Wild West Aircraft

For general discussion of the Just Aircraft family of aircraft.
Includes: Highlander, Escapade, Summit and SuperSTOL.
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av8rps
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by av8rps »

I watched the full Youtube video.... Steve Henry did an awesome job! (as usual)

But man, that was some mega-stiff competition.

That 2nd place winner just ahead of Steve had some amazing performance from such a large aircraft. Does anyone know exactly what kind of plane that was and how equipped.

And of course there was Frank Knapp...Is there anything left for Frank to remove from his airplane? Rumor has it he is now down to sucking down a bunch of helium and then holds his breath just before he rolls out for takeoff :shock:
User GDS
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by User GDS »

av8rps wrote: That 2nd place winner just ahead of Steve had some amazing performance from such a large aircraft. Does anyone know exactly what kind of plane that was and how equipped.
nitrous injected IO-400
GDS
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john2
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by john2 »

User GDS wrote:
av8rps wrote: That 2nd place winner just ahead of Steve had some amazing performance from such a large aircraft. Does anyone know exactly what kind of plane that was and how equipped.
nitrous injected IO-400
It's a Mackey SQ12. Special modified supercub with lots of enhancements. The SQ12 must be a new model as the website still shows the SQ2. There are a few videos that has been on youtube for a couple of years, here's one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laFmA9bOn54 that is basically the same plane.
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Kit #265 converted to SuperSTOL
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SheepdogRD
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by SheepdogRD »

Here's EAA's video of Frank Knapp and his previous Lil Cub: http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=3081342584001.
Richard Holtz
Highlander N570L -- Ms. Tonka -- in gestation

If just enough is really good, then too much ought to be perfect.
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

Thank y'all for all the congrats, support and just knowing that so many of you were with me even if you weren't actually in Alaska! It was quite an adventure! I had a couple small problems but nothing major. My SuperSTOL made the trip with flying colors and so did Gary Haley's Highlander. Our airplanes were very evenly matched for the long, long flight. I let him set the pace which was usually his 912S wide open. I have the turbo 130 hp Rotax and I have done some aero clean up on my SS so I could go faster if I wanted but we stayed together the whole trip. I don't know how many of you know Gary Haley, I didn't know him much before this trip but he is very generous, even keeled and just a lot of fun. He made the whole trip so much more enjoyable than it would have been by myself. We usually flew about 95 mph. I flew 60 hours and averaged 4.8 GPH.

The competition itself was actually a very small part of the two week trip. We left Nampa on the 2nd to give ourselves plenty of time to get there in case we had bad weather, which we did for a couple days in Creston BC. We got there the 7th or 8th. Both of us changed our oil and I pulled off my Kiev and bolted on Troy's Catto that he had been kind enough to ship up there for me to use. It was perfect giving me 5900 rpm static. I ran my 26" tires because they gave me the exact same take-off distance as my 31's and were better for the long trip. My braking is also better with the smaller tires.

I was 1st up in my class and I heard them on the radio that my 1st take-off was 71'. I felt like I had kinda blown that one, knowing I could have rotated a split second sooner. I left too much on the table on my 1st landing too, touching down about 10' past the line and getting stopped 49' past the line. I thought OK lets nail this next set. My take-off that time was 54' and I felt like that was about as good as I could possibly do in the conditions we had. Coming in to land I got it reared back and slowed up at axactly the right time and dropped it exactly on the line and stopped really short. Probably 15' shorter than the first one. I was so happy becaause I thought I had just made the perfect landing! Then my bubble was burst when I got the signal that I had scratched. When I landed my right wing dipped just slightly touching my right tire just barely ahead of the line. :( My combined score for that set would have been around 90' which still would have been 3rd place in my class although it would have moved me from 5th overall to 3rd overall. A lot of people realized and appreciated the fact that I had flown my SS all the way from Idaho and that it wasn't made just for extreme take-off and landing but was a good all around airplane.

From all the comments I heard up there I would say that we got some really good exposure. I got to be friends with Frank and Kris Knapp, the Breedens and Paul Claus who even invited us to stay over at his place Sunday night. He owns the Ultima Thulie Lodge on the Chittna River. We took him up on the offer. He is probably the best known and most respected bush pilot in Alaska and it is a big deal to me to be friends with him. Very likable good natured guy.

Another fun thing was going and landing a bunch of gravel bars in the river just out of Valdez with Bob Breeden and his friend in their cubs. Our planes were all light before loading 'em up for the trip home. He also invited me to his place south of Anchorage but it was just too out of the way and we needed to get headed home.

Other than getting a terrible motion and exhaust fume headache a couple of the days, it was an awesome trip and experience that I will always remember. There is so much more I could say but this just took a full hour to write this. It's a good thing that I fly much better than I type.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
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Wes
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by Wes »

Steve , Thanks for putting in the time on the Great writeup! I'm hanging on every word!
I plan to fly my little yellow Highlander to Alaska next year, so I'm glad you "Blazed the Trail" ;-)

And I will add my congratulations on the performance at Valdez, you certainly deserve a lot of extra credit for "running what you brung" all the way from the 'lower 48'! Nice job!

I'll be trailering my Highlander to Kalispell, MT area in June (this year) to volunteer with the RAF wildlife research project. Should be hanging out around there til' mid July, so maybe if you are in the area, we could tag up. I would love to hear some of the tales that got left out of the write-up ;-)

Wes
Kit # 95
Low and Slow - The only way to go!
levyland
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by levyland »

Great recap Steve, thanks for sharing with us. Im sure you will dag home the bacon at Oshkosh.
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

I'm building another Highlander for us and planning on putting a Yamaha engine in it but it is just taking too long to get the PSRU for now. I have a big bore 110 horse Rotax should be here in about a week I'm going to put in it for now. It will be good for me to run one of those for a while anyway to let other people know what I think of them. I really am anxious to try out this 150 hp Yamaha though. It is a really nice Highlander with long flaps and bigger aluminum tanks and different ailerons with spades on them. Very similar to my last Highlander that I like so much.

Definitely keeping the Superstol too, it is just that we sell them both and I like them both so I want to be able to show people both of them to be able to help them know which is the better airplane for them to buy from Wild West Aircraft. :D
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
LORENZ
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by LORENZ »

Kawasaki makes an inline 4 cyl 1500cc Eaton supercharged 300hp aluminum block monster. It came out of the zx10 line if street bike motors. The 1500cc motor is out of the biggest baddest jet ski on the planet in 2014..... Meaning NO transmission. The bikes have a 6 speed trans attached to them and only add weight in a plane. I use the 190hp street bike motor in my Race Car pictured below.

I race for Kawasaki, but figured using one of thier motors in a my dream plane would be the same as using an automotive motor. It would require too much work? But you said "Yamaha" so it has me scratching my head now.
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LORENZ
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by LORENZ »

Here is the 190hp Zx-10 Kawi Race Car based on the Kawi Teryx Side by Side and Kawi street bike motor. Motorcycles come with 6 speed trans and weigh in at 135 lbs and can be picked up by 1 guy. I have 4 of them sitting in the garage. The 300hp supercharged version would probably come in under that weight.... No transmision integrated into the case.


Is this pie in the sky weight and HP spec kind of stuff? I have no problem running one of these motors reliability wise in a plane. There are hundreds of thousands of them running the road right now all the way back to 1994. Its a proven platform with millions apon millions of R and D dollars thrown at them from the Team Green Race Dept and Kawasaki's Heavy Industries (KHI) division.


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R Rinker
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by R Rinker »

Steve, how are you addressing your exhaust fume issue. I know of two Super Stols that have fumes in the cabin. There are so many openings it's hard to know but I suspect the worst is around the tailwheel spring. If the cabin has negative pressure it would come all the way forward from there.
Rodger Rinker - Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

My exhaust fume problem was because I lost the 90 degree tail pipe off my muffler.

I did put a vent in the lower corner of my door that I cannot have open if I am in slow flight or I get a lot of exhaust fumes in that vent. That is really the only time I notice exhaust fumes.

Cathy and I just got back from a 950 mile trip in our Superstol and it did really good again. I'm anxious to try out this new 110 horse big bore Rotax in our new Highlander. I sure do like my turbocharged 130 horse Rotax a lot.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

I got the Rotax installed and running in my new Highlander today. Scheduled for the DAR this Saturday morning.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
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kenryan
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by kenryan »

Steve,

You are an inspiration. You are really building the airplanes and then you are really giving us useful feedback. Thanks! Look forward to your impressions from behind the big bore. Also, please keep us posted on your alternative engine solution, however it turns out.
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taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

Thank you Ken, I did not get it inspected Saturday after all, there was a little hang up with the FAA getting things soon enough. I haven't heard from my DAR this morning but I am hoping he can do it either this evening or tomorrow evening. I sure am looking forward to flying it, I know that.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
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