I had a share in a Pilatus B4 quite a while ago. The fuselage cowling, which covers where the wings join, was always tricky to seal up with tape and it could peel off and flap about in the breeze. It was incredibly loud when this happened but you got to recognise it in the end. The Pilatus wing also makes oil-canning noises when it flexes - which is sometimes a good indication that you've hit strong lift.
The tin-caning noice is normal during loops. "Bloing-Bloing" it sounds. Loose tapes (aileron?) flutters on the wing and cause distraction. Preflight check!!! This time a thorough one...!!! The B-4 is NOT as strong as it is advertised... In Germany a B-4 wing failure was recorded at 7.4 G's and that is below the 8.0 G it should have. The Conticell foam ribs in the wing tend to crack...they are hard to repair; this must be done by opening the wing. A very specilistic work.
The tin-caning noice is normal during loops. "Bloing-Bloing" it sounds. Loose tapes (aileron?) flutters on the wing and cause distraction. Preflight check!!! This time a thorough one...!!! The relative short tail arm gives fast response on the elevator-action. It requires some skill and flight-accustoming to make a full-airbrake precise flaring in a low speed landing. Rolling is compared slower though. The B-4 can spin. The small rudder and short tail arm make sideslipping during landing quite ineffective. OK? The B-4 is NOT as strong as it is advertised... In Germany a B-4 wing failure was recorded at 7.4 G's and that is below the 8.0 G it should have. The Conticell foam ribs in the wing tend to crack...this is hard to determine and hard to repair; this must be done by opening the wing. A very specilistic work.
Great to be back in a Pilatus again (almost!) - I had one for several years and did some great flying in it. Landed in quite a few fields though but we won’t talk about that!
WQN used to belong to Southern Cross Gliding Club and was in a red, white and blue sun burst scheme back then. It was also used in a tv commercial flown by Bill Dinsmore. He put on many a fine aerobatic display in that Pilatus at many airshows.
@@davidhofman1972 how wonderful, I fly at the SCGC as well so I must ask around and see if anyone remembers it. I've seen people doing aerobatics in this plane and can't wait to do some myself. Thank you so much for the comment.
@@GlidingwithAndy Why Quit Now was zapped onto WQN with electrical tape in response to "No Hope" being taped under our rego GNH, ES59 from Wollongong Gliding Club, back in the early 80’s state sports class comps. Fun days.
@@Mark_7260 I remember this glider, having flown at Southern Cross as a visitor from Tasmania in the 1970s. Bill Dinsmore, an instructor (maybe CFI) at the club, was a sensational pilot. He included an outside loop (bunt) in his display aerobatics routine, the Pilatus being rated to negative 4G, I think. Bill was the only performer of this feat that I have ever known of. A true eyeball-popper - for spectator and pilot alike. The Pilatus was highly aerobatic, with an outstanding roll rate for a glider and a tendency to be a bit lively in this plane. As mentioned, the all-metal panelling popped and crackled and the controls were "squeaky". The Tas Soaring Club had one in its hangar, owned privately by a Hobart plastic surgeon, who would launch almost vertically on the winch. A sight to behold.
Altitude/success depends upon the launch that gets you into a thermal? Is there a percentage rate of good launches vrs bad ones? And if there is no thermal have you already got a plan to land close by? On the opposite side of the coin I'm guessing you could get a thermal that takes you out for hours? When this happens & you get to high altitude are you planning your flight to get you back to the airport that you originated from? I apologize for my questions but I'm behind the 8~ball here! peace & it does LQQK fun to me. peace
Its true that winch launching doesn't get you as high as aerotow but you still have plenty of height to explore a little, you can take your time looking for thermals near the runway and if you can't find one then you can land back there and try again. The rate of success depends on skill, luck and weather. Its great fun and thank you so much for your questions.
Yes Andy, the "winch" took me by surprise but many things in aircraft do.... lol, I have seen the towing from a small aircraft but I know little about how they map out where they'll be released(altitude) and where so that they might be able to plan for a landing sight? Perhaps right back at the starting point would be wise, if they can! I'm just seeing what you did turning in the tight radius, I was thinking you felt a thermal & did that to take it higher? Whatever you are doing it's serene / quiet without a motor running although my mind is saying that a small electric motor could be used for a short burst of energy kinda like a sailboat having a small motor. Not the same but it hit me. Thanks for the video
I had a share in a Pilatus B4 quite a while ago. The fuselage cowling, which covers where the wings join, was always tricky to seal up with tape and it could peel off and flap about in the breeze. It was incredibly loud when this happened but you got to recognise it in the end. The Pilatus wing also makes oil-canning noises when it flexes - which is sometimes a good indication that you've hit strong lift.
Yes that's exactly where the tape had come loose. I'll keep an ear out for the oil can noises from now on, thank you so much for your comment.
The tin-caning noice is normal during loops. "Bloing-Bloing" it sounds. Loose tapes (aileron?) flutters on the wing and cause distraction. Preflight check!!! This time a thorough one...!!!
The B-4 is NOT as strong as it is advertised... In Germany a B-4 wing failure was recorded at 7.4 G's and that is below the 8.0 G it should have.
The Conticell foam ribs in the wing tend to crack...they are hard to repair; this must be done by opening the wing. A very specilistic work.
The tin-caning noice is normal during loops. "Bloing-Bloing" it sounds. Loose tapes (aileron?) flutters on the wing and cause distraction. Preflight check!!! This time a thorough one...!!!
The relative short tail arm gives fast response on the elevator-action. It requires some skill and flight-accustoming to make a full-airbrake precise flaring in a low speed landing.
Rolling is compared slower though. The B-4 can spin. The small rudder and short tail arm make sideslipping during landing quite ineffective. OK?
The B-4 is NOT as strong as it is advertised... In Germany a B-4 wing failure was recorded at 7.4 G's and that is below the 8.0 G it should have.
The Conticell foam ribs in the wing tend to crack...this is hard to determine and hard to repair; this must be done by opening the wing. A very specilistic work.
Great to be back in a Pilatus again (almost!) - I had one for several years and did some great flying in it. Landed in quite a few fields though but we won’t talk about that!
@@ralphjohnson4041 out landing is all part of it, nothing to be ashamed of. What made you sell yours, upgrade or stopped flying?
@ nothing bad - I moved away so changed clubs.
WQN used to belong to Southern Cross Gliding Club and was in a red, white and blue sun burst scheme back then. It was also used in a tv commercial flown by Bill Dinsmore. He put on many a fine aerobatic display in that Pilatus at many airshows.
@@davidhofman1972 how wonderful, I fly at the SCGC as well so I must ask around and see if anyone remembers it. I've seen people doing aerobatics in this plane and can't wait to do some myself. Thank you so much for the comment.
@@GlidingwithAndy Why Quit Now was zapped onto WQN with electrical tape in response to "No Hope" being taped under our rego GNH, ES59 from Wollongong Gliding Club, back in the early 80’s state sports class comps. Fun days.
@@Mark_7260 I remember this glider, having flown at Southern Cross as a visitor from Tasmania in the 1970s. Bill Dinsmore, an instructor (maybe CFI) at the club, was a sensational pilot. He included an outside loop (bunt) in his display aerobatics routine, the Pilatus being rated to negative 4G, I think. Bill was the only performer of this feat that I have ever known of. A true eyeball-popper - for spectator and pilot alike. The Pilatus was highly aerobatic, with an outstanding roll rate for a glider and a tendency to be a bit lively in this plane. As mentioned, the all-metal panelling popped and crackled and the controls were "squeaky". The Tas Soaring Club had one in its hangar, owned privately by a Hobart plastic surgeon, who would launch almost vertically on the winch. A sight to behold.
What's the cost of a winch launch generally? Ive only ever aerotowed.
Winch is really cheap compared to aerotow about 1/4 the price.
Altitude/success depends upon the launch that gets you into a thermal? Is there a percentage rate of good launches vrs bad
ones? And if there is no thermal have you already got a plan to land close by? On the opposite side of the coin I'm guessing
you could get a thermal that takes you out for hours? When this happens & you get to high altitude are you planning your
flight to get you back to the airport that you originated from? I apologize for my questions but I'm behind the 8~ball here!
peace & it does LQQK fun to me. peace
Its true that winch launching doesn't get you as high as aerotow but you still have plenty of height to explore a little, you can take your time looking for thermals near the runway and if you can't find one then you can land back there and try again. The rate of success depends on skill, luck and weather. Its great fun and thank you so much for your questions.
Yes Andy, the "winch" took me by surprise but many things in aircraft do.... lol, I have seen the towing from a small
aircraft but I know little about how they map out where they'll be released(altitude) and where so that they might be
able to plan for a landing sight? Perhaps right back at the starting point would be wise, if they can! I'm just seeing
what you did turning in the tight radius, I was thinking you felt a thermal & did that to take it higher? Whatever you
are doing it's serene / quiet without a motor running although my mind is saying that a small electric motor could
be used for a short burst of energy kinda like a sailboat having a small motor. Not the same but it hit me.
Thanks for the video