KR> My two cents

[laser147 at juno.com]

I should add . . . re tailheavy KR's . . . my first KR was an original
canvas-seat standard KR with no mods so that's what I was basing my
comment on.  As nose gears got added and fuselages got lengthened (such
as with my current one 15 ft. 8.5 inches), the tail heaviness with two
people situation soon improved.  It sure was a good trainer for learning
how to fly with an excessively aft CG without killing myself.  That KR
education was very valuable with later bush flying where excessively aft
CG's were the norm.

Actually, 37751 had the Maloof prop, so it wasn't entirely original now
that I'm thinking about it.  Picture attached.

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KR> My two cents/ parachutes

[Larry Flesner]

At 03:51 PM 5/12/2016, you wrote:
>A couple years ago there was a Japanese
>tourist wave riding over the Sierras that got clipped by a Hawker and
>only survived because he had a chute.  That and all the other stories of
>sailplanes colliding in thermals or suffering structural failure would
>prompt me to make a chute part of my equipment list if I flew sailplanes
+

I would agree with that logic.

  According to the FAA accident report : "The Hawker and the glider 
collided in flight at an altitude of about 16,000 feet above mean sea 
level-".  The pilot was extremely lucky he wasn't killed on impact or 
knocked unconscious and unable to exit the glider.  While the chute 
saved his life, some days your name just isn't on the list.

Larry Flesner 

KR> My two cents

[laser147 at juno.com]

Lots of discussion of parachutes lately with related subjects of
sailplanes, structural failures, flying over solid cloud decks, etc.  

Various thoughts:

KR's tend to be "tail heavy" from the factory.  As fuel is consumed this
feature gets even worse.   The KR-2 with two people in it is ridiculously
tail heavy unless corrections were made during construction to counter
that aspect.  Spinning any airplane with excessive rear CG makes it
pretty much impossible to break an established spin.  Put that together
with the short-coupled design and we've got planes that we really ought
not to spin.  

*

Gliders are fragile things.  A couple years ago there was a Japanese
tourist wave riding over the Sierras that got clipped by a Hawker and
only survived because he had a chute.  That and all the other stories of
sailplanes colliding in thermals or suffering structural failure would
prompt me to make a chute part of my equipment list if I flew sailplanes.




Jumping out of a plane because you're caught above a cloud deck?  Holy
crap people . . . are we pilots or passengers?

Actually, to answer my own question, in many cases we KR pilots (and
other Experimental builders as well) are builders first and pilots
second.  Some guys just love building.  The flying part of things is
actually a secondary consideration for some.  For the latter, put a
simple wing leveler servo under the seat and buy something that gives you
synthetic vision - the new Area 660 by Garmin is surprisingly (for
Garmin) inexpensive and will allow you to fly yourself visually right
through anything to the nearest runway.  You don't need to even look
outside except to land.  These planes are too capable and too much fun
for their pilots to have to worry about it getting dark outside or
getting caught over clouds.  We need to be comfortable with winds,
clouds, darkness and all that the sky has to offer.  Hail is another
matter - gotta stay away from ice and hail but except for those two
things we really ought to be at home up there.  Surfing scares me a lot
more than anything I've ever experienced in the air.  I'm a real weenie
when it comes to water.  Thank goodness the KR is a real floater.  There
was a priest in the early days who went down in a KR over the ocean,
quite a ways off shore.  Rhode Island I think.  After hitting the water
he floated all the way to land.  Took a long time, but the KR didn't
sink.  If he had jumped out with a parachute he would have drowned! 
Having a parachute would have killed that priest and ended all his good
works.  So.  

Mike
KSEE


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