Newbie, Pik-20B owner

[BMiles]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to single-seat ownership, and recently bought a 1976 Pik-20B as my entry.

Lots of questions as I embark on this, but so far I love the aircraft.

Warning: Potentially overly wordy post follows.

Quick background, I got my glider rating way back in the early 1990s at Cal City, but soon moved back East and things stalled up until recently. In the meantime I got my power rating and our family owns a plain vanilla Cherokee. A local (CT) club was not working out but reorganized in the last few years, and has great energy now. I had flown one of its 2-33's over the years maybe ten times.

I just kind of forced it this year, casual shopping turned into conversations with an owner out west, then plans to look at a ship, then holy cow I need some intensive re-training, so then a week at Williams, then Minden to inspect the aircraft, cockpit checkout, fly it, then trailer back to Northeast a couple weeks ago. Settled in with new club, and have flown it a couple times so far.

A great adventure and somehow it all worked out, and now I realize what a newbie I am to ownership and ops. Tons of things I want to figure out, but here are the top few at the moment. Any and all input appreciated.

Headrest.  The ship does not have the original head rest which I hear may have been an adjustable tube-in-tube assembly that attaches to the fuse above and behind the pilot. There was a custom head rest for the previous owner, who is smaller, and it had to be removed to fit me.  Looking for pictures, drawings, ideas. Flying without one may work, I haven't spent enough time in it yet to know.

Landing. This is my first tail-dragger (first a lot of things.. retractable gear, flaps..). Would love to hear opinions on technique from short final to full stoppage of the rollout. I have a tendency so far to delay raising flaps until later than I should, losing aileron effectiveness and directional control too early in the rollout I think. I have been avoiding landing on our paved runway(s) so far due to runway lights on their edges, since we have nice grass options alongside. 

Oudie2 and Helios vario.  There is an Oudie 2 and LXNav Helios vario, both work fine, but not currently connected to each other. There is a harness from the Oudie 2 to power it from the ship's main bus, and the harness also has an unplugged RJ45. The Helios has an RJ45 CAN bus receptacle. Wondering if the vario could be connected to the Oudie's harness, with the existing harness, or another if a different pinout is needed. Would it be worth it? I have heard that vario data makes "thermaling assistant" work better then the Oudie's GPS data.

Parachute. This particular deal did not include a parachute. I'm a long way from worrying about competition, but I am leaning toward getting one. The expense is not particularly attractive at the moment.  Maybe I need the group to convince me, or maybe I want to be convinced.. I borrowed one in Minden, and I think anything I get cannot have the seat portion, only the back portion, so I'll fit.

A couple pics attached, hope they make it..

Thank for tolerating the lengthy post,

Bill in CT

[Lawrence Mitchell]

Hi Bill,

I'm also a new PIK-20 owner.  I bought the PIK-20D that sold in Minden just before you must have purchased the B.  I didn't look at the B, but I heard it was in great shape!

I went out to the club hangar today to work on my PIK, and I took a few photos of the headrest for you.  I have had the headrest cushion replaced recently, but I think the hardware is the same as what came originally.  You're correct in that the headrest is a hinged plate attached to a tube with adjustment holes in it.  The holes catch on the peg protruding from the horizontal tube behind the pilot.  The design allows easy adjustment, even in flight.  As you can see, adjustment is only forward and backward, not up and down.  If you manage to find a metal fabricator who can replicate the design, I recommend it.  I'd be happy to take measurements next week if that would be helpful.  I'm sure my cushion guy would be happy to make another version of the leather headrest for you if you get that far.

Take this for what it worth, coming from a new PIK owner.  For landing, I don't mess with the flaps.  I don't set the full down configuration either, so that might be why I don't notice any trouble with aileron control. I did have some gnarly crosswinds when I flew in Minden, but my issues were related to pitch control more than roll control.  I'd recommend messing around with it on the grass runway (once your brain catches up to the landings, obviously) before you transition to the paved runway.  Regardless, you should have plenty of rudder control to avoid the runway edges, assuming there is a normal amount of left-right clearance. 

Can't speak to the Oudie.  I'm still rocking the Cambridge 302!

Regarding a parachute...worth the investment.  I did have cushions made for the PIK so that I wouldn't have to wear it on every flight.  As a rule, I use the parachute anytime I plan to go outside of gliding distance from an airport, or if I'm going to be operating in an area with multiple gliders and we are all going to be hanging out at cloudbase.

Welcome to the PIK Club!

Larry M

[Coyne Publishing]

Larry,

Thanks for posting the photos of your headrest assembly. My 20D has a similar set up, but instead of the metal ‘hoop’ and ‘pin’ to locate the headrest brace, mine has a clamp on the cross-tube, with a vertical, threaded screw instead of the pin shown in your photo. A threaded nut is used to capture the brace in place. It does not work all that smoothly, and there is no way to make an adjustment in flight. So, I would appreciate the measurements as you have offered. (I’d also send photos, but my glider is not nearby for a photo op.)

Cheers,

Chuck Coyne

PIK 20D 

On Sep 5, 2021, at 8:05 PM, Lawrence Mitchell <larm...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Bill,

I'm also a new PIK-20 owner.  I bought the PIK-20D that sold in Minden just before you must have purchased the B.  I didn't look at the B, but I heard it was in great shape!

I went out to the club hangar today to work on my PIK, and I took a few photos of the headrest for you.  I have had the headrest cushion replaced recently, but I think the hardware is the same as what came originally.  You're correct in that the headrest is a hinged plate attached to a tube with adjustment holes in it.  The holes catch on the peg protruding from the horizontal tube behind the pilot.  The design allows easy adjustment, even in flight.  As you can see, adjustment is only forward and backward, not up and down.  If you manage to find a metal fabricator who can replicate the design, I recommend it.  I'd be happy to take measurements next week if that would be helpful.  I'm sure my cushion guy would be happy to make another version of the leather headrest for you if you get that far.

Take this for what it worth, coming from a new PIK owner.  For landing, I don't mess with the flaps.  I don't set the full down configuration either, so that might be why I don't notice any trouble with aileron control. I did have some gnarly crosswinds when I flew in Minden, but my issues were related to pitch control more than roll control.  I'd recommend messing around with it on the grass runway (once your brain catches up to the landings, obviously) before you transition to the paved runway.  Regardless, you should have plenty of rudder control to avoid the runway edges, assuming there is a normal amount of left-right clearance. 

Can't speak to the Oudie.  I'm still rocking the Cambridge 302!

Regarding a parachute...worth the investment.  I did have cushions made for the PIK so that I wouldn't have to wear it on every flight.  As a rule, I use the parachute anytime I plan to go outside of gliding distance from an airport, or if I'm going to be operating in an area with multiple gliders and we are all going to be hanging out at cloudbase.

Welcome to the PIK Club!

Larry M

<Seat3.jpg><Seat4.jpg><Seat5.jpg><Seat6.jpg><Seat1.jpg><Seat2.jpg>

On Tuesday, August 31, 2021 at 10:14:31 AM UTC-5 BMiles wrote:

Hi everyone,

I'm new to single-seat ownership, and recently bought a 1976 Pik-20B as my entry.

Lots of questions as I embark on this, but so far I love the aircraft.

Warning: Potentially overly wordy post follows.

Quick background, I got my glider rating way back in the early 1990s at Cal City, but soon moved back East and things stalled up until recently. In the meantime I got my power rating and our family owns a plain vanilla Cherokee. A local (CT) club was not working out but reorganized in the last few years, and has great energy now. I had flown one of its 2-33's over the years maybe ten times.

I just kind of forced it this year, casual shopping turned into conversations with an owner out west, then plans to look at a ship, then holy cow I need some intensive re-training, so then a week at Williams, then Minden to inspect the aircraft, cockpit checkout, fly it, then trailer back to Northeast a couple weeks ago. Settled in with new club, and have flown it a couple times so far.

A great adventure and somehow it all worked out, and now I realize what a newbie I am to ownership and ops. Tons of things I want to figure out, but here are the top few at the moment. Any and all input appreciated.

Headrest.  The ship does not have the original head rest which I hear may have been an adjustable tube-in-tube assembly that attaches to the fuse above and behind the pilot. There was a custom head rest for the previous owner, who is smaller, and it had to be removed to fit me.  Looking for pictures, drawings, ideas. Flying without one may work, I haven't spent enough time in it yet to know.

Landing. This is my first tail-dragger (first a lot of things.. retractable gear, flaps..). Would love to hear opinions on technique from short final to full stoppage of the rollout. I have a tendency so far to delay raising flaps until later than I should, losing aileron effectiveness and directional control too early in the rollout I think. I have been avoiding landing on our paved runway(s) so far due to runway lights on their edges, since we have nice grass options alongside. 

Oudie2 and Helios vario.  There is an Oudie 2 and LXNav Helios vario, both work fine, but not currently connected to each other. There is a harness from the Oudie 2 to power it from the ship's main bus, and the harness also has an unplugged RJ45. The Helios has an RJ45 CAN bus receptacle. Wondering if the vario could be connected to the Oudie's harness, with the existing harness, or another if a different pinout is needed. Would it be worth it? I have heard that vario data makes "thermaling assistant" work better then the Oudie's GPS data.

Parachute. This particular deal did not include a parachute. I'm a long way from worrying about competition, but I am leaning toward getting one. The expense is not particularly attractive at the moment.  Maybe I need the group to convince me, or maybe I want to be convinced.. I borrowed one in Minden, and I think anything I get cannot have the seat portion, only the back portion, so I'll fit.

A couple pics attached, hope they make it..

Thank for tolerating the lengthy post,

Bill in CT

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[austinswill]

Welcome to the PIK club!

I can give my two pennies on landing the tail dragger...  dont be afraid for the tailwheel to touch first. Obviously you dont want to jab it in super hard, but it being the first wheel on is a good thing.  If you are still fast enough to touch the main first, what tends to happen is that the tail drops, which pitches you up and you can bounce.  So hold it off until that tailwheel touches, then you know right where the ground is and the nose will come down, decreasing angle if attack and a bounce is unlikely unless your verticle descent rate was reallly high... full spoiler and then go full negative on the flaps... this will give you good aileron control till very low speeds or even 0 in a 10mph headwind.

On the chute... I see it the same as a fire extinguisher or a gun... if you have it but dont need it, well everything is fine... if you need it and dont have it... the money you saved by not getting it may be the last regret you ever have.

I have flown my glider with no chute, but when doing that I do not share thermals with other gliders.  That to me is not worth the risk.  Gaggling is something we do in these ships that makes us different than the rest of GA.  

Cheers

Austin

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[Lawrence Mitchell]

Hi Chuck,

No problem.  I'm headed out to the hangar this weekend.  I'll bring along my tape and take some measurements.  More next week.

Larry

[Lawrence Mitchell]

Chuck, here you go.  Let me know if there is another one you want.

Larry

On Wednesday, September 8, 2021 at 2:35:20 PM UTC-5 Chuck Coyne wrote:

[BMiles]

Larry, thanks for the pics, and Chuck, for following up on Larry's info, which further helped. I will probably have to fabricate something in the spirit of this design.

And thanks Austin for the confirmation on the landing technique. I fly a Piper Cherokee a couple times per week, which has subconsciously made me reluctant to flare as low as I should in the Pik, so I've been getting minor bouncing even if I hold it off until minimal energy. And my weekly time in the Pik has also caused me to flare a little lower in the Cherokee than I should :) Thankfully all of this is in the inches, rather than feet, domain..

Sorry for the delayed reply, to all. Thanks again.
Bill