eastmeg2

I guess this thread means that I've just wasted my hard earned cash ordering a new Bolly prop for my Buzzard? All I had to do was find a Brolga to fly through my spinning Ivo:laugh: (Apologies to bird-lovers). More seriously though once I'm flying the Wizard wing, I reckon that at 30kts nothing short of the size of a cow is going to have enough impact to break the wing and maybe I'll need to fit rear-view mirrors to watch out for the birds coming from behind . . .:run::bitehard:

Hi Leigh, Thanks for the offer but I managed to talk to AM last night. Perhaps coincidentally I've received overnight emails from both Competition Aircraft and Leading Edge Airfoils saying that only Bolly can provide the blades for the Brolga prop, but they can still provide the hub. AM's phone seems to be switched off this morning, so still unable to confirm with him what the emails from CA and LEAF are saying, though I don't expect any different. Cheers, Glen

I must be feeling a bit slow this week. Just realised that I have someone at Oshkosh this week and that the company selling the Brolga Ultra-Prop have a booth display at Oshkosh. I'll call him tonight ;-)

Thanks, If they are the same quality as the original Oz product and the published prices on their website are anything to go by then they are value for money and won't be tipping the scales over AUD1k. I've sent back their form late yesterday and called them at midnight last night. Their response was interesting, saying that it's not a prop they normally sell but they will chase up the technical details and pricing and email it all to me but it might take a little while as most of their technical staff are in Oshkosh this week. Cheers, Glen

Should I posting this in the USA section of the website? USA members might have had more exposure to this product . . .

Hi, Has anyone had any experience with the Brolga Ultra-Prop from the USA? Brolga Ultra-Prop | Composite Propellers for Ultralight Aircraft How would they rate against the Previously Australian made product, or even against the new Brolgas being made by Bolly? Cheers, Glen

Here she is in all her glory with a borrowed Streak wing and Brolga prop and awaiting a fuel tank. Probably physically able to fly at that point with a Jarry can strapped in the back, but the landing would have been interesting coming down nosewheel first. We'll see how far the extra 12-15kg to be hung on the back goes towards overcoming that problem . . .

Saturday morning I went through the Rotax break-in procedure though with a bit of care as it became evident that the 64 inch 3 bladed Ivo prop is not matched to the Rotax503 with a 3.47 reduction ratio gearbox. Increasing the pitch and trying again didn't solve the problem of reaching redline on less than full power and the EGT gauges showed up the problem too, with the EGT's reading between the upper nominal and maximum values. This makes sense since the Ivo prop previously lived on the back of a 2.58 ratio B-Type gearbox. In hindsight I should have ordered a 2.62 ratio on the new C-Type instead of a 3.47.:black_eye: What's done is done, the good news is that when I borrowed a 68 inch 4 bladed Brolga prop pitched at 17 degrees from another trike Max static revs were 6500rpm (Versus 6800rpm redline) and acceleration up the take off speed was unexpectedly brisk, actually rather strong, like 3 or 4 seconds to 45kts, though admittedly without the 50kg (17% of MTOW) wing attached. We tried the Streak-1 wing (From same donor trike as the prop) on the Buzzard and took a lot of measurements. There's still more weight to be added to the back of the trike under the engine. That's a 9kg GRS parachute and a battery for power to the accessories circuit so there will be somewhere in the region of 12-15kg more weight in the back so more hang tests will follow. Main tings to be measured in the next round of hang tests and compared to the standard trike are the range of angle of movement of the control bar between the pilots backrest and the front tube at the length of the control frame from the hang point - to determine proper range of pitch control in the air. Secondly with the trike on the ground we'll measure the angle of the keel tube from horizontal with the control bar against the front tube, compared to the standard trike to make sure the wing has an appropriate angle of attack during the take off roll. So here we are in the really technical part of the build analysing the design where my engineering background helps and having another engineer trike pilot in the family helps too. As they say, "measure twice, cut once". Cheers, Glen

Hi Bill, Airborne repeated what they earlier said, that I should shorten the seat frame to tilt the mast forward. I want to try a wing on first to make sure the control bar will still be in a good position. Next weekend I'll try on the Streak wing from the other red trike before I make that decision final. That's assuming the A-frame on the Streak wing is the same as that on the Wizard and provided the weather is calm enough to open the hangar doors and pull the trikes out. Cheers, Glen

This weekend I've wired up the hour meter, accessories power circuit and landing light switch and circuit in the panel and this afternoon properly fitted the panel into the Binnacle. Hope I got it all right. i_dunno almost looks ready for action.:hump: Cheers, Glen

Hi Tracktop, Yes that was me. Just had to check my trailer rego then. Here's your wave . . . Just Kidding . . . Got the rear suspension bungees and an hour meter fitted (yet to be connected), replaced a bunch of other bolts that had been temporarily used to hold on fuel pump brackets etc, connected all the wires to the instrument panel, bolted on the prop etc . . . wheeled the Buzzard out the back of the factory, started the motor and ran it for a few minutes. I was tempted to see what the maximum static revs are but thought the better of it, that I should only do that after the break in procedure and during taxi tests rather than trying to hold it still. It feels like I've reached such a big milestone to get the new motor started for the first time. The Tacho, ignition switches and EGT's all worked straight away. With the CHT's I was a bit more patient but after a couple of minutes when they still didn't move I reversed the polarity of the wires and then the CHT's worked too. I feel like I'm so close to finishing it now, though there's another couple of dozen hours work remaining to fit a battery, wire the accessories power circuit and landing light, tidy up the wiring and then fix that hang angle problem. Cheers, Glen

I'm off to Newcastle tonight to stay near the factory to get a fresh and early start in the morning. Have tidied up the fule plumbing with some protective spiral wrap where there's potential for chafing and have the basic wiring needed to run and monitor the engine up to plug-in stage. It's just the battery and accessories (radio, GPS, landing light) power circuit that still needs a bit of work. Some photo's taken this morning before work are attached here, the wiring's still a bit messy at the moment, which will be tidied up once I'm satisfied there's nothing more to add. Cheers, Glen

I've got another visit to Airborne coming up this Friday 17th to fit new rear suspension bungees since I don't have the tools or technique to do that myself. On the weekend I managed to install the fuel pump, fuel tap and plumb them up to the carburettors. Quicksilver is hopeful the fuel tank will be available next week. Will also get them to fit the instrument panel (see photo in the previous post) into the binnacle since they have the technique of doing that quickly and making it look tidy. I'm just very busy each night after work this week completing the wiring from the engine, to the battery charging circuit, to the Tacho, Hour Meter and accessories power circuit in the instrument panel. I've not got a Battery yet but that's fairly irrelevant for what I want to do this week, which includes correctly pitching the prop and getting the motor started during my factory visit on Friday. I'll use a special fuel tank for that test run. Another angle I've decided to explore before I go changing the angle of the dangle is the likelihood that I'll be adding another 15kg to the rear of the trike in the form of a battery (5kg 12Ah - might be that bucket of lead I mentioned ???) and a GRS parachute (10kg). I'll just have to repeat the hang test after I've added those items. I'll try to get some more photo's in before the Friday factory visit. Cheers, Glen

Brett, You probably should have pulled Turbo up when he led you into theoretical Non-VMC conditions which only current IFR qualified and equipped pilots can venture into legally and with relative safety. Though my recollection being that recognition of approaching non-VMC conditions, once again is taught as part of the XC endorsement training. One doesn't have to be XC proficient to recognise deteriorating conditions, it seems the theoretical pilots lack of care and caution was the main contributing factor. A more experienced pilot could have been consulted. Cheers, Glen

2-5 Years RAAus and 5-10 years HGFA.

I think it's a good idea for pilots to gain experience at different airstrips to build on their skills. One interesting thing I've noted is that my "seat of the pants" perception of altitude varies with the width of the (sealed) runway and in particular have to pay more attention to the ALT at wider sealed runways otherwise I'll be too high on final and may start flaring too high if I'm not consciously compensating for the visual effect of the wider runway.

I've always flown with a radio, but if I'm just going for a short local flight (within 5nm radius) out of our farm I don't even turn it on unless there there are other aircraft whose pilots are there on that day and might possibly fly. As for longer flights, the radio's always switched on, either to Goulburn CTAF® or the area frequency depending on my intended flight. One thing I always thought the Garmin296 was missing on longer flights is area frequency information. Or am I missing something? So, I've voted "No way", though probably in vain as it's well and truly established already that we are a "Nanny State" and will always be treated like children so that Pollies can cover their backsides and insurance companies can keep our money.

Is that 25Nm from the wind sock, or the nearest part of the airfield. If it's the latter, how would that apply to, say an outback cattle station which may be considered as the "airfield" and be much larger than 25Nm?

On the Happy Side of things. At least the instrument panel is coming along well. The problems I had earlier with the Altimeter being out of adjustment were overcome by a train of thought started by Punkinhead Airsports and then being on the phone with a friendly trike CFI telling me how to make the adjustment myself. It's essentially finished apart from the Hour meter I'm still waiting on. My Father who's an electronics Guru has designed a circuit to Charge the battery and only run the hour meter when the engine is running, using a Powermate Regulator I bought at Natfly Fly-Market for $75 this year. Cheers, Glen

It looks like a Duck, walks like a Duck etc, it's :yuk:

Pheonix, or just a lame Duck? The basic structure and sail seem to be ok. Will see when I get it to the factory. If they decide it's worth a look and we get the sail off and things still look recoverable for this wing and if the overhaul costs won't be too high . . . There's a lot of "and if's" in that previous paragraph. Can anyone recommend how to get rust and mud stains out of a sail? The sail itself is otherwise in quite good contition apart from a large adhesive repair patch on one of the leading edges - which will be taken into the overall consideration. i_dunno The Jury seems to be out, haven't seen any or :no no: yet. Cheers, Glen

On the other hand, if anyone is looking for an early trike wing for a museum display I may consider donating it.

I've picked up the Arrow-II wing on Saturday and set it up in the back yard. First impressions looking at the wing were not very positive. There was quite visible corrosion on a lot of steel bolts and several places in joints where aluminium corrosion (white powder of death) was also visible. The mylar leading edge of the right wing also has a large repair patch. On the positive side, the structure appears to be sound and the sail, while a bit dirty, the material appears to be quite strong with no soft patches or weak points and the stitching is quite solid. I'm in two minds as to whether to scrap the wing now, or take it to Airborne for a further assesment and asking where their nearest garbage tip is. In the end I have to decide whether it's worth spending money on this wing versus a 2nd Hand Wizard wing and then whether I'd trust it with my life, GRS or no GRS. Will post some wing photo's soon.

EXCELLENT :thumb_up:

Could it be that YGLB pilots have a thing for racing suits? I've often seen aircraft turning onto final over Wakefield Park and that's got to be close to 5 miles out.