F10

And another thing, it does seem to me, the VAST majority of pilots think ASIC is a waste of time.....that a valid current official licence document would be as good....and yet....nothing changes. Yep old Bin Ladin must have gone on this forum occasionally, read this post and had a good chuckle at all the trouble he caused.

ASIC...to me a nothing more than revenue generation. Recently needed to re-new mine, in case the guy doing my CPL flight revue asked to see it. So this is what happened, when I applied, the organisation issuing the ASIC said that according to my current situation, not actively flying daily and going to secure airports....I didn’t need one. The argument about BFR and CASA requiring one for licences pilots, fell on deaf ears. I had to ask the company to write a letter, which they questioned for the same reason, they had no requirement for me to have an ASIC. All we need is a slight change to the GA licence format. All that would be needed, is for your to produce on request, your licence which should have your recent photograph in it, along with your aircrew reference number (ARN) and that will be just as good as the “big red card”. Like I said, it’s yet another tax.

Yeah.....like I said, if it sounds too good to be true......or like second hand car adverts, “slight” damage to RHS front light, or upholstery “slightly” worn....

Recently I came across a thread on P-Prune. Wow, they have a very low opinion of RA pilots...now by nature, Recreational aviation will not be as regulated and therefore it would be unrealistic to expect as good a safety recorder RPT operations. To expect so would be ludicrous. That is NOT to say we should not strive hard and constantly to promote flight safety. But we have personal freedoms (I hope) and free choice in this country. Safety will always have a personal attitude or choice element to it, with RA. So, on Prune, I was amazed at these comments like “cowboys” and “wannabe” aviators and my own personal favourite, “those who can’t afford real aircraft” ! Well, to those Pruners....look in the mirror, and extend a tall back handed middle finger up to the image. Any one of you reading this, are welcome to contact me and check on how much of a “cowboy, wannabe aviator” I am. As for not being able to afford it, well that arrogance is so breathtaking, I can’t even comment on it.

Golly gee whizz....but it irritates me to tears, how CASA immediately copy cats everything the FAA does.......we are a different country and situation....seems they are incapable of independent thought. Amazing.

Well you can’t, replicate a plate, legally as such. It would be like going to register your car, and they tell you there are three others with the same engine and VIN number....chaos! In other words, re-built aircraft, will have the original plate, yes cleaned up pretty well as such, but you can see from patina, it’s original. It won’t be all shiny and brand new. If it’s really in bad condition, not sure, but it may be possible to have it re-made, but I bet the original plate will be with the aircraft paperwork. The MkI Spitfire they dug up out of the beach sand at Dunkirque, was re-built, but I bet the most valuable part of the wreck would have been the ID plate. I think they re-used some non critical parts, just to keep things sort of honest if you like, but as you can imagine, it’s “that” aircraft because there’s the correct ID plate. I can tell you, very very little of it, would be the actual historic machine.

The sound of that JAP engine is awesome! I bet that cockpit had that unique Morris Minor type smell, the smell of warm oil, leather and a hint of fuel! Great stuff!

Fuels are interesting, my aircraft has a Rotax 912A, the manual lists fuel types in order of preference, top of the list is 95 octane Mogas, below that is 98, considered is not ideal too many additives as such, 91, Too much ethanol. Surprisingly Avgas not recommended unless you have to, lead leaves lots of lead deposits in the oil, deposited a grey sludge at the bottom of your oil tank... Interesting, as apart from lead deposits occasionally closing up spark plug gaps, I’ve never heard of Avgas lead content being problematic in GA engines? Lead of course is an anti detonation additive. The monster piston engines of WW2 aircraft, ran some high compression ratios, using 100 octane or even higher was available. The Merlin 60/70 series engines were 27 litre V12’s, producing 1750 Hp, the German fuels were low octane, so interestingly, they made up for that by engine capacity, the BMW radial powering the Fw190, putting out similar power, was around 42 litres as I recall.

I’ve seen slotted type clamps that don’t have slots cut into them, but rather raised ridges that the worm gear screw tightens on, so the band clamping the hose is a solid smooth strap. That should be fine. We bought a whole box of those spring loaded type clamps you need to compress the tangs on the clamp to slide it onto the hose end. They seem good for smaller hose applications, provide an even pressure around the hose I think.

It’s no doubt great that we have individuals who are into the whole world wide warbird scene, to preserve, re-build and thus keep these aircraft flying for all to see. But I don’t think they are any different than most of us enthusiasts....except for one rather significant difference, they have the “dosh” to indulge, or are $$$erious pilots. Some are lucky, and get close to these types of aircraft through military service or knowing someone. However, this RAAF move is to my mind a bit of a laugh. Like some have already said, clever move, let’s face it, to be able to hang on to the toy box, at taxpayers expense.

I recently visited an aviation museum which had, standing in the WWII display, a glass case. Inside were some every interesting aircraft identification plates or manufacturing plates. Apparently, one Australian RAAF warrant officer, in North Africa, was not into collecting control stick grips or cutting out swastikas from the rudder or tailfin sheet metal, of the wrecks littering the desert. He rather went for the serial number or manufacturing plates. 109, Stuka and Ju88 were there, along with some Allied types. What is interesting, is that these have the potential to be very valuable. As I understand it, if someone re-built a Ju87 Stuka, correct down to the smallest detail, without an identification or manufacturers ID plate, it’s a replica. With an actual plate, it becomes a rebuild of that actual aircraft. Essentially the difference between a replica, or the real thing. So, those plates mean a lot in terms of value.

Some recent experiences with a condition report. Recently had an L2/3 do a condition report on my Gazelle. Previous owner was not the greatest log book maintainer.....so, some sticking points were: Main gear bungees struts had been replaced, this was recorded, but details of the weight change were not. This caused issues with the W&B and aircraft had to be re-weighed. Expensive gearbox overhaul was done, but log entry needed to be more detailed, like torquing of bolts and what was done exactly. removal of wheel spats not mentioned. Had just the nose spat on. We’ve removed that now too and cleaned your rims to look new. For me, it’s either all on, or all off. The weight change here is probably around 4kg. Part of getting her in the air again, was a 5 year rubber and an annual servicing. These have been well recorded! If you’ve put on a nice shiny new Bolly or other prop....make sure you give details through or check first with RAA, so the registration details can be changed to reflect the new prop fitted. For example, if your aircraft was fitted with a 80Hp Rotax, you can’t just install a 100Hp Rotax. It may be feasible no doubt, but it will require re-registration I am told. Basically, record everything in the logbook and no such thing as too much detail!

Old posts but my Gazelle has a new design set of struts fitted, light grey colour, bungee cords encased in black vynal bags. Sorry don’t have pic yet. One thing, if you replace old struts, weigh them and write up the whole change and any weight change details...otherwise on the next condition report, you will be looking at paying for another W&B to be done.

Jackc, wow, LAME leaving float bowls loose (I see the non vertical clip in the top pic), is quite serious....I’ve always thought it a bit ironic how some people in GA frown at RAA owners doing their own maintenance, because you hear of a lot of LAME horror stories. Yes, no doubt horror stories on both sides....but a mate recently had his Eurofox serviced ($$$$) flying back, oil temp was higher than normal, on landing, found the oil rad flap had not been re-connected. Previous owner of my Gazelle sold it because it was costing too much to maintain, I saw one receipt. Total was for around $3000, of that only $60 was for parts, the rest was labour. Now not saying that wasn’t legit...but it’s great to be able to do a lot of your own maintenance!

Flew in a Eurofox, very similar, dare say a Kitfox will be the same. Jab 160, nice but interesting as with two up, personally, I think it runs out of elevator authority holding off for landing. Leaving a trickle of power on, makes all the difference. Although a taildragger, I think the easiest aircraft I've flown and one of the most sweet handling, is a DH Chipmunk. The brake system is ingenious, with that ratchet system on the brake lever. Lovely machine.

No, the Gazelle has coolant rad setup unique to it, as do Kitfox, Eurofox, all slightly different rad positioning. So we had to rummage through the hose bends bin at "Supercheap Aerospace" to get the right bend size and then cut the pipe length as required. Some say, SCA fuel pipe is dodgy, well its pretty thick fuel pipe with a good grippy softish feel, I have used it before, it's tough, simple, handles Mogas just fine. Lasts forever in most old Holden of Falcon wagons...Like I said, I plan to inspect the engine on a regular basis, the Gazelle is good in that the cowling is just two pieces, top and bottom, easy to remove. Take them off and the whole engine is exposed. Good advice I was given is to choose a fuel line or coolant line and carefully follow it over the engine beginning to end. Then choose and follow another. Don't try look over the whole engine as such, its too much information to take in one hit, so you may miss something.

Also did a 5 year rubber and annual on our Gazelle. 5 year kit from Floods Imports. Came with coolant oil pipes, new fuel pump, old one was fine I think, but it has rubber in it so....out went what was probably a perfectly good pump. Maybe I can give it ti a car crazy mate. Also, kit had new Bing carb rubber diaphragms. Easy to fit, just line up the little tangs on the edges of the diaphragms with carb body and chamber lid. Sounds complicated but it's not. No fuel hose as such or fire protection sheathing, so you have to supply. I don't think its specified, but fire sheathing a good thing on fuel pump hoses. Location of fuel pump on reduction gearbox (Rotax 912) will mean any leak will go all over the top of a hot engine....You will hear a "whoof" and it won't be a dog. So we replaced all our fuel hosing with new, bought from "Supercheap Aerospace". I plan to carry out regular inspections of all hoses, on those weather days, when it's no point getting her out the hangar. The Gazelles had this weird transparent sheathing over all the fuel hoses in the cabin, a sort of double layer, to capture leaking fuel it seems. It was all old and cracked in places, so we got rid of it. Probably a carry over from it's VH-IOP rego days. Ordered new plugs with the 5 year kit, they came with heat paste already put on the threads, nice touch but we did pay for it.

The prices do look amazing....perhaps that well known adage applies....”if it sounds too good to be true......” ? Certainly worth a look if you can get there.

Flying for fun....well I’ve been lucky enough to fly for a crust most of my life. I now teach ground school to military pilots. So, missing active flying, I went along to a great little club and flying community at Yarram airfield Vic. Went along for a few flights and lo and behold, after doing it for a living, I re-discovered flying for fun and it was just that...great fun! So much so, that I found all that old schoolboy enthusiasm came back, you know when as a nuts about planes kid, you would have sold your soul for 20 minutes in a C150? Your room was filled with Airfix models? So now I have bought a Skyfox Gazelle and am enjoying myself immensely! RAAus is great for those who want to fly with less restrictions and I mean that in the best sense, not by any means with less safety. One of the great advantages is being able to get an L1 and maintain your aircraft largely yourself. To me, spending a Saturday on maintenance spit and polishing, is about as much fun as the flying.