I have many hours in the IS-28B and I think it's one of the best 2 place
trainers around. I like it because it's affordable, and an honest 2 place,
high performance trainer. It has semi-retractable landing gear so that when
you land it gear up, there's no damage if you don't put it down too hard. I
also like it because of it's spin characteristics. It's an honest spinning
aircraft, meaning that if you aren't paying attention, it WILL fall into a
spin on it's own, like a lot of high performance machines will. I think
this is important in a transition trainer. Having a ship that will spin
accidentally, and doesn't have to be forced into a spin, really teaches you
what you need to know when moving up in performance.


Because of the heavy tail on the Lark, make sure you are pointing in the
direction that you want to be going as your speed drops below 20mph in the
rollout. Once the tail drops, that's the direction you are going to go, and
remember, there's not much break. The more positive flap you leave in, the
longer the tail stays steerable. I usually land with the flaps in the
number 2 position, 10 degrees positive. With them in the 15 degree
position, the glide angle is pretty steep. I go to +15 on final to keep the
landing speed slow and the tail light so that I can steer longer.

I've found that most people tend to let the speed bleed off before they get
low enough as they approach the flair. I think that with the flaps down and
the long wings there is a huge cushioning effect as you approach the ground.
Because of this, many people drop this plane in from about 10 feet and
damage the undercarriage. They do this even after I warn them about it
before hand. You must be very careful to teach pilots new to this aircraft
to be sure and fly it ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FLAIR!!! When you're close to
the ground and you get too slow, it just stops flying and drops to the
ground. Make sure you aren't too high when this happens.

Another thing to watch for is getting the tail too high while rolling,
either on take off, or in most cases, during landing. If pilots are used to
flying in an aircraft with a nose skid or wheel, it's easy to forget this
and scrape the nose badly.

The wings weigh a TON! The trailer that came with our ship is equipped with
a bomb hoist at the wing root to assist with lifting the wing off the
trailer. Don't plan on fetching this great bird out of a field very often.
Keep the wing joints very clean and well lubed, it makes a big difference
with the ease of assembly.

These are really great ships, but they're not 2-33s. Like any higher
performance ship, they require a higher level of skill to fly safely. Give
new pilots a thorough training before letting them solo in it, and be
careful, and you'll have lots of fun with your new acquisition.

--
Gary Boggs
3650 Airport Dr.
Hood River, Oregon, USA
97031-9613
"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
...

"Jack" wrote in message
...
Fellow r.a.s.'ers:

Tell me about the Lark.

I don't yet know which model, but I hear that our club is about to acquire
one.

Should I be ecstatic, or concerned?



Jack