High Flight in Switzerland
by: Robert Schubiger
(Ed Note: Robert is a 16,000 hour
pilot who has just retired from Swissair. As a member of the Swiss Air
Force he flew everything from DH-100 Vampires to F-5Es and PC-9s)
Switzerland is situated in the middle of geographic EUROPE and is surrounded
by GERMANY- AUSTRIA-ITALY-FRANCE and ITALY .It spans roughly 250 times 150
Kilometers and has a size of ca 40000 SQ-KMS . About 40 % of the area are
unproductive mountains , Switzerland has less than 8-millions inhabitants
divided in 4 sectors -the German - Italien - French and Romantsch speaking
parts.
I live in the German speaking part of the country, about 30 Km west of Zuerich
and I fly from a 2000ft airfield called Birrfeld (LSZF). At the moment
we have 4-VEZEs,1-LEZE,and1-Speed Canard operational on our airfield.
All of these are equipped with either hydraulic Hoffmann or electric MT- CS
variable pitch propellers MTV-1-AF which we have operated since 1984 without
any problem. MT certified 1984 with my EZE this pusher prop which significantly
improves takeoff and climb out --. For example : AT 2000ft pres alt - Oat
20°C and max T/O weight - my ground-run is 375m (1080ft) and over a
50ft- obstacle I need 528m (1730ft) .In addition, we have very stringent
noise-certification limits (my EZE s official data is 64.4dba ) which asks for
reduced RPM and an effective muffler .The whole prop assembly (including
spinner) weighs in at ~ 10Kgs. The price is quite healthy :~6500 Euros which
equals today US Dollars.
In Switzerland all space is very rare and therefore expensive- - so is hangar
space-- if you are able and lucky enough to find any! Fortunately I had
the idea to hang YBL under the roof.
The photos below show what it is to fly in the Bernese - Oberland Alps
, the region of the famous EIGER north-slopes where so many climbers
have lost there lives already.
Eigermassiv,
Susten-Pass
Aletsch-glacier
Wellhorn
Technical description of HB-YBL(lemon)
I began to build my EZE 1977 - 1980 first flight - in operation till
1998 - Decision to upgrade with a modern NAV/COM 1998. This decision proved "fatal" as it ended with a completely modernized aircraft and work
for nearly 2 years. .Following details were altered: Carbon
cowlings with a complete redesign of the cooling- inlet and airflow through
the engine
The above photo shows the new shape ( the lower cowl is exactly like the
original ) ; according the air seems to find the correct way as proven by
the data of the EDM 700. So far I have not yet installed an oil - cooler
on my LYC O - 235 C-2-C as in normal europ temperatures Oil-Temp is between 180 -210 ° F. I prefer to operate at the upper limit of OIL-Temp
in order to keep humidity out of the system.
The cockpit was completely altered and I believe it has all the goodies
that are need to have and even most of the nice to have items also.
GPS+Map (Apollo GX - 65 ); EDM-700 ; FF ; Century - AP ; elec trim : elev
+ ailerons (elev - by spring ,ail - by Flettner ( not Flutter ));, elec
NG retr-sys with clutch (if NG is not centered) ; elec fuel indication ; SYS
- Monitor ( RPM-MP-%PWR ) angle of attack indication pneumatic ;
.Transponder ; eng - oil qty indication during operation ; cabin - heat
sys ; Fiberlight instr - lighting , new alcantara interior ; all at no
weight increase compared to first flight 1980 and CG - 10 MM ahead of aft
limit. Dry operating weight (AC without fuel and payload) 750lbs.
I installed a new stick with altered
kinematic (to improve the relation between aileron and elevator
sensitivity (elevator was much too sensitive compared to the ailerons).
Vast improvement in comfort ! So far I have logged 65 hours since
rebuilt without the slightest problem. TT~ 540hs.(for info: one can
reach every part of Switzerland within less than 1 hour !).
Best specific range at 9000ft - PA at 50% PWR is 8.56 Nm/l of fuel with TAS
of 154Mph a RPM=2400 .
At the moment we have 9 VEZEs and 7 LEZEs operational in Switzerland.
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