TOPLESS? A sceptic takes the plunge! Will keep you posted!

[Mc Guyver]

Trustworthy fellow-aviators, I am in a fix. To the point of depression, at this stage! I AM ASKING FOR INFORMED HELP!!

Briefly - as you might know - I am having trouble with hangarage @ Polokwane. Too many rules / politics to my personal liking to spend R 120,000 on a hangar. Nice Yellow Cobra, standing @ Potties, but just too far to fly regularly. (And also - clear skies @ Poloks - and once you get to the southern side of the Ysterberg - LOW CLOUD - and you turn around. 75 k's to Potties, 16 k's to Polokwane.

From a purely financial point of view it would make more sense to take the Cobra to Jenya again, and pay him to chop of the kingpost and remove the reflex bridle. And do whatever else he needs to do to get it topless.

The Cobra should then fit into a standard hangar - and no money would have to be spend on building / converting hangars. (Also future hangar - related kak is sorted, should I be transfered AGAIN.) (Which happens every 3 years or so when you work for a bank.. )

So - funds aside - I am faced with this tremendous pshycological thing about losing my kingpost, landing wires and lufflines. Will I be facing potential tumbles and tucks and extreme dives once I loose my reflex? Should I overcome deepseated personal fears and have my trike topless but at least nearby? Or will I pay a potential deadly price? (I am really shit scared about the idea of going into an involuntary dive in turbulence, and the trike does not recover...)

Informed opinions - "If you were me - would you convert your Cobra to topless - to make it fit into a hangar and be near you?"

Please Help?

Well I am onto my fourth topless wing and wouldn't buy anything else.
They have all been Airborne and they are excellent.(I know you guys are anti Airborne)
The latest is the new Arrow wing which is the best wing I have ever flown.
Trims at 60Kts (in the slow setting) with a speed range of 42 to 90 (just above VNE)Not pleasant at that speed!
With regards to getting into a low hangar with a king post,
have you tried disconecting your down tube and when the nose is in the hangar bringing your control bar forward so that the nose is pointing skywards and the King post is parallel to the ground?

[hermand]

Hi,

I flew a "topless" Aquilla from Jenya for four years.

Once you have set it up properly there is nothing better. In all sorts of conditions.

If the wingtips stall, it happens, set them for more lift!

It might also be a good idea to fit a electric "trim adjuster" whilst you are at it. I never had one but can think of a lot of times I could have used one.

Better ask the pro's on the trim, im sure Jenya can give you good advice.

The hanger more than makes up for the price.

I will advise a lot of practice before doing what you normally do, not that it is unsafe but you do fly it slightly differently to a normal wing. There is a LOT more speed and it really can climb !!!

H

[Asterix]

[vernon11]

Had crucial and in depth discussions with people I totally trust today.

"Alea Jacta Est."

The Cobra is going to Petit next Friday, via trailer. There to lose its kingpost and wires. It Might be: 1) A big mistake, 2) A big eye-opener.

I'll be your "Ask him" guy in a year or so when people want to know about topless Cobras. Spoke to Jenya - price is very reasonable, in the light of the fact that he redid the wing last year.

Tumbleweed - too much engineering involved specifically where I can hangar. (LDV) Also - this sorts the problem long term.

Topic closed. As said above - "Alea Jacta Est." I am crossing the Rubicon. I might be delighted, or very disappointed. Time will tell.

asterix.
Please keep us posted on this. I have heard so many different stories. I will watch this space.
Good luck Vernon.

[Triker]

If it aint broken, dont fix it as Bundy said. Thats what i mean

[Asterix]

I fully understand triker!

Thing is - I can:

a) Keep on doing a roundtrip to Potties every time I want to fly - not gonna happen - I want my plane HERE. Though I love flying - I drive so much in the week that by Friday I am gatvol of tar!

b) Spend a lot of money to get hangarage.

c) Spend a lot of money on the trike itself, and take the hangar factor out of the equation. Despite my personal misgivings on topless (cured to a large degree at this stage ) I am gonna go this route.

So - The Yellow Cobra is going topless! (Plus maybe a thing or two extra - negotiating a "package deal" with Jenya... . Since she is going to be in his workshop....if the price is right..... She might leave Petit with a few extra thingies..... )

Time will tell!

[kloot piloot]

*, you have nothing to worry about. Your experience will qualify you enough to handle topless.

Topless technology was introduced by La Moyette in hang gliders as far back as 1998. It has been refined and made safe by the likes of Wills Wings, Moyes, Airborne and Aeros. The wing (Jenya's included) has internal sprogs to counter for luff lines and wash-out battens.

Pitch becomes more sensitive, roll a bid heavier but otherwise, as safe as a house.

Don't believe the stories of tumbles and "wing tip" stalls. I've flown topless for many hours. By the way, a delta wing does not produce lift at the wing tips in flight. The root provides lift. Go for it.

[Asterix]

Thx Kloot! I have changed my topic heading as well.

Cobra is going to Petit on Friday - VIA TRAILER!

As a sceptic - I'll keep you guys posted on the outcome of this decision - you may get value from my personal experiences over the next few months, as you decide what to do the next time you order a wing.

Guys - once again I have to declare that the aviators on this forum are good folk. It matters not what we talk about, how heated it becomes, or who might be wrong and right. That bond between us all exists on some level, whether we know each other personally or not, or differ in opinion or not. I came here on this topic, asking for SERIOUS help, and from ALL the inputs, I could make up my mind.

Thank you.

My fellow Vulture - "The Oldest and Wisest of All the Vultures", aka Bluemax, stated something along the lines of "topless looking better." I tend to agree.

You might be viewing "The Yellow Cobra" topless from behind in months to come (as we urge you over the radio to "please try and keep up", GT's excluded of course ) - and I am sure that you will agree that viewing her topless from behind, will be quite pretty. (Unfortunately, since this site is family friendly, I will have to leave the beauty as seen from the front to your own imagination!) ( One thing has luckily been sorted through all of this - "The Yellow Cobra" is definitely a "she". And she is about to take her top of!! (Geelkerneels however is, and will always remain a "he" - hoor jy Oom Willie? )

[Asterix]

One of the best things that could have happened to "The Yellow Cobra" was the selling of GeelKerneels. Although it took me some time to get over my loss, I am starting to slowly but surely build a new bond....with another nice yellow aerie...

I could not personify her. She was just another trike to me.

However - she has carried me true from Potties to Numbi, Numbi to Standerton, Standerton to Potties. Before that, she took me in freezing conditions to Brits, and helped me to wake up TC on a Sunday morning. Also, and most importantly - she realised my life long dream of flying along the escarpment over God's Window! As a temptress, she has made her mark..

Although - since she is a woman, things have been a bit difficult - she with the demands, me not able to provide hangarage, she with the funny business about not flying straight and true from the word go - and initially trying to kill me! etc. etc.

At least - I now KNOW that she is a woman - and I can act accordingly. Long ago - while I still had GeelKerneels, I made some moves on her to try and personify her. Everytime she gave me shit, I remembered that she is new and unproven, and "I still have Geel Kerneels - so stuff you."

This is changed now, since Geelkerneels's departure... So I will now lay all my love on her - and also - name her. ( The name just would not take earlier - she was probably too upset about sharing my love)

But we can now revisit, and patch up.

1. She is getting a wing make-over to make her more sexy. This from her demands of a better house.
2. Since she is now the only trike in my life - we will revisit the naming from attempts way back when;

THUS: The Cobra to be flown back from the Eastrand in a couple of months, will be topless, sexy, loved, and NAMED. WITH her own title song. She will also have the ability to shift her sexy wing as her mood pleases, and NEW COMMS - since she will be living in a CTA, and would like to be heard clearly and loudly - as is the nature of women. More love I cannot give at this stage - but I trust my efforts will help her to love me back!

Her name and logo will also be applied as "nose-art", as seen below: (This should help me in scoring some brownie points:)

Gentleman - I give you "Witchy Woman". Softness, mixed in with some wicked tendencies. There for me to love, and tame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfIiYQoJho

New Bonds will be Grown. New Legends will be Created. New Love will be poured over a piece of machinery. (At least this time it will be female - with the pro's - but also the demands of a woman... )

Dudes - one lesson I have learned - if you built personal relationships with trikes - you can only own one at a time.!!!

[Asterix]

Saturday morning saw me disassembling The Witchy Woman and loading her onto a trailer , with the kind help of Gawie, Lourens and Nicow.

After a three hour trek down south, (during which I amused myself by checking the rubber necks of the people passing by in the right lane - ), I popped into Microland quickly to dish out some greetings, and found, to my hearts delight, Mulder PM and Oom Dawid, under the lapa, having some cold ones.

14h00 saw Jenya's wife unlocking the hangar on Petit, and me putting The Witchy Woman under the care of Aerossa.

Next time I see her - see will look quite different (sexy) - hopefully she will also fly sexy.

Time will tell.

[vernon11]

Good luck with your converted wing.
Vernon.

[Asterix]

Quote received, hackling done, and deposit to be paid. The Witchy Woman's wing gets stripped tommorow...

The process of fitting an actuator requires stripping of the wing. So.. quote accepted for both - I don't want to de-rigg again - EVER! (except if I have to - which I'll try and prevent!)

The idea is not to make her faster - I already fly her on the fastest wing setting. But while playing around with the settings on the ground some months ago, I learned that on her slowest setting she flies very slowly, and climbs like a bat out of hell. Landing on fast setting involves NOT pulling bar and storing energy, when confronted with a short runway. I know. Not good.

Adding the actuator gives me good cruising speed at about 70, which the wing currently does with a touch of pressure, and nice slow approaches with plenty of bar to pull, at about 40, on her slowest setting. Since the fitting of the actuator involves wingstripping - I decide to get it all done now, in one shot.

On the actuator - I have decide on the import that can manage 350kg's of pressure - as opposed to the local variant that manages only 110kg's. Much more expensive - but apparently on a loaded trike the latter just whines without actually pushing.

Another debate that we will resolve at the end of this whole project....

[willemgreyling]

Hi Asterix, I fly a topless aquila from Panorama. My wing is only single, so not a fast wing. Flies 50 mph. But she is awesome stable, stalls gently, no wing drops, banks very steep without height loss. And the best part, I can have her on a trailer in no time. I was the only triker at Panorama this December to take my trike with me on holiday , to Jbay in the Eastern cape. I flew 20 hours December along the most beatiful beaches. Some days the wind were pumping and no problems. She is very stable in rough weather.

My wing was build topless from new, so I cant comment on a conversion, but hopefully you will have a great safe wing.

Cheers Willem

[Asterix]

Wing is done and actuator fitted. Visited Jenya today and we decided where the switch must go on the panel. Not long now.. Early next week The New Improved Topless Witchy Woman is of to Rainbow for a couple of things and then coming home!

Weekend of 27 April will see me on a ferry flight up north in a yellow Cobra with a fresh new look

[vernon11]

Looking forward to reading the results.
Vernon.