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 ;)

 

Video of the Day - Why We Fly

LAST DAY TO ENTER EAA's VIDEO CONTEST - Today September 30, 2007

Sorry for the late notice, but EAA's Air Venture Video Competition ends tonight at Midnight. There is still time to take your favorite video from your collection and submit it for consideration. They don't say what the "prize" is for the competition..but I imagine it is something to do with having the video displayed on their site or at the Museum.

Check out the LINK to the contest rules:

Weekend Getaway - with a BRS and a side of strobes...

After almost a year and a half, today was the day that I was going to make down to Rob Rollison's place in Bloomfield, Indiana (Shawnee Airport, 1I3) to pickup my BRS 1050 softpack for N912Q.

I took off this morning at 10am from Trikepilot Ranch in Sawyer, Michigan and had gorgeous 75 degree weather, light 10mph winds at my tail, and 10 podcasts of "CarTalk" on my iphone to keep me busy during the flat stretches.

In SW Michigan we have gorgeous rivers and trees and Lake Michigan. In NW Indiana (and SW Illinois) we have FLAT FLAT FLAT... hence the need for a little audio diversion. Nevertheless, with no phones, no noise, and no one to talk to... it was a great time to let my brain take a rest from the stress of daily life.

With the tailwind I made the 238 mile journey in about two hours and twenty minutes, averaging about 93mph ground speed most of the way. Not bad for 4200 RPM and 3.5gph burn on the 912s. I dropped down on the deck for most of the central Indiana route, checking out the wheat harvest that is going on almost everywhere this week in the Farm Belt.

When I arrived at Shawnee, Rob Caya was waiting for me as he had driven down Thursday to book another marathon weekend of flight training with Allistair Wilson of Astratrike. Rob is advancing rapidly and I'm hoping he'll solo this weekend!?! He's already bought a slick Quantum 912 (white) and we're eager to get him back up to Trikepilot Ranch before the winter.

A great bit of lunch (had a "Manhattan".. which I learned is a Turkey sandwich on White Bread with lots of white gravy on top?), we went back to Shawnee to meet Chris Bailey from AirplaneGear who set me up with a new Skybright Quad Strobe kit as well as my BRS bits. The strobe has top and bottom circular white strobes, with two wingtip combo lights. The tip lights have red/green position, rear facing white LED position markers, and flashing white strobes. I saw these on John Keith's GT450 and they ROCK. When we came back to Trikepilot Ranch on our way to Cushing this summer it was about twenty minutes past sunset and John looked like a Christmas Tree he was so bright. Perfect for the hard-to-see trike in the brave new world of GA flying!

It was getting on 4:30 and I knew I had a headwind.. so I said my "goodbyes" and headed North. It was another blissful flight, with light winds, the sun setting on my port side and nothing but the harvesters and my daydreams to pass the time. Once again I arrived to Trikepilot Ranch just around 8:00 with the sun having just gone below the water line of Lake Michigan. Gorgeous.

I'll be posting photos of how the BRS 1050 softpack installation works out for me. This is my second softpack install, but last one was a bit smaller and I had some other details to work out. Likewise, I'll be doing a "how to" on the strobe installation, particularly how to make brackets to hold the wingtip units.