New Features for Site:

Hi Gang. Hope you're having brilliant flying weather this weekend like we are in the Midwest of America. It's about 52F (around 14C I think) with bright blue skies..

I've been thinking about adding some new features to the site to make things more interesting. I would like your feedback regarding the same.

1. A "Review" Section of the more popular trike brands and features. Rather than it coming from me, I'd like the owners of each brand to come forward and talk about what they like/dislike about their machines, or machines they've owned in the past. We have a lot of new buyers and shoppers out there, especially with LSA coming to its conclusion by January.
   For example: Here is a really great picture by Paul Hill of his Tanarg parked on the ground with the wing on. I had NO IDEA that the Tanarg had such a COOL feature where the entire mast and fiberglass covers tilt forward in one piece...Awesome! I'd love to know more from Paul Hill or Bob Thompson or Wayne Bezner Kerr about how they like this feature or others on the Tanarg.
   

   

   
   
2. A "New Gear" Section where all the latest accessories are rated and reviewed... by the members. For example, the video camcorders, the headsets, intercoms, etc. Right now the reviews are all coming from me for the most part, but I would like to get a better degree of input from everyone. By indexing these pages, we can create a great resource for future shopping.
   


3. A "Marketplace" Section. This would be for buying, selling, trading, swapping, etc. Since everyone already has a place on their page to put up pictures, videos, information, etc., about their "stuff", the section would be a simple Index of all entries by the members of things they want to put out for consideration. I think this can be easily done with a little "tag" that I can offer to everyone that they put on any entry to their private page postings which would say "marketplace" and this would then allow the site to find and index these entries and put the links all on one page, with pictures, sort of like Barnstormers does now... but for free.

I'm open to any other new ideas or suggestions as well, so please SEND THEM TO ME so we can put them into action!

Another cool camera / camcorder idea for Trike use!

Thanks to Mick Balaban for bringing this cool little video / still camera system to my attention. It is called the Digital Hero 3 and it provides a 3mp still camera along with a 640x480 resolution video recording capability, all on an SD memory Card. Has a velcro wrist band mount and a waterproof polycarbonate enclosure. Price looks pretty great at only $139.99!!

I will try to get my hands on a unit for testing, but check out their website HERE or HERE
They also have a neat Social Network (kinda like ours!) where users of the product can post videos taken with the system. Lots of sports represented there, but so far no Trike Flying!

New Multi-Camera Solid-State Video System coming for Review!

I just got off the phone with Nick O'Kelly, the inventor of the "ReFlight" recording/camera system. His company will be sending me out a system for review next week and I will share the details with all of you here.

What intrigues me about this system is the price point and the removable flash memory card. The quality of the videos is about "average" for what we all expect from a bullet camera head, rather than HD quality... but, it seems the convenience of the entire package being permanently mounted in the trike with a removable memory would make it VERY easy to record each and every flight.

I will await the delivery of the product to say more, but for now, they have details at their Website and we will be featuring their product in our new marketplace section of Trikepilot Social. This will be a place on the site where vendors can market their products directly to our readers, while allowing direct interaction and feedback on the use, installation, and improvements of the product.

Obviously, we hope that anyone who might purchase the product would share their videos on the site as well ;)

I look forward to sharing more next week!

New Hand Shields ... Prototype Ver. 1 ?

From my pal, Steve Tweedt, an engineer by trade... comes this cool design for hand shields that wills surely get you faster service at the gas pump on the flight line! "Give me 10 gallons and make it snappy!!! GRRRRRRRRR!!"

It's official! Our New Logo is in place...

I combined the two ideas, and voila! I'm happy. It also is now a transparent background .png file so that any of you with custom member pages no longer have that ugly black background bar to ruin your webpages!

Man thanks again to Mick Balaban for sending me the logo to tweak!!

Hope you like ;)
spence

New idea I'm developing for Hand Shield ... comments?

Winter flying is just around the corner. I like to fly year-round, and have various "goodies" in my bag of tricks that allow me to fly in cold weather. Heavy coat, insulated pants and bib, heavy boots, heating coils for my body parts, full mask, balaclava, etc. The one piece of
equipment with which I'm not satisfied is the classic "bar mitt".

Perhaps I'm unusual in my preference, but I can't seem to figure out a good way to use the existing bar mitts. It seems that I'm always having trouble with them because I fidget a lot. I don't like to keep my hands nailed down to the bars or in one spot for very long. Since the bar
mitts I have from Airplane Gear are very "tight" to get into, the situation is even harder.

This has gotten me thinking. I love to tinker with designing new "concepts" and modifications...so why not a new twist on the OLD idea of bar mitts?

Rather than making the mitts attached to the bar...why not simply make hand/wrist deflectors that stay attached to the user's arms, yet provide the same wind deflection? Plus, these would give two surfaces to use for writing notes (airport info, radio frequencies, etc.) and
holding sliced-up chart sections.

I'm building a prototype now, but basically, think of a flat piece of polycarbonate (plastic) that is lays across the wrists and fingers and up to the forearm. It would be curled over the finger tips like the letter "J" with the fingers going into the curl when wrapped around the control bar. It would then have a "C" shaped curl facing down on to the forearm at the other end. There would be two straps, one would be a semi-permanent attachment strap at the forearm, so the device would not fly off in mid-air. The other would be a "loop" of velcro or similar (perhaps a soft but strong bungee material) that would fall into the nook of the first knuckle of every finger, so it could be squeezed against the control bar without interfering.

The idea is that one could wear whatever warm gloves they choose, or even thin gloves, but still be able to have full motion of their fingers and use of their hands on and off the bar. The plastic shield would deflect the brunt of all wind when the hands were on the bar. Also, the deflectors could hold a heated coils or similar to provide additional warmth to the backside of the hand/glove, in addition to providing those extra handy surfaces for notes and charts.

I will take pictures and make notes as my project progresses, but I'd like to hear from you guys as well. Any thoughts or ideas or preferences? What do you use for hand warmth in the winter and how well does it work?

Skybright Strobe Installation Update

Find more photos like this on Trikepilot - Social Edition


I spent the last couple days working on the Skybright Strobe installation on my Quik. I'm preparing a full installation "how to", but in the meantime, I've got some more preview shots of the installation.

The project has gone pretty smooth so far, the only hitch has been taking my time in figuring out how to make the custom landing gear leg mounts, the wiring harnesses, and the new switch array for the dash. When completed, I will have a landing gear light, quad strobes with variable pattern, and position lights on the wing tips, all controlled by their own switches. I've put the strobes and position lights on their own 10A circuit branch.

All of the hardware for my mounting design is off the shelf from Lowes Building Supply and requires only simple hand tools to customize.

I look forward to sharing the complete "how to" as soon as the installation is completed!

If "only" trikes flew like this!

Video of the Day - Teaser for ultralight trike event July 2006 Lapinlahti, Finland

Skybright Strobe installation "how to" coming shortly!

Find more photos like this on Trikepilot - Social Edition

Had a great couple days at Trikepilot Ranch. I took some time to tweak a turn out of my wing, then made the fast track over to the building-supply store for "bits and pieces" to cobble-together my latest creation -- a custom mounting bracket system for the amazing Skybright Strobe System.

I'm going to do a full "how to" shortly, but here are a few preview shots (click on slideshow to see detailed pics). I have two position marker/strobe lights on the wings, red on left and green on right, as well as two high intensity tubular strobes on the trike body. At first I was considering mounting the tubular strobes on the kingpost and belly, but after much head scratching, I elected to go with a little less conventional approach. I think that mounting aft of the cockpit at a slight projected angle (on the landing gear fairings) is the ideal spot for my trike. First, because it relieves any possibility of damage or dirt from being on the belly. Second, because it relieves any problems or danger from being up on the streamlined King Post...where the wires could get fouled or the strobe could come loose and damage the wing in flight. Lastly, because this position is visible from 360 degrees, with the strobe actually reflecting off the engine to make an even larger "target" from a distance.

All the mounting pieces were made from off the shelf components I found at "Lowes" and total cost for the custom brackets and pieces and stainless hardware was about $20.00 total.... not bad.

More details to follow!

Further "Origin of the Species"? The NASA Parasev

 
From our friends at BC Trikes I discovered this gem of information. I was always wondering where the first Trike Designs originated. Seems like it was NASA, circa 1962? Some evidence of the inspiration for the earliest Ultralight Trikes HERE

Triking Adventures - Over Everest! 2004

 
A bit of a classic, but I found this tonight while researching the Biman Enclosed trike for the forum question du' jour. It was the 2004 attempt to tow a hanglider behind a microlight trike to 30,000 feet over Mt. Everest. Just your usual "Sunday Flight" right?

From the website:

Crazy?  Can this be possible?  Two people thought it was perfectly possible, and did it on May 24 2004.  Despite some very marginal weather conditions and some last minute technical glitches the hang glider was towed to a point very close to the summit. The microlight pilot exchanged waves with a group of climbers who were standing on the summit as he flew over Everest!

British Microlight pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy and Italian hang-glider pilot Angelo D’Arrigo started preparing for this project in 2002.   It was a highly technical exercise requiring the development of a lot of specialist equipment to cope with the extreme conditions.  Very high takeoffs, (12,200 ft), temperatures of minus 25° C at altitudes where without oxygen the normal ‘time of useful consciousness’ is less than one minute.

LINK

Say hello to our friends in B.C. - Air Trikes!

A comprehensive site, put together with a great eye for graphic design. I came across BCTrikes while researching the Poisk (three seat trike). I was truly impressed at how well the site owners, Mikhail Gavrikov and Victor Okunev, have incorporated their online presence with the marketing of their trike flying business. They offer trike intro flights, trike rentals, and other services related to the world of trike flying that I've not seen anywhere else. That they are relatively recent Russian immigrants to B.C. is even more impressive... a ton of hard work has clearly paid off!

PLEASE do yourself a favor and check out their site... and give them a ring if you are going to be up there way anytime soon!

LINK

Incredibly comprehensive archive of Trike Designs

Microlight.org.uk is a virtual "Must See" website for anyone curious about the many forms that our amazing machines take and have taken over the years. Check out the Three-seater from Russia!
LINK

Website of the Day - Silent Family of Fully Enclosed Trikes

In my never ending quest to deliver satisfaction to the Trikepilot Social members... here is the Silent Family of Trikes, which are Fully Enclosed. This is in response to the recent forum post asking about whether a Tukan Trike (or similar) can be made more comfortable like a conventional aircraft. Although the site is in German, it is a good start and one can Google for more details on English Websites.
LINK

Website of the Day - Microlights in Scotland!

Sounds like a wonderful location to add to my list of places to visit (and fly!). Let's see... Thailand, Russia, Brazil, India, Scotland... better bring a big suitcase! Check it out... ;)

LINK

Video of the Day - Microlight Flight over Turkey

Website of the Day - Miles Hilton-Barber

A truly inspirational individual. Miles Hilton-Barber is Blind, but (with the help of Storm Smith) has undertaken adventures that most of us with sight would never dare. In particular, his microlighting achievements are remarkable. Miles is a popular motivational speaker who has an incredible attitude and zest for life.
LINK

Website of the Day - Nick's Micropages

A true "classic" is Nick's Micropages. It is chock-full of microlighting stories, adventures, forums, classifieds, etc. It's the "Craigslist" of the UK microlight scene. I love all the articles, but one of my favorites is the biography of Eppo Harbrink Numan, who made a gallant and successful effort to fly his microlight trike solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1990. Check out his story and the rest of the site...you won't be dissapointed ;)