jabpilot

14 years ago I had noise problems as described in my J200 bird from my M760. I flew to Bundy where "Graeme", the techo, spent a couple of hours on my problem. Problem was my wiring but after placing magnets in key areas, problems vanished. Still working perfectly to this day. No charge for labor but small charge for the magnets. Great service so check to see if this techo is still there...

The long held legal term 'holding out' is the basis for FAA concern. This now appears to be superseded as we now see Uber drivers openly advertising. Sounds like a precedence to me.

Just to pour more cold water on your hopes, RAA 19 registered aircraft will not be insured without the owner/maintainer passing the L1 exam.

Alex, Hi! I have flown into these airstrips on Fraser for the last near 20 years - not far from home @ Pacific Haven. Toby's has always been well maintained although I just realised I haven't landed there for a couple of years now. It is a long, slow walk to anywhere from there as the sand is normally soft talcum powder type stuff - you sink halfway up to your knees in some spots. Orchid beach can have the grass long sometimes but the grass cover is better than Toby's so you would expect that. Much of the beach is great for landing on apart from two facts that you need to consider: a. Much of it is a gazetted road - police with radar guns, etc and b. there are gazetted landing areas but these are for the sole use by Air Fraser Island where the owner of this organisation, Gerry, pays lots of money for the privilege and absolutely will not accept you using it! Kingfisher is for the use by staff and contractors but you may be able to make arrangements if you have a booking in the resort. I hope this helps.

A well known board member told me that he knows of no RA-Aus member ever been taken to task for not having an ASIC at a security controlled airport. I personally fly into and out of security controlled airports, on average, twice a week. Have done for over 15 years. The only time I have been challenged was by a 'Little Hitler' at Toowoomba who wanted to have a go at me for riding my folding push bike down the taxiway. He wasn't interested in whether I had an ASIC or not. In fact, I have not had an ASIC since 2009. Yes, it's a rort. Of course it is. One that will stay with us as long as there are those who continue to support it by shelling out their hard earned bucks for it to make it worthwhile for the government to persevere with it. I have been itching to rally members to attend 'en masse' at the court house in support of one of our members who eventually gets pinged for this form of non-compliance. A few thousand irate aviators appearing on the court house doorstep might bring the issue to a deserved, long overdue conclusion. I'm still waiting...

I had the privilege of flying off some of the test hours of Ian Bents own RV6 with the 8 cylinder engine. Ran like a dream. However, "hoped-for" supply levels evaporated when Lycoming & Continental started "dumping" engines at uneconomic prices (to Jabiru). Jabiru would still provide these engines but on an on-demand basis.

Mike, Just took delivery of my latest case of Phillips 100AD, 12 qts, $95-00. From Skyshop. $30 delivery to my door. (However I guess you could avoid the delivery for a personal pickup.) Cheers, Mark

The debate about the need for ASIC's and the associated costs appear to have died. Apathy? Has anyone been pinged for not having one at a "security controlled" airport and what were the consequences? How many of us would be prepared to turn up at the courthouse in support of the poor bugger just trying to get to his plane and no-where near a fuel bowser?

Rod Stiff advised of a MOSAD officer whilst in Bundy took a standard Jab to almost 25,000 ft. The aircraft are certainly capable. There have also been (a small few) climbers of Mount Everest who have succeeded without oxygen. All this doesn't mean this will work for us and we will survive. We almost certainly won't. But don't throw your hands in the air and panic if you make a bad decision and find yourself higher than you should be. Maintain composure and aviate first to get out of that situation as soon as practicable.

Stop looking everyone! Found them. They are right here under "Tutorials'.

Hi all, As there are a number of high schools up here (Wide Bay, Queensland) studying aviation, I would often refer students to the RA-Aus web site where John Brandon's excellent material could be found. I have been advised that it's no longer there! I assume it has simply been relocated. Can someone point me in the right direction for the benefit of these students? Thanks. Mark

Fully concur with above advice for fitting. I found a bench vice with wooded jaw protectors of use to hold one side of wheel then use cramps over wooden strips on the other side. As this is not a simple task, I carry a spare tyre/innertube already inflated on a wheel with brake disk. I also carry small especially sized blocks of wood as jacks to support the aircraft on under the external undercarriage leg and appropriate spanners. If I get a flat I still still need someone to lift one wing whilst the wooden jack is located in position but then it's just a matter of taking off the stub axle - one nut & bolt - and the brake caliper - two nuts & bolts to remove flat wheel. Replace with spare in reverse order. About 5 minutes work. Fix the flat at home at leisure. Cheers, See you at Temora Mark

I don't know if the previous post worked too well but if you get a big black box, just click on the box heading.

I guess I'm late to this thread again but to clear up some things here, as the police would say, "I may be a person of interest". I have been running an oil drain device for around ten years in Jab 6 cylinder engines. Click oil return on Flickr - Photo Sharing! for photos and description.

If anyone is interested M & C (see earlier in thread) have a new batch of 10 ply tyres just arrived.

Hi DR, The advice you have received so far is great. I hope I haven't missed this somewhere else but the only other thing I would suggest is that you join an aero club. Members experience ranges from ex-RAFFies, commercial jocks thru to those who have built their own aircraft. It's then easy to con rides in different types and you can pick the brains of the builder. Also get to Narromine one Easter for the RA-Aus flyin - Natfly. Truckloads of experienced builders to talk to. Cheers.

Jabiru use Ceiba Geigy epoxy for the majority of construction. Araldite is used and supplied in small quantities in the kit but is not the same substance as above and will not mix properly (ie. mixing swapped resins and hardeners). It is supplied for quick, non-structual work only. Although not as easy to use as polyester or vinyl-ester as many aircraft are, epoxy is much stronger. Do not try to mix different formulations of epoxy. eg. AFI resin with Ceiba Geigy hardener. There are 20 different formulations to my knowledge. However, a foreign epoxy (non ceiba geigy formulation of resin and matching hardener) will still glue an original Jabiru fibreglass component well. I hope all this makes sense.

Another solution I currently use is to have a ready prepared spare wheel with tube & tyre already on & inflated and a brake disk also fitted. This permanently sits in the rear of the jab and the weight can be factored in as part of the ballast. A flat then simply requires the unbolting of the wheel and bolting on the new one, 4 bolts, leaving the flat to be fixed later.

For anyone having doubts as to the sealability of this technology, there is a company in the USA producing a range of tyre sealants for various applications. The SP2000 product is claimed to be designed for our aircraft. Although, it may be nice to know that the SP6000 product claims to be able to seal bullet holes of 9mm from an AK47 assault rifle!! How big are those cats head burrs, again? Specifications

Yeah, nothing beats having your own airstrip, on call, anytime. Since moving here 18 months ago, when we go somewhere even for just a day, I look forward to getting back home, surrounded by like minded folk. It's a shame I have to go away for a bit over the school holidays... But then, I guess I must be a fanatic; I have a picture of my Jab J200 on my credit card skin!

Hi Di, I'll bet you never thought you'd get so many pen friends so fast! Yeah, not much money actually passes our way. We see our lifestyle here as a privilege and the facility should benefit the general community where possible. I am currently negotiating for a doctor to fly in once a month or thereabouts, also free of airfield charges, in order to service his local non-flying patients in this area as a community service. The arrangements of the airpark here are unique. I know of no other airpark setup like in the country. The 14 residential freehold lots here range from 2.5 acres to around 15 acres. Most of us pay less than $1000 a year in council rates as we are regarded as being out in the sticks and although this would have to be one of, if not the finest private airfield in the country, we pay no ongoing fee for use. There is no body corporate. When we are out mowing our own property we simply continue with doing some of the "common areas". Those who have visited regularly comment on the pristine level of maintenance and they think it costs us a fortune! ;) Access to the strip via taxiway is enshrined by easement detailed in each title deed. (ie. the taxiways cross each adjoining owners properties). If one of us sees a maintenance issue (eg. a broken runway light lens - we have PAL lighting - caused perhaps by kangaroo running into it) we just fix it. No money changes hands. We put up a new windsock recently where seven or eight of us mixed & poured concrete and hoisted the mast. The system works stunningly well and has done for more than 25 years. Socially, we have impromptu BBQ's monthly or so. There is currently a flurry of activity in the building of pizza ovens at the moment so we really do just have to test each airpark residents oven performance, don't we!:thumb_up: Seriously, there is a down side. You have to literally wait for someone to die before you can get in. Our place was previously 'sold' to a couple who flew in to sign the contract in a flash, expensive european aircraft that had obvious engine problems. They signed the purchase contract and before the ink was dry had fatally crashed on takeoff, just outside the airfield, determined to get home. Although seen by those at the scene to be trying to escape the wreckage, the two occupants were trapped inside. It took emergency services 2 hours to put the fire out.They had turned down the offer of a free night in order to fix the engine problem the next day. They didn't want to be late for work. Heroic would-be rescuers were later treated for serious burns. A flower monument now exists at the crash site. The industry calls it 'get-home-itis'. In a twist of fate, this tragic event then allowed us to buy the property. A sad note to end on but if we sweep this stuff under the rug, no-one learns anything. Cheers, Mark

Perhaps I should have added after '2 training planes' the words "when they told me" I guess you can only glean so much sitting in the Jabiru staff room!

As a newbie to this site, my two bits worth may be a little late - but... The economy kit was introduced originally as a request from Mossad (Israeli secret service) who operate Jabiru engines in their spy planes. They wanted even better economy as their aircraft loaded with snooping gear & fuel had to stay airborne for days at a time. As there is only so much fuel you can carry, even more fuel economy extremes were demanded. Enter the original fuel economy kit. According to Jabiru there were two training planes that developed problems caused by too lean a mixture with the original economy kit fitted. Due to the harsh treatment training aircraft often get, (ie. sitting on the deck, motor running on hot days with bugger all airflow over the motor while the instructor yaks to the student then immediately followed by steep climbouts, etc) a modification the economy kit was introduced. Most of us operating our own Jabs will not be subjecting our baby to this treatment. However, Jabiru must cater for the worst case scenario. In other words, the official line is to have the modification to the economy kit done. Jabiru were offering to assist in this process for free if you flew up to Bundy. Of course, this has already been performed on new motors. Ultimately, the choice to have the mod to the economy kit done is that of the owner.

I'm new to this web site so this may be way too late and thus never read, but... Although I concur with the comments made so far, I believe in doing the easy, cheap things first. My Microair 760 (Rel N) had too much background noise straight out of the box. Rod Stiff said "yeah, we've been telling that to Phil (Ainsworth - Microair owner) for ages". It seems that these radios are (were?) factory set with the mic gain a little too high for most powered aircraft. Understandable as gliders drivers are a big customer base for them. To fix my problem I simply inserted a small, scientific style screwdriver into the mic gain pot access hole located in the side of the radio, covered by alfoil, and adjusted the pot attached to the circuit board. WARNING: This sounds simple and is for the very dextrous but BE CAREFULL. A TURN OF LESS THAN 1/16 OF A TURN MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. Too much will turn the mic off altogether. Hope this helps.

Hi Di, Liked your article last month. I won't repeat what the others have said however I have built a couple of Jabs (see my thread from yesterday when I joined this group), and have assisted numerous others to get the best from their investment with maintenance & repairs. basscheffers has it pretty well sorted out, tho' Cheers, Jabpilot