Comment

Comment by Ari Hulkkonen on July 26, 2015 at 12:14pm

Thanks for the comments!  The nose mod is pretty cool, I think. It changed the appearance quite a bit and gives proper room for the engine without any "bumps" in the hood. But it would not work without the raised roof - at least not that high, the dash is now about 10cm higher than the original.

The only "drawback" or surprise noticed so far is the quite different view from the cockpit which resets the feel-of-the-pants. As the pilot's line of sight is now just above the hood the nose appears to be much lower than it actually is. Thus, you end up pulling the stick too much. But after a few tens of take-offs and landings and a few hours of flying you get fully used to it. 

I don't think there is any real difference in the flying characteristics but I can tell there is less buffeting on the roof than before although the lower part of the windshield does not fit smoothly.

The windshield was cut a bit too short at the front centre, it was difficult to estimate the actual shape when bent over the nose. But now we know and the next one is going to be perfect :)..This one is standard soft lexan so it will be replaced soon in any case. It's difficult to get hard coated polycarbonate here thin enough, 3mm is available but its too heavy and hard to work on. Acrylic is ok if you manage to fabricate the windshield without cracks.. You can't just bend it like polycarbonate and it seems a little bit too much of heating makes it fragile.

Comment by Walt Snyder on July 25, 2015 at 6:17pm

Love these shots, appreciate all of them.

Walt Snyder

Comment by Bob McDonald on July 21, 2015 at 12:43pm

Great looking nose.. and aircraft