORNE’S” flying around the world.
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The props are all very efficient. You might shave 10% off of your takeoff distance with more blades, but it’s not going to change what you can and can’t do with the trike.
The larger tires on a grease strip are difficult to tell any advantage. If you were on sand it would add some real world benefit.
Both options are nice and popular, but not game changing like the wing selection for example.
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Hey Jim, unless you removed your thermostat, I’m pretty sure your Monsoon has one.