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Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 4:49 pm
by counsellj
I had a good day of exploring a few sandbars in the PNW this week. I played with everything from the smoothest sandbar I have ever seen, to the roughest that I would ever want to put a -170 without bush wheels into. All of this was flown with a stock O-300, 80-46 prop, light fuel load and 20 lbs of "contingency" gear in the baggage area. SL/60 degrees, so pretty much a Standard Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRqFsOxowD8

This is landing the medium smooth bar, it is 850' long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzTQkrI3y2Q

In this video I'm chasing my flying partner during his takeoff run.

https://www.facebook.com/jon.counsell/v ... cation=ufi

Departing the same sandbar. It is easy to depart either direction. On this departure you don't have to go directly over the trees, but I opted to for fun/practice/experience.

This is the taj mahal of river bars in WA. Long, over 1500', smooth and straight. It is soo big there are many options one can make to adjust it's difficulty. Again, bi-directional. We call it DOGLEG.

https://vimeo.com/168150126

This last sandbar I post to show the limits of what I would consider doable with 8X6's, -180 gear. I WON'T go back to this bar again.

https://vimeo.com/168150417

https://vimeo.com/168150281

https://vimeo.com/168150418

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 12:58 pm
by jmurtap
Nice flights! I'm curious as to your numbers with the 80/46. Most of what I've read about has been a 40 or 42 pitch. After my last back country trip into Arkansas. I've decided to not go back country again until I have a climb prop. From what I've read the 80" is the way to go, 46 pitch is the most aggressive I've heard anyone running on our stock engines.

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 2:13 pm
by counsellj
jmurtap wrote:Nice flights! I'm curious as to your numbers with the 80/46. Most of what I've read about has been a 40 or 42 pitch. After my last back country trip into Arkansas. I've decided to not go back country again until I have a climb prop. From what I've read the 80" is the way to go, 46 pitch is the most aggressive I've heard anyone running on our stock engines.
JMURTAP

Bottomline: I LOVE IT. My other prop is a 75/55. The 80/46 seems to be a great compromise. It gives me another 250-300FPM climb, definitely lets me use all the RPMs and still allows me to cruise at 100MPH indicated. Even on cross-country flights I prefer it, because it allows one to climb much more effectively to take advantage of winds, thermals, etc.

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 2:25 pm
by jmurtap
Sounds great to me, take off rpm I guess is what I was most curious about with that pitch. Now to find one a good used one. It seems they are not easy to come across.
Thank You,
-Jason

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 2:47 pm
by counsellj
Jason, I'll get you takeoff RPM numbers when I get home. I will have to film the tach/airspeed indicators to get you accurate numbers. Things happen fast enough, I can't really closely watch them in relation to each other.

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 3:02 pm
by jmurtap
You answered my question, to all I need to know. Plenty of rpms, and 100 in cruise. While I'm not super excited to loose 25mph off the top end. I can't wait to see more rpms on take off.

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 4:07 pm
by counsellj
I would expect you will lose 10-15. That is what I lost. Mine was never as fast as yours

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 4:12 pm
by DaveF
counsellj wrote:Things happen fast enough, I can't really closely watch them in relation to each other.
As fast as in an F-15? Shows how fast those BLUE 170s are! :lol:

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 5:03 pm
by hilltop170
Very cool Jughead! Nice job!

Re: Washington Sandbar Play

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 5:13 am
by flyingredyeti
Beautiful footage in the last video. I love the climb out over the bridges. Thanks for sharing all of those.