"Where never Lark nor Eagle Flew...."

[Jack]

Fellow r.a.s.'ers:

Tell me about the Lark.

I don't yet know which model, but I hear that our club is about to acquire
one.

Should I be ecstatic, or concerned?



Jack

[BTIZ]

Lark.. IS28B2.. heavy metal.. has a calendar life limit but possible to
extend beyond with inspections and parts replacements.. don't know the
details..

heavy to move around on ground.. if you are on grass.. hard to manually move
flies great..

BT

"Jack" > wrote in message
...
> Fellow r.a.s.'ers:
>
> Tell me about the Lark.
>
> I don't yet know which model, but I hear that our club is about to acquire
> one.
>
> Should I be ecstatic, or concerned?
>
>
>
> Jack
>

[Bill Daniels]

"Jack" > wrote in message
...
> Fellow r.a.s.'ers:
>
> Tell me about the Lark.
>
> I don't yet know which model, but I hear that our club is about to acquire
> one.
>
> Should I be ecstatic, or concerned?
>
>
>
> Jack

The following assumes your club is getting an IS28 b2.

I owned an IS28 b2 Lark (two seater) for several years. It was a fine
glider. I found it would soar with the best of the 17 meter glass two
seaters and out-run all of them. The negative flaps really work well at
high speeds. I could circle at 45 knots and 54 degree bank at gross weight
using 5 or 10 degrees of positive flap. Mine was equipped with 50 pounds of
oxygen gear but still had 390 pounds of useful load.

It was intended as an advanced trainer so better than average flying skills
are required. On the other hand, I felt totally prepared for my first
flight in a Nimbus. The Lark makes a fantastic transition trainer for fast
glass. 10 hours in it and you should be able to fly any glider.

Larks come with the same air/oil main gear strut that Blaniks use. The Lark
just uses more gas pressure because it is heavier. If the strut hasn't
been rebuilt in a long time, it's likely that the oil has mostly leaked out
and the strut contains mostly nitrogen from many top-offs. This can make
the strut really bouncy. It still works fine with tail first touchdowns but
a botched wheel landing can produce some spectacular bounces. I found the
directional control on rollout to be fantastic. I could steer it anywhere I
wanted. The brake is a tiny Tost drum that is totally inadequate to stop a
1300 pound glider so plan on not aiming it at anything you want to keep.

You will find some who will criticize the stall spin characteristics but I
found mine to be totally honest. It would spin if abused but a strong
pre-stall buffet (it would shake things off the Velcro) gave ample warning
that you were approaching a stall. In a incipient spin entry the nose would
start to swing as a wing dropped giving an unmistakable signal that a spin
was starting. Releasing the backpressure stopped this instantly.

The ailerons are heavy because they are very large, but you get a control
stick the size of a baseball bat to operate them. Still, you'll need to
develop some shoulder muscles. I was able to demonstrate a 45-45 roll in
4.5 seconds at an airspeed of 50 knots. You need to use full rudder to get
a fast roll rate.

I had several pilots criticize the rudder as inadequate but I could tell
they were only using half the available travel by watching the rear pedals.
The front cockpit pedals travel almost 10 inches so you REALLY have to use
your feet to get full rudder.

You'll have to work to get comfortable in the seats. There will be a need
for an infinite range of cushions. Take very good care of the tail dolly
and the lift tube that goes through the tail boom - you'll need them every
time you want to move the glider on the ground. The tail is VERY heavy so
plan on some help lifting it to fit the dolly.

Get an aggressive maintenance program going and stick with it. The Lark
demands some TLC so plan on it. Don't EVER fly it with a deflated strut -
you will damage the fuselage structure at the gear box. Pay a lot of
attention to the tires and inflation pressures.

Have fun with it.

Bill Daniels

[W.J. \(Bill\) Dean \(U.K.\).]

The IS28 "Lark" has East European spinning characteristics - think Puchacz.

One moment you are thermalling, or just turning, the next moment you are
pointing at the ground and rotating, with seemingly no warning.

Happened to a pupil when I was in the back seat at 700ft. right over the
airfield, woke me up that did!

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.).
Remove "ic" to reply.

>
> "Jack" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> Fellow r.a.s.'ers:
>
> Tell me about the Lark.
>
> I don't yet know which model, but I hear that our club is about to acquire
> one.
>
> Should I be ecstatic, or concerned?
>
> Jack
>

[Gary Boggs]

I have many hours in the IS-28B and I think it's one of the best 2 place
trainers around. I like it because it's affordable, and an honest 2 place,
high performance trainer. It has semi-retractable landing gear so that when
you land it gear up, there's no damage if you don't put it down too hard. I
also like it because of it's spin characteristics. It's an honest spinning
aircraft, meaning that if you aren't paying attention, it WILL fall into a
spin on it's own, like a lot of high performance machines will. I think
this is important in a transition trainer. Having a ship that will spin
accidentally, and doesn't have to be forced into a spin, really teaches you
what you need to know when moving up in performance.


Because of the heavy tail on the Lark, make sure you are pointing in the
direction that you want to be going as your speed drops below 20mph in the
rollout. Once the tail drops, that's the direction you are going to go, and
remember, there's not much break. The more positive flap you leave in, the
longer the tail stays steerable. I usually land with the flaps in the
number 2 position, 10 degrees positive. With them in the 15 degree
position, the glide angle is pretty steep. I go to +15 on final to keep the
landing speed slow and the tail light so that I can steer longer.

I've found that most people tend to let the speed bleed off before they get
low enough as they approach the flair. I think that with the flaps down and
the long wings there is a huge cushioning effect as you approach the ground.
Because of this, many people drop this plane in from about 10 feet and
damage the undercarriage. They do this even after I warn them about it
before hand. You must be very careful to teach pilots new to this aircraft
to be sure and fly it ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE FLAIR!!! When you're close to
the ground and you get too slow, it just stops flying and drops to the
ground. Make sure you aren't too high when this happens.

Another thing to watch for is getting the tail too high while rolling,
either on take off, or in most cases, during landing. If pilots are used to
flying in an aircraft with a nose skid or wheel, it's easy to forget this
and scrape the nose badly.

The wings weigh a TON! The trailer that came with our ship is equipped with
a bomb hoist at the wing root to assist with lifting the wing off the
trailer. Don't plan on fetching this great bird out of a field very often.
Keep the wing joints very clean and well lubed, it makes a big difference
with the ease of assembly.

These are really great ships, but they're not 2-33s. Like any higher
performance ship, they require a higher level of skill to fly safely. Give
new pilots a thorough training before letting them solo in it, and be
careful, and you'll have lots of fun with your new acquisition.

--
Gary Boggs
3650 Airport Dr.
Hood River, Oregon, USA
97031-9613
"Bill Daniels" > wrote in message
...

"Jack" > wrote in message
...
> Fellow r.a.s.'ers:
>
> Tell me about the Lark.
>
> I don't yet know which model, but I hear that our club is about to acquire
> one.
>
> Should I be ecstatic, or concerned?
>
>
>
> Jack

[Gary Boggs]

This is exactly why I think the Lark is a good and honest transition
trainer. Remember the 6 warning signs of a stall?

1. Stick back
2. Nose high
3. Low airspeed
4.Quiet
5.Mushy controls
6. Buffet

When our Lark spins, there isn't a real strong buffet but the rest of the
signs are definitely there and it's very important to learn them with an
instructor before moving up in performance. Stall, spin accidents continue
to be a big killer in our sport. 700' over the airport is no place to be
learning about the 6 warning signs! Miss the first three or four in
anything but a 2-33 and your friends and family may be very sad for a long
time.


Gary Boggs
3650 Airport Dr.
Hood River, Oregon, USA
97031-9613


"W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.)." > wrote in message
...
The IS28 "Lark" has East European spinning characteristics - think Puchacz.

One moment you are thermalling, or just turning, the next moment you are
pointing at the ground and rotating, with seemingly no warning.

Happened to a pupil when I was in the back seat at 700ft. right over the
airfield, woke me up that did!

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.).
Remove "ic" to reply.

>
> "Jack" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> Fellow r.a.s.'ers:
>
> Tell me about the Lark.
>
> I don't yet know which model, but I hear that our club is about to acquire
> one.
>
> Should I be ecstatic, or concerned?
>
> Jack
>

[Robert John]

Ok, I'm a pedant (and no that doesn't mean I have an
unhealthy interest in kids!!). Maybe it's partly because
I'm English. (It used to be our language)--but look
Gary: A break is the process of getting something broken
and flair is a natural aptitude or skill.
The thing that slows you down is a brake and the thing
you do to avoid flying into the ground is a flare.
Rob


At 05:36 19 January 2004, Gary Boggs wrote:
>remember, there's not much break. The more positive
>flap you leave in, the
>longer the tail stays steerable. >I've found that most
>>people tend to let the speed bleed off before they
get
>low enough as they approach the flair.

[Gary Boggs]

Oops, spell check won't help me there.

--
Gary Boggs
3650 Airport Dr.
Hood River, Oregon, USA
97031-9613
"Robert John" > wrote in
message ...
Ok, I'm a pedant (and no that doesn't mean I have an
unhealthy interest in kids!!). Maybe it's partly because
I'm English. (It used to be our language)--but look
Gary: A break is the process of getting something broken
and flair is a natural aptitude or skill.
The thing that slows you down is a brake and the thing
you do to avoid flying into the ground is a flare.
Rob


At 05:36 19 January 2004, Gary Boggs wrote:
>remember, there's not much break. The more positive
>flap you leave in, the
>longer the tail stays steerable. >I've found that most
>>people tend to let the speed bleed off before they
get
>low enough as they approach the flair.