Ron5335

Whoops, I left out the Approval in the MARAP

Andy, Thank you for your comments and interest in the matter, but I think you have missed something. The the title of the program is Maintenance And Repair Process. So to "Repair something that is broken" Does fall into the category. Your Grandfathering comment in the previous post gives me a bit of glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. At the moment I can't see how this will bring up the level of safety, it tends to make people dive for cover.

fly_tornado That's an interesting point. As it stands....No mods have been carried out to the aircraft following the release and implementation date of MARAP. Requirements and Laws cannot be backdated !!!! and everything in place prior to the new Laws and Requirements being introduced, are legal under the laws that existed at the time . That's why there needs to be a Transitional Period, if you plan to change something that is current.

But wait...... It Just gets Better !!!!!!! MARAP is designed to make modification to a factory Built Aircraft....... Fine, it's a way forward for that group and something new (No one is caught up in it, enter it at your own risk) If you include 19 Reg into it, there is a dilemma. How many owners are there out there carrying out mods to their aircraft (That was up to last week, quite legal in what they were doing) This week they are all now illegal, because they are modifying their aircraft without permission. The only way they can become legal again, is to submit an application form on a form that applies to a different category of aircraft (Falsify Document)......No Provision on the document for a 19 reg., to carry out proposed changes that may have already been done (Falsify Document Again). or Backdate it (Just as Bad). No transitional period is mentioned.... On Thursday some owners were legal law abiding citizens, and on Friday RAA made them criminals !!!!!!!! Case in Point. After making mods to my aircraft that started in Dec 2013, (all mods ran by Kit manufacture & Ok'd) and finished in March 2015, I forwarded COA, Photos etc. (All that was required at the time) to RAA. only to be told that as of today (last week) I would have to go through the MARAP. So I am supposed to submit an application (Say in April 2015) for a 19 Reg aircraft, on a form specifically devoted to a Factory Built Aircraft, to commence modifications (If approved) on my aircraft whilst, RAA are in possession of a full set of photographs (Dated March 2015) showing all the work is completed. If I pull it off..... Do I end up with a 24 Reg aircraft.???? or thrown in jail for submitting false documents ??????? Sounds like someone thought "It seemed a good idea at the time" and added the 19's to the original proposal for 24's & 55's

Armed with all the photos, evidence and witness statements of what took place, it still took 3 years & 3 months to reach this determination ??????? I would hate to see the what the total cost of this investigation incurred.

I don't think the high definition photos would show much difference to iones taken on a "Box Brownie" (Now that's showing my age), in relation to a wheels up landing. The wheels would still be inside the wings and fuselage.

Hey bexbetter, Before singing the praises of Subaru (Robin) Go to Bunnings and look at the ubeaut Ryobi lawnmowers Ryobi (Once recognised as a Japanese company) proudly displaying it's name, are now teaming up with Subaru (Another famous Japanese icon) together, they are offering a SUBARU EX190V as the powerplant for this mower. Go a bit deeper, and you read that Ryobi is a registered name and is being used under licence, and then you read the all more familiar words "Made in China" So in reality, (And lets call them the Ding Dong Motor Company in China) are working 4 hours a day to produce Subaru EX190V enines (Under Licenseof course) and the rest of the day they make the Ding Dong 190cc Vertical 4 Stroke engine that they sell for 1/4 of the price. Then in bars around the world, arguments will break out from Subaru EX190V owners, about how bad and cheap the Ding Dong 190cc Vertical 4 Strokes are.. and at the end of the day.... What interests (Other than financial) do Ryobi and Subaru have in the manufacture of this mower? Same situation exists with Oregan. Once a famous Canadian Company dealing in all forms of chainsaws. Now it's reached the point that the Chinese are advertising their "Cheap" chainsaws have an Oregan Bar and blade........ DERR !!!!! The whole lot is MADE IN CHINA, but still the arguments prevail on who makes the better product.

AJS71, You would have not been so supportive of the media if you saw the 4.30 news on Channel 7 Sydney. After showing the landing from a few angles, they crossed to a reporter outside the airport who then summed up the event by saying "Investigations are underway to find out why the nose leg on this "Single" engine plane failed. I was thinking I should offer the suggestion that maybe it had something to do with someone adding another engine on the plane. When it returned to the main program, poor old Mel (The newsreader) had this dumbfounded look on her face. Then on the 6.00 news, they cut short the reporters story, before he reached the clanger.

http://www.nbnnews.com.au/index.php/2014/11/14/light-plane-crashes-at-luskintyre/ Top marks to the journalist, Got the time right, location right, plane type right (Even a bit of history about it), Lets hope she was also right about the injuries and they make a speedy recovery..

So it raises the question - is the Mr Minute, so-called 'static-proof funnel' actually a conductor or generator of static electricity? From my school days, All you need to generate Static Electricity is to rub 2 non conductive surfaces together, so fuel (A non conductor) flowing over & through a plastic container (Another non conductor) gives you the basics to generate Static Electricity. So if the the Mr Minute funnel is claiming to be Static Proof, then it would have to be Conductive, but then it would only pass on the charge(OR problem) to somewhere else. When this was discussed at the local field the other day and someone asked "How come we have not had a problem at this field", it was best answered by some one saying "God loves us" !!!!!

Correct....... Sikaflex 295UV ($30.00 a cartridge) but the catch is it has to be used with their Primer 209N to achieve a good surface bond, and after searching high & low I could not find an Australian stockist for the primer.

After trying numerous silicones & polymer sealants to get a good between aluminium & perspex I stumbled across this product. http://aerobolt.com.au/products/adhesives-sealants/bond-flex It's a bit thicker than most of the regular sealants, and when it dries it resembles a hard rubber that breaks off rather than peels off, but as for attaching to the surfaces, it locks on. In a number of trials with aluminium to aluminium, perspex to perspex and aluminium to perspex, after the initial snapping of the pieces, screwdrivers were forced into the bond and although you could break open the sealant, (Using a reasonable amount of force) the attachment of the product to both surfaces was intact. Other builders have tried it and all have converted to it, and at $11.00 a cartridge it's worth a try. They also sell a surface primer for the product but it only appears to be a solvent type cleaner that doesn't really bite into either the aluminum or perspex.

Calm Aluminum at Minto They have pallets of it All Linemarked 6061 T6, It comes in from the States, and they are off cuts from missile casings

If there is some sought of inquiry it will be interesting to see what figures are marched out.......... For 19 owners, they have they option to go with mods from Camit, Bent, Rotec and others, and a lot have chosen this option, and are building up uneventful hours. The Jab factory says if you use any of the above mods, then it's not a Jab engine anymore, and you should send your engine plate back. When push comes to shove, will the factory use the "Non Jabiru" engine numbers & hours to guild the lily??. where it should be restricted to the 24 & 55 reg aircraft , where the owners have no options and will reflect a true account of the engines performance, and will reveal the truth whether the modifiers are on the right track or simply Pi$%^ng in the wind.

Here is a cynical view !!!!!! If I were to manufacture a mechanical device and state that it had to be serviced using a special sized tool that only I had. The responsibility of how many failures of that device could be dodged by simply saying, the failure was attributed to it not being serviced in line with my instructions ??????

They might not have apologised for the incident, but they did pop a $61m cheque in a card & mailed if off to Iran., then they went on to perform a greater atrocity in 1991 with the Highway of Death but this time no cheque

Journalism at it's Worst................... Chanel 7 news last night from Hugh Whitfield (On site reporter) I'm standing in what appears to be the remains of a baggage section of the plane, I can see many bags that have been opened and their contents spread out. I can see many mobile phone chargers, but no mobile phones,,They have appeared to have been taken !!!!!!!! Who packs their mobile phones in their bags ????????? You carry it on your person. Where do you you put your charger when you travel ??????? In your bag. But it makes more sensation than saying. I'm standing in what appears to be the remains of a baggage section of the plane, I can see many bags that have been opened and their contents spread out in an attempt to help identify the owners, but thing of value like mobile phone chargers are just laying about, Poor old Hugh (And his whole news team) must not realise that one is a bit useless without the other... And they wonder why wars start !!!!!!!!!!!!

As Maxwell Smart said so aptly after one of his successful missions (In summing up his job) "It's a shame that we (Control) have to kill, maim and destroy, but we stand for everything that is good and decent in this world" Fly-tornado...... From what I remember, the 1988 American Incident with only made headlines for a day or so !!!!!!!

Russ, Your comments and sentiments are 100% spot on, but you with your 17 years as an ambo, and mine with 35 years with the fire service makes you realise that you don't have to be doing anything dangerous to be killed in this life. In most cases you to return to your workplace and just shake your head and have to accept that being in the wrong place at the wrong time is a fact, otherwise you will fry your brain in trying to rationalise it, and of course there is the flip side where you roll up to an horrific scene only to find people with minor or no injuries. After 35 years of this, I have summed life up into a few sayings. Live each day as if it's your last (Because one day you will be right) Those who can do, and those who cannot teach. A monument has never been erected in recognition of a critic. THE ONLY CERTAINTY IN LIFE IS IT"S UNCERTAINTY.

Last year I received my renewal that had info missing on it, so I forwarded everything that was missing and waited, and waited, and waited. I even included "27 8 x 10 colored glossy photographs, with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was............"(For those who are old enough to remember the words to Alice's Restaurant) Eventually it came through. Guess what ??? I received this years rego renewal, and all the stuff that was missing last year from it is still missing this year. Moving forward ??????? I think not !!

Magishme, It embarrasses me to say on average about 2-3 days a week, but everything is so time consuming. (I can now understand why it takes people years to complete a build) Now that all the flap linkages, mechanisms & indicators are worked out, the new fuel access point is installed, access door fitted behind the firewall to mount the battery, and finally the canopy is all done, what's left seems to be a walk in the park. As you can see by in the attached pics, I have gone all out by installing 3 ribs into the rudder then rib stitching them, as well as rib stitching the tailplane. Overkill, but I read an article where someone said, while your flying along it's like there is a giant vacuum cleaner trying to suck off your fabric. So now I say, Bring it on !!!

The bubble canopy progress, it's extended further forward to give it a better look.

I was more interested in the other news on the U.S. news site. Petrol in Denver is only $3.62 a gallon (95 cents per litre)

However, as far as I can discover, they supply only commercial-grade material. That doesn't mean it's not good; but what it DOES mean, is that to use it in any aircraft structural application, the user may need to apply his own quality-assurance test. Not to sure about that statement, because when I go there with my wish list, they ask what grade would I like it in. As for buying aviation grade material and also buying the quality assurance, one would like to think so, but in reality and going by the size of the aviation industry in Australia, who would bother to stock & sell it !!! As long as you get their imported aluminium, then at least it complies with the U.S. standards, and that's way ahead of the AU ones.

Hi, If your still interested, or for the benefit of others. http://www.calm-aluminium.com.au/Contact.aspx This place is huge and has everything in Aluminium, Tubes, Plate, Billets in every shape & form. The good thing is T6 - 6061 is pretty common & the off cuts go out cheap. 1.5m x 100mm 4mm T6 $8.00 6061 1.2m x 600mm x .8mm $ 12.00 2.4m x 1.8m 16mm ( Milling Machine Table) $700.00 You could spend a day there, even better than Bunnings, as a matter of fact, they supply Bunnings.