From: hagood@sabre.den.mmc.com (Dave Hagood)
Subject: Pilot Report - Krosno KR-03a
Organization: Martin Marietta Astronautics Group
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 21:16:40 GMT

        We at Black Forest are working on getting another two-seater for
wave orientation, cross-country instruction, and spin training.  I posted
a (second-hand) pilot report of the L-23 Blanik earlier; this pilot
report is on the PZL Krosno KR-03a (known as the Puchatek in Europe).

        The Krosno is built out of aluminum, which some fabric covering the
control surfaces and the aft third of the wing.  It has a mid-mounted wing,
with pronounced dihedral and forward sweep.  The horizontal stabilizer is
mounted in the T-tail position.  The fixed main gear has an oleo strut and
a fairing; there is no tail wheel but rather a metal cup with some rubber
shock absorption.  This is not as bad as it sounds, more about this later.
The aircraft is a nose dragger with a skid.  All in all, this is a
handsome aircraft, and looks like it is manufactured out of composites.

        I wasn't there when it was rigged, but I am told that it is not as
bad as a Blanik.  This is not high praise.

        Ground handling is a snap.  The aircraft is very well balanced on the
main gear.  On both sides of the rear fuselage near the vertical stabilizer 
there is a metal rod that sticks out parallel to the main wing.  These rods
are used by ground crew to pick up the tail of the aircraft and walk off with
it.  If you had a rolling wing support, one person could easily handle the
aircraft by themselves.  The "tail wheel" described before is only used for:
1) touching down too slowly, and 2) when the tail happens to rest on the
ground.  Note that the aircraft will remain on the skid without any crew
aboard.  This is the best aircraft setup I have seen for ground handing; I
would still prefer a real tail wheel.

	The cockpit is laid out pretty well.  The front seat's rudder pedals
are adjustable; the rear seat back is adjustable.  I'm 6'4", and I fit in
either seat as long as the rear cushions were removed.  The wheel brake is
cable actuated and the handle is below the spoiler handle in a rather awkward
position.  The one-piece canopy is hinged on the starboard side.

	I flew the Krosno twice yesterday, launching via aerotow.  The aircraft
we have does not have a C.G hook for winch launching; one is available as an
option.  Conditions were about 40 deg F, a very light wind out of the SW.  We
used runway 17, which is paved and about 4500' long.

	The ailerons are effective almost immediately, as is the rudder.  The
elevator, however, took a long (endless) amount of time to get the nose up off
the skid.  I would estimate the ground roll to be about 3000' (Black Forest
field elevation is 7000') and the nose was on the ground about 2500' of that.

	The aircraft is very light on the controls, and minimal control
deflection is required.  After wrestling with SGS 2-33s, the Krosno was a real
delight.  Straight ahead stalls are very gentle, with pronounced buffeting
prior to the stall.  The buffetting started at 39 KIAS with me (232 lbs) and
the instructor (125 lbs, plus 17 lbs of parachute) aboard.  Turning stalls
tracked nicely.  I didn't spin the aircraft as my weight with parachute
exceeds the 242.5 lb seat maximum (sigh).

	The stall characteristics reported by the other pilots who flew the
Krosno were not as we had hoped.  Nobody could get more than about a turn
and a half of spin out of it.  Depending upon the pilot's weight distribution,
somewhere around the first turn of the spin the aircraft would auto-recover.
When I say recover, I don't mean it fell out into a spiral dive, I mean it
came out flying straight ahead (nose still down).  Since we are looking for a
multi-turn spin trainer, this wasn't so great.

	Rudder co-ordination is a little different than I am used to.  A lot
of rudder is required initially, then after the turn is established the amount
of rudder must be reduced to remain co-ordinated.  It was not hard to get
used to.

	Visibility was superb.  The aircraft is mostly silent inside, although
a kind of whistling hum could be heard from the ground.  The aircraft likes
slow speeds as the descent rate picks up rapidly as speed was increased.

	Landing presented no particular problem.  The Schemp-Hirth spoilers are
massive and very effective.  A touch more than just cracking them resulted in a
descent rate of around 500 fpm.  I'm not sure if the dive brakes are velocity 
limiting, the manual was a little unclear.

	The wheel brake was absolutely useless.  We tightened it prior to the
first flight.  Further adjustments are obviously required.

IN SUMMARY;

PRO:	Ground handling exceptional.  Construction and workmanship seemed OK.
	An absolute joy to fly.  Handsome aircraft.  Getting in and out is
	much better than normal.  Rig/de-rig didn't cause any injuries,
	foul language, or suicides.

CON:	The wheel brake doesn't slow you down, sticks, and will prevent you
	from taking off (one aborted takeoff).  The spin characteristics do
	not seem to be what we are looking for (more playing with the CG may 
	solve this).

	I have no financial interest with Solaire, the US distributor, or the
manufacturer.  These comments are based on my observations and experiences and
in no way are the official opinion of Soar Black Forest, Inc or the Black
Forest Soaring Society:  your mileage may vary.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
									|
David M. Hagood			Martin Marietta Astronautics Group	|
									|
Voice:  (303) 977-9657		When in danger, or in doubt,		|
E-mail: hagood@den.mmc.com	Run in circles, scream and shout.	|
Fax: (303) 977-1530							|
									|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     static char *disclaimer = "My opinions, not Martin Marietta's."    |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: rec.aviation.soaring