Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
1413 miles, and I finally get a real flat
Yep, my rear tire blew on the way ome this evening. For the first time, it was a "real" flat, and not one of that foul string of "Whoops, where'd the rim liner go?" flats that plagued me early on.
It was just a pinch flat -- I jumped up a curb a little bit too fast, and a mile later the rear tire was flat. Ah well. By the time I had to get off, I was close enough to just walk, so walk I did.
I was pleased to note that the bearings in the rear wheel still feel excellent and smooth, so a quick repack with grease soon should keep them running for a long time. I'm also pleased to report that in ~1400 miles of urban riding through all sorts of crap, nothing has gotten through the Vittoria Randonneur Pro tires. There are a couple of external nicks, but the inside surface is unmarred and perfect. Thumbs up on the Vittorias.
Posted at 22:08 permanent link category: /bicycle
Taildragger lessons, this time for sure!
It's going to be a very aviatory few weeks.
I've got my Biennial Flight Review coming up tomorrow, and then I'll be going up in a Cub I just discovered at Northwest Aviation Center, located next door to the place I've been renting all these years. Of course.
I'm looking forward to the Cub flight. I tried last year to get lessons in a Cub, but the guy I was corresponding with mysteriously failed to return an email, and I got busy with other things, so it was quietly forgotten. Since this Cub belongs to an organization rather than a person (and they appear to be well organized from what I can tell), I'm much more confident it'll actually happen.
A taildragger endorsement is something I'll definitely need if I pursue the biplane thing. It also sounds interesting, as taildraggers (vs. the now standard tricycle gear, where the plane sits level on the ground) are normal for older planes.
Taildraggers are harder to deal with on the ground, since the center of gravity sits behind the wheels. The center of gravity in a tricycle plane is forward of the main wheels. This means that in a tricycle plane, its natural inclination is to go straight when you land -- the CG pulls the wheels forward.
In a taildragger, just the opposite is true: with the CG behind the wheels, it really wants to swap so that the CG leads the main wheels. This necessitates much more conscious handling on the ground to prevent that end-for-end swap from happening (called a "ground loop" when it happens).
A good analogy is using a hand truck -- if you pull it behind you, there's very little thought involved, it just follows where you pull it (this is equivalent of a tricycle plane). If you push it in front of you (with the wheels in front of the center of gravity), you must pay attention or it'll suddenly divert off to the side.
This is all compounded by the fact that the taildragger airplane uses a little tiny wheel, with very little weight on it, to do the steering. Some taildraggers don't even have a steering tailwheel, you're expected to steer by applying brakes to one side or the other, or using the rudder.
So, for all that I can explain what the problems are, that sort of knowledge hasn't ever translated into physical skill, in my experience. It'll be interesting to see how it all applies once I get my feet on the rudder pedals.
Posted at 10:45 permanent link category: /aviation
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater