Curtiss over NAS Pensacola

[Baldeagle]

The Curtiss crew had a great time at NAS Pensacola for the Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow, and on Sunday there were a couple of A2A photo shoots with Otto the Helicopter as photo ship. Roger Buis is pretty good at it (big understatement), at one point while Bob was flying Roger flew backwards next to him to put the cameraman at the right angle for the light-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xFULC-k ... e=youtu.be

The Curtiss is staying in the Museum at Pensacola for the winter, and then next spring will go to Sun 'N' Fun.




-

Last edited by Baldeagle on Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Dave Hadfield]

I was going to say that the airplane looks quite controllable, and that it seems to fly well, but perhaps the pilot is tuned-in and is making it look easy.

There doesn't seem to be enough fin area, plus there's a forward fin surface... unstable in yaw? Busy feet?

Dave

[airknocker]

Love the video! It would be interesting to see the reaction of locals on the ground as Bob cruised by, after the Blue Angels it appeared as a "Twilight Zone" moment.

[JOMiller]

Trust me...........as a "local"...... it was like cheering
at a high school football game. There is over an hour
of video "in the can" of the Curtiss flying that weekend.


The pusher resides in NNAM behind the NC-4 where
she will remain until next spring. A highlight reel of
the aerial action will soon be running on a kiosk
beside her.

Come see this marvelous replica...................

[Baldeagle]

I was going to say that the airplane looks quite controllable, and that it seems to fly well, but perhaps the pilot is tuned-in and is making it look easy.

There doesn't seem to be enough fin area, plus there's a forward fin surface... unstable in yaw? Busy feet?

Dave

Yaw is actually the most "normal" part of flying the Curtiss, although while it doesn't tend to hunt directionally it will happily fly sideways with a little rudder input. Ailerons are heavy and slow, and pitch is the big factor. It's very unstable in pitch, front elevator is way overbalanced (hinge point too far aft), and there is no feedback, it feels like the controls aren't hooked up to anything in pitch. It's pretty CG critical also, and flies best with me since I'm the heaviest, about 30 lbs heavier than Bob. You can actually tell in the video, the first part over the NAS is me, the part over the harbor is Bob, and you can see him working harder to control pitch. Our 3rd pilot, Mark Holliday, is another 30 lbs. lighter than Bob, and wears a scuba diver's weight belt when he flies the Curtiss.




-