cscotthendry

There is another thread in the forums on Rotax tacho probs. You could try some of the remedies posted there.

I was asked by the American distributors of the Legend how it performs on a 120F-130F day. 130F is somewhere north of 50C I think, and it got me to wondering where you would get those kinds of temps. Then I thought of the aircraft sitting on a black bitumen runway with the ambient air temps in the 40s. Would the temps over the runway in those conditions get up to 50C? Something to consider for us Tupperware drivers?

Also, WRT operating temps, CF components that are structural are usually autoclaved at 80C or thereabouts to cure and harden. This is why CF aircraft must be painted white in structural areas. If those components were painted dark colours it might be possible to get them to a temp that would soften the resin. My Legend is completely CF with an extra layer of Kevlar in the cabin area. It would be interesting to have a temp probe inside the wings and a gauge that reads max temps.

Love it! Maybe I should bring the monkey back LOL

Weather kept us grounded also...Bugger!

That's called "Oversharing"!!!

Ryan: Yep, on my bucket list as well. Thinking of going up this year if time and weather cooperate. From memory, it happens around September.

Unfortunately we are going to miss this again. The weather is out of my comfort zone (in the sense that I can't make heads or tails of what it's going to do) so I'm going with the safe option. Really disappointed as we really wanted to go. Next time for sure... Maybe Gympie on Sunday ...

Oooh errr, I had no idea that was going to happen

There is another thread in the forums regarding renting versus buying. I won't try to duplicate that here as a simple search will lead you to that. From your two initial choices; Jabiru or Cessna, I think you have some more research to do as both those aircraft types have some form of cloud over them, however contentious those clouds may be. Also, the Cessna is definitely GA only at this stage, the Jab may be registered VH or RAA depending on the model I think. Recreational aircraft will only have two seats. If you want to carry more than 1 passenger, then it's GA for you. Recreational aircraft are generally much cheaper to maintain than GA and usually much cheaper to run, fuel-wise. If you will mostly be flying alone, but sometimes with 1 other, it would be pointless to buy a six seater and pay all the money for purchase, running and maintenance. In the long run, you might be best off going GA and renting a small two seater when that suits or a six seater when needed. However: if renting GA aircraft is anything like renting RAA planes, you'll rarely be able to just rock up somewhere and say "I want to rent a plane right now." You'll more likely have to book it in advance and let them know how long you want it for and you'll have to fit in with the other demands for their aircraft such as training and other rentals. By contrast, owning a plane gives more flexibility of when you want to fly and for how long you'll be away with the plane. HTH

Who's going this year?

I tried a pair of polarised sunnies, but they made weird patterns in the Lexan windscreen. I found that distracting to the point I took the sunnies off and flew without them. I think there are different quality polarised sunnies and some are better than others.

Wow, fantastic! 120F is 48C. We have not flown in those kinds of temps, only to the mid 30sC so I can't tell you how it would go there. At 130F, that would be over 50C! Would you see see that kind of temps outside of Death Valley? We are very happy with our Legend. We have had no troubles with temperatures in warm (30C and higher), either coolant or oil temps. In fact the oil temps run a bit too cool and we use the temp control flap a bit for that. Coolant temps remain around 100C at all times including long sustained climbs to altitude. The only time we have had the temp go to the upper end of the green was a hot restart and a long on ground hold for traffic on a warm day. This is because there is insufficient air flowing through the cooler while idling on the ground, but the temp never went into the red. As soon as we lifted off, the temps started to come back down and settled at 100C throughout the climb. Anyway, hope this helps. All the best with the Legend in the US, I think it will be a hit at Oshkosh.

Moves are now afoot to bring increased MTOW in the RAA fleet. This will see those Cirrus and Lancair (and some of the lighter GA types) aircraft possibly enter the RAA. Moves are also afoot to bring in a CTA endorsement for RAA and this will also encourage migration fro GA for recreational flyers. This will add further to the woes of the GA support industries and see a big shakeout of service and equipment providers to GA or a migration of them to follow the planes into the RAA sphere. Unfortunately, I agree that the baby boomer fliers (like myself) will cease flying and the next generations will not have the financial resources to enter and make up the numbers. I don't think rec flying will die in my lifetime, but it might in my son's or his son's time, unless the politicians do something about the massive redistribution of all the wealth to the already rich.

Don: Had I gone up through the alleyway between Amberley and Archerfield it would have been shorter and then I would have been approaching from SE. I have never flown that route though and the narrowness of the clearance there coupled with the uncertainty of what to do about crossing the VFR lane into Archerfield deters me. Someday I will get someone to go through there with me and show me where to go there and what to do.

Don: In the video posted above(return fro Evans Head) , I approached Watts Bridge via Gatton and Esk, which is from the South West. But you had me going for a bit there. I had to go and check my track to make sure. I should also make it plain to all that my wing cameras are mounted with the stick on go pro mounts for which I have written factory approval. If you have a GA or LSA aircraft, you MUST have written authority to make any kind of mods and mounting gopros with stick on mounts counts as modifications. BTW, If you're our RAA Don, it was good to see you at the meetings at GEFI. I would have liked to chat with you some more, but didn't get the chance.

Obviously those that were running Dick Smith Electronics lately had forgotten Tandy. DSE went down the same path, morphing from an electronics store to a toy and gadgets store and suffered the same fate as Tandy. Jaycar seem to be heading the same way also. Those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them.

Registered.

I hate seeing anyone's plane wrecked. But it is good that there weren't any injuries or deaths.

Thanks Mike. What surprised me was the vapor trails on the tips of the prop when we took off. I didn't see them until I was editing the video. It was very humid at Evans Head that weekend. Looking forward to seeing your videos also.

Good luck with your videoing. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoy making videos and I hope you will too. There is not a lot of info about making flying videos and what little I know I learned mostly by doing and reading. I have had some indispensible tutelage from a master though. Google Gary Kildea.

To record ambient cockpit sound on the gopro, I use a normal case with the skeleton back. I can see a couple of problems using a lapel mic in the headset 1) It might be uncomfortable if the mic presses against the side of your head or ear. 2) It might move around in the earcup and introduce noises like scraping or rattles. 3) It means having an extra cord hanging from your headset and going to a different place to where your headset cable goes, which could restrict your movement and cause further noise in the mic as the cable drags on things like the seat and your clothes. This could be reduced by taping the mic cord to the headset cord. Using an adapter requires a little investment or effort on your part, but is worth it for the better audio quality and ultimate simplicity of the setup. Using a dedicated recorder also requires some investment and some extra work synchronising the audio to the video, but gives a bit more flexibility in the audio connections. It is up to you how much money, time and effort you are prepared to put into your videos. I think most people take one of two paths 1) Start simple and get more advanced as they get more interested in videomaking 2)Start simple and lose interest and just make videos on occasion, or stop altogether.

Jimmy or Warren? If you mean the camera wobbles, yes, I think the gopros aren't sitting properly snugly in the cases.

I use a combination of cockpit noise picked up by the gopro, and voice recorded off the intercom. Digital voice recorders are cheap and plentiful at the moment. Some are available for around the $25 mark.