Unintended Consequences

Talk about airplanes! At last count, there are 39 (and growing) FAA certificated S-LSA (special light sport aircraft). These are factory-built ready to fly airplanes. If you can't afford a factory-built LSA, consider buying an E-LSA kit (experimental LSA - up to 99% complete).

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dstclair
Posts: 1092
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:23 am
Location: Allen, TX

Unintended Consequences

Post by dstclair »

Upon occasion I would hear a squealing sound that was present just behind my head in my Sting S3. It only occurred with airspeeds over 120kts. I did find the spot and could clearly feel air coming in through the canopy seal. Didn't really bother me too much as I didn't fly at this speed often with my old prop. Fast forward to my current configuration with my DUC prop and I was now hitting the "squeal zone" regularly such that it sometimes interfered with radio transmissions, especially when descending. I checked the canopy weatherstripping which was actually in pretty good shape but there was definitely a gap on the semicircle seal running behind me and to the copilot side. I added weatherstripping to the airplane-side of the canopy that mated with the canopy seal and no more squealing. The unfortunate side effect is that the canopy is pretty much 100% sealed and there is no unintended airflow. Flying this summer has reminded me how much I liked the unintended extra vents :D

The S3 does have air scoops that can create quite a bit of airflow so all is not lost :wink: These just create a lot more wind in the canopy vs. the gentle air circulation my leaks used to provide.
dave
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