Great way to save money flying

[TDTURBO]

The last couple days here in Chicago has been conducive to thermal cumulus build ups creating a lot of lift when above them. So yesterday I climbed to 10k with ½ tanks and my dog, pulled back to a 25 degree deck angle to slow the prop, killed the master, pulled the mixture and prop to freeze the rotation and trimmed it for 75 kts. It took .4 to get up to 10k and 1 hr of soaring over the airport until dead sticking in for landing.

I can say that after 22 years of flying, this had to be the most fun I ever had in an airplane, I had the windows open, the puppy had her nose out the window with just the sound of the air rushing by the airframe, all costing 0$.

So today I took my mom and Dad up to do the same, they never thought flying could be so much fun. Now I know what glider pilots feel like, what a blast.

If I wanted I could have stayed up for another hour due to the thermal lifting yesterday.

There is nothing like soaring around at 2 miles above the ground in pure silence but the wind rushing by. I am going to make this a weekly event, I just can't get enough of it.

If the day is hot and the clouds are rising, don't miss the chance, DO IT!

I was up for an hour and a half with .4 on the hobbs, you just can't beat that!

 

[mattpilot]

I see you fly helicopters. I don't know how it is in the -22 (yet), but in the Bell 47, you can turn the master off and the hobbs will stop ticking

The hobbs in the -47 is connected to the battery, not to the engines like in most aiplanes.

Great way to enjoy flying and saving money

 

[TDTURBO]

One of my best freinds owns the heli school at my airport, I would never do that to him, I only do this in my plane. But since you brought it up, I'll let him know so he doesn't get taken. He is a hell of a guy and would give you the shirt off his back so I would hate to see someone do that to him.

 

[KigAir]

pulled the mixture and prop to freeze the rotation

Will your technique also work for rotorcraft?

 

[Goose Egg]

Just a heads-up: avbug is gonna have a field day...

I'd be really careful with that. You didn't specify what type of airplane you were flying, but chances are that it wasn't designed to be intentionally shut down and restarted in flight. You could shock-cool the engine, you could damage the prop governor, you could get yourself caught on top with no way down except altitude and airspeed, and I'm sure that I could think of others. Not smart.

That was the powered aircraft CFI in me talking, now it's the CFIG's turn.

It's great that you could thermal in your [insert airplane], but the thing about thermals is that they can come and go, sometimes without warning. What if the thermal you're in goes away and all of a sudden you have to figure out somewhere to go with an 8:1 glide ratio (or worse?) Yeah, not a pretty picture. Landing out in a glider is routine. Landing out in a powered aircraft is considered an emergency. There's a reason for that.

You've got more time than me, so I trust that you know what you are doing in an airplane. Just use some good judgement.

Be careful also getting thermal lift above the CCL (convective condensation level.) The type of lifting you'd be getting above a cumulus cloud would be due to the heating of the air from the release of latent heat that water vapor has stored when it evaporates, which means that you could be in for a thunderstorm or at least a towering cumulus cloud. Unless you want to thermal in IMC and severe turbulence real soon, find another place to be, and quick.

Also, if you want to know what it's like to fly a glider, then go fly a glider. Imagine getting that kind of lift but weighing 1500 pounds less and having a 30:1 glide ratio. I'd say that'd be a little more thrilling, and without all the sketch. Probably just as cheap as the .4 hobbs too.

-Goose

 

[TDTURBO]

Not likely, I doubt you could get enough upward lift from a thermal to stay up very long, remember, you have to build energy in the main rotor going nose down and flare at the last second to have a smooth landing. An airplane is a whole different animal, you have a lot more surface area the updrafts can push against. As far as shutting off the master, each helicopter is wired different, it all depends on who owns it and how the have it rigged. I strongly suggest you don't do this, that is fly with the motor running with the tach and hobbs unhooked, that could lead to someone getting killed because of the limited airframe times on Robinsons.

This is a no brainer for fixed wing since the motor and prop aren't running and your only doing 75 kts, so you are not stressing anything, especially the airframe. One thing I would do is make sure you cool the cht's before shutdown after a long climb to avoid the possible myth of shock cooling, better safe than sorry.

 

[mattpilot]

tdturbo - i can't say i've ever done that. There was a bit of sarcasm in my post (reference the title smiley).

I'm sure your friend is aware of the hobbs/masterswitch "issue" - You can easily find out if someone has been turning it off by comparing the fuel use to normal useage. Simple solution would be to bar that person from further flight.

 

[TDTURBO]

I'd be really careful with that. You didn't specify what type of airplane you were flying, but chances are that it wasn't designed to be intentionally shut down and restarted in flight. You could shock-cool the engine, you could damage the prop governor, you could get yourself caught on top with no way down except altitude and airspeed, and I'm sure that I could think of others. Not smart.

That was the powered aircraft CFI in me talking, now it's the CFIG's turn.

It's great that you could thermal in your [insert airplane], but the thing about thermals is that they can come and go, sometimes without warning. What if the thermal you're in goes away and all of a sudden you have to figure out somewhere to go with an 8:1 glide ratio (or worse?) Yeah, not a pretty picture. Landing out in a glider is routine. Landing out in a powered aircraft is considered an emergency. There's a reason for that.

You've got more time than me, so I trust that you know what you are doing in an airplane. Just use some good judgement.

Be careful also getting thermal lift above the CCL (convective condensation level.) The type of lifting you'd be getting above a cumulus cloud would be due to the heating of the air from the release of latent heat that water vapor has stored when it evaporates, which means that you could be in for a thunderstorm or at least a towering cumulus cloud. Unless you want to thermal in IMC and severe turbulence real soon, find another place to be, and quick.

Also, if you want to know what it's like to fly a glider, then go fly a glider. Imagine getting that kind of lift but weighing 1500 pounds less and having a 30:1 glide ratio. I'd say that'd be a little more thrilling, and without all the sketch. Probably just as cheap as the .4 hobbs too.

-Goose

Point taken Goose,

This is a R182 that I can fly blindfolded but I wouldn't recommend this to low time pilots, I am well aware of convective build ups and how fast they can reach 40k+, the clouds that were here yesterday were one in a million, that's what made it so special, but thanks for your input.

 

[mattpilot]

i do have a question though - what kind of aircraft where you flying in?

**edit - nevermind - i see you just answered it in the last post you snuck in

 

[Immelman]

That is pretty cool Td... what kind of airplane?

About the shock cooling comment.... maybe, perhaps.... but think of the average GA trainer, going from full power to suddenly power-off (idling/windmilling prop) and gliding all the way back down when practicing simulated engine failures... a daily occurance for flight training... or doing engine shut-down & secure training in light twins. Does keeping the combusion (from idling) going really prevent shock cooling? Can you even shock-cool an O-235 or O-300?? Just curious.

 

[minitour]

And as soon as I read this I thought "man avbug is gonna break a blood vessel on this one".

...can't wait to see his reaction

-mini

 

[mattpilot]

Btw - you said that was your own personal airplane?

To give ya some more piece of mind and still save money (though not that much), instead of killing the engine, you can set the prop to zero thrust. YOur RPM will be way low thus the tach will be very slow. Hobbs still ticks, but your tach is whats important if you are an airplane owner, since thats what maintenence times go off of.

Or if the thermals are not that strong that day, you can increase power slightly, still keeping RPMs low and saving lots of money, while building precious flight time on the hobbs

 

[TDTURBO]

Btw - you said that was your own personal airplane?

To give ya some more piece of mind and still save money (though not that much), instead of killing the engine, you can set the prop to zero thrust. YOur RPM will be way low thus the tach will be very slow. Hobbs still ticks, but your tach is whats important if you are an airplane owner, since thats what maintenence times go off of.

Or if the thermals are not that strong that day, you can increase power slightly, still keeping RPMs low and saving lots of money, while building precious flight time on the hobbs

I already do that Matt, as far as the shock cooling issue, you will notice my comment that it's suspect at best but better to err on the safe side.


As far as avroach is concerned, if I wanted his opinion I would just beat it out of him.


Just kidding Roach, beating on a hyposynaptic invalid just isn't right.

 

[Goose Egg]

About the shock cooling comment.... maybe, perhaps.... but think of the average GA trainer, going from full power to suddenly power-off (idling/windmilling prop) and gliding all the way back down when practicing simulated engine failures... a daily occurance for flight training... or doing engine shut-down & secure training in light twins. Does keeping the combusion (from idling) going really prevent shock cooling? Can you even shock-cool an O-235 or O-300?? Just curious.

For one thing, "Power-off" and "shut down" are two separate things from the standpoint of the engine, and shock-cooling can be an issue in either scenario. An SOP at my school says that in our airplane category aircraft, the engine should be "cleared" every 1000' of a simulated emergency descent to prevent just such a thing. Additionally, shock-cooling is a consideration in our 87hp O-155 motorgliders, and there is a checklist item that states that the engine should not be shut down until it has reached a certain minimum CHT.

-Goose

 

[EatSleepFly]

This is a R182 that I can fly blindfolded

Next thing we know, you'll be on here touting how you did just that and how it's such great experience, you'd recommend it to anybody.

Sort of like intentionally plowing around in ice, and turing a R182 into a glider. I've got a bit of dual given in that airplane, and if I remember right, it sinks like a brick $hithouse. Nice choice of "gliders."

We're going to read about you someday.