Posted Sunday, May 5, 2013 @ 01:16 PM
Hi Fournieteers,
We had some soarable weather here today and of course I went up to reduce my CO2-footprint.
Cloudbase was a meager 2500 ft and the thermals were of the type that gave 500 ft/min up for one turn, then turbulence, then nothing (that I could find anyway). Still good fun and when I got a bit low, actually some 300 ft below my self-imposed "low-limit" of minimum 1500 ft for an airstart I stood the 4 on it's nose, yanked the starterhandle twice at around 100 mph and the engine spluttered back to life without protests. As said before you loose 500-1000 ft when you airstart depending on how cold the Engine is etc.
Today was no different from previous times I airstart after soaring for a bit- I recovered straight into the 500 ft/min thermal that had eluded me just before (and whose surrounding area of sink had shot me down). This has happened so often now that I am certain this is a correlate of Murphy's law- the strongest next thermal will invariably be located just after you recover from an airstart with your Fournier. Anyway, I curved it with the Engine at 2200 rpm and shut down again to soar some more. I managed to get back to the air strip when a cloudstreet began forming up and took the opportunity to do a glider landing.
It is particularly satisfying when you manage to halt the roll-out after a glider landing just outside the hangar. Actually, it isn't that hard with some help of the wheelbrake. Soaring the RF 4 is good fun, I recommend it!
May(!!) the 4's be with you/ Jörgen
[Edit by Jorgen on Monday, May 6, 2013 @ 05:21 AM]