bt50flyer

It's now falling into place ! Days before Ross Millard passed we ran into him at a strip just North of Cardwell and he took a keen interest in an old style Bolly prop hub on an aircraft there. He told us of a Gazelle he was asked to inspect that had an old style hub that had cracked and that we should keep an eye on it. He went on to say that the Gazelle in question had a number of severe defects and he advised the owner the aircraft has had its day and needed serious work and not to fly it until it was rectified . He refused to sign the aircraft off and he expressed his frustration at the owner for refusing to hand over the aircrafts log books so he could log the defects. A search on the forum revealed this thread Caution : Older type 2-blade Bolly prop hubs. I'd suggest it's the same aircraft! It looks like a Gazelle nose wheel and the colour matches. If so,is this aircraft still flying without a L2 sign off or is there a rogue L2 which has signed it off ?

QUOTE="M61A1, post: 597411, member: 5376"]I will ask again then.......has anyone actually approached the owner/operator and voiced their concerns???? Once the owner is aware, then if no satisfactory response, then I agree, document your concerns and forward them to RAAus. If you go public before any of that, then I think you are going about it the wrong way. As above RAA have been aware of this aircraft for over 12 months From students to L2's have approached the CFI and RAA and have been fobbed off

As has been mentioned in this thread,this aircraft IS still being used! At the time of the OP photos it was the main trainer at a school down at Donnington airfield Woodstock (Google " flight training schools Townsville Facebook" for a video of it flying and an admission of taking the young girl for a fly ) don't be fooled by the J160 in the photo,word has it that it will sit for 4 months at a time and has about 60 hours on it since 2009. Why they don't use that J160 which is a perfectly good aircraft is anyone's guess. I first saw this Gazelle when it showed up at a fly in at Ingham in around August 2016 As the CFI drives to fly ins there was some banter as to who was going to be silly enough to "play the student" and get in this particular Gazelle and fly the CFI's wife up ,whom apparently claims on her Facebook page, to be a pilot at the school but nobody has seen her fly solo. This aircraft is an absolute disgrace and an insult to RAA members who are trying to do the right thing. I am lead to believe,after having no luck in getting through to the CFI, a number of official complaints had been made to the Tech manager by people trying to give him a heads up on what is actually happening,only for the Tech manager to say a thorough investigation has been carried out and it has been sorted. Any wonder the OP had gone public ! In my opinion a crash involving this aircraft is imminent. I saw with my own eyes the severe corrosion on the torque tube and where the torque tube enters the aileron.The bush in the hanger supporting the torque tube where it enters the aileron is missing so there is excessive play and just asking for a flutter event ! Here is an AN warning of these very symptoms (in case link does not work have attached photos of an) https://members.raa.asn.au/storage/an-2-2000.pdf The leading edge of the left hand end of the port aileron is corroded paper thin ! Roofing screws in the doors,poor lock wiring,kinked brake lines,cracked non standard tyres,filiform and exfoliation corrosion etc etc ... The CFI has been heard to boast the aircraft is also illegally fitted with a 100hp Rotax and not the 80 this is a 24 rego aircraft used as a trainer and should be used as an example of what's required of good airmanship to new members .At the moment it's an embarrassing insult to us all