Replacing the MKIV yaw string - tips

On Thursday, December 6, 2012 8:46:53 AM UTC-8, AGL wrote:


How can I calibrate it to warn about air pockets? There're everywhere!

Dear AGL,

The MKIV comes factory calibrated for air pockets and no further adjustment should be necessary.* The MKIV will indicate the presence of a significant air pocket (at least the ones we have around here) by pointing straight up.

Assuming your head has not punched a hole in the canopy, air pocket recovery will be reliably indicated by the MKIV yarn coiling neatly around the base in a counter-clockwise direction - - watch for it as this moment will be fleeting.

*Unfortunately there is a little bit of hysteresis error that we have not been able to correct for.

bumper

Several of our customers have written asking, "What's up with all this blue flame stuff? I thought I was experiencing the rapture.".

At no extra charge, all MKIV "high tech" yaw strings are designed to cleverly "self-illuminate" using luminous plasma (St. Elmo's Fire) for better visibility during exceedingly adverse soaring conditions while flying in and near thunderstorms - - when you need it most.

MKIV's are in use on all continents save Anartica. To remedy this troubling lapse in our world coverage, the first three Antartican glider owners who contact me will get a free MKIV. (Optional propylene glycol treatment available, just pay shipping and handling).

bumper
zz
Minden, NV

I can't believe that the topic of MKIV winter maintenance has gotten no
coverage.

We all know that you have to run an aircraft engine once in a while if
the aircraft is not flown to get rid of acids forming in the crank case
- or whatever. Surely something must be done to the MKIV during the long
winter months in order to keep it performing in top condition.

Every couple of weeks, I pull the fuselage out of the trailer and blow
air from a hair drier (at the *cool* setting) over the MKIV, but wonder
if this is sufficient to maintain optimal performance. Your expert
advice on this subject is requested.

Tony "6N"
P.S. I do *not* simulate tail slides with the hair drier

I'm glad this discussion came back up, I love the MKIV (though club mates enjoy making fun of BUYING a yaw string, ha) Anyway.... I love it so much I have to ask: Is there any advantage to installing one inside the canopy as well? (I though I heard of a near 10% performance gain from such) Also, would my internal turbulators cause any interference?

JP

On Monday, December 31, 2012 10:15:38 AM UTC-5, Jp Stewart wrote:
I'm glad this discussion came back up, I love the MKIV (though club mates enjoy making fun of BUYING a yaw string, ha) Anyway.... I love it so much I have to ask: Is there any advantage to installing one inside the canopy as well? (I though I heard of a near 10% performance gain from such) Also, would my internal turbulators cause any interference?



JP

Now we're on to something! The inside the canopy model would be an "inertial" yaw detector. Just connect some wires to your flight computer and it would show every movement you make. If it hangs straight down, you've just landed out. And the internal turbulators would be obsolete. This is real progress.

Mark

Hi gang,

I brought one of the Mk. IV's back from SoaringNV this spring, and has used
it on my DG600 in Europe since then, with substantial performance gains, I
might add.
It has gathered crowds everywhere I went, both in my native Denmark and in
the French Alps. The interest seems to be there, so the question is: Bumper,
does any of your R&D divisions have plans for a metric version? I'm sure it
would be an instant hit.

Happy New Year to all,
Lars Peder


"Tony V" wrote in message
...

I can't believe that the topic of MKIV winter maintenance has gotten no
coverage.

We all know that you have to run an aircraft engine once in a while if the
aircraft is not flown to get rid of acids forming in the crank case - or
whatever. Surely something must be done to the MKIV during the long winter
months in order to keep it performing in top condition.

Every couple of weeks, I pull the fuselage out of the trailer and blow air
from a hair drier (at the *cool* setting) over the MKIV, but wonder if
this is sufficient to maintain optimal performance. Your expert advice on
this subject is requested.

Tony "6N"
P.S. I do *not* simulate tail slides with the hair drier

On Monday, December 31, 2012 6:58:37 AM UTC-8, Tony V wrote:
I can't believe that the topic of MKIV winter maintenance has gotten no

coverage.


Every couple of weeks, I pull the fuselage out of the trailer and blow

air from a hair drier (at the *cool* setting) over the MKIV, but wonder

if this is sufficient to maintain optimal performance. Your expert

advice on this subject is requested.


Tony "6N"

Tony, great idea, but suggest the hair dryer on warm setting to better emulate tropic climes. MKIV's are resilient but susceptable to the winter blues if not flown often enough.

Jp, with sugarplums dancing, we headed for the lab to see if an "inside-the-cockpit" MKIV would be advantageous (and increase sales!). Unfortunately, MKIV's are sensitive little guys and easily confused. With two in close proximity, but in widely diverse environments, both got more confused than the pilot. I'm sure the turbultors would only make matters worse - - definitely not recommended.

Lars, thanks for the kind words, but your "metric model" idea stinks. It's hard enough grabbing the right wrench with two draws full of SAE and Metric stuff. If I came out with a Metric MKIV, next thing you know there'd be clamoring for a Whitworth version and who knows what else.

Having said that, I'll attempt to be reasonable and still keep things simple. I'm ceasing production of the English SAE version of the MKIV. Starting New Year's day, I will only make the metric version - - this should dramatically raise the bar for soaring performance in Europe and 3rd world countries. The SAE version will doubtless become a collector's item and much sought in the USA - - get'um while you still can.

bumper
zz

I haven't been following this "thread" (pun intended) too closely so
forgive me if this has already been covered, but I am wondering if you have
thought of supplying left-handed MKIV's sometime soon. Us lefties have
enough barriers to overcome as it is - maybe if we had one less thing to
worry about...


At 18:41 31 December 2012, bumper wrote:
On Monday, December 31, 2012 6:58:37 AM UTC-8, Tony V wrote:
I can't believe that the topic of MKIV winter maintenance has gotten
no=
=20
=20
coverage.
=20
=20
Every couple of weeks, I pull the fuselage out of the trailer and
blow=20
=20
air from a hair drier (at the *cool* setting) over the MKIV, but
wonder=
=20
=20
if this is sufficient to maintain optimal performance. Your expert=20
=20
advice on this subject is requested.
=20
=20
Tony "6N"

Tony, great idea, but suggest the hair dryer on warm setting to better
emul=
ate tropic climes. MKIV's are resilient but susceptable to the winter
blues=
if not flown often enough.

Jp, with sugarplums dancing, we headed for the lab to see if an
"inside-the=
-cockpit" MKIV would be advantageous (and increase sales!).
Unfortunately,
=
MKIV's are sensitive little guys and easily confused. With two in close
pro=
ximity, but in widely diverse environments, both got more confused than
the=
pilot. I'm sure the turbultors would only make matters worse - -
definitel=
y not recommended.=20

Lars, thanks for the kind words, but your "metric model" idea stinks.
It's
=
hard enough grabbing the right wrench with two draws full of SAE and
Metric=
stuff. If I came out with a Metric MKIV, next thing you know there'd be
cl=
amoring for a Whitworth version and who knows what else.=20

Having said that, I'll attempt to be reasonable and still keep things
simpl=
e. I'm ceasing production of the English SAE version of the MKIV.
Starting
=
New Year's day, I will only make the metric version - - this should
dramati=
cally raise the bar for soaring performance in Europe and 3rd world
countri=
es. The SAE version will doubtless become a collector's item and much
sough=
t in the USA - - get'um while you still can.

bumper
zz

And, how about a reduced cost back seat repeater model for the two seater trainers out there...

On Monday, December 31, 2012 8:17:28 PM UTC-6, Jim Britton wrote:
I haven't been following this "thread" (pun intended) too closely so

forgive me if this has already been covered, but I am wondering if you have

thought of supplying left-handed MKIV's sometime soon. Us lefties have

enough barriers to overcome as it is - maybe if we had one less thing to

worry about...





At 18:41 31 December 2012, bumper wrote:

On Monday, December 31, 2012 6:58:37 AM UTC-8, Tony V wrote:

I can't believe that the topic of MKIV winter maintenance has gotten

no=

=20

=20

coverage.

=20

=20

Every couple of weeks, I pull the fuselage out of the trailer and

blow=20

=20

air from a hair drier (at the *cool* setting) over the MKIV, but

wonder=

=20

=20

if this is sufficient to maintain optimal performance. Your expert=20

=20

advice on this subject is requested.

=20

=20

Tony "6N"



Tony, great idea, but suggest the hair dryer on warm setting to better

emul=

ate tropic climes. MKIV's are resilient but susceptable to the winter

blues=

if not flown often enough.



Jp, with sugarplums dancing, we headed for the lab to see if an

"inside-the=

-cockpit" MKIV would be advantageous (and increase sales!).

Unfortunately,

=

MKIV's are sensitive little guys and easily confused. With two in close

pro=

ximity, but in widely diverse environments, both got more confused than

the=

pilot. I'm sure the turbultors would only make matters worse - -

definitel=

y not recommended.=20



Lars, thanks for the kind words, but your "metric model" idea stinks.

It's

=

hard enough grabbing the right wrench with two draws full of SAE and

Metric=

stuff. If I came out with a Metric MKIV, next thing you know there'd be

cl=

amoring for a Whitworth version and who knows what else.=20



Having said that, I'll attempt to be reasonable and still keep things

simpl=

e. I'm ceasing production of the English SAE version of the MKIV.

Starting

=

New Year's day, I will only make the metric version - - this should

dramati=

cally raise the bar for soaring performance in Europe and 3rd world

countri=

es. The SAE version will doubtless become a collector's item and much

sough=

t in the USA - - get'um while you still can.



bumper

zz

On Monday, December 31, 2012 7:43:37 PM UTC-8, wrote:
And, how about a reduced cost back seat repeater model for the two seater trainers out there...


resi,

We considered that, but concluded it would be much safer to have full redundancy with two individual MKIV's. They will almost always "sync up" just like magic, then continuously update each other so they stay in step . . . it's really quite amazing. Plus with two you get a free thermal centering/emergency tornadic condition indicator. If the front MKIV is pointing off to one side, and the rear MKIV is to the opposite side, you are either in a tornado or have accurately centered one of our strong Minden thermals.

Beta testing is almost finished on our Student Harassment Instructor Training verion of the MKIV. It comes with a handy remote giving the instructor complete control of the MKIV SH&T (e.g. the harassed student can be standing on the left rudder pedal and the MKIV will still be hanging way off to the right). Great fun for bored instructors.

bumper