Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 8:28 pmHi all!
Right. Never before, as far as I can remember, has an FS aircraft scared me. Not "oh my god this thing looks/sounds horrible", but "oh my god if this were real I'd probably die".
Well. That's changed.
I downloaded an FSX set of the prop-powered BD-5 and jet BD-5J. Sadly the J doesn't seem to want to work - ie FS crashes to desktop with no explanation - so I decided to flight-test the BD-5B from Omaka.
Taxiing was fun. We all know grass airfields are bumpy. They're damn near lethal in this puppy with a wingspan of 21ft! A few times whilst taxiing from the BP hangar to RWY25 I was briefly airborne!
Anyhoo, I got airborne fairly quickly.
This baby goes up to 225mph indicated, and on 80% throttle I was sitting at around 205. But, in an aeroplane barely large enough to fit you, it seems a ton faster!
The roll rate is comparable to the A-4 Skyhawk, no joke! She can perform anything you want - including four-point hesitation rolls, good fun - but you do need to make sure you don't overcorrect. I think she'll prove to be a great display machine. Not only is she tiny, but the hardcore aero fans will go nuts with what she's capable of.
Flaps on second notch (fully extended) and gear down. Still doing 170mph, around 75% power
Landing. Hmm. I think I need to practice more, as I was way too fast on my first two attempts, resulting in go-arounds. I didn't TNG as the field was so damn bumpy. Full flap and gear down before final, get as close to the stall of 75 as poss, then brake like hell.
I unfortunately touched down 1/4 along, bounced to halfway, then pushed her down rather hard and stood on the brakes. I ended up with my pitot almost poking through the vineyard fence:
Whew. One very red-faced aviator getting out of his new acquisition and pushing on the tail to turn it round. Rear-mounted engine turned off first, of course!
Then a brisk - maybe too brisk, as I was airborne for a few feet once more - taxi back to the Aeromotive hangar, where I parked her up for the night and staggered off to the Marlborough Aero Club bar for a Tui or five.
This baby's gonna take some getting used to. Just even thinking about a jet in back as opposed to the 80hp Hirth gets me reaching for the liquor cabinet....
EDIT: PB and the Net are conspiring against me tonight, veeeeeeeeery slow, so if the dreaded blue box comes up for some pics, just come back later and all should be well
Right. Never before, as far as I can remember, has an FS aircraft scared me. Not "oh my god this thing looks/sounds horrible", but "oh my god if this were real I'd probably die".
Well. That's changed.
I downloaded an FSX set of the prop-powered BD-5 and jet BD-5J. Sadly the J doesn't seem to want to work - ie FS crashes to desktop with no explanation - so I decided to flight-test the BD-5B from Omaka.
Taxiing was fun. We all know grass airfields are bumpy. They're damn near lethal in this puppy with a wingspan of 21ft! A few times whilst taxiing from the BP hangar to RWY25 I was briefly airborne!
Anyhoo, I got airborne fairly quickly.
This baby goes up to 225mph indicated, and on 80% throttle I was sitting at around 205. But, in an aeroplane barely large enough to fit you, it seems a ton faster!
The roll rate is comparable to the A-4 Skyhawk, no joke! She can perform anything you want - including four-point hesitation rolls, good fun - but you do need to make sure you don't overcorrect. I think she'll prove to be a great display machine. Not only is she tiny, but the hardcore aero fans will go nuts with what she's capable of.
Flaps on second notch (fully extended) and gear down. Still doing 170mph, around 75% power
Landing. Hmm. I think I need to practice more, as I was way too fast on my first two attempts, resulting in go-arounds. I didn't TNG as the field was so damn bumpy. Full flap and gear down before final, get as close to the stall of 75 as poss, then brake like hell.
I unfortunately touched down 1/4 along, bounced to halfway, then pushed her down rather hard and stood on the brakes. I ended up with my pitot almost poking through the vineyard fence:
Whew. One very red-faced aviator getting out of his new acquisition and pushing on the tail to turn it round. Rear-mounted engine turned off first, of course!
Then a brisk - maybe too brisk, as I was airborne for a few feet once more - taxi back to the Aeromotive hangar, where I parked her up for the night and staggered off to the Marlborough Aero Club bar for a Tui or five.
This baby's gonna take some getting used to. Just even thinking about a jet in back as opposed to the 80hp Hirth gets me reaching for the liquor cabinet....
EDIT: PB and the Net are conspiring against me tonight, veeeeeeeeery slow, so if the dreaded blue box comes up for some pics, just come back later and all should be well
Stick to a Mossie , not a Flea 
....great stuff!