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Kolb Ultrastar W & B

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John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:17 am Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

| Does anyone know where the CG range lays on a Kolb Ultrastar?

|

| What sort of rates of climb can I expect in the U-star with the 

stock Cuyuna 430 at Max gross weight?

 |

| Ray

Ray:



Got a few minutes while my Pontiac Red Aerothane is catalysing, so 

will give you my impression of the US, or a little bit of it anyhow.



Back in the day, 1984, Homer said you could hang the US from a rafter 

at the main spar carry over tube, sit in the seat, and should be close 

to balancing.



Most of us never went that far.  If the US is built to plans it will 

be within cg.  There was no published cg procedure for the US, during 

that early time period.  Most of us would have only gotten confused.



Climb rate with a ULII02 is quite impressive.  It is happy to climb at 

25 mph max rate which is right on the stall.  What that max rate is, I 

do not know, but it is no slouch.



I have no idea what max gross weight is. I weighed about 180 lbs and 

had  6 and 1 3/4 gal fuel tanks.



It is a good little airplane, but is also early 1980 expertise.  It 

has some weak points, depending on what model of US you have, and has 

disavantages like a lot of other airplanes.  I do not have time to go 

into that now.  Maybe later.  Time to paint.



john h

mk III

_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:44 am Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

| Did you want the climb rate before or after that Cuyuna quits 

Mike B:



I cut my teeth on a Cuyuna ULII02 in 1984.  It was a good engine.  Did 

my first cross country flights from Gantt IAP to Woodville, FL, in 

that Ultrastar and Cuyuna.  Was one of the first UL engines to be 

equipped with CDI ignition.  Was a much better system than the next 

engine I had on the Firestar, a 447 Rotax with magneto and dual 

points.



Have had a lot better luck with the 912 series.  Out of the engines I 

have flown, 912's, two engine outs, both my fault, both contaminated 

fuel.  The 912ULS never stopped running, ever.  Hope this new one will 

be as reliable, and I hope this pilot has learned some hard lessons to 

prevent further engine outs.  hehehe



john h

mkIII

_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

jb92563

Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 314
Location: Southern California

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:17 am Post subject: Re: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

Hi John,



I would be very interested to hear more about the US and its good/bad points when you have time.



Its encouraging to hear that the climb rate is good.



My last Ultralight was a Lazair with about 400 fpm climb.



I recently sold it because I wanted something that could handle a bit more wind(Headway) and stores easily. 



The Lazair cruised at 35 and the winds were typically 10-15 so it took a while to get anywhere....even when staying local.



I figure the US will add at least 10mph to that and have a better rate of climb, plus with the short wings it will feel more sporty due to the roll rate.



I also have a Moni which is great for going farther fast as it cruises at 90mph on 30hp and is of similar span....It's the sportscar/motor glider of the fleet.



Ray

Lake Elsinore, CA

_________________
Ray

Kolb UltraStar (Cuyuna UL-202)
Moni MotorGlider
Schreder HP-11 Glider
Grob 109 Motorglider

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John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:40 pm Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

| I would be very interested to hear more about the US and its 

good/bad points when you have time.

 | Ray

The Ultrastar is a good flying little airplane with a slow roll rate. 

All the Kolbs except the Fire Fly and Sling Shot are slow in roll.  If 

you want one to roll up quickly, get a Pitts.  You are in the wrong 

game.



One improtant thing to remember flying the Kolb is not try to force 

the roll.  Gently move the stick the way you want to go, and it will 

roll.



Weak points of the Ultrastar are:



-Low prop.  Catches a lot of grass, weeds, rocks, or anything else it 

comes across or goes through.



-Homer's belt redrive has a weak prop shaft bearing.  He used caged 

ball bearings.  Double tapered roller bearings would have been much 

better and given the operator a way to set bearing adjustment.



-Has a 5 rib wing which gives good performance and reliability if kept 

withing the flight envelope Homer dicatates.



-Wing will twist around the main spar when aileron input is too great. 

Effectively cancels out input.  No big deal though.  My old buddy that 

flew B-47's in the Air Force said that bad boy did the same thing. 

First time I heard that from him, I cracked up.



Homer designed the Ultrastar for very slow flight.  It does that well. 

It will also fly 85 mph straight and level WOT with a ULII02 and a Jim 

Culver two blade wood prop 50" X 30".



The fuselage is lightweight and it has rigid gear of thin 4130 tubing. 

Easily bent if you drop it in a foot or two, especially if the wings 

are not level and it hits on one gear.



Frequent engine failures in a Kolb will make a damn good pilot at out 

you, especially executing successful forced landings.  In the early 

days, if you flew a lot, you had a lot of forced landings.  I am 

probably way behind the power curve on forced landings now days.



john h

mkIII

_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

jb92563

Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 314
Location: Southern California

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:29 pm Post subject: Re: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

Dead stick landings are routine for me....glider pilot!!!



I don't need aerobatic roll rates......just something that seems responsive instead of sluggish....in any case I hear the US is a lot of fun to fly....and that is the name of the game for me....FUN!



Ray

_________________
Ray

Kolb UltraStar (Cuyuna UL-202)
Moni MotorGlider
Schreder HP-11 Glider
Grob 109 Motorglider

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JetPilot

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1246

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:08 pm Post subject: Re: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

 	  John Hauck wrote: 	
		  



Out of the engines I 

have flown, 912's, two engine outs, both my fault, both contaminated 

fuel.  The 912ULS never stopped running, ever.  Hope this new one will 

be as reliable, and I hope this pilot has learned some hard lessons to 

prevent further engine outs.  hehehe



john h

mkIII 	




Can you tell us more about your fuel contamination with the 912's ?   I would like to avoid that if possible in my 912.



Thanks,

Mike

_________________
"NO FEAR" - If you have no fear you did not go as fast as you could have !!!

Kolb MK-III Xtra, 912-S

John Hauck

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 4639
Location: Titus, Alabama (hauck's holler)

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:23 pm Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

| Dead stick landings are routine for me....glider pilot!!!

 | Ray

Ray:



There is tremendous difference flying an unpowered aircraft and a 

powered one that looses an engine and suddenly becomes unpowered.



john h

mkIII

_________________
John Hauck
MKIII/912ULS
hauck's holler
Titus, Alabama

d-m-hague(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

At 07:29 PM 4/3/2007, jb92563 wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  I don't need aerobatic roll rates......just something that seems 

responsive instead of sluggish....in any case I hear the US is a lot of 

fun to fly....and that is the name of the game for me....FUN!


	


Aw gee, you mean I can't do fast 8 point rolls in my US???



-Dana



do not archive

--

--

The citizens of the United States are getting the government they deserve. 

The problem is that I'm also getting the government they deserve.

mdnanwelch7(at)hotmail.co
Guest

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:46 pm Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

 	  Quote: 	
		  Aw gee, you mean I can't do fast 8 point rolls in my US???



-Dana


	


    Dana, of course you can!!   You can do this manuever ONCE!!  And, oh 

yeah, you have to be completely vertical, pointed down.               Mike 

Welch



_________________________________________________________________

Exercise your brain! Try Flexicon. 

http://games.msn.com/en/flexicon/default.htm?icid=flexicon_hmemailtaglineapril07

worrybear(at)verizon.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

---

jb92563

Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 314
Location: Southern California

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:49 am Post subject: Re: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

My power off experience in powered aircraft is limited to the Lazair(twin engined).



I had one engine die and the other still ran on final....simply shut the other one down to simplify things (yaw ) and proceeded to a normal landing.



Learning to land a power craft unpowered is not much different than a glider.....a higher sink rate and perhaps flare timing due to extra weight are about the only issues and we are taught to handle that in any case.



Its not uncommon for me to be in the landing pattern and go from 800fpm lift (Theres always a thermal in the pattern it seems) to 1200 fpm sink when I need to throw out all the spoilers, flaps and a slip to put it where I want it on the runway.



Some gliders Ive flown are close to 1000 lbs empty, so a glider pilot is trained to accomodate and properly judge the decent rate and pattern for any eventuality, and we always put it down perfect since we can not go round the pattern.



Im fully confident that I could land any sort of aircraft power off and put it right where I want on the runway.



We are also used to putting gliders down in non airport environments, like between  small fields with tall trees, wires and fences.



If a power pilot ever wants to polish your landing skills in dead stick conditions and learn how to put any aircraft right where you want it every time, then you should take some glider training....it will surely make you a better pilot and its fun.



But I digress.....looking forward to my UltraStar flying.



Ray

_________________
Ray

Kolb UltraStar (Cuyuna UL-202)
Moni MotorGlider
Schreder HP-11 Glider
Grob 109 Motorglider

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pj.ladd(at)btinternet.com
Guest

Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:12 pm Post subject: Kolb Ultrastar W & B

Dead stick landings are routine for me....glider pilot!!!>>



Dont get too cocky Ray.  I tried telling that to a Shuttle pilot. Once!



Cheers



Pat



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