Wild West Aircraft

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

Post by FredHoffman »

I don't think static thrust is the same as the thrust you get once you start moving. I used to fly paragliders and sometimes with a paramotor strapped to my back. There was no doubt that once I started moving forward the motor pushed much harder.

Fred
av8rps
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by av8rps »

Well now, that is some real first hand experience. Can't say many of us have ever strapped an engine and prop to our back to feel the thrust like you have. But all fun aside, I think that is the best explanation I've ever heard for the situation I described with my Sensenich prop on my Highlander.
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

I agree with that, that thrust increases when the airplane gets moving through the air. Static thrust is easy to measure and for me it's a pretty useful number because what I am usually looking for is super short take off. In a stol competition if it takes more than about two seconds to take off and then you probably just got beat by someone else.
I also do a lot of testing at cruise speed's where I am checking engine RPM, fuel burn, smoothness and speed. I want to have an incredible stol aircraft but for me that aircraft needs to still go in cruise flight at least 100 mph or I am not very happy with it. My Highlander will definitely do that.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
av8rps
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by av8rps »

Anyone that has ever had a boat knows that when you apply full power the prop will typically spin out (aka cavitate in a pocket of air and water) before it gets a bite of good water and cleanly accelerates forward. So after thinking about it, I guess an aircraft prop is no different.

Regarding your comments Steve, I for one like it that you have a high expectation and demands of what your airplane needs to do. That benefits all of us. All of your experimentation I know has helped me to tweak my Highlander for better performance. In fact you have really improved the entire fleet with all of your trial and error experiments. I thought Troy's airplanes were pretty great as he had designed them. But with a lot of the great information you've shared with all of us over the months and years, you've helped all of us to make a great airplane even better. Not to mention you showing the world just how capable these great little planes really are. So I just want to say thanks for doing that Steve!
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

av8rps thank you for your appreciation. I really do like to see people enjoying these airplanes. It's crazy how much time and effort and money I put into trying to make them better, but I think it's worth it. The Highlander I am flying now works so much better than my original stock Highlander it's like a completely different airplane.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
av8rps
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by av8rps »

taildrgfun wrote:"snip, snip" ...The Highlander I am flying now works so much better than my original stock Highlander it's like a completely different airplane.
Great, now that I know that I have more work to do on mine... :roll:
moving2time
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by moving2time »

Steve, I hate to complain but I feel like I am suffering from withdrawal. It has been way to long since you have published a new video and I think I have nearly worn out my links to your older videos. Do you know how flat it is here in Ohio? I can't wait to get a Highlander built so I can head out west to experience the beautiful country out there. Actually I can't wait to go East, South, and North. The world is a beautiful place even here in Ohio but the local countryside gets boring with the range of a CUB. Looking forward to flying into Oshkosh for the first time this year. I am going to try to get to "Fun Days" this year also. I'm sure the guys wont mind a CUB visiting. Still planning on starting a Highlander build this Fall. Joe B
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

I, like a lot of other people, am getting ready to fly to Oshkosh here pretty soon. I thought for sure I would be flying with the fuel injected Yamaha by now but I just don't have the clutch set up in it and tested yet so I will be flying with the carbureted RX1. I have 230 hours now on the RX1 and it's still working super good. I'm really looking forward to flying it in the stol competition demonstration. We should have two Just Aircraft planes flying in the competition this year because Robbie Pederson is supposed to be flying his Superstol in it as well.
One thing that is very disappointing for me is that a propeller that I ordered months ago I'm afraid is not going to make it here in time for me to use at Oshkosh. The one I have on the airplane is only 74 inches and the one I have ordered is 80 inches. 74 inches is awfully short for a stol competition.

Every time I have compared a three blade prop to a two blade prop the two blade was always better. I just changed the gearing in the gearbox on my Yamaha and lowered the prop rpm from 2700 RPM to 2300 rpm at take off power. I have a couple different props that I can put the blades in a two blade hub or a three blade hub and now they are both better performers on the Yamaha in the three blade hubs. This is the first time three blades have ever outperformed two blades on any of my airplanes. I am happy that the three blade prop performs so well though because it is silky smooth on the Yamaha whereas with the gear ratio that I have now a two blade prop has some harmonic thing going on.
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 back home a couple days ago from an absolutely amazing Oshkosh trip! I flew my Highlander about 3000 miles and averaged 5.5 gallons per hour with my Yamaha. Except for about 300 miles coming and going I flew the rest of the time with some of my Flying Cowboys buddies and man did we have fun!! Camped out, stayed at motels, slept in FBO's, water skied on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, landed on some hilltops and bluffs and by giant windmills etc. Landed on an island in the middle of the Missouri and within minutes there were 30 more people landing on the island in their boats. They thought it was the coolest thing ever that five of us landed on that island.
We went to the new Holstein Super Cub fly in to do the stol competition on Sunday before Oshkosh started and I won it in my Highlander! As soon as it was over we flew back to Oshkosh and landed on the ultralight field since that's where we were going to be doing our competition.
We did the stol competition Monday Tuesday and Friday evenings and I had the best score each time which gave me the overall win for the week as well.
My Yamaha powered highlander was awesome to fly on the whole trip as well as in the competition.
I had one scary moment on my way home when I got hit by some really really nasty wind but I was able to get it landed on a highway and sit it out for about an hour and then continue on home.
I'm already looking forward to going to Oshkosh again next year!
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

Another cool thing that happened at Oshkosh was that Ben Schneider won reserve grand champion light sport plane on his beautifully built Superstol! Congratulations Ben !!!
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
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SuperFly
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by SuperFly »

Thank you Steve!
It was sure a nice surprise to be chosen for a Lindy!
Best,
Ben Schneider
Highlander #263 converted to SuperSTOL
N45FT Now Flying!
http://www.stolairplane.com
TD1
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by TD1 »

I've seen your youtubes of flying in the wind..... wow, must have been a nasty wind. Where at, in ID? "I was able to get it landed on a highway" must have shocked a few folks in their cars....

Congrats to both of you folks on great trip to Oshkosh. I've followed (that sounds better than lurked or stalked...) Ben's build on his website. Pretty cool. A "Just" reward for all that hard work and detail.

Quinn had some pics of the Cowboys Barnstorming Tour on the Backcountry Pilot site. Plenty of pics on Steve's facebook page too. Looked like a blast!

Now just have to wait until somebody uploads some video of the STOL games...... =D
Tom Dougherty
Kahului, HI
taildrgfun
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

I have a correction to make, I finally saw official results and I did get the shortest landing but my good buddy Blu got the shortest take off at New Holstein . The wind was a crosswind for nearly the whole competition until the last group was out and then it blew right down the runway for their last run and he got a super short take off.
Couldn't of happened to a nicer guy! When it looked like only one more person could sign up and neither Blu nor I were signed up yet, Blu gave me the spot. Fortunately before the competition started he was able to still get in it when someone else was having a problem. Blu used to have a Superstol but now he flies a Carbon Cub and he flies it very well.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
taildrgfun
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Location: Nampa Idaho

Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by taildrgfun »

TD1 where I got hit with that horrible nasty wind was about 20 miles south of Burley Idaho. At the time I was flying along about 20 feet high a few hundred feet off to the side of the interstate and I saw a lot of dust in the air off to the right side. I looked to see if there was farm equipment or something kicking it up and realized there wasn't and just as I started turning away from it it hit me and I was barely able to control the airplane. It's only the second time that I can remember being really scared in my airplane at low altitude. I think I out ran the worst of it and was able to land on the highway without crashing. A guy pulling some ATVs was immediately stopped behind me and he helped me push it back about 400 feet where there was a turn off. At first I just held onto the lift strut to hold the plane down and eventually I was able to find some concrete chunks to tie it down to.
Steve Henry, Wild West Aircraft
(the Dead Stick Take-off Guy)
TD1
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Re: Wild West Aircraft

Post by TD1 »

Steve, sounds like you went with the 3 blade prop in the STOL competition? The lower geared PSRU made the 3 blade more efficient?
Tom Dougherty
Kahului, HI
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