GP Ultimate 1.60 Crash

[jack01]

That SUCKS! That is pretty cool that you actually admitted the real cause though. Alot of guys would have said, "Uh.... My radio went dead or something....."

[JeeUm]

That really sucks. Did you set the incidences on the wings? Because no matter what the manufacturer tells you, they're never correct out of the box. On a biplane it is crucial for them to be set correctly.

[Matt Merciez]

Thanks for all the kind words!. The incidences were not checked, unfortunately I will never know. I do know I will be more carefull next time coming in for a landing and inputing rudder

[TheTank]

My Aeroworks Ultimate 27% Pitch couples like crazy too on high rate elevator. It is a common issue with the smaller ultimates. Sorry for your loss man! And BTW, my ulty will do the same thing if you hit the rudder a little too hard when your slow, likes to roll over on its back big time... Once again, sorry for the loss.

[ilovemetro]

yeah way to heavy of a plane to fly that slow and turn like that, you dipped the wing in and there was nothing you could do about it

[Tired Old Man]

Oh man, that hurt. One thing's for sure, yoiu found out about the roll coupling that goes with large rudder travels on an Ultimate. It takes around 1/2 the rudder on an Ultimate to do serious stuff as it does on a mono wing. It's too bad the education was that expensive. Based on the way the plane was flying it was set up well, and you clearly know how to fly!

Time to get back in the saddle.

[bubbagates]

I know this thread is a bit old. sorry

I have this very same plane at 16lbs on a Brison 3.2. All incedences on mine were zero. I checked and I also checked with GP to see where they were supposed to be and zero is it.

The only wires are very small ones on the tail. Bipes require power to land, it's common among all of them no matter what type it is so forget about trying to float one in, it's simply not gonna happen. Bipes are draggy. He mentioned in another forum that he had mixes all setup and you could see that in the video in his other rudder turns.

He showed this on another forum and I'll say the same thing here that I did there. This was the classic too much rudder at too slow a speed and too low to the ground induced tip stall. In a frame by frame look, you can see the rudder half over with opposite aileron coming in, most likely from the mix. This is a trait of Ultimates. Due to the outer interplane struts, the rudder is hugely effective.

I'm not trying to insult him, it's just a lack of experience in how to fly a bipe. This Ultimate will do anything you can dream up. But it will bite you if landed improperly.

In any case, I commend you for your honesty. Too bad it had to be an expensive lesson

[cloudshaker]

Sorry about the loss dude, I lost a QuiQue on maiden (snapped in) sucks but it's on to the next crash!! Good Luck

[yaks]

i have that plane too ... it doesnt fly like the others ... its a little tricky...

[Tybirddog]

How was your elavator and stab lined up on level flight. Was it level, up or down? Have the same set up and mine is a little unstable in wind. Sorry for loss, looks like radio glitch to me. And you had enough speed. It did not stall. Oh how was the alerion to wing in level flight also?

[dubd]

Wow, this thread is 2 years old. I had the same plane with a DA-50 and it flew great, but it could be unforgiving if not handled with care.

[bodywerks]

Yep, pretty old thread. I did finally finish mine, but it didn't have a BME 55 in it. Still, with careful equipment selection, I got it down to 14.5 pounds with the DA50- makes a HUGE difference in how it flies. Unfortunately, I keep it at my dad's house in California, and I haven't been out there in a while. I only have like 10 flights on it and it's over a year old!
At 14.5 pounds, with a smaller tank (14 ounce) for an even further reduced T/O weight, it is a true floater, and is very forgiving - not sure I would dip the rudder on a slow approach with it, though, and I definitely wouldn't have wanted it any heavier for the type of flying I do with it.

[stommerd27]

I see this thread was brought back to life. My GP ultimate weighs in at 15 pounds 2 ounces. It is a great floater. But to much rudder with a wing tip down will make her snap violently. Very hard to recover from. No chance on a landing.

[Unbalanced]

I lost my beloved GP Ultimate today. Total loss of control. I entered a spin, it locked in and stayed that way all the way into the ground. I couldn't even kill the motor before it went in. I'm not sure why. Everything checked out ok back in the pitts.

Great airplane. I'll miss it.

[eagle1]

my CB Ultimate was like a rock on aproach but I added some tail weight and that seamed to help out alot when it came to landings, went from having throttle to none needed would just float in after adding the tail weight, first one went in after blowing an elevator half off on aproach, second went in doing a rolling circle, stayed in it and would not come out, may have been due to bad setup on ailerons, I soldered a noise trap with no leads, never checked out the cause after the crash