Flying

The Sportsman and GlaStar are docile and feel at home on short back-country strips. The flying techniques shared by others make us better pilots.

first-flight hb-ynd

First Flight or the Thrill of Having a Baby

For each airplane, first flight is only done once. In my mind, it’s the closest builders get to the thrill of having a baby. Amazing...
Tom Flemming's GlaStar on landing. (Photo: Dave Prizio)

Tail-Low Wheel Landings

I have written several times about the long-standing debate over three-point versus wheel landings in tailwheel equipped airplanes. Of course the debate has been...

How I Pranged my Sportsman

It was Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, and I was on a flight from my airport in Richland, WA, direct to Nehalem Bay State at...

Testing the Airspeed Indicator

While flying off your test time, why not check your airspeed gauge? A simple, somewhat accurate way, if you have access to GPS, is...
Stall warning vane

GlaStar Stall Warning

I think a stall warning indicator (SWI) or angle of attack indicator can be an important safety aid if the danger of entering an...

Wolfgang Drahanowski’s GlaStar Flies

After 11 1/2 years of building time, one more Glastar experimental aircraft (OE-VWD #5605) joined the flying fleet on Sunday, January 16 2011, at...

Inadvertent Flap Retraction

On our last fuel stop coming home from our Idaho adventures I was landing on a long runway with breezy conditions at KTKX. Due...
Pilot logbook cover

LODA

Glasair Aviation announced recently that the company received a LODA (Letter of Deviation Authority) to conduct flight training in their experimental aircraft. A LODA authorizes...
Bill Yamokoskis GlaStar in flight.

GlaStar Required Nose-up Trim

This tip was provided by Craig O’Neill , Stoddard-Hamilton. Several folks mentioned having difficulty trimming out the required back pressure at 60 knots down final....
Right rudder, right rudder, right rudder...

Transition Training Challenges

Pilots who haven't started transition training into the Glastar or Sportsman should be prepared to encounter a few challenges that are quite common for...