Power Lines.

[farri]

Do you wish to debate upwind vs downwind turns??? No?

Heck Yeah..............Downwind turns are much more fun,you get to go faster........

 

Frank.

 

 

[Exadios]

The reality of this is that powerlines are more often encountered by Crop dusting aircraft and usually later in the day. They would have surveyed the area before operating there but they still die.My initial training for RAAus was in a Drifter, where my instructor did engine failures everywhere but in a couple of instances I only became aware of one of those single wire efforts to farmhouses at tree top height although I had been very careful to have a good look at height. You rarely pick out the wire. The posts are more visible, but they do not jump out at you.

IF you ever want to put down on a road, the powerlines are a great hazard where there are trees about as well. When you are flying along using a road for nav. see if you can see the wires from above. They are not very obvious. Nev

The biggest danger for Ag pilots is the chemicals they are exposed to.

 

The rule is that all farm houses have power lines going to them. Likewise with sheds and dams.

 

It is a bit pointless looking for wires and poles because you will probably not see them. Instead look for Egyptian Eyes, cuts in tree lines and, if the sun is in the right spot, shadows. Don't look only in the paddock in which you are going to land, look in the surrounding paddocks. If you can see the signs of a line crossing a neighboring paddock towards you paddock then its there - you just haven't seen it yet!

 

Roads are just too dangerous period. Ironically in WA they almost never run power lines down the road - only in forests. You can tell that from the air by a cleared strip along one side of the road.

 

 

[Guernsey]

How close do you have to be to spot a power line.

 

A few years ago my son was driving home which was located a few miles north of Gawler SA which is the home of the Gawler Gliding Club.

 

He often witnessed gliders doing out-landings in the area and on this particular day stopped his car to watch a glider approaching a very

 

large paddock. His approach looked good except for the power line which he managed to fly underneath and made a perfect landing.

 

My son went into the paddock to see if he could be of any help and remarked to the pilot what a fantastic job he had done by sneaking

 

under the power line to which the pilot said.....WHAT POWER LINE.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

you look for the poles don't you?

 

 

[farri]

How close do you have to be to spot a power line?........................WHAT POWER LINE?Is it a matter of distance or is it a matter of eyesight and awarenes.......I say all three.

 

Frank

[Methusala]

G'day all, I'm watching these slightly risque` comments. You're all guessing when it comes to the age of Black Rod and meself! Don

 

 

[Methusala]

So David (if that is indeed your name), if you're anywhere near as old as you make claim to be, why aren't you out Citabria (spelt backwards) and Javelinning? No time to waste! Don:punk:

 

 

[Methusala]

Dear David, sad and happy in appropriate parts to hear that. We used to fly Javelins and Jeeps down in olde Holbrook Towne years ago. Good planes tho I think the Thruster T83 was a little more advanced(?) not sure that's the right word. Have my T-300 and working on re-engining the Karatoo clone with a Revmaster (2280cc) as well as the Goat-4 a-building. Obsession? Don't mention the word. Any way not retired, just tired. Keep up the good work and GET FIT. Regards, Don (not quite biblical age).

 

 

[farri]

David,I Googled to see what a Javelin looks like and came across this.

 

 

Foundation members of the Holbrook Ultralight Club

 

Is this a Javelin?

 

Frank.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Hi Frank,The aircraft in my avatar is my Javelin 10 -1285.

The aircraft in the photo is somewhat obscured but looks just like the Javelin. Someone on this forum from Holbrook may be able to say for sure as Brian Gabriel still has the first Javelin he built there and intends to put it in the museum.

 

The Javelin is a single seat 95-10 tail wheel single surface wing ultralight designed by Frank Bailey and built by Lee Wakeling under the company name Flight 95 Australia Pty. Ltd.

 

The first Thruster was almost identical to the Javelin.

 

The aircraft in the photo looks like it has an inverted engine which is the Javelin standard configuration whereas the Thruster had the engine above the main fuse spar. The wing strut angle and attachments look identical to the Javelin. It is a three bladed prop so I assume maybe a 503 as a 447 wont drive a three bladed prop from memory. The original Javelins were powered by Rotax 377s and were a bit underpowered so most like mine were upgraded to the 447. They are built very strong and at a stall speed sub 20 knots I would feel very safe if I had to go into tiger country.

 

Many javelins were modified by fitting double skins to the wings and from memory Brian Gabriel did that to the Holbrook one, however , that would raise the stall speed considerably as the single surface wing is a very high lift wing but a very draggy wing at speed, they were flat out at 45 Knots.

 

David

 

P.S. Don of Methusala fame flew there way back and may know

Hi David, the Jeep looked very similar to the Javelin as well apart from it had double surface wings from memory.