Spring 2009 - Time to Fly !

[J.Headrick]

All right everyone.

Spring is in the air, and with the exception of some some pretty steady (13G17) winds, we have had some really nice flying weather.

I have about 14 hours in the B2b now, and enjoy it more and more each time I fly it. I have started giving instruction in one, and find that it's really forgiving, as long as you keep the nose pointed somewhat into the wind. I flew with a guy yesterday who has his ratings, but has not flown in along time. The first the he did was climb us up to about 3500AGL. Wow. It's been along time since I've been that high in a helicopter, and with the doors off too!

Anyway, if anyones flying . . . lets hear the stories. I will be checking in here every few days, and updating this thread with all thats going on.

[Ron Spiker]

I've been flying quite a bit now that the weather is improving as well. I have over 15 hours in the last 3 weeks. Most of that is instructing.

[J.Headrick]

Well, the flying yesterday started out great, maybe a little cool, but otherwise perfect.

I had a new student come by and take an intro flight. We flew for a little over an hour, and with the exception of a couple of short rodeo's, he did real well and enjoyed his time. Before it was over-with, he paid for a 10 hour block up front ! !

We have had some problems lately, though. We have had to replace our transponder, and the radio master switch is giving us fits. Other than that, our B2b is flying great. I took the time the other day to wet sand the leading edge of the outer blades to get rid of the rough paint edge that has built up after several re-finshes. Has anybody here re-finished their blades? I am interested in hearing about the process they went through to do this.

Where's everybody at ? I'm sure that someone besides Ron and I are flying right now . . .

Let's hear some stories.

[Ron Spiker]

After today's training I ended up with 21 hours over the last month. Not too bad of a way to start out spring.

[J-nut]

You might check with one of these guys:

IAC
http://www.iac-ltd.com/services.htm
CTI
http://www.rotorblades.com/
RBI
http://rotor-blades.com/

We've used them for years to do blade repair and overhauls. They could give you a good idea on the do's and don'ts. None of them do Brantly blades as far as I know but the blades are fairly typical in their construction.

For my part I'd say stay away from using stripper since you don't want to get any down under the skin and into the foam/adhesive. A good DA sander with no courser than 220 grit, sand just down till the primer shows and a good epoxy propeller paint or equivalent would probably work fine. Watch the heat build-up when sanding. Measure the paint and try, try, try to apply the same amount to each blade. Too much on one blade can make it a bear to balance. I'd verify that with a blade shop first but it's worked well for me with our 500's. Good luck!

[J.Headrick]

Well, it's been a few days since I have checked in, so here's what's going on with us.

We finally have at least one 'full time', comitted student. He has paid up front for some block time, and is real excited to come and fly as much as possible. We have flown several times now and have a number of hours in the books. We usually fly at least twice a day, and I try to break the flights and give him some time in between to absorb whats going on.

We have the Forest Service at our airport too. It been advantageous in getting people interested in flying when you have a SkyCrane and an A-Star flying around.

Hopefully someone else has been flying too, lets hear about it ! ! !

[saxonm]

J. Headrick

Do you instruct out of other area airfields in the metroplex area or just out of Granbury (GDJ) airport? I was thinking of doing a rotorwing add on rating to my private fixed wing ticket. I'm out of Irving and fly out of Grand Prairie (GPM).

Thanks,
Mark

[J.Headrick]

Mark,
I sent you an e-mail with my contact information attached. Contact me when you have time and we can discuss options.


Thanks, John

[J.Headrick]

Ok. Its been awhile (again) since I have checked in and updated whats going on here in Texas.

Well, I've been very busy. We now have several students, and at least one person (who paid block time) who is a rated pilot and wants to rent the helicopter to build time while working towards his comercial.

Our first student is getting close to being ready to solo. He has'nt mastered any one particular maneuver, but is able to muddle his way through them all. We need to clean them up a little, and he'll be there.

The helicopter is flying well. The density altitude has been an issue. As long as I dont try something like an OGE hover, its not to bad. We had an issue with vibrations for awhile. After pulling the outer blades off and cleaning the YEARS of builts up grease out of the cavities in the hinges, then re-greasing, we now have a pretty smooth flying ship.

We flew over to one of the local 'private' airstrips that had a fly-in, and I was surprised to find that everyone was really excited to see a helicopter, and even more surprised to see a Brantly. It took about 45 minutes of spewing Brantly history and details out before I could finally made a break for the concession stands (and the porta potties).

Some of you may have noticed that we picked up dolly for the Brantly from Paul Sehorne, who unfortunatly lost his B2b in Harolds' accident. It is more of an extra set of wheels with an attached towbar. I have only used it once, and it has a few flaws, but they can all be cured with a little . . . southern ingenuity. LOL! seriously, when the tow vehicle accelerates, the helicopter wants to stand up on its tail.

Come on guys, lets get some talk going here . . . .

John

[HELISCAN]

It's great to hear someone out there is flying. I haven't flown in about two weeks. Here in Tennessee we are lucky to get one day a week without rain. Looks like a good day coming on Tuesday, I hope to fly to Madisonville, about 55 miles from CHA.

By the way thanks to Bryan Cobb, the B2B S/N 147, is flying better and SAFER than ever before. It's a good feeling when someone like Bryan does your annual. He goes through the ship like it is his own and goes will beyond the normal annual.

Are there any Brantly Fly-ins coming up this summer?

Dave Mathews

[J.Headrick]

Who would be interested in attending a Fly-in in N.Texas later this summer? I have been toying with the idea of putting together a helicopter fly-in in Granbury Tx. I thought about setting up some friendly helicopter 'competitions', like water ballon drops, auto-to-the-spot, etc etc, and even a few raffles. Local schools, EMS services, Forest Service a/c, and more.

Would any of our fellow Brantly owners fly in for this?

I am testing the water for enthusiasm . . . .

John

[HELISCAN]

Well that would be a great flight. That's 646 miles from TN90. You must be close to Harold Jenkins. I have wanted to do a search and find out where all of the Brantly's are located and then find a site or two that would fit most everyone. Does anyone have this information?

Let me know if you go forward with your fly-in.

Dave

[J.Headrick]

Dave, thanks for throwing in some support. If this does come together, you should take the time to stop by and visit the factory while you are so close. The guys at Brantly are always happy to talk to someone, anyone who shows interest in their helicopters, and would probably enjoy the chance to see one of their ships come 'home', so to speak.


John

[J.Headrick]

Where is everyone?

Well, its been a couple of weeks since my last post. We have been flying every chance we get, which is alot, sometimes, and not much, sometimes.

Yesterday we flew to Waco/McGregor and met up with Brad Bowles and Jerry. Sorry, but his last name is slipping my mind right now. The flight was 74 miles one way for us, and with the headwinds we had it took about an hour and 45 minutes. The flight back was FAST though. With 75-80 indicated, we had a ground speed of (at one time) 123 mph! The local EAA chapter was having a fly-in breakfast so we decided to take advantage of some good food and hot cofee.

Business has slowed a little bit for us for no other reason that everyone is busy with other things right now. All of our full time students (who have money on account) are very busy with work and have not been able to fly because of scheduling conflicts.

Next Saturday there is a fly-in being put on at Cleburne airport (KCPT) and we will be there trying to sell some intro flights for those interested in helicopters. Hopefully we will be able to get a new students or two.

Last week we arranged for some photos to be taken for the Glen Rose Elementary School. They turned out great and have been on the front page of both of the local newspapers. All of the parents inthe area have been begging for copies of it! The kids all had fun, and it was worth every second of time and effort put into it. Both of my daughters were involved, and had a great time telling their friends that it was Daddy flying the helicopter!

Come on someone, lets here some flying stories!

[Brad Bowles]

Had a great time at the pancake breakfast. Here are a couple of the pictures of the Brantly's , John, Shan ,Terry and myself. Terry has a nice B2B also but was unable to fly over this time.