pmccarthy

I expect that the Texan canopy would fly off if the latches were bumped open. It would take off the tail. If by great good fortune it didn't, the plane would be uncontrollable anyway due to modified airflow over the tail control surfaces. A good reason not to carry ratbag passengers who wave their arms about.

My best ever is Winged Victory by V.M.Yeates. Available in Kindle. Authentic story of WW1 flying. Yeates died of TB in the 1930s and never saw how successful his book became. It was highly sought in WW2 by pilots.

On Saturday I took a friend flying. He trains air observers for the fire authority and wanted to check out some locations. We had a two hour flight plan and a dozen locations to check, on a day of scattered showers and storms that kept most people on the ground. It was the most fun I have had flying for quite a while.

We always had clear corridors available with known airstrips in range, but had to weave through the weather. Got rain on the windscreen occasionally but never worse, and always comfortably in VMC. The difference from my usual weekend flying was that it was done with a purpose, with a series of challenges to locate points on the ground that were quite difficult to find. None of the usual cross-country monotony, although I do enjoy long cross country flights. We found all the locations despite the weather, with the help of GPS.

I think I will design a few challenges for our club, with places to identify and describe in some way from the air, to spice up our pie and fly Saturdays.

David Clark claims 18 hours but I reckon 10 hours with a little 9v rectangular battery.

Or a clever piece of Photoshopping with a Pilatus nose, greenhouse from a WW2 trainer and rear fuselage from a WW2 bomber. Must look ungainly on the ground with its nose in the air.

Dafydd, surely mounting or trailing any such things would be in breach of whatever regulations apply to modification of an LSA ?

Kyneton airfield is managed entirely by the aero club with no help or support from council. We have wonderful support from volunteer members to do all the work. Had a meeting yesterday with council and consultants about future possibilities. My guess is that we are moving into a great future for YKTN.

I just read in the latest Sport Pilot the rules on biannual testing of ASI, altimeter, and leakage in pitot lines. It was news to me. Is it news to others? Anyway, I can test the ASI against my GPS in two directions and record that in the maintenance log, the other tests I will need to talk to my LAME. It is strange that these tests have not been suggested to me before and don't appear in my maintenance manual. Thanks to the temporary Tech man for writing the note.

RA only allows one passenger

I just had a fuel contamination problem with my ride-on mower. I buy the fuel from the same outlet where I buy my Mogas for flying, though from a different pump and using different jerry cans, hence some concern.

The mower would run for 20 minutes then stop. I took off the fuel filter and noticed there was no flow from tank, just a drip. I left it dripping while I went into town and bought a new filter. When I came back there was a mass of white ice crystals at the end of the fuel line, along the outside of the line and on the ground beneath it. These were ice crystals and very cold, though the day was warm about 20 degrees.

If this is simply water contamination then my Mr Funnel should filter it out when I fuel the plane, and I should see it when I do a fuel drain. But I am concerned that it may be some other contaminant that could get through and cause the same stoppage that I had in the mower.

I will make the change and see how that goes.

I believe my RA registered aircraft is just as reliable as a GA aircraft. I have flown to and from Tasmania in both and felt no less secure flying RA. The Rotax 912 is reliable and the aircraft is well maintained. I think you would have to assess your aircraft and be sure that there were no incipient problems with the engine in particular.

http://www.best-poems.net/robert_w_service/poem-16869.html

This was all clearly explained by Robert Service in about 1920. Check the link.

"The "spare" tube was aged cracking, as it had been folded up for so long"

We were once short of a balloon for an office birthday party. One of the lads took a rubber object out of his wallet and made the same discovery. How we laughed!

Split rims make it easier. I carry exactly the spanners needed (one ring spanner, one socket, one Allen key) spare tube and a motorbike pump. Had it happen, also in Woop Woop. But I don't have the answer to supporting the plane, needs a couple of strong local lads to help.

My 912ULS runs very cold in cold winter weather. Oil and CHT both run just above the bottom of the gauge in cruise ie say 60 -70 degrees. On start up and then warm up oil will climb to 60 degrees only but CHT stays pinned at the bottom. On gradual descent say 4000 rpm both may pin at the bottom of the gauge.

I could blank off part of the radiator but I have the opposite problem in climb. Even on the coldest days, more than 5 minutes at the recommended climb settings takes CHT to just below the limit ( top of the orange and just below the red zone on my gauges), so I have to level out in steps.

I am wondering whether running cold will do harm.

Thanks, great info and I wasn't aware of it.

Neville Shute wrote that accidents decreased as landing speeds increased in streamlined aircraft in the late 1920s and early 1930s because the effect of wind gusting became relatively less important.

http://www.standard.net.au/story/1796263/one-dead-in-hamilton-plane-crash/?cs=73

Crashed in the dark doing night flying training.

If you blokes can't afford $25 to maintain this hobby take up lawn bowls. The organisation has been under resourced for far too long, I expected a bigger increase to fix the problems.

Doing dual GA training 40 years ago I did three rotations in a Victa Airtourer several times, then went practised it by myself. The instructor emphasised that this was really a tight spiral dive but the closest thing to a spin that the Victa was capable of. Also did a couple of hours aerobatic training and recovery from unusual attitudes, both in clear and under the hood. All very worthwhile.

I think it essential practice. But it isn't allowed under RA. For my two bob's worth, there ought to be RA aircraft certified for it and it ought to be a mandatory part of training.

At our club we have SAAA, RAA, GA and Warbirders. All of us get along well and have the same aims, to go for a fly for an hour or two each weekend and a trip every few months. The difference is the type of aeroplane we like to fly. That is influenced by whether we like hands-on building, big noisy engines, fast, aerobatic, or quiet, low-cost machines. The people are the same. There seems no reason why the rules should be different for any of us once we are in the air. The rules just put us into categories by speed, weight etc. with some flexibility on maintenance that reflects the complexity of the aircraft.

Held last weekend, 14th and 15th September. I signed up for the car run on Saturday. We spent the morning on display at the railway station, then a run to Talbot after lunch. We were still there at 3.30, intended to then go to the airfield for the official opening. But there were clouds appearing and it was getting darker so I went home in my open top special without seeing an aeroplane.

On Sunday mine was one of five Kyneton aircraft at the field, there were only about four others. We were told that a lot more aircraft had been there on Saturday. A large number of historic motorcycles, sports cars and racing cars did time trials all day on the main sealed runway 17/35 while air movements were on the dirt. I hope the runway surface has survived all the wheel spinning and smoking. The Kyneton Yak offered warbirds flights.

A good weekend was had, but I was disappointed at seeing no aircraft I hadn't seen before. I should have gone out on Saturday, but I suspect most would have flown out by 4 pm when the cars arrived.

It was the first time for this event. Council has spent a lot of money on the airfield and it is a great venue. I look forward to the next time.

I don't see an advantage in building hours in a cheaper aircraft than you really want. The operating cost is only fuel and the annual, unless you buy something that needs a lot of work. So get the aircraft you really want and that suits your needs.