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Blackburn Mark

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Everything posted by Blackburn Mark

  1. Blackburn Mark
    Don't let us hold you back
  2. Blackburn Mark
    Owch! If they are anything like the original GY6 stator, I think I would be considering winding up one of the redundant coils as a second ignition coil. 5 hours would make me bloody nervous!
  3. Blackburn Mark
    I personally would attempt to count the winding and "roll my own" (maybe subtract a few windings to lower the voltage) Are they tough to get to/remove?
  4. Blackburn Mark
    Strange, cant see a new plug failing... Ill look forward to your investigation. I keep getting a strange one on my V2, during hard climbs it will miss a couple of beats or cut for a second or so... I have never worked out what it is, I think it might be a sticky exhaust valve (sticks slightly open when very hot)
  5. Blackburn Mark
    It would seem Vitto and Skymax (or any manufacturer) are surfing a very thin line between weight and self-destruction... Bikes have rigid frames, lots of mass and space to damp out firing pulses between the motor and exhaust so can take a slightly more long lasting rigid approach in regards to seals and fatigue. A paramotor is very light and its exhaust wraps around the cranks center of moment so its firing pulses are easily transmitted in the worst possible way, directly into the exhaust's mass. Go floppy, the seals self destruct, go rigid, the exhaust body fatigues... fail to maintain the floppy joints (by replacing the seals often) the exhaust body fatigues... over-tighten the floppy joints.... etc. etc.
  6. Blackburn Mark
    I don't envy you. It doesn't take much to get the heebie jeebies especially in the early days. You cant buy your way out of those I am assuming you would get the bulk of your money back if you chose that path. Or you could go for an expensive holiday and take each day as it comes... Choosing not to fly if you get the heebie jeebies... you are the pilot, the final decision on launch is on you! BUT I am reasonably sure that as soon as you see another student launch and come in for a scruffy landing, your mind will be all "Fcuk this, I have to get myself some of that!". Its a relatively risky sport, its difficult, smelly, noisy, expensive, the weather window is frustratingly narrow.... Hell, I'm not sure why I bother flying myself.... BUT every now and again, I escaped the earth into another world where few get to go and it all makes sense
  7. Blackburn Mark
    Its hard to tell what I would do, I have historically been blasé with insurance when it suits me but the fact I had paid for it and not get it would sting a touch. Abandoning the mission might be a major spanner in your dreams of flight.... Either way, carry the weight of your choice to show your instructor some mercy, sounds like he is in a tricky spot himself
  8. Blackburn Mark
    Lol... Me neither! Last Mon, thin gloves at 3600ft, plenty warm enough... That's not normal! Those guys in the states wearing shorts and bear hands don't know they are born
  9. Blackburn Mark
    Now I think about it, he said he had enough fuel to brim his motor so I might be wrongly assuming he did "brim it". Either that or at 7.5 lph he must have been trailing raw hydrocarbons all over the sky!
  10. Blackburn Mark
    That has me thinking the guy I flew to Malam with must be running very rich! I think it was an early Air Conception machine... ill have to quiz him when I see him.
  11. Blackburn Mark
    Looking at your water hopping flight, you must have quite a fuel capacity on that thing!
  12. Blackburn Mark
    Its an old Bailey 175... All up with a full tank, reserve and flight deck is 45kg // And its a bit gutless. I can struggle to launch bigtime in light winds... massive disadvantage! A 30kg setup would be bliss but I just cant let go of the efficiency... its pretty reliable too. Last Monday, I flew to Malam cove with a guy who burned almost 15Llr in two hours... He only just made it back. He also owns a Bailey 175 and he hates its weight.... But he is tempted to give it another go or buy the slightly lighter Bailey V5 The Scout EOS four stroke looks to be (fundamentally) a Bailey V5 with what looks to be a very useful power increase but I will guarantee it will be too pricy for a skinflint like me!
  13. Blackburn Mark
    2.5 lph Average on an xc flight would start getting close enough to making the difference negligible. I can fly four hours and land with a reasonable reserve (10l tank)... I have calculated approx. 2.2 lph (trimmers in on a 23m kougar)
  14. Blackburn Mark
    I often hear of people getting excellent efficiency from two strokes.... I have yet to witness it in practice. From my limited experience (don't often fly with others) I seem to have a bit less than twice the range on a full tank. That makes up for all its downsides, it has a few
  15. Blackburn Mark
    Warm vs smooth.... I prefer the one I haven't got -12C is the coldest iv seen at base... Didn't last long in that!
  16. Blackburn Mark
    Haha, in standard mode, I'm right with you, active days are taxing and not much fun at all but my longest flights (when I'm in the mood for a mission) tend to be largely done above cloud base where the air is often like glass
  17. Blackburn Mark
    Just in case you haven't started using any of these... I "occasionally" use the last one (RASP) on technical flights to try to get an idea of how much of a spanking I'm going to get in a mid day xc when cloud base is higher than I can escape from. Trust none of them to be the final word on what to expect Simple glance: https://xcweather.co.uk/ More detail: https://www.windy.com/?iconEu,57.338,-5.984,10,m:fgKafYB In depth: http://rasp.stratus.org.uk/app/welcome.php
  18. Blackburn Mark
    You have cracked the hardest part... You pulled the trigger and splashed the cash! Its just a matter of time now. The winds are looking like they might be light up there Fri Sat Sun... If the weatherman isn't lying, you might be holding that glider over your head for short runs by Sunday
  19. Blackburn Mark
    Splendid... a nice sensible wing. I don't know much about fresh Breese motors, looks very shiny
  20. Blackburn Mark
    That might be a curse you carry to the grave.... 20+ years and I still cant look at the sky without it being a flight calculation. Class! If its a steep face, at certain windspeeds it will shed rotor ... make life interesting for you. What motor / wing did you get?
  21. Blackburn Mark
    You don't fcuk about! In a massive flat field in sub 10mph winds... You still might get tossed around a bit but you are unlikely to get dragged far and knock your brains out on a post, tree, rock... Or god forbid, tear your crispy wing on one of those killer Scottish thistles Its a lot of fun and great exercise... Be strict, its a frustrating game, calling bad weather is way less disappointing that damaging gear, or worse.
  22. Blackburn Mark
    If I understand yo correctly.... All things being equal.... 24 meter will need a faster run to launch, will be more responsive to inputs, be faster(1 or 2 mph), will need a little more power in cruse and be a bit more of a handful to get back under control if it departs from standard flight I like to be heavy on my wings (even in free-flight) but my legs are getting old and my motor heavy and low powered means I'm beginning to struggle to launch in low winds (23 meter Niviuk kougar 2)
  23. Blackburn Mark
    That's the ticket... I think once a person gains a bit of skill in active flying, flight becomes quite uncomfortable "before" what most of us might call "dangerous conditions" so there is a natural buffer against flying yourself into serious trouble. The bottleneck in this is you don't know until you take off what you are in for unless you fly with someone experienced or you gain some skill in reading the weather. If the wind is strong, watch out for rotor... if its an active day (thermic // fluffy cauliflower clouds) wait until late afternoon. Sooner or later, you will dip your toe into more active conditions and they are likely to make you land for a smoke long before they evolve into anything dangerous.... but that a wild guess
  24. Blackburn Mark
    12 years since you last enquired! Life can really get in the way... I think most of us toy with the idea for years and years until we finally pull the trigger and get our feet off the ground. Then we are dooooomed to a life of praying for calm dry weather whilst staring out of a rain soaked window Cant help you with the training but fingers crossed that you escape the earth... There is nothing like it!
  25. Blackburn Mark
    We rarely ever need to delve any deeper than rudimentary diagnostics // swapping spares, cleaning, poking with a stick Assuming you solved your chainsaw issue, you are armed with a set of symptoms and solution to at least one issue... The larger the collection of those you have, the less you will spend on throwing random spares at the problem (which is an option, just not very elegant) OR.... You come to a place like this and hope you snag someone who has had the same problem, at worst you will end up with a list like Andy did... some good, some misguided. I have enough spares to pretty much rebuild mine from the crank up twice over.... Good flying days are rare and parts are very cheap for my motor (not a two stoke though)... Unlikely to be grounded over a £5 part and a two week wait!
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