Xavier

Looking at ways to improve my flying skills (from RA-AUS in a Savannah to RPL in a C172) I ended up watching this video from Xavier

The idea would be to do some surveys (Vegetation Mapping, Controlled burn fuel check, Cultural Mapping, Feral Animal surveys, ...) over Aboriginal Land ( with permission of the traditional owners) for indigenous rangers or land owner. So just me in the plane loaded with sensors and GPS cameras or with just one passenger (traditional owner or ranger) collecting GIS data. A specific area would required X hours of flying at $Y per hour. But after reading the posts and the regulations it looks like I need a CPL with AOC and a VH aircraft. I believe that aircraft like Foxbats, Savannahs or Tecnams are more suitable and economical then typical single engine type Cessna.

Thank you all for your responses, It looks like the aircraft has to be VH registered and therefore not under RA-Aus and after reading CAR 206 and the AOC requirements is that you need an AOC to do "Aerial surveying" under CASA rules. I was wondering if a VH experimental aircraft would qualify but there is a list of aircraft types to apply for the AOC and I don't think that a VH Experimental aircraft would be suitable, I will try to ask CASA.

Hi all, the question is in the title, is it legal to do commercial work like aerial photography in a home build 19- rego aircraft with the pilot having a CASA Commercial License ? Apology if the subject has already been covered. Xavier

Welcome Rey, Xavier from Darwin, born and bred in Toulouse. I left France 11 years ago for the tropical Darwin. Enjoy your time here. A bientôt, Xavier

Welcome to the forum Marty. You have landed on a great forum. Watch the storms, they are pretty nasty at the moment in Darwin. Cheers, Xavier

On the ICP link : "it permits to load up to 20 kilos of luggage" I suppose this would be the load limit. I will take photos of the dzusts tomorrow.

Doing a few test on fuel consumption and ASI after the installation of the pod. Test done with 1Pax and 20Kg in the pod. For the same RPM of around 5100 it looks like we lose about 2-3 knots cruising speed. Fuel consumption went up from 13L/hour to 14l/hour. It was only for a short 1.2 hours flight so more test is required. So far I cannot see any difference in the flying behavior with the pod. Happy days. Xavier

Hi all, Having the the Engine Monitoring system setup, the decision was made to use one of the Auxiliary Input for Low Fuel warning so it would flash the warning light and make some noise in the headset if the low fuel sensor is triggered, instead of just having the red warning light on the other side of the panel. It is working now and in the process of checking if it was all good I checked how much fuel it would be left just after the Low Fuel warning is on. Result is 6L of usable fuel after the warning is triggered, would be about 30 minutes of flying at a lower RPM with the 912UL, the safety side should probably be 20 minutes. Are you ending up with the same numbers ? Xavier

Bit of data here from ICP : OPTIONALS FACILITIES | ICP AVIAZIONE S.R.L. Looks like i will lose a couple of knots cruising speed for the same RPM because of the extra drag but it needs to be tested. Same for the fuel consumption, time will tell.

Hi Steve, I agree 100% with the back up for the iPad, I tend to go hard on the redundancy and have a spare iPad, a Garmin aera 500 and a Garmin handheld gps. If it all turn to sh*&t the paper charts are in reach. The panel will get a "sun shield" over the ipads to keep the Darwin tropical sun away.

I haven't done a long nav yet with the new setup but so far no trouble with data transfer between the GRT EIS and the iLevil. Air data look accurate, haven't checked the Magnetic heading yet. All alarms working good.

With all the sensors (EGTs - CHTs - MAP - Fuel Press - Oil Press/Temp - Fuel Flow In - Fuel Flow Return - ...) it was closed to AU$2,500 delivered.

Hi All, just a short post on the new panel built around the GRT 4000 Engine Monitoring System and the iLevil AW3. The GRT4000 is sending all the engine data to the iLevil and the iLevil provides a WiFi server that any iPad / iPhone can reach to access Engine Data and Flight Data. The iPad on the left is using the iLevil App providing Attitude indicator, Engine information with customised warning range. The iPad on the right is for OzRunways / Xavion but they are all interchangeable. All Engine Data is also available on the GRT 4000 big LCD screen with warning light and sound warning through the headset so the plane can bu flown with the ipads. The concept is to have the Flight data and the Engine data coming out from a "Black Box" and then to visualised all the data on whatever tablet/phone/LCD is available. If I want to use an iPad Pro in the future I don't have to change the black box, just the visual interface. The cool thing about the system is now the ability to make your own instruments, just need to access the data from the wifi. I have done some test and using an ESP8266 micro controller with an LED panel we can see any flight/Engine data real time. (Photos and videos coming up) The next project is to use to micro controller to transform the plane into a "Thing of the Internet", basically sending all the data to the cloud live and visualizing it with 2 seconds latency anywhere in the world (if internet connection available where the plane is situated). You can then have your mechanic on the ground checking up all your telemetry while you are flying the plane. (Photos and videos coming up). A data logger will be designed using similar micro controller soon. A really enjoy the safety of knowing that I will get a warning (Flashing Light & Sound) on any of the parameters I have setup (Flight / Engine) and I know that all the parameters are in the green in half a second. Cheers, Xavier

Hi all, finally got the factory build belly pod fitted on the VG. It took us a couple of hours to get it setup and it fits very nicely. Very happy with the size and will take it for a spin in the next few days. Then it will need a bit of paint and on the look for the Million Dollar Bara. Thanks to Reg who has been very helpful to get it sent to Darwin. Xavier

Thank you Rick, this is exactly what I was after.

Hi all, anyone would have the wiring diagram for the standard hour meter installation in a VG with a 912 UL ? Cheers, Xavier

I have been using a Bad Elf GPS Pro for a while with iPad Mini and OzRunways, it works very well and increase the battery duration on the iPad as I believe using the internal GPS of the iPad use a lot of battery.

https://members.raa.asn.au/storage/how-to-enrol-in-the-lms.pdf

Apology if the link has been posted before: EGT Myths Debunked - PDF

I though we never talk about price when we buy stuff for the cockpit When you look at it the Extreme EFIS + RDAC + full AHRS without the sensors is about $3,800AU The iLevil 2 AW ($1,900AU) plus the GRT EIS 4000 ($2,000AU) is $3,900 (without the iPad of course) But I should have explained a bit more the reason why I pick the iLevil. Apart from having Flight Data and Engine Data on board on the iPads, with the iLevil, you are able to access this data for any other applications, the protocol they use is open. 3 projects in the pipeline : 1 --> Using any computer in range of the iLevil Wifi to get Air & Engine Data On ground and inflight precise data monitoring and recording (engine tuning, ...) Program written in Java 2 --> Sending the data collected by the Air Data and the Engine Data to a Garmin VIRB XE to record videos with overlays of Engine data on top of the video (RPM, Coolant Temp, Oil Temp, ...), same like this : An Arduino with Wifi shield is connected to the iLevil wifi server --> data extraction --> OBD2 emulation 3 --> Making the Aircraft a Thing of the Internet The same Arduino with an additional wifi shield is connected to the internet and the telemetry collected is sent to the cloud and accessible anywhere. As long as you are within mobile phone reception we get a live feed of all the Air Data and Engine Data Final visualisation would be a dot moving live on Google Earth and when clicking on it all the data are accessible Project 1 and 2 are 90% done and project 3 is 50% done. I could have used the RDAC from the Extreme EFIS but the data coming out from the serial output is raw and need to be treated by the Xtreme. The data coming out of the EIS 4000 is "clean" and usable. I also like the XAVION compatibility with the iLevil.

Hi all, Looking at getting an Engine Monitoring System for a Rotax 912UL, I have my eyes on the GRT EIS 4000 The reason for this "pre selection" is that I have an iLevil AW2 and it is compatible with the GRT IES, allowing us to have all the data (Air Data & Engine Data) coming out of the Wifi server created by the iLevil and then accessible through different Apps on iOS and Android devices. Another reason is that I don't really want to be stuck with an EMS with its own factory monitor like the Xtreme EFIS, I will start with 2 iPad mini but maybe next year I will get a big iPad Pro. I like the concept of a black box sending wireless data to multiple devices. Any of you mob have any experience with the GRT EIS monitoring system ? (I sent them a couple of e-mail to get a quote this weeks but no reply yet) Cheers, Xavier from Darwin

Hi Steve, I did the same like Peter and had the same great service from Desser. I had to order a 4'' rim for the from wheel before I can replace it by the Condor and I should get it from Reg (Aerokits) this week so I haven't fitted the new Aero Classic yet, hopefully it should be done within the next 2 weeks and I will share a few photos. Xavier

Hi all, I need a bit of help regarding tire / rim and bearings for a full tires upgrade. Aircraft : Savannah VG Actual tires : Main : Condor - 6.00-6 4 Ply --> Photo Original.jpg, Main Original Condor.jpg Front : Trelleborg T-510 - 13x5.00-6 --> Photo Front --> Original.jpg Upgrade : Main : Aero Classic 21x8.00x6 --> Photo Upgrade.jpg Front : Condor - 6.00-6 4 Ply So one of the actual main wheel (Condor - 6.00-6) will replace the front wheel ( I checked the clearance and it should fit). And the 2 new 21x8.00x6 will be the new main. I managed to get a 6'' rim that will go in the front. Is there anything I should know about replacing the actual front rim with the new one regarding bearing size ? Also I could not find the reference of the bearing used on the main rim and front rim ? Would any of you have a part number for the bearings used on the main and front rim ? Hope you understand what I am trying to do Cheers, Xavier

Hi all, just a short one to share this interesting story of flying an aircraft with an ANR headset for the first time. I bought a Lightspeed Zulu PFX headset the other day and today it was time to try it for the first time. Called me mate pilot Iain to go for an afternoon flight and here we are in the little Savannah to do some circuits. The ANR is very impressive and make everything very comfortable but the feeling was weird, the sound of the engine (if any) was so different and made the experience unique. Doing circuits, I felt I was in a different plane, I thought it was floating a bit more, I noticed things that I didn't noticed before and other things were missing. It took me 3-4 circuits to be back on track and comfortable again. After 30 minutes, Iain was PIC with the new headset and he felt the same. The noise reduction has a big impact on how we feel the plane. After thinking about it it makes sense, each phase of the circuit is linked to a specific noise of the engine and a specific noise of the wind, and I believe our brain uses it as input/parameters. But once this noise is gone we are a bit lost for a while. Anyway, I am sure I am not the first one who experience this but it might surprise you. By the way, the ANR Zulu PFX is great. Xavier.