North East Safari - May 2005

Glad to hear you walked away from your landing incident with no personal
injury. Thanks for the additional info on what led up to the hard landing. What
type of damage was done to the landing gear, wing, fuselage, ect.?

=============================================

Date:         Fri, 6 May 2005 14:04:44 -0400
Reply-To:     Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Ted Gordon <tedjgordon@ATT.NET>
Subject:      Northeast Safari

Dear All:

As noted in previous posting, in July I will be travelling in my Ximango
to several soaring sites in the Northeast. Counting myself, four Ximango
owners have indicated interest. I've outlined the plans in this posting to
encourage anyone else who wants to fly the route or meet along the way to
join up. Just drop me a note.

Best
Ted
email: tedjgordon@att.net



JUNE 29. I FLY FROM HARTFORD (HFD) TO LACONIA NH

Stay in Laconia 6/29 until July 4. Soar White Mountains

Laconia NH (LCI) has two long runways at right angles; tower. No landing
fees. Hangar space uncertain, but if available $25/ night. Car rental but
call ahead. . Hotel B Maes 603 293 7526 near airport.


JULY 4: FLY FROM LACONIA TO MONTPELIER

Stay in Montpelier from 7/4 until 7/8 Soar at Sugarbush.

Barre Montpelier VT (MPV) 802 223 2221 has two long runways; non-towered;
car rental through Enterprise 802 479 5400; $5/ night tie down. No landing
fees Limited hangar space, but call ahead. Hotel- Comfort Inn 802 229 2222
low rates.


JULY 8 FLY FROM MONTPELIER TO PITTSFIELD

Stay in Pittsfield from 7/8 until 7/12 soar Mt. Greylock

Pittsfield MA(PSF):413 443 6700: two long runways; non- towered; car
rentals; no landing fee, hangar space limited and may be a charge; hotel
reservations will be tight because it's a big weekend at Tanglewood, I'm
meeting my wife there. In Pittsfield call Comfort Inn  413 443 4714 or
Crowne Plaza 413 499 2000. I made reservations slightly further away in
North Adams at Holiday Inn 413 663 6500 (half the price of staying in
Pittsfield)..

North Adams also has a small airport: Harriman (AQD) non-towered, single
runway 4300 feet. I've landed there before in a glider; runs e/w and
approach is over hills..



JULY 12 FLY FROM PITTSFIELD TO ELMIRA

Stay in Elmira from 7/12 until 7/15

Elmira NY (ELM):  607 739 3597: two long runways; towered; car rentals;
$10/night hangars; no landing fee. Econolodge 609 739 2000 low rates
Glad to hear you walked away from your landing incident with no personal
injury. Thanks for the additional info on what led up to the hard landing. What
type of damage was done to the landing gear, wing, fuselage, ect.?

========================================


JULY 15 FLY FROM ELMIRA TO STATE COLLEGE

Stay in State College from 7/15 until 7/20; soar the ridge

State College PA (UNV) 814 865 5511: two long runways (one 50' wide); non
towered; car rentals; $45/ night hangars; $10/ night tie down; no landing
fee. This is art fest weekend so hotels may be in short supply. Try Holiday
Inn Express 814 867 1800.

Ridge Soaring (79N) operates out of a small strip at Unionville PA.


JULY 20 FLY HOME
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 16 Jul 2005 22:01:37 -0400
Reply-To:     Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Ted Gordon <tedjgordon@ATT.NET>
Subject:      Northeast Safari

Dear All:

The Safari was going great; by July 4th we had four Ximangos at Laconia
New Hampshire (Bruce Shimmel, Roland Martin, Holliday Obrecht and I)and
had flow for a couple of days in weak lift but great scenery and comradare.

The tour ended on July 4th when I had a hard landing on turf at Franconia
Airport (1B5) near Mt. Washington. I was not hurt in the least in the
incident nor was there any damage except to the Ximango.
 
The runway at Franconia is 2300 foot long and is 150 wide for most of its
length. At the North end, however, the width is considerably less. I was
landing to the South under idle power (left hand pattern) and was a bit
concerned about landing on turf. I wanted to be gentle with the landing
gear. I planned to touch down in a three point, minimum energy landing. I
crossed the threshold (where the span between the trees was reduced) with
a somewhat (deliberately) lower than normal airspeed. As I proceeded, I
thought the spread between the trees might be a bit narrow for my long
wingspread so I retracted my spoilers to diminish the sink rate, remain
above the tree tops, and extend the glide a bit. All the reactions of the
Ximango were normal. I reached the wider part of the runway at, I would
judge, about 30 feet AGL. I dove slightly, and flared, but the flare had
very little effect on the decent rate. The tail contacted the turf runway
first. The main gear then contacted the runway, and after a short roll on
the turf, the gear gave way.
 
What happened?  I think that I was in the "drag bucket" and that I got
there when I lost further airspeed by extending the glide over the trees.
 
The time between clearing the narrow portion of the runway and the landing
was very short; nevertheless, a go-around might have been possible- the
advantage of a motor glider, after all, but the glider operations
proceeding at the other end of the runway were an apparent hazard.

The club operations on the field gave me great assistance in moving the
glider to the side of the runway. Bruce, Roland and Holliday flew me back
to my home base in Hartford, CT the next day. The insurance company,
Avemco, is being very cooperative. I have their go ahead for the repair
and we will be collecting the bird on Tuesday and Wednesday and bringing
it back to Hartford.

I've learned again you can't fool the energy gods.

 

Best

Ted
 
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 16 Jul 2005 22:56:10 EDT
Reply-To:     Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Steve  Wells <SAWELLS39@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Northeast Safari
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hi Ted

Glad to hear you walked away from your landing incident with no personal
injury.  Thanks for the additional info on what led up to the hard landing.  What
type of damage was done to the landing gear, wing, fuselage, ect.?

Also, thanks to Jim and Horst for their imput regarding low voltage warnings
and air restarts.  If anyone else has what they think is an excellent air
restart method, I would appreciate getting the details. 

Steve Wells
Albuquerque, NM
#51
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 18 Jul 2005 17:42:18 -0700
Reply-To:     Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         john adbon <adbinoutdoor@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Northeast Safari
In-Reply-To:  <d5.2c44abf5.300b22ca@aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

RE Air restarts
I tried yesterday to engage a restart at a slower airspeed by advanceing the prop pitch to assist the turning of the prop. Actually I discovered it makes little difference and really it is a case of going to 105 knots on fine pitch for a efficient restart. the total loss in height after restart was 500 feet. Does that match up with your experiences.
John (Aust.)

Steve Wells <SAWELLS39@AOL.COM> wrote:
Hi Ted

Glad to hear you walked away from your landing incident with no personal
injury. Thanks for the additional info on what led up to the hard landing. What
type of damage was done to the landing gear, wing, fuselage, ect.?

Also, thanks to Jim and Horst for their imput regarding low voltage warnings
and air restarts. If anyone else has what they think is an excellent air
restart method, I would appreciate getting the details.

Steve Wells
Albuquerque, NM
#51