Xavier

Hi skippydiesel, no offense at all :-) I would love to have the skills of doing the maintenance myself but unfortunately I don't have those skills. Even with having a Lame doing the maintenance I find the running cost acceptable, $77 / hour wet (at 3hours per week) including hangar rent and insurance. Cheers, Xavier

Because I was lucky enough to find a great LAME.

Hi George, I use the same spot on my little VGs. I found that not having it on the front panel stop me from looking at it too often, which is a good thing. I am using a Bluetooth Bad Elf external GPS connected to the iPad, better signal and it also significantly increases the battery life. I like your idea of the pen holder. Xavier

This airstrip has Mogas 91 and 95

No worries Captain, I posted it for this purpose, let us know is you make any improvement to the spreadsheet.

Hi all, Just wanted to share / discuss / improve the spreadsheet I have been using to estimate how much my little Savannah cost me per hour, trying to include as much as I can in the running costs. The spreadsheet is a work in progress. The aircraft is a 19 reg Savannah VG with a Rotax 912 UL 80HP - Airframe/Engine 570 hours (12 years old). It is serviced by a LAME every 100 hours. The first part of the spreadsheet includes the estimate running cost : Service, engine replacement, prop/tires replacement, fuel and other miscellaneous expenses (excluding Insurance and Hangar lease) Every 100 hours : normal service, around $1,000 : LAME plus parts Every 500 hours : "in depth" service : $3,000 : LAME plus parts Every 1000 hours : "more in depth" service : $5,000 : LAME plus parts This comes out at $16 per hour for servicing the aircraft. Also included : Engine replacement ($20,000 in 1500 hours), prop replacement ($2000 every 600 hours), tires ($1,500 every 400 hours) and "other extra" ($2,000 every 500 hours). Fuel consumption 13 litres per hour at $1.40/litre (MoGas 95, Fuel in Darwin is not cheap ...) (The fuel consumption is not an estimate, this is what I am using at the moment) I tried to "over estimate" the costs in all areas as I am sure some unexpected expenses will turn up, but I might be completely off, this is my first aircraft and I only bought it 1 year ago. I did not include the depreciation / cost of buying the aircraft. I end up with a "non compressible" cost of $59 per hour. The second part of the spreadsheet includes the costs of the insurance and the cost of leasing the hangar. Basically the more we fly, the less expensive per hour it is when we include the "static" cost of the hangar/insurance. At the moment I am doing an average of 150 hours per year, which gives us an estimate of $77 per hour. The idea is to put $77 aside every time I fly an hour to be ready when the plane need to be serviced. Happy to get some feed back, discuss and improve the spreadsheet. Cheers from Darwin, Xavier Savannah Running costs.xlsx Savannah Running costs.xlsx Savannah Running costs.xlsx

Hi, this document might help for the VDO Temperature sender used in the 912 : http://www.vdo-gauges.com/media/instructions/TU00-0770-5104620%20Temperature%20Sensors_short_version.pdf Xavier

I was having a chat with an instructor/owner of a Tecnam P92 with a 912UL, about RPM settings and while reading our respective 912 manuals / POH we found out that we have a different Reduction Ratio. On the Savannah I have the option 2.43:1 (Same like the 912ULS) and the Tecnam has the 2.27:1 standard reduction ratio. What difference this made to the engine ? Does this has an impact on the propeller to select for the aircraft (type, pitch, ...) ? Does this change the way the engine is tuned ? Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Cheers, Xavier

Thanks for your prompt replies, I just realised I made a mistake on the legs, East should be West and West should be East. This doesn't change the end result. the correct numbers are : I flew around a 4NM square at 1500 feet maintaining 5000Rpm and an IAS of 71 knots (70-72 average) Temperature was around 28 Deg Celcius. Wind estimate is 5-10kts N-NE (early morning) I flew the square twice and this is the data collected : Legs - Tracking -- Dist (NM) -- ASI (Kt) - TAS(Kt) -- GS (Kt) South - pass 1 -------- 3.7 ------------ 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 88 West - Pass 1 ---------- 3.4 ----------- 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 85 North - Pass 1 --------- 3.5 ----------- 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 77 East - Pass 1 ----------- 3.2 ----------- 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 79 South - Pass 2 --------- 3.1 ----------- 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 88 West - Pass 2 ---------- 3.3 ----------- 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 84 North - Pass 2 --------- 3.3 ----------- 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 78 East - Pass 2 ----------- 3.5 ----------- 71 --------- 74.6 -------- 79 Average --------------- 3.375 -------- 71 --------- 74.6 ------ 82.25 GPX file is attached (just unzip "ASI test.GPX.zip") I thought that on the Northern and Eastern legs, the IAS would have been less than the GS What do you make of those numbers ? I put the numbers in "Nobody"'s spreadsheet and I am getting a true airspeed between 81.6 and 82.5 knots.

Its hard to say exactly because it wasn't windy at all on the ground, at 7:30am NNE 1kt gusting 2kts. ( http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDD60801/IDD60801.94105.shtml ) Darwin was North 4kt gusting 5kts ( http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDD60901/IDD60901.94120.shtml ) Batchelor was CALM - NNW 1kt gusting 3kts ( http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDD60901/IDD60901.94125.shtml ) Based on the GS it looks like it was a NNW

Hi all, Since I started flying my Savannah 9 months ago I felt that the IAS wasn't very accurate so this morning I have done some testing. I flew around a 4NM square at 1500 feet maintaining 5000Rpm and an IAS of 71 knots (70-72 average) Temperature was around 28 Deg Celcius. Wind was 5-10kts N-NW (early morning) I flew the square twice and this is the data collected : Legs - Tracking - Dist (NM) - ASI (Kt) - TAS(Kt) - GS (Kt) South - pass 1 ------- 3.7 ----------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 88 East - Pass 1 ---------- 3.4 ---------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 85 North - Pass 1 -------- 3.5 ---------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 77 West - Pass 1 --------- 3.2 ---------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 79 South - Pass 2 -------- 3.1 ---------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 88 East - Pass 2 ---------- 3.3 ---------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 84 North - Pass 2 -------- 3.3 ---------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 78 West - Pass 2 --------- 3.5 ---------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 79 Average --------------- 3.375 -------- 71 -------- 74.6 -------- 82.25 GPX file is attached (just unzip "ASI test.GPX.zip") I thought that on the North and West legs, the IAS would have been less than the GS What do you make of those numbers ? Cheers, Xavier ASI test.GPX.zip ASI test.GPX.zip ASI test.GPX.zip

After some tuning from our local LAME, the Idle RPM has been set to 1600-1700 and if I pull harder on the throttle I can get down to 1400rpm with the engine still running nicely. It makes quite a big difference on the approach, it is easier to get the power settings right. (before the adjustment, even at idle full back, it felt like the plane didn't want to go down) The prop pitch has been changed as well ,down to a couple of degrees and I am getting 5500RPM WOT at 1500ft AG. (5400rpm WOT on take off) The engine feels very nice sitting on a cruising 5000rpm. It feels like I got more horse power on take off and this is what was after, happy days ! Thanks for all your feedback Xavier.

Thank you for your response, I will have a close look at changing the pitch of the prop and idle. More advice are welcome.

Hi all, just to clarify things straight away, my Engine/Mechanical knowledge if very very limited so I apologise in advance if I don't use the correct vocabulary or if the questions asked are silly. I have been flying a Savannah VG with a 912UL 80HP for 6 months now and I am trying to find out if the settings (Engine and Propeller) are correct. The 912UL has 500 hours, the prop is a 3 blade DUC (Diam 68.0 cm, Pitch 13.0 deg). Fuel : ULP95 I am normally cruising at 5000 rpm and getting around 75-77 kt IAS at 4800 RPM I get 73kt IAS, not much difference. Idle is around 2200 rpm (feels a bit high to me) at a TOW of around 520kg - 1 PIC, 1PAX, full fuel (MTOW 544kg): - WOT on take off --> RPM = 5200 - WOT straight level at 1500ft --> RPM = 5250 This doesn't feel right to me. Rotax manual : - Take-off speed --> 5800 rpm (max. 5min) - Max. continuous speed (5500 rpm) - Idle speed --> min.1400 rpm I have been reading the Rotax-Owner forum and it looks like a good balance for rpm settings is to have a rpm of around 5600-5700 on straight level at WOT at the altitude the plane fly most of the time (2000 asl for me). See this thread : LINK So, what do you think ? Is the WOT straight level at 1500ft of 5250 rpm ok ? It would be great if I could get some indications or where to look, prop pitch adjustment, carburetors balancing, other adjustments. Thanks. Xavier

Hi all, Anybody with a bit experience / feedback using this instrument : http://aviation.levil.com/ilevil-2-aw.html Xavier

A Sunday evening browsing the web took me to this interesting website : Link This could be interesting in the years to come. Xavier

That's the one ;-)

The Nav is done and now it's all about having fun around the Top End coat line. Early morning flights are great and with the start of the build up the South Easterly wind is almost gone. You can rent a Technam or a J230 at the club, just come around. Xavier

I have been using Garmin Virb Elite cameras and I find them much easier to use than the GoPros, also the Virb batteries last longer (2h 15min normally). The real bonus is that the camera has an inbuilt GPS and with the use of the free Garmin Virb Edit software you can add layers of information (Altitude, speed, ...) on the top of the video. Check this thread with this thread : http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/video-mapping-garmin-virb-elite-garmin-virb-edit.134561/ and video : I have tried the GoPros a while ago and unless you really need 2K or 4K I would use the Garmin instead. Johnny AppleSeed are pretty competitive : https://www.ja-gps.com.au/Garmin/virb-elite-action-camera/ Xavier

In Ramingining filming the Arafura Swamp Rangers doing Healthy Country Planning plan for the next 10 years. Weed management, fire management, feral animal management, sacred sites protection, strong culture, cultural awareness, ... I intend to fly there quite often to do video mapping for the Rangers, this explains my questions about Opal Fuel. It's look like I found a solution to get avgas in the area so all good

Hi there Not impress with how this thread went sideways Would it be possible for the moderator to split this thread into two, the original one and a new one called : " How to kill our fist people very quickly so we don't have to worry about the fuel we use when we fly over their country" Another option would be to close this thread because it can only turn very ugly .... Cheers Xavier in the middle of Arnhem Land

Thank you for your responses and happy flying.

I own a 912 UL, it requires min RON 91 http://www.flyrotax.com/enginesImpressum/product-rangeImpressum/carburetedImpressum/912-80hpImpressum/engine-data-performance.aspx "recommended qualified person with a lot of experience in aviation" : --> One L2 at my airstrip gave me 2 names to contact, I have also e-mailed Bert Flood. The last one is someone on the forum who work in the petroleum industry It has been very hard to get some good info about Opal fuel and no it wasn't at the pub

Hi all, it hasn't been easy to find some information about Opal fuel but after talking to 4 recommended qualified person with a lot of experience in aviation, I have been told by all of them that it is suitable for a 912UL. Apparently the quality of Opal fuel has really improved, one person told me that it can help to use an Octane Booster and another one told me not to so this part is still unknown I talked to the local Yamaha boat shop in Darwin who has customer using their 4 stroke outboard in remote communities using only Opal fuel. They told me there is no problem with Opal fuel. They told me that some time they recommend using "Yamaha Ring Free" to keep the engine clean when using Opal Fuel. Any other feed back on Opal fuel is welcome. Also, what you guys think about using "Yamaha Ring Free" on their Rotax 912 ? Some links : https://yshop.yamaha-motor.com.au/products/ring-free-fuel-additive-0 http://yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/images/Ethanol_Fuel_Flyer.pdf Cheers, Xavier

I would be heading to Central Arnhem Land : Ramingining - Maningrida - Gapuwyak - Bulman, around the Arafura Swamp. The main community I will be flying from will be Ramingining. If I stay there for a week and fly everyday, I won't have many choices : - Using the local Opal fuel or - Bring ULP95 there by road in advance and store it safely at a mate place, but I am not really keen to let it sit for 3-4 months