Motorgliding Apr .-May 197 6 50 Cents Rf-5B Sperber
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MOTORGLIDING APR .-MAY 197 6 50 CENTS RF-5B SPERBER WORLD LEADER IN MOTOR SAILING An associate of. the 1/FW-FOKKER"Group THE INDEPENDENT SAILPLANE THAT WILL TAK E YOU SOARING JUST BY TURNING A SWITCH ! SPECIFICATIONS : PERFORMANCE (motorflight ) Engine : LIMBACH SL-1700-E Max (level) speed : 118 MP H (68 HP at 3600 RPM) Rated cruise speed : 112 MP H Hoffman Vari-Pitch II I Propeller : 640 FT . (Climb, Cruise, Full Feath .) Take-off roll : Landing roll : 550 FT . Seating : Aerodynamic TANDEM (2 ) Wing span : 56 FT (36 .8 FOLDED) Climb rate : 690 FP M Wing area : 204.50 SQ. FT . Stall speed : 39 MPH Wing loading : 7.3 LB/FT . SQ. Fuel consumption : 2.9 GAL/H R Fuselage length : 25 .3 FT . at 106 MP H Maximum height : 6.43 FT . Range : 300SM/480K M Empty weight : 1000 LB. Useful load : 500 LB. Ceiling : 17000 FT . Gross weight : 1500 LB. Fuel capacity : 10 GAL . SOARING PERFORMANC E Standard cost Wooster, Ohio, $29,500 Max speed : 140 MP H Stall speed : 42 MPH Min sink rate : (48MPH) 174FP M Glide ratio : 29 :1 SPORT- AVIATI AF /NC. 401 HOLMES BLVD. WOOSTER, OH/O44801 12181 202-8301 MOTORGLIDING Donald P . Monroe, Edito r Vol . 6, No . 2 Published by The Soaring Society of America, Inc . Apr .-May 1976 Contents Page RARA AVIS (of sorts), by Doug Terman 2 THOUGHTS I BROUGHT HOME FROM BURG FEUERSTEI N by Tasso Proppe 5 FOREIGN SCENE, by S . O . Jenko 7 EULOGY OF THE CROW, by Tasso Proppe 9 BETTER PROSPECTS OF USE OF MOTORGLIDERS FOR SPORTING PURPOSES, by Per Weishaupt 1 0 LETTERS 1 2 POSTFLIGHT NOTES 1 2 Cover : RF-4D, by Don Monro e MotorgZiding is published bimonthly by The Soaring Society of America, Inc ., whos e offices are at 3200 Airport Avenue, Room 25, Santa Monica, California 90405 . The mailing address is Box 66071, Los Angeles, California 90066 . Subscrintion to Motor- gZiding is $5 .00 ($6 .00 outside of U .S .) for 12 issues (two years), beginning wit h the current issue . Back issues are available at 50¢ each . Second-class postage paid at Santa Monica, California . Reproduction of any of the material printed i n Motorgliding, unless specifically excluded, is encouraged . Readers may wish to cor- respond directly with Harry N . Perl, Chairman, Powered Sailplane Committee, 390 7 California Way, Livermore, California 95440 ; or Richard Schreder, Chairman, Air- worthiness and Certification Committee, Box 488, Bryan, Ohio 43506 . The National Soaring Museum is an affiliate of The Soaring Society of America, Inc . ADVERTISING RATES, CONDITIONS, AND SIZES Display ads : $15 for ¼ page ; $25 for ½ page and $40 for full page . Prices are for full-size, photo-ready copy . Extra charges for make-up, $3 .00 to $5 .00 ; reductions , $2 .00 ; and photos, $2 .50 . Sizes : 4-page, 3-3/8 x 4-5/8 ; ½ page, 7 x 4-5/8, or 3-3/8 x 9-1/2 ; full page, 7 x 9-1/2 . Classified ads : 50¢ ner line (40 characters) or portion thereof . Circulation of the Feb .-Mar . 1976 issue was 1250 . This issue was mailed in Aug . 1976 . 1 RARA AVIS (of sorts ) One evening at the Wiki-Up, Earl the Squirrel and I are lofting Tuborgs . (Ear l by Doug Terman flys twins for the local pea patch air- line .) Earl firmly believes that man wa s Spring is the cruelest season in the not meant to fly without his right han d tropics . At least for a New Englander . firmly connected to a throttle . So I lav- The beaches are still flour white, the ish words of L/D, minimum sink and gree n sea still an incredible blue and the air upon his Lycoming-deafened ears . palms still flopping in the Trades . But Earl is a West Indian and his expo- one knows that the Green Mountains o f sure to soaring is limited to an instruc- Vermont are shrugging off their snow cover tor, some years ago, pulling off power i n and the valley floors are bursting wit h a simulated engine failure . But his fac e color and the Mad River is roaring it s registers his appreciation for my enthu- song . And if I have a home, it is Vermont . siasm. He finally tells me of a strange Access to Vermont is only a matter aircraft he has seen lurking in a hangar of signing on a BWIA flight and five hour s in Martinique . Not really a glider be- of boredom . But this passage between th e cause it has an engine . Not really a States and the West Indies is a very spe- powered aircraft because it is used for cial thing to me . I have made the tri p soaring . No idea of the manufacturer . five times in small boats and once befor e Now Martinique is the Atlantic out- in a light plane . And as an additiona l post of Gaul . It is French . Therefore , factor, the acquisition of a small plane they speak French . I do not speak French . has been lurking in my bank balance . So But Earl speaks French with a patois over- the stack of Trade-A-Planes keeps growing . lay . Earl also has access to an airplane . And I look for an ad which I can never We exchange money and promises and at dawn , find . we lift off from Vigie Field, St . Lucia for TWO PLACE aircraft for sale by Martinique . This is how I was introduce d reluctant owner . Aerobatic, low- to FOGEK . wing with long-range tanks . Low FOGEK is a Fournier Sportavia RF- 5 fuel costs, retractable gear an d powered by a VW engine out of Limbach . soars like a bird . Reasonabl e Two-place, low wing and aerobatic wit h offers considered . some restraints of g-loading on her 47- foot wings . She consumes about 2 .8 gal- lons per hour . This process can go on for about five and one-half hours at a startling 97 mph . She is fashioned o f wood and fabric, metal and love . The cockpits are tandem . No sitting to the left of centerline . Everything snuggles around you and is comfortable . The panel speaks metric-meters per second , kilograms per square centimeter, degree s in Celsius, and kilometers per hour . And , a short stick with buttons on it! Man y the bloody Fokker I've caught streaking for the lines from behind a towering cu a t sundown . A short burst on 123 .5 and he' s a flamer . The back cockpit is decently remove d from my sight and hearing . Some soul s have ballasted this area but its general function serves as luggage area for a sleeping bag, tools, a life raft and a spare set of shorts . But to be fair, it s fun to fly with mutual FOGEK fans . Soaring? No, not a Nimbus, but still great fun . I guess that well over half of my total time has been thumping around in thermals over Vermont, ridge-running the Alleghenies and riding wave in Maine . 2 and cross-countries are an adventure . search and rescue . Beyond this, I mus t Hang the ETAs . If the vario goes wel l go at 13 :15 hours for this is the appointed into the green the power comes off and time . There may not be any alteration i n FOGEK and I renew our love affair . the time . The airport manager is unhapp y But then there's something even more as the registration has already been can- about an aircraft like FOGEK . It is th e celled due to the sale of the aircraft ou t great joy of being one with an aircraft . of French registration and the FAA has no t That great joy of response and precision replied to my requests for temporary regis- and even of mutual trust and sometimes of tration for a ferry flight . And how els e mutual disbelief in what we can attemp t may an aircraft fly unless it is registered ? and accomplish together . She constantl y This is the first law of aerodynamics . teaches me the art of aviating . A poor So, as they say, be it . At 13 :1 4 flare, not enough spoiler and her gear FOGEK and I sit quivering at the end o f kicks me skywards in a series of mushy Lamintine Airport's runway 08 . The stick hops . We blush together . And lack o f is sweaty in my hand . The cockpit over- sufficient airspeed for entry must b e poweringly hot and cramped . Rpms to 280 0 avoided for the engine will not generat e and we are rolling . No airspeed indica- enough ponies to drag you over the top . tion . The tail is up and still no airspeed . But back to Martinique . Rpms to 3100 now, oil pressure good an d FOGEK was owned by the Beech dealer , the engine sounds fine . But no airspeed ! Amedee Rambeau . No one was intereste d The variometer is showing signs of lif e in learning to fly her . But for what ? and I consider aborting the flight an d Certainly not to export fish in, or t o all the while FOGEK is happy and alive an d fly to Venezuela with the family and ove r climbing out in the afternoon sunlight . water--out of the question . It only ha s I pull the gear up . Snick-thunk . We're one magneto . It is made of wood! It i s clean and climbing a't 2 .6 meters per sec .