Clive J

Great thanks, I'll try those. In the UK you would have to fly below 500" with a margin so 400'. I believe here 500' itself would be acceptable, certainly I was flying over Redcliffe at 1500' and the D airspace above was from 1500' upwards. Sensible approach. In the UK they would have you at 1501' indicated.

Moving down from QLD today and wondering if that 500' VFR route past Sydney harbor is OK for RAA aircraft? Got my cert at Redcliffe so good to go if I can find a club/school to rent from. Regards, Clive Jab/RV pilot from UK

If anyone wasn't a 16 I've brought one with me from UK to get rid of it. We've been knobbled by the EU and had to go 8.33 across all our comms. Got a really nice 16 with headset cables, charger battery packs etc. Looked at the 'classified' on here but doesn't look to be used. Where is the best place to sell stuff like Icom in Australia? Heading for Sydney today.

Just reporting in after a successful conversion with Mahl at Redcliffe. I arrived at lunchtime on day one and by the end of day 2 I had completed the required exams (Converting Pilot and Human Performance) and got checked out with Mahl on the aircraft and briefed on local procedures etc and did over an hour solo. Mahl fed all this back to the the RAA which I had joined the day before and with an additional licence fee I was the proud owner of an RAA Pilots Certificate. The key was to have sufficient previous time in an aircraft capable of being in the Recreational aircraft category. I fly an RV9 but also have loads of Jabiru hours so they were the ones used to justify not needing to do the full 5 hours. Next day I was off with the wife for a great day out, even landed at Dunwich in the trees for a picnic. Alas we had to move on and I've not managed to get after anymore flying but am heading Sydney shortly and will be down Melbourne way after that for the GP. Hoping to find somewhere down there we can rent out a similar aircraft. Thanks for the suggestions, I too would highly recommend Mahl at Redcliffe, can do sort of guy with good straight forward approach and some nice aircraft. Regards, Clive

I rented a P2008 from there 5 years ago, lovely plane. How does the new machine compare to that and the old Tecnams? Agree pictures required.

The world was watching the terrible fires and feeling for everyone over here. Hopefully it's all winding down now and folk can rebuild, we figured the best thing we could do to help was to come over and spend some money. Just had a look at Boonah, looks a great target for a fly out if I get sorted so I can rent. Thanks for the info Boleropilot and Downunder. Regards, Clive

Spoke to Mahl, heading over Redcliffe way on Monday, fingers crossed for the weather!

Thanks Westie, will do.

I'm a UK pilot just arrived on tour ending up at the GP in Melbourne. I've been lurking on here on and off for many years as I built a Jabiru in 1999 and enjoyed all the discussions about the engine and aircraft. My profile shows I joined in 2009, time flies. Always knew I'd get here one day and at last we are here! I'm in Brisbane and having a sneaky look at the flying opportunities on the RAA website while the wife is sleeping off the time change. I note that there's quite a few 'Clubs' and other flying organisations. I'd like to get converted and then rent an aircraft in the areas we loiter while on tour here. The RAA suggests this maybe straightforward? Also found an old discussion on here which said the same. I'm assuming the clubs that rent aircraft do that for the benefit of their members so I really need to find a commercial organisation so I'm not taking advantage of a club set up. If anyone is in the know of suitable organisation they would recommend I'd be please to hear from them! Future locations will be Sydney and Melbourne....at least. Regards, CJ P.S. am trawling the RAA map and sending E mails but not sure which to target hence request for suggestions...

hey Gaz, you get about...... If you (we) are only taking one barrel off we'll just torque up the bolts we undo, as mentioned above gradually going opposite as much as you can with 4 bolts..... U just did the course, what did Roger (the wise one) say? They have some good smilies on here....

Hmm, not sure who you're replying to, have looked up the thread and don't see 'rubbish' anywhere, my comment 'Smoke and mirrors' was to the content of several recent SB's blaming all manner of reasons as to why mods are being suggested and to also answer your question, 'Is it as simple as that' Yes, the bolts are manufactured with a poor thread and the rest is smoke and mirrors by Jabiru. I believe the real reasons for many suggested 'improvements' are attempts to fix development faults, if they are admited as development faults then liability would come with it. So they are 'improvements' and 'upgrades'. I'ts early for you so you probably haven't had a coffee yet so that would explain the CAPITALS.....:-) I love some heathly discussion and exchange of ideas and thoughts, also differing opinions, if everyone thought the same it would be a boring world. Regards, Clive

Smoke and mirrors....

Coltishall closed a few years ago and sits idle. The barracks have been turned into a Prison. The broads are as lovely as ever, Regards Clive (also at Felthorpe)

Guys, there is a lo of info in this thread which is causing confusion, just what Jabiru intended when they added a lot of issues into the SB that aren't relevant to the problem. All the stuff about fuel and detonation and other guff is rubbish added to ensure we miss the point. The bolts are undersized and the nuts then slip on them as there isn't full contact on the thread. Read Roger's posting above. As the nuts are moving on the thread they are loosening off, this is causing problems that CAN be associated with loads of issues but the associated issues aren't the root cause. As Roger says above, early engines didn't have the problems they didn' have undersized bolts. As I understand it the newer bolts being manufactured by Jabiru are still not to an acceptable spec. I asked the question of Susan and she wouldn't answer, neither would the UK agent. Andrew has the solution with properly sized bolts and I'd like a set for my 3300 (#1460). Properly sized bolts won't need loctite. Properly sized bolts can be used with MS nuts. Properly sized boths can be retorqued if barrel heating shows tightness. They won't slip and lose tension so won't need rechecking. Lets concentrate on the issue that this thread was started for and not succumb to suggestion of contributory issues that have been added to hide the fundamental issue: Jabiru have manufacted a load of undersized bolts and don't want to admit it. Regards, Clive 3300 #1460, 39 hrs 2200 #596, 1300hrs

Not sure how many of you monitor Yahoo or Matronics so thought I'd post the links to some videos of some testing of pressure readings taken using a mechanical gauge in the pump discharge tapping. I did some investigation some time ago when my almost new Jab 3300 was giving very poor oil pressure numbers when warm (it still does). What I found was really bad pulsing showing on the gauge, needle goes into a blur. Later a friend had an engine failure after his cooler burst, though that cooler was brand new and the first flight, it reminded me of how many cooler failures I was aware of. There was much discussion about pump performance and the SB of course. Some called it cavitation which I suppose you could but it was down to restrictive porting of the pump plate as you all probably know. That's been fixed or course but there were some who suggested the pump caused the pulsing and that in turn (with cold oil) was stretching coolers. I don't believe that is the case. With cold oil the relief valve will be quick to open and dump our precious oil to the sump and our coolers are rated way above the relief valves setting. A gerotor pump, as the Jabiru uses, doesn't pulse in fact it's good point is constant flow (with good plate porting,,,,), so why was I seeing crazy pulsing on my mechanical gauge? Relief valve bounce...... At this point take a look at the selection of video clips: Late 2200 with hydraulic tappets: Given this is the same engine I hope that those that suggest the pump puts out the pulses will now see it isn’t the case. I plan a slightly more tapered plug as the final design. The blunt end will still ensure ‘relief’ properties while the taper will ensure the smooth pressure control that will stop cooler damage and wear on pressure senders. Unfortunately it can’t stop leakage through engine casings so my engine still needs to be split. The healthy pressure in the video drops back when the engine is really warm and at tick over I only see 10 psi. The joys of Jabiru ownership….. Will let you know the final outcome of the plug design and profile. I have sent the info and vids to Jabiru, I had some early discussion based on the SB but the latest video has promoted no response . Regards, Clive 3300 # 1460 39hrs 2200 #596 1300hrs

Hi Bob, 38 hrs from new. The engine was blowing a bit of oil but I took the heads off because of the lack of compression on 3 oo 6 cylinders, leakdown was 13, 73, 16, 76, 17, 58 or something like that. Actually I didn't need a leak down you could tell by hand winding. I found that the valves weren't seating well, they were sort of varnished where that should have been shiny as they weren't seating. I put this down to the hydraulic tappets being 'over pumped'. A shame as I don't have what one would say we great oil pressure. Whilst I had the heads off I noticed what I thought was wear on the valve guides. However after they were measured it could be seen that it was a manufacturing fault as all 12 were the same size, all 12 valves rattling away. In fact it was predicted by the ex Jab engineer who was going to fit the new guides for me as he'd seen it before. I since I have read of quite a few folk believing they have excessive guide wear and I suggest they too may have had the same problem as me. Just they never found out as early as I did so they put it down to actual wear. Had I not lost compression and investigated how would I have known.....when a dropped a valve maybe? So I'm flying again now and watching the compression to see what develops. Regards, Clive

This is great info and effort, thanks. I recently asked Jabiru to supply me with the material spec so I could have some rolled thread through bolts manufactured. They wouldn't suply the info and also stated that they wouldn't approve the fitting of any bolts that were supplied by others that is not Jabiru. A slight misunderstanding as I'm not the individual who was going to make the bolts but I think it is clear what their position is, here is Susan's reply: Hi Clive Please contact Dave at Skycraft for the supply of the crankcase dowels and the longer through bolts and 12 point nuts and information regarding the service bulletin JSB031-1. We cannot endorse individuals making their own parts for Jabiru engines. Regards Sue Woods So I would love to fit a set of these new bolts but we need to get approval of either Jabiru or the LAA (assuming I can get it from them without Jabiru beiing involved). Firstly I think this info needs passing on to The LAA (I'm in UK) as I'm finally beginning to understand the issues. I certainly won't buy bolts from the company that supplied the originals that are faulty and failing. A business principle of mine, no company should make money from me out of their poor service. Regards, Clive 3300 #1460 2200 # 596

Given the lack of testing and development in the past I wouldn't touch any 'new' Jabiru development till some other mug has put 1000 hrs on it. Normally you would expect an engine manufacturer to do that sort of testing themselves but we all know that Jabiru's test program is carried out by the folk who buy their engines. The same folk that regret it later. The dog of an engine I bought needs much work and money spending on it before it will be reliable enough to fly any great distance. So far 38 hrs and stripped and new parts already. Stand well back from this new equipment until you have evidence of many hundreds of hours of testing...... or rue the day you stood in line to join the test program. Regards, Clive 3300 #1460 2200 # 596 (70kgs)