Any AC-4/5 “Russia� owners out there?

On Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 10:00:41 PM UTC-4, Jim M wrote:
On Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 6:06:58 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 1:30:14 PM UTC-4, Jim M wrote:
I’m a new owner looking for some tips and tricks. Here’s a couple of questions for starters:

-What breaks first, and how do I fix it before that happens?
-Is there an easy way to replace the main wheel/brake with something better?
-I have two pitot sources, why?

Thanks!

Jim
Welcome to Russia-flying. Lotsa' fun to fly and easy to rig. (Other than taping the wing root fairings.)

If yours has the S-turns in the rudder cables, for the adjustment for different leg lengths, watch out, the cable tends to wear out there. On my glider it was replaced with straight cables.

The wheel brake on mine has little effect. I improved it a bit by tightening the cable. I think the next step will be to add shims onto the pin around which the brake shoes rotate. A thicker cable may help too, if it stretches less. I've also been told that the Black Forest Soaring Society fitted a disc brake on their Russia.

There was a Yahoo Group for Russia sailplanes, it moved to some other service when Yahoo pulled the plug, I forget where?

I do have the s-tubes, I’ll keep an eye on it. I have the fairing kit but it looks like a headache, I was planning on skipping it. A disc brake sounds perfect, I’ll try to contact the BFSS. I couldn’t find the Yahoo group anymore, I figured this was the place for the latest scoop. Thanks for the help.

I've flown my AC4a #003 without the fairings a couple of times, and with the fairings for years, and I can tell you it is well worth using them despite the taping hassle. Dick Johnson measured significantly higher glide ratio with his crude cardboard fairings, which prompted the factory to add their fairings to the gliders sold. And my experience is that you can thermal several knots slower with the fairings, which is just as important as the glide ratio.

Fun gliders they are. I flew mine almost 300km today - a super day very late in the season for here in Vermont. And several 300km flights in the past, including an official FAI triangle, and 3 state records. Tony Burton flew his Russia 500km in Alberta, and Derek Piggott flew a 500km contest task in a Russia (called Me-7 over there) - in English conditions, at age 81!

On Sunday, September 20, 2020 at 8:09:31 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 10:00:41 PM UTC-4, Jim M wrote:
On Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 6:06:58 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 1:30:14 PM UTC-4, Jim M wrote:
I’m a new owner looking for some tips and tricks. Here’s a couple of questions for starters:

-What breaks first, and how do I fix it before that happens?
-Is there an easy way to replace the main wheel/brake with something better?
-I have two pitot sources, why?

Thanks!

Jim
Welcome to Russia-flying. Lotsa' fun to fly and easy to rig. (Other than taping the wing root fairings.)

If yours has the S-turns in the rudder cables, for the adjustment for different leg lengths, watch out, the cable tends to wear out there. On my glider it was replaced with straight cables.

The wheel brake on mine has little effect. I improved it a bit by tightening the cable. I think the next step will be to add shims onto the pin around which the brake shoes rotate. A thicker cable may help too, if it stretches less. I've also been told that the Black Forest Soaring Society fitted a disc brake on their Russia.

There was a Yahoo Group for Russia sailplanes, it moved to some other service when Yahoo pulled the plug, I forget where?

I do have the s-tubes, I’ll keep an eye on it. I have the fairing kit but it looks like a headache, I was planning on skipping it. A disc brake sounds perfect, I’ll try to contact the BFSS. I couldn’t find the Yahoo group anymore, I figured this was the place for the latest scoop. Thanks for the help.
I've flown my AC4a #003 without the fairings a couple of times, and with the fairings for years, and I can tell you it is well worth using them despite the taping hassle. Dick Johnson measured significantly higher glide ratio with his crude cardboard fairings, which prompted the factory to add their fairings to the gliders sold. And my experience is that you can thermal several knots slower with the fairings, which is just as important as the glide ratio.

Fun gliders they are. I flew mine almost 300km today - a super day very late in the season for here in Vermont. And several 300km flights in the past, including an official FAI triangle, and 3 state records. Tony Burton flew his Russia 500km in Alberta, and Derek Piggott flew a 500km contest task in a Russia (called Me-7 over there) - in English conditions, at age 81!

Good to know, thanks for the tip. That sounds like a great flight and I bet the fall colors made it that much better. I found a low-time -5M that needs a little work, but I hope to be flying soon.

Jim