Looking for ridge lift in a Kolb Firefly Ultralight

[@philryder966]

Another fantastic video shoot. Always wondered what God's country looked like from the air!! Especially the roads!!! 😎👍

[@19sloper]

Glad you are enjoying them. God's country is in the clouds, too! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5KyqWVqncqrgtk

[@johncarter1150]

Just subscribed, you capture the feeling of flight with ease and control, no nonsense! Insping me to finish my Lazair 3 project.

[@19sloper]

Thanks, John. Yes! get busy on the Lazair. 😎 Very cool ultralight. The model 3 has the conventional control stick instead of the overhead, right? I met Dale Cramer and Peter Corley and watched them fly at Oshkosh in about 1979. Very elegant flying machine

[@kidkhaos6427]

Beautiful scenery! Looks like you had some thermal fun 😁

[@19sloper]

Thanks for subscribing!

[@19sloper]

Nice work on the tailwheel conversion for your Aerolite 103. 😎

[@kidkhaos6427]

@19sloper thanks! It's a fun airplane for sure.

[@Kolbra2004]

During my years of flying my Firestar I had a 66" 2-blade Ivo prop and it worked perfect. I tried a three blade once and it bogged down the engine way too much.

[@FourthWayRanch]

even if you changed the pitch on the 3 blade? I got the ultraprop II 3 blade on mine now with 11 degree pitch blocks. I couldn't get past 4000 rpm with the mikuni 34 carbs.

[@Kolbra2004]

2-blade is the only way to go with a 447 engine.

[@michaelkaminski]

Amazing video! Thank you for sharing.

[@19sloper]

Appreciate the feedback! Whole bunch more at www.youtube.com/@19sloper/videos Enjoy!

[@jimwolfe2862]

Great angle love those chase cameras.

[@19sloper]

Yes, they are fun. Sort of like trolling. I only hit the ground with one of them once. 🤪

[@EricMONIN-fv9rp]

Wonderful !

[@19sloper]

😎😊

[@xxmeanyheadxx]

i recently discovered the aviation side of youtube and now all i want is to fly, motorcycles are like boring now....

[@tobymack2783]

Powered paragliders are the next logical step from motorcycles. 3D sailing.

[@xxmeanyheadxx]

@@tobymack2783 well my first second and third bikes were 600s so I assume my first aircraft will be a twin engine ultralight with no flight instructor

[@johncarter1150]

@@xxmeanyheadxx good luck with that.

[@jacobdavidcunningham1440]

man what a beautiful area

[@rjwannabe]

Great video! What kind of takeoff roll do you get in that on a cool morning and no wind?

[@19sloper]

That varies so much depending on runway surface, length of the grass, altitude, slope, etc etc. Here I was taking off uphill. Judging by where those flags are at the culvert you see, I would guess It took something on the order of 450 to 500 feet on this takeoff. One thing about the Kolbs: the high thrust line will nose you over if you feed power in too quickly. It will overbalance and park on its nose with the tail in the air unless you get some airspeed before using full power. Then when you get out, the tail slams down. This lengthens the takeoff ground roll some. You can see examples of this on some You Tube videos. This strip is about 1700 feet long, and I normally use less than half of it comfortably landing without using brakes, and less than that taking off. HOWEVER you need that extra margin because there are so many variables, and sometimes there are surprises. If you only have the minimum available, you will eventually have an expensive and or painful problem.

[@MRC55]

Great perspective!

[@bonniedavereardon6128]

Outstanding video : )

[@lessainsbury8508]

Unique camera perspective. I have seen this view from cameras on hang gliders but with 2 lines to gve it some stability . How did you achive this stable view with a single line ?

[@19sloper]

The short answer is, Electronic Image Stabilization in the camera (EIS.). There is a single line going into a short bridle attached at two places about a foot apart on the ends of a horizontal dowel at the front of the drogue. If you look at some of my earlier videos using the chase cam, you'll see they were not as stable. The last several videos I posted were using a different camera with better EIS. It is a Go Pro Hero 8 Black set on "hypersmooth." On paragliders, the line is hung from high above on the canopy, and it is far away from the prop blast, so they fly much steadier and don't need extreme stabilization.

[@cessnabor]

Where that place/airport?

[@19sloper]

North Central Montana USA between the Rocky Mountains, Highwood Mtns and Little Belt Mtns.

[@cessnabor]

@@19sloper Thank you! I am from Russia, Ural mountains.

[@19sloper]

@@cessnabor Cool! Do you fly an Ultralight?

[@cessnabor]

@@19sloper i learned to fly on trike 10 years ago.

[@19sloper]

@@cessnabor That is a coincidence, Boris! I just got a trike last fall. I have never flown a powered trike, but used to hang glide.

[@FLYNRYAN1978]

Beautiful . Where is this ?

[@19sloper]

North Central Montana between the Rocky Mountains, Highwood Mtns and Little Belt Mtns.

[@cbfsoar15]

what is used to feed line in and out

[@19sloper]

A cordless screwdriver turning a spool with monofilament fishing line.

[@cbfsoar15]

Thanks@@19sloper

[@cbfsoar15]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpOnmWehrNuLba8si=vR2FUzAjlCHwat5N

[@19sloper]

@@cbfsoar15 You bet. A some guys use a small cordless drill. Not critical as long as it is reversible and not too hard to mount.

[@kimhorton6109]

Is there somewhere you can go and learn how to fly these? I’d love to see one with an electric engine.

[@19sloper]

There are places that offer training in a two-place "ultralight type." None I know of in Montana other than maybe for trikes. I'd love to go electric myself. I have not seen an electric Kolb, but electric trikes are becoming more common. Earth Star has had an electric version of their Thunder Gull out for years, called the E-Gull.

[@kimhorton6109]

I’m sure Montana gives you room to fly. I’ll have to look around to see if they might be available in Arkansas or Oklahoma. I have enough room to take off and land where I live so I just need the instruction and the plane.

[@19sloper]

@@kimhorton6109 You will have the ideal situation if you can fly your ultralight from home. Good luck!

[@tobymack2783]

Where is this?? Beautiful.

[@19sloper]

It is North Central Montana, Southeast of Great Falls.

[@michaelvandyne6480]

@@19sloper Beautiful country brother.

[@19sloper]

@@michaelvandyne6480 This country can be very harsh in the winter, and very windy, but I love it out here.

[@FourthWayRanch]

do you think two bladed prop is better? is there a lot of vibration? I'd rather go two blades and be lighter. I still have to buy one, someone said get a 3 bladed ultraprop

[@19sloper]

In this case, I had no choice..... It would not fit in the trailer with a 3-blade. The 2-blade fits horizontally over the wings when folded. I think in some ways 3 blades might be better on Pushers. That way, only one blade at a time is going past the trailing edge. I think that might make it smoother. I have a 3-blade Ivo on my Thunder Gull. It is in-flight adjustable, and you can overload the 503 with it, or overspeed it by changing pitch. A ground-adjustable two or three blade should work when you get the pitch set right.

[@19sloper]

To answer your question more specifically, I did have a bit of shake at certain RPM's with the 2-blade. But just at lower than normal flight RPM's.

[@FourthWayRanch]

@@19sloper i think i saw a plug wire sensor tach on there, how did you extend it so it was long enough. I got the one from spruce and the wire won't make it to the instrument panel in the nose

[@19sloper]

@@FourthWayRanch I just used a single conductor wire with shield. I don't know if you would need the shield if the extension is away from the engine.

[@FourthWayRanch]

@@19sloper did you solder it to the existing sensor wire it comes with or? take it apart? and put on the longer one? i think it needs to be coax for sure

[@ThePopypete]

Cleaver Camer Idea 💡

[@19sloper]

Not original with me, of course. Took a lot of experimenting. Fun to fool with.