About a plane called SIM
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Cross-Country 9-6-2024
The weather prediction was really nice so there was finally a change to do a XC flight. The overall RAPS BLIPMAPS impression also looked very good. One of the cool things available is a cross section (prognosis) of the air column during the day at certain locations. This model calculates things like cloud base and…
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SimNav HW & SW update
After a few flights with the SimNav navigation device I decided it was time for an update. This update was mostly an bugfix update. Due to the design concept a simple swap is possible. Without disturbing flight critical instruments. HW changes: Software changes: The breakout board and cable set was re-designed to make it more…
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Teugse Tweedaagse T2D 2024
The Teugse 2 Day event is a competition with two or three classes. A club class, combi class and “kreupel” class, that means something like “lame” (free for everything that may fly and is technically a glider class). This year only the club and combi class were held otherwise I would join the “kreupel” class.…
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First good flight of the Year 2024
The season of 2024 started with poor weather, a lot of rain and our grass airstrip was transformed in to a pond. So 14 april was pretty much the first start of the year. The Libelle is a tight fit ,some people joke the plane is something you wear. As you can see on the…
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The last mile is the longest.
After a long winter it was finally time to weigh the plane and determine the balance. When the balance point is too far forward or worse far aft the plane becomes unstable or unflyable.when calculating the balance point it was clear the CG was not correct. The plane was tail heavy. we created a weight…
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Adding some comfort
My wife made me a new chair pillow as a present. She is more optimistic then I and thought “If you make a long flight you better sit comfortable”. I could choose the fabric and pattern and she would make something nice out of it. Really cool and I really appreciate it 🙂 So I…
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Dashboard: build in SimNav part 2
In the previous part (Dashboard: build in SimNav part 1) you could see that the navigation device was installed in the dashboard. The second part of this job is trying to fit everything back together in the plane. Before we take the dashboard back to the plane lets document some of the wiring harness. I…
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Don’t forget your landing gear
A pilot told me “You have pilots that already forgot the landing gear and pilots that will forget the landing gear”. In my case the landing gear or “wheel” indicator was so loud I wanted to replace it. When working on my dashboard I removed the old wiring harness. Cables, cables and cables. So I…
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Cables, cables and cables.
It is maintenance season. It is December so most of the club fleet is in maintenance. Planes that have to be available next season for training and club flying have priority. When I was helping with maintenance of those planes, I got lucky. There was some room for my Libelle in the club workshop during…
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Dashboard: build in SimNav part 1
After completing the development of the SimNav v1 (my own navigation device) it was time to install this device in the Libelle. I had removed the dashboard once before to update the red box flarm system. So I was expecting a lot of cables and tubes without a lot of labelling. In my professional life…
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First flight
When you buy a plane it is most of the time without a test flight. This has to do with time, regulations, risks, time and place etc.I had personally never flown a Libelle before. Okay, I did test whether I could physically fit in it before I travelled to Austria. The cockpit is quite narrow…
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Jump in
Well, now it is time for a tour inside the glider. Make sure you are not taller than 1.90 m (6ft3) and not wider than the average person. Otherwise you won’t fit in the cockpit, let alone jump in. But once you manage to get seated, you have a great view, as you can see…
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The weakest link
Most gliders require different types of weak links for aerotow or winch launch. For the Libelle it is the same type for both types of launches; a white weak link of 5 kilo Newton.The weak link is crucial for protecting the plane’s structure. When there is too much force from the cable on the hull…
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Documentation
There was a lot of documentation to go through.
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PH-1683 SIM was born
When the administation of the import was about halfway I could request a registration number and a call sign. The registration number was placed using stickers, rather than being painted on the plane. Unfortunately the original registration was painted on so it took some effort to remove it without damaging the gelcoat. But the people…
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The journey back home
The idea was to make a trip home in two stages. Well… that did not work out after all. We had made reservations at a campsite, to stay for one night. We booked for a large trailer + a small tent. We booked a pitch for 12-16 people to accomodate those two things. In the…
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Found the libelle
For a few years I visit the segelflug.de site where a lot of planes are looking for a new home.I really wanted to find a nice libelle since it’s quite an old model and maintenance cost can be quite highit was important that the plane was in flying condition.On a certain day in june i…
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Presentation SIMNav v1 Finally ready
With my limited presentation skills it was a real challenge to complete the presentation. I hope you enjoy it nevertheless 🙂
