{"id":887,"date":"2012-10-12T17:37:52","date_gmt":"2012-10-13T00:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=887"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:59","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:59","slug":"hoot-mon-its-a-highlander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/hoot-mon-its-a-highlander\/","title":{"rendered":"#37 “Hoot, Mon, it’s a Highlander!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve always maintained that no matter our level of experience, all of us need a little time to get used to an airplane\u00a0we’ve\u00a0never flown before.\u00a0 First flights have to be the epitome of that experience.\u00a0 I guess there are two kinds of first flights:\u00a0 The first for the airplane and the first for the pilot in that make and model.\u00a0 And in the second type there are those when someone checks you out and those where there’s only one seat or for some other reason you check yourself out. \u00a0Those are the interesting ones (see “Debt to an Ag Pilot” in the Journal).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jeff Taylor, Jim Mateski and Brian Lansburgh in front of the new Highlander<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Jeff Taylor and Jim Mateski are Son-in-law and Father-in-law, neither of whom were pilots when I met them.\u00a0 But they decided they wanted to build an airplane and fly it.\u00a0 So while they labored on their Highlander, they began taking instruction from me.\u00a0 Now they are ready to make the transition from my plane to theirs.\u00a0 We simply have to fly the time off before we can start giving them dual in it.My first flight in the Highlander was not the first flight for the plane.\u00a0 Test Pilot Len Fox had made a couple of flights on it.\u00a0 He\u2019d done a superb job of documenting everything and listing the small group of squawks.\u00a0 So my first Highlander flight would be its third flight.For those who are unfamiliar with the Highlander, I always suggest taking a look at Steve Henry\u2019s \u201cDead Stick Takeoff\u201d video.\u00a0 He has a teaser on You Tube and he sells an interesting DVD on his website.\u00a0 Check out http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tHXnQCE0kG0<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0You\u2019ll see what a Highlander is capable of.<\/p>\n

Steve epitomizes what\u2019s possible when you select a pilot operation and simply PRACTICE.\u00a0 He\u2019s a talented flyer who loves to land his Highlander on spots that most pilots would simply fly past.<\/p>\n

On the morning of my first Highlander flight I met the two builders at \u201cEldon\u2019s Airport\u201d (also known as the Prineville Airport) and watched them unfold the wings and roll the plane off its trailer.<\/p>\n

The plane is equipped with an EFIS in a big panel.\u00a0 Not really my cup o\u2019 tea.\u00a0 BUT I always say that a pilot has to do lots of different stuff, so whether or not I like new fangled EFIS\u2019s, I had to gain a bit of familiarity with it.<\/p>\n

Most of its information I would ignore on this first flight.\u00a0 I needed to know how to read temps, pressures and RPM.\u00a0 Other than that, it would be attitude flying.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing like that first takeoff.\u00a0 Wahoo!\u00a0 Off we went. \u00a0I’ve\u00a0got to say, I like this airplane.\u00a0 Control harmony is pretty good.\u00a0 Pitch stability is a little goofy but the trim works nicely.\u00a0 With its\u2019 Jabiru engine the plane climbed in a sprightly manner.<\/p>\n

First I did some air work to investigate stalls, roll rate, slips and flap performance.\u00a0 Then it was back to the dirt to start getting comfortable where the rubber meets the runway. With its 26\u201d tires it was a good off-field performer.\u00a0 I elected to use the dirt area alongside the runway for my first landings in order to minimize grab from the tires and make it easier to keep it straight.\u00a0 I was doing for myself what I do for my students when they make their first tailwheel landings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A happy Highlander Pilot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Careful at first, I was mostly concerned with finding how much elevator authority it had for a three-point and how hard it was to keep straight.\u00a0 Then, with a growing amount of experience under my belt, I moved on to a tighter pattern and lots of different touchdowns.\u00a0 I had shaken hands with the airplane and we seemed to like each other.\u00a0 It was superb in slaloms and landings in a turn.\u00a0 With those 26\u201d tires the brakes had just the right amount of authority and you could jump on the binders to stop the plane in a small distance.<\/p>\n

I made the first flight from the left seat, then moved over to my normal spot on the right.\u00a0 I don\u2019t usually see much difference between one side and the other in any airplane, but I have to admit that I\u2019m just a little more comfortable on the right.\u00a0 With stick in my right hand and throttle in my left, I\u2019m in the same position I would be in a Super Cub, my Pawnee or the 140 when I\u2019m giving dual in it.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed my first flights immensely.\u00a0 What I\u00a0didn’t\u00a0know was how much the owners enjoyed it.\u00a0 Unseen by me, Jeff and Jim were whooping and hopping up and down with delight at the performance of their new machine.\u00a0 And THAT is a very special experience.\u00a0 Imagine the road\u00a0they’ve\u00a0traveled, from some boxes of parts and materials, through hours and hours of labor, to a brand spanking new flying machine.\u00a0 And now they are watching that flying machine living up to all their expectations.\u00a0 But \u00a0their expectations will soon turn to their own abilities.\u00a0They’ve\u00a0gotten a kick out of seeing their baby fly at Len\u2019s and my hands.\u00a0 But soon a new journey will begin when they take the controls. \u00a0It\u2019s going to be a journey of an as-yet unknown length.\u00a0 But I can guarantee that it\u2019s going to be filled with adventure and the satisfaction of accomplishment.<\/p>\n

Happy Swooping!
\nBrian<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always maintained that no matter our level of experience, all of us need a little time to get used to an airplane\u00a0we’ve\u00a0never flown before.\u00a0 First flights have to be the epitome of that experience.\u00a0 I guess there are two kinds of first flights:\u00a0 The first for the airplane and the first for the pilot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}