Web-Slinger is alive!
I have just returned home from an enjoyable 2 hr flight from Tampa to Charleston, SC. 190 mph at 6.3 GPH at 11,000 ft. You really have to love these canards!
I flew down to Tampa on Friday to spend the weekend with Jerry Schneider and witness the birth of his new canard, “Web Slinger”.
What a great experience. Jerry’s cozy has some very unusual and interesting features. It uses an Aero Canard turtle back which significantly increases the headroom (front/back seats) and extended strakes. The belly NACA scoop feeds large tubes which provides air to a down draft cooled engine, oil cooler and the FI system. It has an IO320 with a controllable MT prop, a motorized forward opening canopy, electric nose lift, etc. Overall Web Slinger is a very unique and interesting plane.
Vance was kind enough to fly out from Houston for the test flight. A smart move by Jerry as for the last few years he has spent all his time building. We stood around watched and cheered. A couple of bottles of champagne were opened to commemorate the occasion.
Web Slinger flew very well but ran a bit hot which is a problem that plagues a lot of new planes. Jerry, welcome to the Hot Engine Club. Your new trouble shooting membership will only last for a year or two so have fun while you can!
Vance and I spent the weekend with Jerry and Debbi and I can tell you Jerry was one happy and certifiably crazy guy. Is Elvis alive well? YES, he lives at Debbi’s house! Debbi loves Elvis Presley and she has a well outfitted Elvis Room, so Vance had the pleasure of sleeping with a life sized Elvis watching over him this weekend. Jerry loves Spider Man and wore his SM shirt all weekend (or should that be his S&M shirt?). He hardly had any sleep this past week because he was so jacked up about Saturday’s flight. He told me this morning, he finally had a good nights sleep (which I guess is either the relief of a great first flight or a direct result of all the beer we drank at the Oktoberfest). Thanks Jerry for a great weekend! Folks, if Jerry and Debbi ever offers to visit you, take them up on it! You’ll be in for a crazy good time.
Vance showed me a new free website he is using for flight planning. It is called Nav Monster ( www.navmonster.com ). What a great find! I fly a lot and usually rely on lots of different websites to gather information. By far, this is the best one I have every visited. It actually gathers info from my favorite websites, organizes the data and presents it all on one page. I thought it would be good to share something new with the group. You too might find it useful. Thanks Vance.
Congratulations Jerry!! Your hard work has crafted a unique and different kind of canard. Looking forward to seeing you again at the next fly-in with your new bird.