eastmeg2

Approved It's been a LONG weekend, having taken today off work. Yesterday the Buzzard passed it's inspection by a Trike L2/CFI. Now I just need to follow up with the HGFA on the paperwork. I could probably sound more excited but am just too tired from all the driving. What was left to do to get it up to standard this weekend was to tidy up the wiring loom with spiral wrap, tidy up/shorten the fuel plumbing a bit and fit and pitch the new Bolly BOS3-68 prop (That's a 3-bladed 68 inch Bolly prop), arriving at max static revs of 6,450rpm on the R503. It also lands just like any Airborne factory built 2-stroke trike I've flown.:ilmostro: Very definitely the tail wheels are reaching the ground first.:encore::thumb_up: Cheers, Glen

Took the Wizard Wing for some fast taxi tests on our Edge-X 582 trike base this morning and to Airborne's credit (They overhauled the wing for me last week), the wing felt better even in the few seconds the trike was in the air before I put it down again. I'm very happy with the improved feel of the wing. I wasn't in the air long enough to turn my head and check for any trailing edge flutter but my observing other trike pilot didn't notice any flutter and commented that the wing looked solid in its brief flight. Hang testing yesterday provided very good results with the front wheel now lifting off first and giving figures very close to the factory built edge-X trike base - see my scribbles amongst the photo's below. You may also notice the new fuel tank in front of the trike, I fitted and plumbed it last thing this afternoon. I finally fitted the hand levers to the sides of the seat frame for the choke and hand throttle since the seat is now in it's final state. Actually the whole trike base is now pretty much in a basic state of being ready for L2 inspection for airworthiness once I bolt the new prop on next weekend and tidy up the cabling behind the pilots seat and stick on a few limitations stickers. Cheers, Glen

Got the Wizard wing back from Airborne and got the new fuel tank from Quicksilver yesterday. So on Saturday I'll be fitting the new fuel tank, test flying the Wizard wing on our Edge-X 582 Classic trike and doing some more hang tests to check the ranges of angles of movement for the control bar between pilots back rest and front brace tube. Will try to get some more photo's. Cheers, Glen

Hi Scott, All should be known on 17th Sept, by when the current issues confronting the HGFA should be resolved one way or another. As for HGFA versus RAAus for Trikes: HGFA has cheaper aircraft rego fees (Initially for 5 years then 2 year renewals), but more expensive membership/pilot certificate renewal fees comapred to RAAus. In the past there were differences in public liability insurance being offered by each organisation but now they are very similar and in future might be sourced commonly through CASA. Presently you can only fly a trike that is registered with the same organisation your pilot certificate is with although there has been mentyion by some reliable sources that CASA has told HGFA and RAAus to sort out this anomally and nobody seems to know when it will be "sorted". HGFA has greater flexibility in allowing trikes to be registered with more than one wing or vice versa than RAAus which appears unwilling to think outside the box for any requirements not common to 3-axis machines. There are more experienced recreational pilots you can learn from in RAAus, but you don't have to be an RAAus member to benefit from that. Civila Aviation Order 95.32 applies equally to 2 seater trikes in both HGFA and RAAus. Ditto CAO 95.10 for single seater trikes. Then you have to think about what other type of aircraft other than trikes you might ever want to fly. The ultimate portable aircraft, the paraglider comes under HGFA. Recreational Aircraft that you can fly around Oz in comfort at 100kts are RAAus. My 2c worth. Cheers, Glen

Drum Roll . . . :drums: It appears to be official on Airborne's website that the strutted topless wing has now been released and Spec's published. AirBorne Australia Cheers, Glen

Hi FD, I was planning to attend too, but with the weather the way it was I didn't think very many people would be able to make it so made better use of the time working on my trike restoration project. I still need to get over to Tumut to collect my new Bolly Prop, probably at the end of next week. Cheers, Glen

Towed Buzzard #2 trike base down to Goulburn on Friday night and Saturday morning reversed the trailer into the hangar under the chain block and proceeded to disassemble the crate from around the trike, stand the mast up, lift the trike off the base off the crate, remove trailer and reassemble undercarriage and finally lower it back onto the ground, 3,000km south of where it last touched ground. Naturally I did a hang test on Buzzard #2 and was very curious to see that the base tube was angled slightly down towards the front just like Buzzard #1 did and the nose wheel was at the same level as the rear wheels. The main difference is Buzzard #2 still has it's original undercarriage with it's short front forks and that Buzzard #1 has Tundra tyres all around with long tundra forks, about 75mm longer. I also have photo's o Buzzard #2 doing a low pass in level flight with the front wheel 200mm higher than the rear wheels. 23rd August post I think. It points back to an earlier theory I had about the lift vector of the wing being tilted slightly backwards due to the induced drag component. Anyone reading this post is probably aslepp by this point so I'll get to the point. The conclusion was that if I wanted to keep the Tundra forks and tyre on the nose then the mast had to be tilted forward (On ground) or base tube tilted up at the front (Hang test & flight attitude). I wanted, so I did.:stirring pot: That took a few hours of very careful measuring and cutting. I'm happy with my workmanship but didn't have time for another hang test this afternoon - Oh well, next weekend. Oh, and Quicksilver Ultralights now has the fuel tank I've been chasing so I'll be picking that up too when I go to get the Wizard wing back from Airborne this week. Cheers, Glen

Hi Alf, My airstrip's at nearly 2500ft AMSL and I'm guessing your airport is fairly close to sea level. I should add that in the instance when I was flying at 43kts in the company of 582's with Wizards & Streak-1's I was operating close to sea level too. Soooo much warmer than Goulburn that I didn't bother with bar-mitts or touring screen or gloves. It was summer..

Hi Andy, I'll be interested to see if the new topless wing makes any difference in fuel consumption too, but not relying on the fuel flow meters. I'll be watching how much fuel McGuyver uses next time. Might have to put a lock on his fuel cap so he can't sneak any in.:mulie: I've been able to trim Streak-3 wings between 43-60kts hands-off, 65kts with just weight of hands on the bar and 70kts is manageable long distance but need to start redoing fuel burn calc's once above 65kts. From the amount going into the tank versus hours flown, have had the following fuel burn rates in a couple of XT-912's I've flown x-country: 1-Up at 43kts = 8 L/hr 2-Up at 55kts = 11 to 12L/hr 2-Up at 65kts = 14 to 15 L/hr Cheers, Glen

Hi Erich, IMHO, learning on a 2-stroke trike will make a better pilot of you. The Streak-1 & 2 wings require more pilot input to fly than the Cruze and Streak-3 wings used on the 4 stroke trikes. The slower Wizard wing requires even more input. Most XT-912 trike pilots who used to fly Edge-X 582's (Alf and myself incouded) will quite correctly tell you that the XT-912 is much easier to fly and is easier to get more hours in because it can be flown in a wider range of (rougher) conditions. So, if you're a purist, save money initially by learning on an Edge-X 582 trike, then upgrade to an XT-912 when you get your Cross-Country endorsement and you're sure it's what you want. Keep in mind that landings can be more challenging in an Edge-X 582 than in an XT-912 so your level of confidence as a student pilot should probably factor into that decision. Cheers, Glen

Hi Len, At Somersby, with that kind of performance you can forget about the disk brake and pull your GRS, or run out of runway. Or start asking Airborne for Retro-rockets. No doubt you'll be showing it off next time we fly together:na na:.

Got the wing up to Airborne this morning, as planned . . . Good News up front is that the sail passed the Bettsometer test :thumb_up:which was done first up in the short time I was there. Bad News is what it's gonna cost to replace the left side leading edge spar and a few wires but at least she'll be ship-shape:DevilDog:. Cheers, Glen

Have been to the USA, so can appreciate what you're saying about road traffic and looking the wrong way. But, let get The most exciting thing about this electric car is it's battery and by saying that I'm not putting the rest of the car down. Until now, battery technology has hindered electric vehicle innovation. In 2000, US company Altairnano Inc. established a research programme to create an ultra safe, high power battery using cutting-edge Nanotechnology. The result of their hard work is the NanoSafe™ battery. SAFER - NanoSafe™ batteries use nano titanate materials instead of graphite which makes them far more thermally stable - there are no toxics or heavy metals used in NanoSafe™ batteries. LONGER-LASTING - NanoSafe™ batteries have a life expectancy of 12+ years, versus the 3-5 year usable life of other batteries. NanoSafe™ can retain up to 85% charge capacity after 15,000 charges. FASTER CHARGE - NanoSafe™ batteries can be recharged in approximately 10 minutes, rather than the hours required by many other rechargeable batteries. MORE POWERFUL - With instantaneous power even at extreme temperatures, NanoSafe™ batteries deliver power per unit weight and unit volume several times that of conventional Lithium-Ion batteries. Power density claims are there, but no mention of energy-density compared to LiFePO4 batteries. . .

Time for some more Trike photo's :artist:

Hey Tracktop, did you brush up your Avatar to make your top wires disappear? I visited the Airborne factory this morning and they had 3 or 4 "SST" wings fully rigged on the factory floor - If only I had bigger pockets I might have been able to sneak one out and they wouldn't notice:naughty: Yeah right . There was mention that CASA was coming to inspect them today, so commercial availability can't be too far away. Forgot to ask about whether a new mast was needed for the SST wing as I got busy showing things that needed doing to a Wizard-II wing I was dropping off ($$ :baldy: $$).

Collected the Buzzard in its crates from the Sydney freight depot at 6am this morning and still got to work early. No apparent damage in transit :-)) Now to get the wing up to Airborne tomorrow morning for a good checking over and reassembly from short-packed.

If that's all true HGFA has been treating its members like mushrooms - keeping us in the dark and feeding us organic fertiliser . . . thumb_down

I've seen Avgas sold in 44 Gallon drums before and the person using it used a hand driven pump (no sparks) to transfer the fuel to the aircraft, having connected a electrical static cable between the drum and the aircraft first. I was given the chance to try the hand pump just circulating some Avgas back into the drum, immediately feeling all the hairs on my arm stand on end from the static electricity generated by the fuel flowing through the hose. It gave a good appreciation of why the electrical static cable was needed. Once used the drum could not be refilled - Those were the rules! Not very environmentally

Well now that the deed is done I can let on about what I've been up to for the past few weeks as I couldn't be completely sure it would work out. An add appeared in the August HGFA mag' for an Airborne Buzzard that is still HGFA registered and flying with a Wizard-II wing, Vertex radio and headset, somewhere in QLD. A phone call revealed it was in FNQ near Cairns. So distance was a problem, but the idea of spending a few days in a warmer climate in august appealed too, and at least it was near a major transport hub (Cairns), which might just make it possible within the bounds of reasonable expense and physical possibility. It's always a good idea to set some boundary conditions and limits before embarking on a project like this. After a few days of contemplating and a friend in the freight business helping me obtain a much better deal, I realised that once I book travel and start sending crates north I'm pretty much committed, so any haggling on price had to be done beforehand, sight unseen. Not an ideal situation, but so long as the trike appeared straight in photo's and the seller was still willing (brave enough???) to fly it then it couldn't be too bad for the negotiated price of several $k's to get a registered wing and a known working trike base with correct geometry to analyse and pull apart for extra and upgraded bits for my Buzzard rebuild project, maybe even some cost recovery since it has a working Rotax 532 I may not need as I have a new 503 so I might try to sell the 532. The story in a nut-shell: I organised freight and Ute rental, caught a Virgin to Cairns, test flew the Buzzard after watching the seller fly it first, packed Buzzard into the crates, delivered it to a Cairns freight depot with the Ute on Tuesday. Had 24hours to relax and unwind in Cairns before catching a Qantas flight back to Sydney. Sometime this week I'll collect the crates (containing Buzzard) from a Sydney freight depot and fingers crossed there's no damage in transit. Staff at the freight depot in Cairns were very helpfull getting the crates off the Ute and supplying 2nd hand (about to be trashed) cardboard to line the trike base crate with.:thumb_up: For those who are still wondering about airworthiness, the trike base still has a L2 inspection to undergo and the wing will get a going over by Airborne, before the Buzzard gets flown again. It's a self-preservation thing . . . Cheers, Glen

I used to use an Icom A22E for a few years but got sick of not being able to be heard by other aircraft any more than about 15 miles distant. Maybe that radio was just getting old and tired. Last year I upgraded to a Microair M760 and can now be heard by other aircraft up to about 100 miles away and sometimes further.

I just realised it's been a couple of weeks since I posted anything in this thread so I suppose an update is due. The first Wizard wing I had in my sights didn't materialise, but as they say when one door closes another one opens. Another 2nd hand Wizard wing has come on the market with an added bonus and registration. Can't say much more until next week.:stirring pot: Cheers, Glen

Hi Bill, You must have received the same email as an HGFA member as I did today and I think you've made a fair summary of it. I don't have much sympathy for those who moan loudly when it looks like their free ride at others expense likes like ending, if that is actually the case. It's hard to say as I don't recall ever seeing the HGFA publish any breakdown of expenditure to it's members. To be fair I don't recall seeing RAAus do it either. Cheers, Glen

Actually Ultralights, a new 503, gearbox, exhaust, carbs and fuel pump cost me $7k earlier this year.