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freddy

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Everything posted by freddy

  1. Hello All, Please see below. It is true that not all their answers are correct. I believe you should visit this question. From memory, there were 2 yes and 2 no answers. I originally answered one of the no ones. On reviewing answers before submission, I came across the published information for BRS. This included the following: The safety pin only secures the firing handle to its mount. It does not prevent triggering if the housing is pulled forcefully. For example, if you were to remove the canister mount and pull the whole canister and rocket away from the handle, the rocket could fire because the action is the same as if the handle was pulled. Of course, you should not remove and pull the canister; this is merely an example to explain the possibility. If the housing (the plastic sheath protecting the activating cable inside) is properly secured along its path with durable attachments, the unit has little likelihood of deployment by force exerted on the housing itself. Installations with sloppy or dangling housings are not adequately safeguarded against activation by a force pulling directly on the housing. If you have any questions on this subject please contact BRS for advice Since there was only 2 answers with a yes possibility, one of them must be correct. The first answer read something along the lines of " pin must be in to fire". Patently untrue, therefore the correct answer should be the other yes answer, no matter how not quite correct it is. I.E. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE PIN IS IN OR NOT. IT CAN BE FIRED BY PULLING THE CABLE HOUSING IF NOT SECURED CORRECTLY Ideally, it is best to run the cable housing in a straight course from the rocket to the mounting location. However, this is usually not possible or practical on most aircraft. In these cases, you must assure that the housing routing follows these simple rules: 1. The housing should be secured along its route. To prevent any chance of firing the rocket because the housing—not the handle—is pulled forcefully, it is preferred that the housing be attached or secured REF: http://www.brs-vertrieb.de/wp-content/uploads/pdf/owners_manual.pdf (Links to an external site.) And the reply from Haley Wilson: Thank you for your feedback. This question has been reviewed and agree it requires amendment. It will be removed from the question bank until it is revised. Thank you. At least this time they are fixing their mistake.
  2. Hello Geoff, The way we used to accomodate heavier pilots was to put them in the back seat. Obvious problem with this is you always need some balast for the front seat. Another annoying characteristic for this balast is the reqirement that the balast must have a pilot certificate as the front seat is the command seat! Apart from that, you would need to have a 19 reg drifter so you could modify the beastie to get the C of G correct. For certified drifters, the rear seat is close to the C of G, but it may be possible to add balast to the seat backing safely to give you the correct C of G. This could be removeable and flagged so it is not left in advertently by lighter pilots. We always had balast for under the front seat when instructing. In those days there were many students and pilots under the 65kg mark. Item one on the check list "Balast installed or removed as required" It would reduce you max passenger/baggage load, but you would still be flying. There is no substitution for weighing the aircraft in the configuration and doing the sums. It is not difficult to do. When the aircraft is on the scales, weigh empty and do the proper sums. Then sit in front seat, repeat sums, play around with balast weight and do sums, repeat in several different configurations. It is good to be around the top end of the front seat range, as this will put the nose down when stalled. A very good thing. I am quite heavy as well (much heavier than when I first started flying them) and my drifter flies quite well with me around the top end of limits. Hope this is helpful.
  3. Hello All, I have just had a quick look at the posts and might just add a few thoughts. The battery was originally placed there to get the C of G within range of standard pilot weights for drifters in those times (69-92kg) after fitting the heavier 582's. 455 must be one of the early 582's, and so I imagine it is either 25 or 55 reg? you are not supposed to modify these aircraft (CAO 95.55). This has your and any passengers safety at heart. As you have heard from all the above responses, there are many factors involved when you modify, and some of them we don't even think about until someone mentions them. I know that the method of Weight and Balance for drifters was originally to literally balance them on a stick and measure where the balance point was relative to the datum, this is pretty impractical when you have a belly tank fitted. I would certainly be getting the C of G measured properly to ensure that it is within limits for you and making sure that these limits are placed in a prominent place in the cockpit. There is a real and significant danger to others who may fly 455 in the future if it is sold or lent. This is the voice of experience as many years ago I flew a modified drifter at Raglan and ran out of elevator because the owner had modified it to suit his weight. Luckily I could get a slight pitch control with engine thrust sufficient to get me back on the ground. Tying a weight to the tail gives me the shudders. It is good to see you will get more advice on the do's and don'ts. Please accept this a friendly word from an old jockey who has been flying these beasties for the better part of 30 years and would like to continue doing so and encouraging as many as possible to partake in the joys of drifter flying safely. Should you wish any further input or would like to ask questions, please feel free to ask. Freddy
  4. Our drifter is going to need a rebuild in the near future. Does anyone know if someone is doing rebuilds?
  5. Hello, I have a set of spats, hubs and rims for sale. from a 1988 model 503. $300 for lot.
  6. Hello All, I fly my wire braced around most weekends and get around 60 hrs a year up in small flights. Land at Bundy for a coffee and chat a lot of weekends and show the flag around the metal and plastic. Keep the beast in the backyard so it is easy to go for a quick blast is you get the itch. Anyone passing Bundy is welcome to drop in for a coffee/tea, just let me know and I'll give you details.
  7. yes HPD you speak truth. All things you say are correct to my knowledge. I was an instructor at Austflight when the said French accent scared himself test flying the new 582 with the large nose pod. If anyone has any doubt as to what effects the larger nose pod has on airflow over the tail, just stick your hand on top of the windshield during flight. There will be a marked increase in tail flutter. Safe flying all
  8. Hello there all, I have been looking at circuit height stuff and if you look into AIP ENR 1.1 PARA 57 it explains circuit conduct for non controlled aerodromes. Points are: 300 ft below circuit height before turning cross wind 1/2 to 3/4 NM from runway as recommended distance for piston aircraft 500 feet agl circuit height for a/c with max 55 kts speed. For 500' circuit you must fly straight until you get to 500'. (Car 166) and you must descend straight for at least 500m before the threshold on final (CAR 166) drifter/ thruster jockeys should be flying a closer 500' circuit. This enables us to keep out of the way of faster aircraft who may not be able to see us below nose cowls and remain in safe gliding distance to strip. I always notify other aircraft when in the circuit that I am conducting a 500' circuit so they know where to look. This is especially important at a busy aerodrome where RPT and RFDS etc operate. A typical call would be Black Stump traffic, Drifter 999 turning base 12, full stop, 500' circuit, Black Stump Safe flying
  9. Just got back to forums after long delay. Busy, Busy. The wire braced is a fantastic aircraft to fly. It is much lighter than the SB and has a smaller nose pod. The enlargement of the nose pod, the addition of the 582 and associated bits and pieces (electric start etc.) has changed the characteristics of the Drifter. The extra weight adversly affected their flying characteristics and the big pod, whilst keeping a bit of wind off the driver changed the aerodynamics so that the large nose pod Drifters can have difficulty coming out of inadvertant spinning. The lighter weight of the 503 wire braced makes it an even more delightful flying experience and you get a more responsive aircraft. The only negative is the 503 will struggle with 2 big people on board. If you regularly fly with 2 big people then the 582's power will negate the other characteristics. This is of course mostly opinion about "feel", but with nearly 20 years of drifter flying it is not an uncommon opinion among the older set.
  10. Hello there southerners. Just been for a lovely fly in the Drifter. Light winds, warm weather (no Jacket required). Sometimes you can be lucky in Windyberg.
  11. You can download all the rotax manuals from the rotax web site. All information is in there. Those CPS books are like gold and if you do not have one I would suggest getting one. Far more detail about RPM, Cooling, EGT and fault finding. Freddy
  12. hello, It sounds as you may be very lucky. Do you have points or dual CDI. If you have points, check the timing. When it is slightly out it can do very funny and intermittent things like your problem. You should also never descend on low power. Firstly the engine cools too much. You may have had an overly cool engine and it did not want to run smoothly:crying: . The most severe event would be a cold seisure. Always warm engine every 500' and keep exhaust temp up. Better still take a the long route down with more power on.:) The other problem is lubrication. As the lube comes with the fuel, prolonged low power settings robs engine of lubrication. Always apply power slowly and again avoid long periods of idle power. Hope this helps Freddy
  13. Turtle, Thanks for that info. I was really after information on the progress of the drifter factory. Know anything? TA Freddy
  14. Hello out there, Have been trying to find out what is happening at Dalby and can't seem to find anything at all. If there is anyone who knows, please share with us if possible. TA Freddy
  15. freddy

    Flight Suits

    We have dri-riders. They are motor bike suits and are good because they are designed for wind proofing and for inactivity whilst riding a bike. They are very warm and lightweight. For winter flying. We have had outs for 15 years.
  16. Hello out there, Went to a meeting a while ago with a research fellow to give CASA feedback on the ASIC. This fellows ears were burning red hot. I hope the message got back to CASA and were not diluted by this researcher, even though he tried to moderate our comments at the time we left him in no doubt of the exact wording he should use. During this I was researching the rules and regs and found a little snippet of information that could be useful to use against the SS types. They should not only have an ASIC but also a security identification. It is an offence for them not to produce it to you when you request it. Any threats could be negated if they don't show you theirs. Subregulation 5.01(2) operates to require an aviation security inspector to show their identity card to an aviation industry participant (including a person apparently representing an aviation industry participant) if the participant (or their apparent representative) asks the inspector to show the card. An aviation security inspector who does not show their security card when requested by an aviation industry participant (or their apparent representative) may be subject to a penalty of up to 5 penalty units. Subregulation 5.01(3) requires a person who ceases to be an aviation security inspector to return his or her identity card to the Secretary within 7 days of him or her ceasing to be an authorised officer. A person who does not return the card within the required 7 days may be subject to a penalty of up to 5 penalty units. Subregulation 5.01(4) requires an aviation security inspector to show his or her identity card before exercising any power in relation to a person under these Regulations. For example, an aviation security inspector can issue infringement notices under Part 7 of the Regulations. Before issuing an infringement notice an inspector is required to show his or her identity card to the person that they are issuing the notice to. However the requirement to show an identity card does not apply when an inspector is granting an extension of time to pay a penalty (regulation 7.08). Regulation 3.10 Other cards not to be used as ASICs or VICs This regulation prohibits a person from intentionally using an identity card, or another type of card, to be in a secure area if he or she knows or believes that the card is not a valid ASIC or VIC. A person who has an identity card (other than an ASIC or a VIC) and uses that card to access their work place, for example, cannot intentionally use that card as an alternative to an ASIC or VIC in the secure area. Contravention attracts a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units. This regulation does not apply to a person who is not required to properly display a valid ASIC in the secure area. Just some light reading. For full details go to AVIATION TRANSPORT SECURITY REGULATIONS 2005 (SLI NO 18 OF 2005)
  17. The aircraft you want will be based on what you want to do with it. For fun flying around the padock with the occasional epic, you can't beat a Drifter. Smooth conditions early morning or late afternoon and the drifter goes on like a glove. Should you want to travel distances regularly something speedier would be great. I still like the 95.25 503 wire braced drifters. The early ones are a lot lighter than the 582 or strut braced machines and fly much better. I instructedfrom the factory when the first 582 was released and it is chalk and cheese. The 582 can climb much better, but it does not feel as nice. Wayne Fisher has a nice line in 19 reg drifters that are also light and fly well, but these are experimental only.(I think this is still the case) Anyway I love drifter flying but it is hard to take the family so I got a GA ticket as well so we can travel together. But nothing better than a bash around the padock in the Drifter.
  18. freddy

    Some Drifter Pics

    A drifter in action. This is a shot of take off from back yard. 300m strip with 7m downhill and takeoff over empty paddocks and cane fields. Plenty of room for the 503 wire braced.
  19. we also have differential cable brakes. Works well for narrow strips and turning circles. Brakes on drifters have always been ordinary. Many mods have been tried. There are some that actually work. Have been flying drifters for 17 years and always remember if stopping is marginal, switch off engine- it makes a big difference even at idle power. cheers pete
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