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Bob Grimstead
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Posted Saturday, March 10, 2012 @ 11:53 PM  

Hiya Guys and Gals,

Here a couple of clips we took in the past few days.

Sunny aerobatics (just the first four minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjIDckZg2AM

Air-to-aeros footage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCIFj1NVR08

It will soon be sunny springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, so we can all do more of this sort of thing.

Yours, Bob

[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Saturday, March 10, 2012 @ 11:54 PM]

[Edit by Bob Grimstead on Saturday, March 10, 2012 @ 11:54 PM]

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Jorgen
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Posted Sunday, March 11, 2012 @ 02:59 AM  

Thanks Bob,
very nice clips as always and also very inspiring. I actually enjoyed the landing and taxi sequence of the clip, Serpentine is a lovely place and judging by the amount of hangars must be a virtual GA-stronghold. I also often take my time before I exit the 4- I guess I have to digest some of the impressions before I can get back into "ground locomotor-mode..."

Just got back yesterday from a mad one day there-and-back-again dash in a minibus Lund- Stockholm (1200 km) to cast our votes on the EAA Sweden meeting. Not very inspiring; EASAtroubletroubletrouble, financestroubletroubletrouble, recruiting new memberstroubletroubletrouble etc. Thanks for putting me back on track- this is why we do it!

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

[Edit by Jorgen on Sunday, March 11, 2012 @ 03:01 AM]

Bob Grimstead
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Posted Monday, January 28, 2013 @ 00:34 AM  

Hiya Fellow Fournicators,

Here are a couple more aerobatic clips for those who are interested.

The fin-cam shows the outside view, and the cockpit-cam shows what I'm doing to achieve that.
It would probably be possible to synchronise your viewing if you have two computers.
Sorry I can't do that myself.

Beware, for anybody trying to emulate this easy sequence:
The airspeeds are in knots, not mph or kph.
You need to lift your nose very high for a true 90-degree barrel roll, quarter-clover or ballistic roll.
Because the fin-cam is set so high up, this is not evident from the footage.

Here's the sequence:

Actual Shelley Australia Day 2013 Breakfast Sequence @0830 local
Canopy, 1400cc engine, Heliptera propeller, Avgas
Temp 24°C, wind 060/6
Manoeuvres Altitude Speed Notes
Feet Feet kts kts
START
Dive in from 100kt, 800ft Entry On Top Entry On Top
1 Vne loop 500 1000 130 45
2 Avalanche 500 900 120 60 Kick speed
3 Ballistic roll 500 750 100 60
4 Stall turn 500 1000 100 40 Kick speed
5 Barrel Roll 600 1000 105 45
6 Barrel Roll 600 1000 105 45 Kick speed
7 Half flick reversal 800 1050 105 50 Kick speed
8 Ballistic Roll 700 900 105 65 Throwing away height now @ 2:00
9 Loop 700 1000 108 35
10 Ballistic roll 700 900 120 100
11 Half Cuban 550 1000 120 50
12 ¼ up vertical roll 500 1000 120 40
13 Canopy down humpty1000 1050 40 10
14 Barrel roll 500 1000 120 45
15 Cloverleaf 500 900-1000 120 40-60 Rolling upwards
16 Avalanche 500 850 120 60 Kick speed
17 Waving fly-by 70 70 90 70
Time 4:05/4:50 G +5.8/-0.2
That momentary 5.8g was my pull into the final avalanche, to avoid busting my 500ft lower limit in Australia. All the rest, and normally, it doesn’t exceed +4.5g.

Blue Angel Australia Day Shelley fin-cam
http://youtu.be/1Y5fT-pfyi0

Blue Angel Australia Day Shelley cockpit-cam
http://youtu.be/_AxU3NOh-t0

Have fun.

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Bob Grimstead
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Posted Monday, January 28, 2013 @ 00:36 AM  

Sorry Guys,

It is bloody irritating that I've just spent half an hour carefully aligning all those columns, only to see all the layout shot to hell once I submit the post.

Neverthelss, if you copy 'n paste this lot into a Word document, you can restore the format (if anybody is actually that interested).

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

SteveBeaver
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Posted Monday, January 28, 2013 @ 09:42 AM    YIM

Is this close to what you need Bob?

DO NOT EDIT!

FigureEntryOn topEntryOn topComment
FeetFeetKnotsKnots
1VNE loop500100013045
2Avalanche50075012060Kick Speed
3Ballistic roll50075010060
4Stall turn500100010540Kick speed
5Barrel roll600100010545
6Barrel roll600100010545Kick speed
7Half flick reversal800105010550Kick speed
8Ballsitic roll700900120100Throwing away height now @ 2:00
9Loop700100010835
10Ballistic roll70090010565
11Half Cuban550100012050
121/4 vertical roll500100012040
13Canopy Dn Humpty100010504010
14Barrel roll500100012045
15Cloverleaf500900-100012040-60Rolling upwards
16Avalanche50085012060Kick speed
17Waving fly-by70709070

jb92563
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Posted Monday, January 28, 2013 @ 04:52 PM  

It is interesting, and eventually I hope to be using this data myself after some Aerobatic instruction.

The altitudes though seem scary low to me as all that stuff happens below pattern Entry altitude for me
and I just can't imagine doing anything like that down low.

Obviously for experts only.

I'm curious if you have ever had "situations" where your adrenaline kicks in or are you the Iceman through the whole routine?

Are the Formation flights at those heights as well?

--------------------
Ray
RF4D #4057 N-1771 Rectimo 1400cc
http://picasaweb.google.com/jb92563/FournierRF4D
http://www.touringmotorgliders.org

Bob Grimstead
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Posted Monday, January 28, 2013 @ 10:28 PM  

Hi Guys,

Steve. Thank you very much for doing that.
I haven't checked in great detail, but it looks perfect to me.

Ray, you're right.
500 feet is my approved lowest height in Australia.
In England it is 200 feet.
See: http://youtu.be/vx2ft5Kn90w

Aerobatics are inherently risky, even when kept well above 3,000 feet.
Start coming below that, and you had better be certain that you can execute every single figure perfectly every single time.
We work in three dimensions, but coming below 1,000 feet robs you of the dimension 'down'.
Below that, you're betting your life on your capability with every manoeuvre.
Get it wrong and if you're lucky you'll spend the rest of your life uncomfortable and frustrated in a wheelchair.

For me, this is the culmination of nine years of hard, repeptitive work.

I don't know exactly how many Fournier aerobatic sorties I have flown, but if each takes on average fifteen minutes and I have flown 500plus solo aeros hours, then that must be over 1,000 sorties.
I didn't start coming below 3,000 feet until after two full, high-intensity years (say, 300 sorties).
Thereafter I came lower very gradually and in stages.

For the first several years, I started my routines at around 1,500 feet, gradually getting lower during the four minutes of my displays until ending up around 600 feet.
Again, I then gradually came lower.
It was only in recent years that I have realised that, by keeping the airspeed under control, below the full-throttle level speed as much as possible, you don't lose so much height, so I can start low and stay there.
...but of course, that requires even more skill and currency.

I practised that routine more than twenty times during the preceeding six weeks, gradually coming lower, and varying my start heights depending on air temperature, wind strength and turbulence, all of which have an effect on the ability to conserve height.

And yes, the heart still starts racing as the altimeter unwinds below 1,000 feet.
It concentrates the mind wonderfully, and while flying one is totally concentrating on positioning (judging and allowing for the wind) and accurate, safe execution of the figures.

It is only afterwards, on reflection, and when reviewing the video clips that I can relax and smile.

Take care out there.
Rene's Fourniers are the most gentle and forgiving of aeroplanes, and the RF4D is the only type in which I would ever dare to fly aerobatics below 1,000 feet, but it still requires dedication, concentration, application and lots and lots of practice.

I don't want to put anybody off, but do start with an instructor, and nice and high.

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Bob Grimstead
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Posted Monday, January 28, 2013 @ 10:44 PM  

Oops, I missed the last questions.

Yes, the adrenalin is flowing and the heart is racing the whole time.

It is very, very scary to come below 1,000 feet, and some practice days I just can't screw up the courage to do it.

Yes, sometimes a figure will go wrong, no matter how much you have practised it, so you must always have a 'plan B'.
In the Old Hay clip I was showing off to some good, old flying friends, so I flew a quarter-up, quarter-down canopy-up humpty-bump (theoretically not possible at low level without inverted systems). But I was using a new, more efficient, but lighter propeller. With less rotational inertia, it stopped as I hit the down-line. (time 0:28 on the clip).
A good laugh for the spectators, but I deliberately fly that difficult figure early in the sequence, when I am still high, so all I had to do was what I had rehearsed, dive to Vne to get the prop spinning, then pull up and fly a 360 to regain height. Plan C, if the engine didn't restart, was a quick circuit to land dead-stick.

Yes, we fly the formation aeros down to 300 feet too, although Matt's job is very difficult because he has to judge an appropriate start height (usually around 1,200 feet) depending again on temperature and turbulence, but with the limited manoeuvrability of two aeroplanes and the required positioning, the wind is much more of a factor. Of course there's no chance of climbing, so we often end up higher than we would like at the bottom, and that's something we are going to work hard on this year.

This practice thing is never-ending. We fly way more practices than we fly displays, it's the only safe way to do it.

And yes, sometimes, despite all that, I shit myself occasionally when something unexpected happens!

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Bob Grimstead
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Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2013 @ 03:41 AM  

Hi again Folks,

You've probably gathered it was Australia Day on 26th January -- same as America's Independence Day but better.

So I flew two shows, one in the morning that you see above.

In the evening, 12 minutes before sunset I flew again, over the Swan River in Perth's city centre, in front of 200,000 people. It is a big, rectangular arena, about one mile by a mile and a half. Since nobody present knew anything about aerobatics, I figured they just wanted some 'ribbon dancing' with my smokes, so I limited myself to loops, barrel rolls and ballistic rolls, with a quarter-clover on each corner to make a rectangular path and one avalanche in the middle of each side to give them a tiny 'wow' factor.

The fin-cam clip with music is at: http://youtu.be/aO8xf4VDiyI

For our American friends, for whom YouTube prohibits the music, see: http://youtu.be/02mefY0n4zY

The cock-cam footage is here: http://youtu.be/Rfa5eBpsiZY

You can clearly see the setting sun, but if you look closely, in the opposite direction you can also see the rising moon as a tiny white dot just above the horizon. You can also spot a few pinpricks of light towards the end, when folk are trying to photograph me in the dying light.

Enjoy, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Jorgen
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Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2013 @ 12:47 PM  

Jolly good show, Bob!

Thansk for giving us in hibernation some Fournispiration, I really appreciate your efforts. As you are probably painfully (since I know what a sensitive and empatic bloke you are) aware of we have a different kind of climate here right now so we held the Swedish Championships in Skatesailing this weekend, a short clip here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s4DwGer910

May you have a thoroughly independent year and of course may the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

Bob Grimstead
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Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2013 @ 10:32 PM  

That's amazing Jorgen.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

Jorgen
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Posted Sunday, November 3, 2013 @ 04:34 AM  

Hi Fournieteers,

this is the season for flying the internet since the weather isn't very nice at all. I couldn't help but thinking of the Red Hawks and Chrisitan Zok's idea the "Hamster Loop" when I saw this video clip from the Swedish Airforce 25 year celebration 1951 (all in swedish I'm afraid). The review includes most of the Aeroplane types used up until the fifties with a glimps of the then new J 29 "the flying barrel" at the display in Stockholm at the end.

At 13:00 there is a formation of 10 trainers doing a "Column Hamster Loop", quite impressive! The type is Sk 50 "Saab Safir", "Saab 91 Saphire" designed by Anders J Andersson, previously Bücker designer. I wonder how close to an inverted snaproll/stall the last guy is at the top of the loop!

http://www.euscreen.eu/play.jsp?id=EUS_982224D603924B4BB99B4F41AE6F9691

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

[Edit by Jorgen on Sunday, November 3, 2013 @ 06:12 AM]

Bob Grimstead
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Posted Wednesday, November 6, 2013 @ 03:50 PM  

Hi Jorgen, To my immense frustration, I cannot get that link to display a Play triangle.
Everything else is there, but not the actual clip.
Presumably this is another instance of Apple not being prepared to play ball?

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

D. Porter
Sergeant First Class

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Posted Wednesday, November 6, 2013 @ 07:49 PM  

Quote:
Originally posted by Bob Grimstead
Presumably this is another instance of Apple not being prepared to play ball?

Puzzling. It does play correctly on my iMac (OSX 10.7.5). Wish I could suggest a fix for you.

Don

Jorgen
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Posted Thursday, November 7, 2013 @ 12:43 PM  

Hi Bob,
beeing in the PC world myself all I know is that using the Internet Explorer I often had the same problem. I then downloaded the free "Mozilla" web browser and I've never had any problems opening videoclips since.

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

Bob Grimstead
Captain

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Posted Monday, December 28, 2015 @ 10:12 PM  

Hi Guys,

I rarely use a desk-top confuser these days, relying solely on my iPad, which I suspect was one part of my inability to view this clip. The second component was probably my impatience.
Today I opened the clip, pressed pause and went and made a cup of coffee.
Came back five minutes later and it had buffered so I could watch it.

Loved that long line-astern loop.

Now, where can we find a dozen Fournier owners competent at formation aerobatics?

Yours, Bob

--------------------
Flying and displaying Fournier RF4Ds VH-HDO and G-AWGN, building replica RF6B G-RFGB and custodian of RF6B prototype F-BPXV

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