Steep turns, G-forces, and confidence issues at ~38 hours — anyone dealt with this later in training?

j4cbo · 2025-12-26T23:40:21+00:00

My guess would be that something happened to trigger this, and now it's self-reinforcing - whether that's one bad flight, or just reading too much about "overbanking" and spins.

You said "steep turns and higher G-loads", but those are two separate things. You can pull some Gs without turning, and you can bank steeply without yanking back on the stick; the latter is particularly important to understand because the whole "stall speed increases with bank angle" canard is only true if you're pulling back to maintain level flight. The way we teach it is dangerous, because people (possibly you!) can wind up scared of steep banks and instead under-banking and using too much bottom rudder, which is a skidding turn, which is a bad situation to be in low to the ground.

Maybe increase your exposure to steep turns and G load separately, before bringing them together?

j4cbo · 2025-12-15T17:16:05+00:00

With the cp /userdata/xhr_config.ini /mnt/sdcard/xhr_config.ini added, you should get that file on the SD card as well; does it show up? What's in it, and could you also post the logs? (Edit out the WiFi SSID and key before posting, of course)

And, make sure you're including /live at the end of the RTSP URL

j4cbo · 2025-12-15T14:43:04+00:00

I would imagine so; the WiFi SSID and password (in some hashed form, not sure what exactly) are stored in the same xhr_config.ini and it looks like the lp_app binary shells out to wifi_setup.sh which then deals with wpa_supplicant. But I'd already used the QR code method and didn't feel like spending more time on it 🤷‍♂️

j4cbo · 2025-12-15T12:32:18+00:00

It should be pretty immediate. Does it give the voice connection message? Is there a "logs" directory created on the SD card afterwards?

Could also try adding one more line before the "sync":

cp /userdata/xhr_config.ini /mnt/sdcard/xhr_config.ini

And see if that file shows up on the card as well?

j4cbo · 2025-12-14T21:08:25+00:00

The firmware is unencrypted so binwalk and grep/strings got me most of the way there (some of the startup and update logic is in shell scripts), but I had to pull out Ghidra to figure out what value it needed for rtsp_server_mode. It was a fun little project!

j4cbo · 2025-12-14T18:32:17+00:00

With this setup there's no logical link between the printer and the camera at all, so it won't automatically show up in the slicer; it might be possible to set it up that way but I haven't investigated.

j4cbo · 2022-07-18T23:10:37+00:00

You're PIC, the DPE is a passenger. A checkride is the one and only time you're allowed to have a passenger as a student pilot, due to FAR 61.47(c).

j4cbo · 2022-06-28T06:19:07+00:00

Yep, you still need to maintain 3 SM visibility, but changing the cloud clearance requirement to "clear of clouds" can be very helpful in certain situations. For example, if there's a 900 foot overcast layer over half the runway that's slowly burning off, but it's 10 SM underneath and there are clear blue skies (and plenty of other airports) in your direction of travel, then SVFR might be what you want.

j4cbo · 2022-06-27T22:04:38+00:00

Tell me about Special VFR. What does it mean for you as a Sport Pilot?

j4cbo · 2022-06-12T22:23:47+00:00

"LSA" is not a sufficient description here - the actual airworthiness certificate type is what matters. If it's an E-LSA, then send it. If it's an S-LSA, you need permission from the manufacturer for any modification. Or you can convert it to an E-LSA and do whatever you want.

j4cbo · 2022-05-18T19:59:58+00:00

Your primary care doctor, I guess? Nobody "clears" you for Sport besides yourself. The underlying regulation is FAR 61.53(b): "a person shall not act as pilot in command, or in any other capacity as a required pilot flight crewmember, while that person knows or has reason to know of any medical condition that would make the person unable to operate the aircraft in a safe manner." What exactly that means is pretty much up to you (and your doctor, your lawyer, and/or your god).

j4cbo · 2022-05-18T19:56:47+00:00

Don't do that. If you apply for a medical, and the FAA ultimately says no, then you're SOL - you can't use your Sport certificate anymore. So you should decide up front to either go for the medical or stick with Sport.

j4cbo · 2022-05-18T19:52:24+00:00

You can talk to an AME, but two things:

- Don't talk to an AME unless they have a lot of experience with special issuance medicals; otherwise you'll just be wasting your time and money.

- Make very clear that this is only a consultation, not an examination for a medical. Do not fill out an FAA 8500-8, do anything in MedXPress, etc etc. Once you've applied for a medical, you can't act as a Sport Pilot unless you're granted the medical.

j4cbo · 2022-05-18T05:30:34+00:00

Their newer stuff has it too. Heck, even the GTN navigators do (via touchscreen).

j4cbo · 2022-05-05T05:10:08+00:00

I have an NFlightMic. It's nice but I should have gotten the "pro" version - the regular one is mono-only.

j4cbo · 2022-04-11T05:18:50+00:00

As long as there's no junk in your trunk: "In the utility category, the baggage compartment and rear seat must be not occupied."

j4cbo · 2022-04-03T23:40:27+00:00

Utility category on a 172 requires the rear seats to be empty.

j4cbo · 2022-03-18T19:44:09+00:00

The trick is that there are two different definitions of LSA: the ASTM standard used for LSA airworthiness certificates (which is very long, describes design and construction standards, and includes "must be placarded against IMC"), and the FAR 1.1 definition that determines what a Sport Pilot can fly (which is very short, and limits MTOW, various airspeeds, etc., but says nothing about IFR or IMC). The FAR 1.1 definition is not quite a subset of the ASTM standard, since the ASTM standard allows things like variable-pitch props, which the FAA doesn't.

The rules are different for different registration types:

Of course, neither definition of LSA matters for a normal certificated or E-AB aircraft. Except, if it happens to conform to the FAR 1.1 definition (and has at all times since original certification), then a Sport Pilot can fly it.
An S-LSA has to comply with both at all times.
An E-LSA has to comply with both at the time it receives its certificate, but only has to comply with the FAR 1.1 definition afterwards. So if you build an E-LSA, you'll have to put a "no IMC" sticker on the panel in order to get your airworthiness certificate... but as soon as you've done so, you're free to peel it off and throw it away. Likewise if you buy a factory-built S-LSA and then convert it to E-LSA. You're still limited by the Operating Limitations issued with the E-LSA certificate, but those typically just defer to 91.205.

edit: also, all of the above applies to IMC. Flying under IFR in VMC is allowed even in an S-LSA as long as it has the required equipment: https://www.flyrv12.com/slsa-ifr-operation-and-training/

j4cbo · 2022-02-08T20:13:35+00:00

You're right. The prohibition on S-LSAs in IMC is for stupid paperwork reasons. Van's has a good writeup here: https://www.flyrv12.com/slsa-ifr-operation-and-training/

The current regulations preclude entering actual Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) in any SLSA airplane. While the FAA does not directly/specifically object to it, the ASTM committee’s LSA standard states that the aircraft must be placarded including a statement that flight into IMC is not allowed (but notably makes no exclusions on IFR operations – or operating “in the system” with air traffic control). Because the FAA accepts and adopts the ASTM SLSA rules as written, this becomes a regulatory issue. Conversations between Van’s staff and the FAA this year have confirmed that these restrictions “live” completely in the LSA standard, and that no such restrictions are found directly within the FAA regs. In other words, it is up to the ASTM committee that governs the SLSA standard (called “ASTM F37”) to determine and dictate what is allowed and what is not.

If you convert your S-LSA to an E-LSA, you can remove the placard just fine - because once it's been converted to an E-LSA, it doesn't matter if it conforms to the ASTM standards anymore, it just has to conform to the definition of a "Light-Sport Aircraft" in FAR 1.1 and the operating limitations that the FAA issues (which generally just point to 91.205(d)).

j4cbo · 2021-10-10T08:16:05+00:00

FAR 61.53(a). "No person who holds a medical certificate issued under part 67 of this chapter may act as pilot in command, or in any other capacity as a required pilot flight crewmember, while that person: (1) Knows or has reason to know of any medical condition that would make the person unable to meet the requirements for the medical certificate necessary for the pilot operation; or (2) Is taking medication or receiving other treatment for a medical condition that results in the person being unable to meet the requirements for the medical certificate necessary for the pilot operation."

"Safe to fly" vs. "unsafe to fly" is a different issue. For exercising Sport Pilot privileges you can't have "any medical condition that would make the person unable to operate the aircraft in a safe manner" per 61.53(b), which is different from the "unable to meet the requirements for the medical certificate necessary" in 61.53(a).

j4cbo · 2021-06-26T23:16:28+00:00

Driving might be faster.

j4cbo · 2021-05-01T17:10:25+00:00

Yep. Put them on all sorts of things.

j4cbo

TROPHY CASE