cscotthendry

If it was me, I'd cancel and think about going next year. Given the pandemic, Quaintass is being very forgiving with their ticket credits. Also, given how abysmally the Trump administration is handling the pandemic,, I wouldn't be going to the US in July.

We have a pickup truck and caravan that we keep in Dallas and we go over for 3 months each year. This year, we're waiting to see how the mess turns out. I have zero confidence in Trump to do anything useful and expect him to make matters worse as he looks out only for his own interests.

Last year while in the US I had to visit a doctor on a couple of occasions. It's not as bad as I expected. They will tell you up front what the charge will be (if it's knowable before hand like mine was) and you can prepay it.

Hi Danny:

As Mike Saunders and others have said, I just concentrated on one little thing at a time and concentrated on doing it the best I could. When I finished one little job, I would take time to decide what to do next. I'd think about what interested me to work on.

Yes, there were times when the motivation to work on it would flag or I'd be up against something that I was intimidated by. Usually, I'd call the kit supplier and have a chat and he'd tell me how easy it was and explain the process of doing it, or better yet, come over and show me how.

If you're working on it alone, you need someone to bounce ideas with, either on the phone or in person. It's better if they're familiar with the kit, but someone who's generally knowlegable about aircraft construction can be useful.

I think the worst thing you can do is sweat about how much is left to do to get it flying. I think it's better just to treat it as a collection of little tasks and forget about when it's going to be done.

I regularly fly with a group. I thought of (what I thought was) a simple way to identify members of a group from other OR traffic by colouring the little bubbles. I suggested this to the OR people.

Their answer?

"Too hard".

I'm a retired software engineer, so I have a bit of an idea how hard things would be to implement.

This wasn't the first time I got that response from them either. But it will be the last time I suggest anything to them.

If anyone else thinks the same how about we create a list of just essentials that we want and I will send it to Bas or Rowan and see if they will do a simple version selectable in the config

 

The maps are great

 

also the track north and reversing of track

 

Just need a quick plan option. The info available at airports of course is needed

 

BOM overlay is a must

 

fuel calcs and stuff I dont believe is necessary are really it is just simple maths you do in your head

 

Terrain maps and Lsalt are a must

 

Ersa stuff of course

 

Now thats pretty simple what else do you believe should be in a simple version

 

Mark:

This seems to be the "marketer's disease" that more features need to be added with each release to keep sales going. The video editing software I use suffers from the same "feature-itis" and I've stopped buying updates because of that. The software company's response to that is to go to a subscription model. Sound familiar?

I've made several suggestions to the OR people and the answer is always the same; Too hard.

They call themselves programmers, but every suggestion seems to be "Too hard" for them. Then when a new version comes out, I look at most of the upgrades and wonder who would have asked for those.

I have a video editing program that I stopped buying upgrades for because the company continues to add just more fizzy transitions and gimmicky stuff rather than features that make me as a user more productive.

It's a triumph of style over substance.

Be very careful with the elbow. They are thin and very soft. A good heat source is a heat gun, don't use a blow torch. A close fitting dowel into the tube is a good ide as others have said, but don't put a lot of force on the elbow or you'll be up for a new one. And whatever you do, don't grip it with pliers or a pair of multi grips.

Ask me how I know that!

I use the Claw tie downs, but I dont use the rope that came with it. I use the luggage type straps that are rated for the job. Note, I don't use the mechanical ratchet type tensioners. The object is to tie the plane down, not bend it in half. My straps have metal buckles and I don't cinch them up super tight, just take the slack out of them. I also tie the free end of the strap around the running part of the strap to help prevent the strap from being pulled out of the buckle.

I use carabiners between the strap and the wing strut hard points. The system is very quick to set up once I have the claws nailed to the ground.

Note that nothing is weatherproof completely and I recently saw a video where the Claws were pulled out of the ground. But that was at a place where the ground was relatively soft and there was a significantly strong storm.

Have you checked that the float is floating properly? This is one of the checks for the Rotax engines as some floats can get fuel in them and the don't float at the correct height.

I have been to several Old Station and RAAUS flyins and I agree with Yenn. The Old Station flyin left the "official" RAAUS event for dead. Maybe the RAAUS/Airventure crew could have sought some advice on how to stage one of these events from the Creed family.

The Old Station flyins stopped after Leonie passed away, but I'd bet London to a brick, if her boys decide to put another one on, the attendance would be what they used to be.

One big difference I noticed between the two events was that there was an air of conviviality at Old Station that seemed missing from the RAAUS events. The RAAUS events always had an air of "officialdom" for me which was offputting.

Since the two Michaels took over RAAUS, we've lost the printed Sport Pilot as part of our membership and gained having our details handed to Avdata.

Yep, they're working for the members ... For sure!

Oh, and I forgot, we're about to get a weight increase, that benefits ... Who?

Was the pilot conducting a short circuit?

Had a quick glance through the submissions so may have missed  a similar opinion to myself - apologies if so.

 

I dont have a problem with the weight increase idea it just doesnt isn't relevant to my flying.

 

However an endorsement to fly into CTA space and airfields would be very helpful to me - it is such a pain (& sometimes very much more dangerous) having to fly around CTA.

 

I get that RAA (for membership increase & possibly political leverage) and those with larger (or building the same)  aircraft , will benefit from the higher weights but surely they must be in the minority .

 

If gliders and the like can operate in CTA "why oh why can't I" RAA should be obtaining permission for entry into CTA before any other changes.

 

This move to the higher weight limit also puzzled me.  That is until I looked at it through the administration's eyes.

Consider the decision between the two objectives, which to pursue first.

Higher weight limit: A higher weight limit will capture some of the smaller GA planes thus increasing the membership count and consequently an increase in revenue for RAAUS. The benefit to members is limited to the new ex-GA owners and those with deeper pockets who want to buy heavier, more expensive aircraft.

CTA access: Benefits all existing and potential members, but after all the effort to be expended, only increases RAAUS regulatory obligations without any increase in revenue or membership numbers.

It's pretty obvious to me why the RAAUS administration pursued the heavier weight limit first and has put the CTA access in the "too hard" basket, the administration is looking after the interests of the administration first, members second.

If you are talking hydraulic valve lifters then the valve still opens at least 75% even with the lifter collapsed (no oil). On a Lycoming the collapsed valve clearance is checked and adjusted with different length push rods. I presume the Rotax is similar. 

 

Don't know about the collapsed valve clearance on Rotax engines, but Rotax have a procedure for bleeding possible air out of the lifters. From what I've read, it only has to be done when (if) possible air has been introduced to the oil system as in, if the engine is turned backwards or air is allowed into the system during oil changes.

I can highly recommend going for a lap in his Extra 300, a truly unforgettable experience. 

 

Whoa! Really? You did that?

Waaaay cool!!!

Congrats to Matty, he has worked long and hard for this success. He will be champion for life since there will be no more RBAR.

I have met him several times and he is a true gentleman, very friendly and approachable.

Recently exposed to a 912 that had 1900 hours that I had been flying in with no issues. When it was ferryed back to base the pilot who is a L2 noted that it was tight to turn- real tight.

 

It was found it was in a batch that had pick up on the crank - this is listed in a Rotax notification - just have the serial number checked, this was one real unhappy crankcase and was condemned based on the internal damage.

 

Gary

 

Gary:

Can you post the SB number for that fault pls.

I've been studying the air charts here and comparing what we have at home in Oz. Here's what I've discovered different so far...

In Oz, most of our airspace is class G. In the US, it's mostly class E. Class G in the US only extends to either 700' or 1,200' AGL. Then it is class E up to 10,000'AMSL which is class A. If the class E in the US is similar to Oz's class E, that means that anything that flies in class E (ie real airplanes) has to have a transponder. It seems to me that class G in the US is intended for things like model airplanes, drones and model rockets etc.

In Oz, I'm not aware of any class B airspace (but could be wrong on this). In the US they do have it. I haven't studied the difference between class B,C and D in the US yet, but I think class D is like our class D, that is like class C with limited hours of operation.

Still studying the charts... More later.

Have you done compression (leakdown) tests on the engine? That will tell you what you need to know. There is no other reason I know of for an engine to be "easy" to pull through when cold but not so much when warm.

I am currentlt visiting the US and was wondering whether my RAAUS qualifications are recognized here. Also was wondering what qualification rec pilots have here. Is it like we have in Oz, a "pilot certificate" or do rec pilots here just have PPLs?

Would any Americans on the forum care to have a stab at this?

A couple of WWII themed movies

Battle of Britain

Dark Blue World

Dunquirk

One about Howard Hughes

The Aviator

This one's a bit corny, but fun

The right stuff

One about space

Apollo 11 (documentary)

It's 6:30 am here in Oshkosh on Monday morning, the first day of the show. We are camped in 101 Woods and would like to know about any other forumites that are here. If you are here, stop by for a cuppa, and let us know if you're going to the international dinner. If we're not in the trailer when you stop by, leave us a note for how we can contact you here.

There is another possibility here and of course this is just speculation.

It is whale season and maybe they were looking for or at whales and just got that little bit too close to the water. I say this, because it happened to me the other day up off the beach south of Double Island point. I let my attention wander for just a second while my wife was filming a whale and when I looked back to the front the plane was in a nose down attitude headed for the water. I won't say what height we were at, but it was a wake up call.

I believe the heads are sealed and can’t leak and there are no head gaskets , but l will look into it,

Mike: That's really exciting news! I would be interested to know what you have to change to get the uprated MTOW.

An example of how little things can bring a plane down. It also raises the question of whether someone who isn't going to be flying in the plane will do maintenance as carefully as the person who will be in the plane. I know that I feel safer doing my own maintenance after seeing how some mechanics go about their work.