Harthy

Due to some financial problems I may have to sell my much loved Jabiru J120. So I am looking for genuine expressions of interest. No tyre kickers. Please pm me if you are interested. This aircraft was new in March 2008 Currently has 475 hours Been maintained by lame and level2 Has transponder, Garmin 296, VSI, In/Out thermometer, Volt meter/stopwatch, Sheepskin seat covers, As new condition, These are the best model Jabiru have made. I will not post the price for the moment as crunch time has not come yet $68500 for the same new Harthy

Cold starting Keep any kind of aero start away from good engines or your engine will not be good for much longer. It can have a habit of melting pistons from severe detonation. Using it in aircraft engines is not advisable. Yes it does start engines. Mainly designed for starting very cold and low compression diesel engines(worn out ones). Look at the complete starting circuit. A good properly sized battery for the job, good heavy leads with soldered conections. Very clean and secure connections and terminals(Can't stress that enough), Starter moter and solenoid of good quality and service. From there if your engine is tuned correctly it will start hot or cold. Harthy

I always enjoy airshows. This one as mentioned before was a bit slow, with to much formation flying but worth attending. After speaking to some locals, what really drew the crowds was the drag between the V8 Supercar and the L39 jet. Most of them came to see that, and dispersed soon after. Not everybody is interested in aircraft, but mix it with other entertainment and you will get more interest. I departed on Sunday morning about 7.30 and after about ten minutes into my flight the radio became very good listening. Not sure exactly what was going on, but I heard aircraft landing over others on the strip and the Mustang and Yak having to do go arounds. It all sounded a bit chaotic. I ended up changing frequancy, it got to noisy. It gets pretty busy when private aircraft are departing and the big bangers are doing joy rides all before the airshow starts. Sometimes this can be more entertaining then the airshow. I would imagine there is alot of work and expense in organising an airshow, and they will never be perfect, but they need to be supported. I'll be Back!

DATE CLAIMER : 21st August 2010 Dalby Whings & Wheels Who wants to come!!!

Arrival and Departure procedures Hi Everyone, Some of you may already have found out. The arrival and departure procedures are finally on the Wide Bay Airshow website. For those of you who are going it will pay for you to read this. I am heading up on Friday. Hope to see some of you there. Harthy

Fuel Enricher Valve Hi Qwerty, This is something worth looking at. There is possibly a problem with your Fuel Enricher Valve. It has been found on a couple jabs. My jab is displaying similar symptoms to yours, but mine will run fine just needs alot of choke on cold mornings, I then need to raise the revs to 1500rpm after a minute or two and then push the choke in quickly and it runs fine. The possible cause is easy to check. I will be checking mine today. On the right side of the carby is the enricher valve. it is held in with 4 phillips screws (about an inch square plate with the choke lever coming out of the centre of it) The valve shaft is located in the choke lever on a 8 o'clock 2 o'clock position. On the end of the shaft is an indexing mark which should be lined up to the 8 o'clock position. if it is lined up to the 2 o'clock position it needs to be rotated 180 degrees. This may be worth a look. Harthy

I am sorry guys, excuse me for being vague. What is Plexus and Vuplex? Harthy

It is pretty obvious that a large percentage of aircraft onwers in Australia own and fly Jabirus, and without having figures, they are probably the highest. Members in another thread have had a chance to Knock the Jabiru's, and we could quite easily start a thread to knock any brand of aircraft. So lets get to the positives on these fantastic aircraft. I have been a Jabiru owner for over 12 months now, and I am the first to admit that they are not perfect. But hell they are good! I love my Jab more every time I fly it. They cruise well, they are efficent, and are the best value for money aircraft on the market. Some of the new aircarft in other brands are trying to make their aircraft like GA aircraft. One point I noticed in a particular new model that does a bit of chest beating, was the high GA dash to look over (Old fashioned). Jabs don't have these. I once not so long ago had a Jab critic say to me that if you look under the bonnet and in the airframe of his aircraft (new Gyro), it is much more complex looking. I think it was his way of justifying the high purchase cost. Jabiru's are not complex, which is a hugh advantage. Anyway lets add to the list of positives about these aircraft. Harthy (Jabiru Lover)

It all works on percentages. If for example if 5% of Jabiru's fail, and Jabiru sell 10 x more aircraft then any other aircraft in the country, then there are 10 x more known failures for people to criticise and read about. So on reports where aircraft failures are listed there will be naturally more Jabiru's. Years ago I was a Jabiru critic, and now I own one. They have changed and improved. (as they should if they want to succeed) There would not be an aircraft owner and Jabiru critic out there that can say there aircraft has not or will not have problems. As mentioned earlier it comes down to personal choice. Look at the biggest on going mud slinging match in Australia, Holden verse Ford. You will never convince either side that one is better then the other or that they don't have problems. The maintenance part of aircraft is also a very important point. I have a mechanical trade, and I have been with machinery long enough to know that if it is man made it will fail, no matter how good you think it is. How well it is maintained will determine how long it will go before it needs major attention. After reading some of the posts on this sight over the years and noting the lack of mechanical understanding of some the members. It frightens me to think that these people are or are trying to maintain ther own aircraft. This on it's own can increase the risk of aircraft failure whether it is a Jabiru or something else. I love my Jabiru. I know it is not perfect, but nothing is. It might fail tomorrow. But can you tell me yours wont!! Happy Flying Harthy

Thruster Yenn, 50knt approach, 45 - 50knt climb, 55 to 60 knt cruise or 50knts just poking around on a Sunday afternoon. Harthy

Landing I did over 300 hours in a Thruster, and they say if you can land a Thruster you can land anything, and they are not too bad. I certainly have not heard that said about Jabiru's. Jabiru's are a complete peace of cake compared to a Thruster, but very different of course. Jabiru's will float if you don't use full flap on landing, but watch your airspeed doesn't drop off to much with full flap. They can drop if you flare to soon and they are too slow. (Full flap is recommended to be used in the flight manual)

B1b Simonflyer, My rib cage is also still rattling from the B1B. That aircraft is a hugh crowd pleaser. It gives me goose bumps just to here it take off. I just love it!!! It was very dissapointing about the weather over the weekend, especially after travelling from QLD to see the airshow, but we still enjoyed it. It was a great experience for me to fly into such an airshow. Harthy

Photo Hi John, Sorry to see your plane damaged in the storm. Fortunately my aircraft did not receive any damage. I hope you will have your plane up and flying soon. I did manage to get a photo of your aircraft on my phone, so I will try and attach it. Needs to be rotated, but couldn't get it to happen. Harthy

John, As far as I know all you need to do is 'disable macros' when you open the program. This will allow you to put in your aircraft performance figures and wind speed/direction. Everything else is locked by the creator. Is this what you are asking about? Hope this helps Harthy

J120 I have owned a 120 for nearly 12 months now. it has 360 hrs on the clock and is going as good as the day I got it. They have only had one rudder fitted since release, and it is larger then the LSA. It's performance is more then adequate. I have landed in some very strong cross winds and have never run out of rudder control. These aircraft handle very well on the ground in taxing and takeoff and landings. In the air they are even better with suppurb handling. it cruises at a comfortable 100kts at 2900rpm with an over all average of 13.8 ltr per hour Its climb rate is great even with two on board. Much better then the J160's. It is smaller then the 160 in side, however just last week it did an nav with a 130kg student and a decent sized instructor and it handled it very well. There will always be plenty of knockers out there. But whether you like Jabiru's or not, this is a great aircraft!! Untill someone else can come up with a new fly away aircraft for $58000 with it's performance, it is worth a very close look. Harthy

Flight planner If you go to www.airborne-aviation.com.au then click on Resources, scroll down and click on Flight planning, then down load 'Flight Planner v1.2' This is a good free planner. You put in your aircraft performance details, type in waypoints it will give you track, gound speed, and time. You can put in wind direction and speed and it automaticaly adjusts heading, ground speed and time. it calculates fuel also. Just follow instructions. It also has full list of airports and waypoints which can be added to. Nice handy little planner if you don't want the latest and greatest. Harthy

The J120 is much to quick for towing up a hang glider, You will need something that will fly safely under 45kts. The Dragon fly or trikes are good choices for towing hang gliders, other wise you will see some very shocked looks on the faces of the hang glider pilots. Harthy

Thanks Peter for the offer, I certainly don't want to drop in when you have a house full. I have spoken to Ted at the aeroclub and he said we can camp there, which will be just fine. Tomo, good to see things are progressing well. Matt, Thanks for weather update Harthy

Thanks for the advise, I will ensure the 120 is full. I am sure it will not be a bed of roses getting into Avalon, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I also have a question for maybe some locals or someone that knows. What is the weather usually like down there at that time of the year? I am preparing for it to be cold. Harthy

Sorry Tomo, I have a flying buddy going with me. I am fighting offers off with a stick at the moment! Harthy

Brentc, My aircraft is a J120, the third one off the production line.

Display Aircraft Peter, I am also putting my aircraft on dispaly for the three days, and taking in all of the benifits. There is bit of mucking around to get registered and so forth, and with it only being six weeks away now, I am getting very excited about the hole trip. I have been over and over the arrival and departure procedures and one thing that is very apparent is don't speak until spoken to. So much so that the Barwon West tower initially only want aircraft to respond with a wiggle of the wings. There is alot to organise but I think my biggest hurdle was getting permission to leave my wife and kids for 6 or 7 days. So at the moment I am busy with out complaint doing alot of those little jobs that never get done around the house. I am flying down from Dalby in south east QLD, so we will be looking to stay somewhere along the way. At the moment we are lookig at getting to Echuca, and then flying in on Thursday morning to Avalon. We also will probably depart on Monday morning. Anyway Peter I hope I can catch up with you down there. Harthy

ceremic coatings Ceremic coatings have been around for a long time now, and are widely used in high performance and racing engines.The major problem with ceremics is that it is brittle. Ideally an engine totally manufactured from ceremics would be be way to go. The hotter an engine can run the more thermal efficient they are, and then there would be no need for a cooling system. Ceremic coatings on pistons and valves achieve outcomes. But I have not heard much about ceremic coated cylinders. I too would like to hear how they go. Piston rings need to seal well with the cylinder wall so we can have adequate compression for combustion to occur. Oil that is trapped in the hone marks on the cylinder wall aids in sealing the rings and lubrication. This is why a glazed cylinder will burn oil. I am interested to hear how ceremic cylinders over come this problem Cerremic coated exhaust systems are generally done for cosmetic reasons. They always look great and don't rust. Harthy

Exhaust outlets Guys, At the risk of saying what you probably all know. A lot of care needs to be taken before altering exhaust systems on any engine. The exhaust system can make or break the performance of any engine, more so on a two stroke engine. As it has been mentioned, scavenging is what it is all about (Process where exiting exhaust gases create a low presure area that draw more exhaust gases from the cylinder and also add in filling the cylinder with a freash charge of air and fuel) . Getting the same amount of scavenging for each cylinder to obtain even output is important. Even output means a smoother running engine, which leads onto other benifits like more over all power and revs. Manufactures spend heaps of money on research to obatain a good balance of economy and power and the exhaust system is one area that is done. You have probably all heard of extractors before, When I was younger the talk was to put extractors on your car and it will go like a rocket. Well it will if matched correctly to your engine. If not, no difference could be noticed or even a decline in performance. Each exhaust pipe leaving each cylinder need to be allowing the same amount of flow, and restrictions like bends also influence this. So correct length of each pipe is important. The other problem is, different systems are set up to perform better at certain revs then others. So we all need to be careful here. One other thing I am sure you all know. 1/4 bigger in diameter outlet pipe size has doubled the flow area or output which ever way you would like to call it. If over all performance doesn't worry you, then just plumb it up so you get them gases out of there. I use to teach engine operation, and a quote I use to tell the young guys was, 'If you want to get power out of engine you need to get air and fuel into the engine and exhaust gases out, how well you do that determines the outcome'. Hope you don't mind my 2 bobs worth, Harthy

J120 Hi Guys, I have number 003 J120. Took delivery mid March. Mine now has 300 hrs on the clock. The little beauty is being used for training. At the moment it getting less training and more recreational flying. The more I fly it the more I love it. I find myself trying to limit my use, other wise the fuel bill will send me broke. And my wife might not be my wife anymore. These truely are fantastic machines. All aircraft have things about them that pilots don't like, and the J120 is no exception. But the joy you receive from flying these aircraft over rules any inaccuracies it might have. I am on the third set of tyres and second set of brake discs and pads. The engine is running as good as the day it was made. Every thing else is great. The only thing is, the next prop will be a Sensenick. #014 J120 is operating up at Bundy with a Sensenick prop and they are getting 110 knots at cruise with the same climb performance. Jabiru in talks with Sensenick have come up with a size that suits the aircraft and it seems to be good. I will add to the comment of other members. You will not get a better value for money aircraft anywhere. Harthy