Auster for sale in England

[stukiwi]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Sorry for the delay
My Auster is a Mk6 1945 vintage with the 55 degree flaps and you are welcome to come to the Antique Airplane club of Greater New York annual fly in in August to try them out for yourself. I have a full set of blueprints for my Auster and all of the RAF manuals would have to dig through the prints for a flap setup though. The flaps have a unique feature that is really cool (Even you Cessna boys will apreciate this) The elevators have two trim tabs one is connected to hte window winder on the roof for conventional trim the other is connected to the flaps so that when you drop flap the dear old Auster trims herself for you very neat feature when you are hopping trees to land in a little field while jerry is shooting at you. John and hank should get involved in this actually Hank sent me the blueprints which I had copied.
Stu

[N96337]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Just wish it wasn't on the other end of the country...I'd be there for sure! The Auster always intrigued me and the more I learn the more they do!!
JH

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Thanks for the thoughts on Austers bill. I have often wondered if a set of L-2 spoilers could be put on a BC65. For a high performance glider pilot such as myself, I'd feel right at home with them. Brie

[Dick Huish]

Re: Auster for sale in England

On an earlier post Forrest mentioned that Dorothy put spoilers on the D-52 which was a long winged F-19 (21?). They were operated similar th the L-2s. Dick

[VictorBravo]

Re: Auster for sale in England

I have often wondered if a set of L-2 spoilers could be put on a BC65. For a high performance glider pilot such as myself, I'd feel right at home with them. Brie

Glad to hear another sailplane pilot is active in Taylorcrafts. I always thought of the T-craft as a self-launch Schweizer 2-22

What types of sailplanes do you fly?

In my misguided youth, I once held a couple of US soaring speed records, placed OK in the nationals a couple of times, flew at some of the more famous places in the Western deserts, etc. Came up one thermal short of a 1000KM all thermal speed triangle, but that's the fish that got away. Owned four racing gliders at different times, the last one of which (Ventus 15/16.6) burned up in a hangar fire at the 1987 nationals in Barstow.

Bill

[stukiwi]

Re: Auster for sale in England

I am glider rated too I used to fly out of Omarama in New Zealand where I am originally from. Spoilers are great if you have speed and altitiude but do nothing for climb. I think flaps are a much better idea. Problem with the Auster flap system is that there is alot of engineering in them from the lever on the floor between the seats to the linkage to each flap and the trim system. Spoilers would I presume just be a cable install. Well there is my two farthings worth. Hey Summer is coming!!!

[mulwyk]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Bill, Brie, Stu, glider folks...
I always wanted to get the glider rating, but there doesn't seem to be an active glider club in this area. Where would you go to get quality instruction? Is there a glider Mecca in the USA?

Bob

[VictorBravo]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Stu, did you ever meet Bruce Brockhoff or Mike Borgelt from Australia? I flew gliders briefly with them here in the USA when they visited. They are well known glider guys down under. Congrats to everyone from NZ for the new glider distance records that have been set down there!

Bob, where do you live? I will FIND a gliderport within striking distance of you somewhere. Or you can look at www.ssa.org and see a list of all the places in America.

If you want to take the time and go to the Top Gun places, there are a few. From distant, dim memory...

On the left side of the country are Minden, Nevada, Estrella, Arizona, California City, California, Tehachapi, California, Moriarty, New Mexico, Taos, New Mexico, Black Forest, Colorado.

In the middle of the country is Uvalde, Texas, Caesar Creek, Ohio, and perhaps one or two others I don't know about.

On the East side of the US are Elmira, New York, Ridge Soaring in upstate Pennsylvania, and Chester, South Carolina.

Elmira and Chester are big soaring operations but not world class soaring weather. Caesar Creek is not world class weather. There are dozens of other soaring sites that I have forgotten or never knew about. For basic training and sport flying, they're all just fine.

From my own personal experiences, if you want the best shot at world class weather and "big air" as the hang glider guys say, then go to Minden in the summer, where my heart will always be forever.

If you want to learn the "martial arts" of soaring and be trained as a Jedi Master, go see my friend Cindy Brickner at Cal City. Cal City also has some big air, and it is the gateway to the Owens Valley (Bishop, CA.) which is the Elysian Fields of soaring. (You haven't flown until you have circled up to 21,000 feet in a sailplane over Bishop, climbing at 1,000+ feet a minute, high on pure Oxygen, and looked up to see four really crazy bastards in hang gliders a thousand feet above you! It is the aviation equivalent of pure Heroin in your blood... there's no way back even after the very first shot )

Although I have never flown there, Ridge Soaring, Inc. in Pennsylvania is also a world class soaring place for a different reason. Tom Knauff has a huge glider school there. They fly for hundreds and hundreds of miles 20 feet above the Appalachian ridges in the updrafts created by the prevailing winds. A former friend and boyhood hero of mine (don't ask) has set dozens of records there and flown over a thousand miles on those ridges in one flight.

Ridge soaring, whether up in the High Sierra like I have done or skating along the Appalachians like the guys back there do, is one of the biggest adrenaline rushes you can have in an airplane. If you're ever in Hawaii there is a gliderport there where you can ridge soar in the tradewinds over a rainforest with ocean on both sides...I've never done it but I can guarantee it is a once in a lifetime experience.

Like powered airplane flying, there are soaring experiences that can be boring and turn you off to the sport. If you are just gliding down in smooth air over flatlands, with no lift around, you might find it boring as all Hell. Like any good drug pusher, I recommend you take your first lessons or intro rides in good conditions where things are happening and you get a taste of the thrlls. Trust me, that will set the hook!

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Bill,
Most of my time is in 2-32s, 2-33s,1-26s, Grob 103 Acros, and ASK-21s.As for glider Meccas, Estrella, just south of Phoenix, Az. is where the world open class altitude record, 49,900ft, was set. Turf Soaring, on the northwest corner of the Phoenix metro area is also VERY good. I currently live about 80 miles southwest of Hobbs, N.M., where the world championships are periodically held. Talk about a powerplane that thinks it's a motorglider, I can take off from my place, and fly fourty miles to the northeast, and I'm at Guadalupe Peak, the tallest spot in Texas. It is a ridge that rises above the salt flats floor and is about twenty miles long, and six thousand feet above the desert floor. Talk about the stairway to Heaven!!!
I learned to fly gliders at Dillingham, Hawaii with Honolulu Soaring.
Brie

[VictorBravo]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Brie.... my friend Bob Harris set the world altitude record of 49,009 feet in wave at California City, California. I wasn't there at the airport that day but I was flying at Cal City at the time and knew everyone involved. Bob had a first generation Twin Astir (before the 103, retract gear) outfitted with liquid oxygen and was flying with a retired CIA U-2 pilot as a high altitude expert. His record attempt program was the most well-done and well thought out in soaring history. However he ran out of time and money after a couple of years, sold the Twin Astir and gave up on the attempts, until a year or so afterward when there was a perfect wave day and he rented or borrowed a Baby Grob and made the flight solo without the LOX system and suffered some health problems. The high altitude waiver window he had established with ATC had been closed when he abandoned the full scale attempt program, so when he made the flight it was actually illegal. The SSA and FAI were considering not giving him the record because of that technicality. There were some heated discussions, and Bob was finally awarded the record.

Les Horvath at Estrella (or the new guy he sold it to) or cranky old Roy Couliette at Turf Soaring may WANT to have had the altitude record set in AZ, but if the record is still 49K then it was set in the wave at Cal City back in 1985 or 86. I remember it was before SSA moved to Hobbs, because when I was sitting in the SSA office at Santa Monica and Harris walked in a month after the flight, I kept a bar-room promise and knelt down on the floor and kissed his backside in front of the SSA president .

If someone re-set the record at 49,900 at Estrella I'd like to know how it was done. That little ridge can't possibly make a 50K wave.

If you fly at Turf, is my old friend Bruce Waddell still there as an instructor? Bruce was the owner of the soaring operation at California City when Bob Harris set the record. Last news about him is that he went to Turf to be an instructor. This is some years ago now, however. If you ever speak to him please say hello for me.

At ASU for a semester, I took some lessons at Turf with Roy Couliette, also a younger instructor named Jeff Hazelgrove. Winning the argument with Jeff that I actually did have enough Blanik time logged to fly the Pilatus, and seeing the look on his face when I towed past him, was the highlight of my time there.

I also have flown past Guadalupe Peak in a T-craft, even have a photo of it. 1998, on my way in to your home field West Texas for gas.

Tribe, sorry for ranting about non-Taylorcraft stuff. I just got washed back 20 years in a flood of pleasant memories... for a moment I could feel my youth coming back!

[Victor Gisclair]

Re: Auster for sale in England

That is always a nice thing Bill, and it doesn't happen very often at our age. I enjoyed your post.

[stukiwi]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Hey Bill
I dont reconise the names but the I was flyingin NZ when I was a kid in the late 70's early 80's. A nice place to fly in the east is up at Stowe in vermont I got my US rating there in a Krosno nice ride flying and good place to stay you can get an add on in 2 to 3 days if the weeather is good I think they have a Blanik and some 2-33's also.
I looked through the plans for the Auster I have and I have drawings for everything from stencils to pitot tube dimentions but no flaps and no joystic drawings sorry
Stu

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Bill,
It's nice to know the TRUTH about the record, the folks at Estrella told me that the record was set there. Roy is as crotchety as ever, I used to go up with his partner in an ASK21 and play can you top this with aerobatics. Is is a shame about Roy's son getting killed while in a published aerobatics box by some guy in a power plane.
I believe that Bruce was there when I stopped renting glider time back in 1994.
I'm currently getting ready to build a Pioneer II as soon as I get the time, then I'll let everyone know what kind of a wave the ridge out here will build
Brie

[VictorBravo]

Re: Auster for sale in England

Bill,
It's nice to know the TRUTH about the record, the folks at Estrella told me that the record was set there. Roy is as crotchety as ever, I used to go up with his partner in an ASK21 and play can you top this with aerobatics. Is is a shame about Roy's son getting killed while in a published aerobatics box by some guy in a power plane.
I believe that Bruce was there when I stopped renting glider time back in 1994.
I'm currently getting ready to build a Pioneer II as soon as I get the time, then I'll let everyone know what kind of a wave the ridge out here will build
Brie

My goodness... Texas sailpalne pilots look down on wave flying more than they look down on vegetarians! I've never heard of wave in that part of Texas, but maybe? The summer thermal activity in that area is world class, Hobbs and Marfa and all that. There may even be enough lift to keep a Pioneer 2 aloft Consider recovering a Ka-6 or an Austria instead of building a new airplane... you can pull off 500KM flights in a Ka-6 in that part of the country fairly regularly.

I didn't know about Roy's son. Sorry to hear it.

If you run into Bruce Waddell, ask him about Bob Harris' altitude record program. He was there in the middle of it if I am remembering right. Buy Bruce a beer and ask him about crazy Max Wurmlinger, the mad Frenchman sailplane pilot. We had some great times, best in my life. Heck, buy me a beer and I'll tell you lots of funny soaring stories myself.