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kgwilson

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Everything posted by kgwilson

  1. kgwilson
    I was first at a head on collision back in the early 80s. Both drivers and a passenger in 1 vehicle were killed. 1 backseat passenger survived. The driver of the car that was on the correct side of the road died instantly from the steering column penetrating his skull. We had kids in our car & tried to stop them looking at the horrific scene. I've tried to forget it but have not been able to. The modifications and safety processes that have been added to cars since then have made motoring way more safe. The thing is you still can't legislate stupid. When I hear of hoons having races on busy suburban roads and people caught speeding at 190kmh or more I realise there are people out there who just don't care what about happens to them or innocent parties.
  2. kgwilson
    Modern cars don't rust easily. In the 70s cars rusted out quickly which is why there was an industry for rustproofing with stuff like fisholene. My Holden HQ Ute & my Datsun 180B from those days rusted really quickly. Cars I've owned in the last 30 years have not rusted at all. I had lots of stone chips on the bonnet of My 2012 Mitsubishi which I never touched up in the 11 years I owned it. Never rusted at all. Also Bumpers are now made to give way and crumple zones of the engine bay are designed to direct the engine downwards to reduce the injuries both to those who you hit and the occupants. The passenger compartment is the strong part for good reason.
  3. kgwilson
    In the so called good old days many people drove home from the Pub after a night out drinking. I know people who shut one eye to make sure they could only see one white centre line. Some stopped to have a rest and woke up the next morning & then drove home, probably still drunk. Some got home OK but couldn't remember how, others crashed & didn't get hurt, others were injured or died. It was as stupid then as it is now but in the good old days cars were nowhere near as powerful or fast as they are now. Their brakes weren't that flash either & ABS, EBD & other features didn't exist, neither did crumple zones or the latest automatic features that will brake for you or stop. They (as my EV does) watch you via a camera and detect your blinking patterns to show when you have lost concentration and make sure your grip on the steering wheel is right. These feature cost money and are not present in all modern cars and in some cases can be turned off or disabled. Then again most can all be over-ridden by the driver. The good old days were not good at all. It is just a nostalgic look at the past to when things were simpler and of course there were a lot fewer cars on the road.
  4. kgwilson
    Ethanol doesn't affect glass reinforced vinylester fuel tanks which is the only resin to use. This can not be said of glass reinforced polyester tanks. These are not recommended for any fuel type.
  5. kgwilson
    You can argue all you like about range distortion and busy airports and clearances but that was just TOO CLOSE.
  6. kgwilson
    My Gen 3 has run Mogas since new. The plugs are always black after taxying back to the hangar. The insulator inside the plug is a lighter brownish colour. If you shut down after applying plenty of power they are probably a much lighter colour but that is virtually impossible to do so by the time you shut down they will be black. It isn't a problem, it is normal. The time to look at issues is when fuel consumption increases for no apparent reason.. The consumption of my Gen 3 3300A engine varies from 18 lph at about 95-100 knots low level at 2750-2800 rpm to 24 lph at 120 knots (130 knots TAS) at 8000 feet 2850-2900 rpm.
  7. kgwilson
    You can die falling out of bed and statistically a much higher percentage of people die in bed and while asleep than die in light aircraft crashes. So if you want to live go flying and don't go to bed & if you do don't go to sleep.
  8. kgwilson
    Never flew in a VC10 but was always impressed by their steep climb out. The Trident was excellent too. I flew in one of those
  9. kgwilson
    So when arriving at an uncontrolled aerodrome how do you determine the wind direction and runway to use if you do not hear any other radio transmissions? Arriving 500 feet above the circuit height allows you to check these plus other things like objects & animals, runway closed cross etc. yesterday I'd been away, flew overhead and noticed 2 large black objects on the runway. They were cows that had escaped from the neighbours farm. There was no other traffic so I buzzed them & they took off.
  10. kgwilson
    The term Overhead join refers to the whole process. Call flying overhead at 500" above circuit height check for wind direction, traffic, obstacles etc, descend to the non active side and then call joining crosswind so you are correct. It is just semantics
  11. kgwilson
    Joining overhead or overhead join/re-join has been a commonly known and documented procedure since I first flew in the mid 1970s
  12. kgwilson
    I know and that is partly responsible for the poor radio use by many pilots both GA & RA.
  13. kgwilson
    When I trained for my PPL back in NZ in the 80s the uncontrolled procedure was the same there as it is now. I learned that the "Non Traffic side" is called the "Dead side" here and joining crosswind was pretty much above the takeoff threshold, where as "midfield crosswind" is the procedure I have adopted here.
  14. kgwilson
    Radios are not mandatory in uncontrolled airspace so calls can not be mandatory either. It is up to the aerodrome operator to determine if radios must be carried and used within their 10 mile radius CTAF and published in ERSA. This is the case at South Grafton.
  15. kgwilson
    At an uncontrolled airfield after the 10 mile call with height, intentions and ETA, you should always join overhead at 1500 for reasons stated in previous posts, unless the circuit direction is known from other traffic already there. Let down on the dead and join midfield crosswind. If there are other aircraft around that have failed to make themselves known, this is the safest place to cross the runway at 1000 as those aircraft will be either landing or taking off 1000 below you. I mentioned in another post that some (many) instructors have poor radio technique and this is passed on to students. No-one has to get a FRTO licence these days. A mistake in my opinion. Every airfield operator should ring CASA & get some copies of "Be Heard, Be Seen, Be Safe". They give them out free. I have given a copy to all aircraft owners and pilots at our airfield and surprisingly a lot of them were not aware of some of the procedures and protocols. They are now.
  16. kgwilson
    The quality of radio transmissions has been discussed here before and there are some who can't even cope with CTAF transmissions let alone talking to ATC. I put a lot of this on to the poor training in radio etiquette by instructors, some of whom are pretty poor themselves. Back in the day you had to be issued with a FRTO (Flight Radio Telephone Operator) licence and know all of the correct pro-words and the phonetic NATO alphabet and be competent in communicating with ATC and getting read backs correct. I can't even understand what some of the foreign student pilots are saying at all and they are supposed to have been tested for their English comprehension and dialogue.
  17. kgwilson
    The exhaust pipes are pretty robust so there probably isn't much demand for replacements. I don't know any jab owners who have had to replace exhaust pipes. I'd ask Jabiru if they could tell me who they bought the pipes off originally as it would be easier to ask the manufacturer to make some than try and do it yourself. As a one off they would be expensive but probably a better fit & quality that you could do DIY.
  18. kgwilson
    There are thousands of 2200 engines around and there is no difference in the exhaust on a J160 or J170. It is only the Gen 4 engines that have a separate flange assembly. The earlier exhausts were sold as a set of 4 pipes or 6 for the 3300 and the muffler was a separate item. It is pretty poor that they no longer supply these.
  19. kgwilson
    I've seen plenty of these and they are rubbish. Probably bought from Ali express. They cost from $5.00 to $15.00 and come with a flimsy pole. They are only good for determining the wind direction and are fully extended at only a few knots. https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-windsock.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.auto_suggest.1.7d25443fzXNxqw
  20. kgwilson
    Paragliders and parachutes do not have engines.
  21. kgwilson
    Unless using a specific product voids the warranty (if there is one) I'd use whatever works. Manufacturers often have commercial agreements with other organistations and get a good deal if they recommend their product. There are usually a number of others that are just as good often less expensive and sometimes better. After all the Rotax is just a glorified Skidoo motor.
  22. kgwilson
    About 18 months my battery died and I needed one quick so went to the local battery shop told them what I had & it was for a Jab 3300 engined aircraft. They sold me a Ritar high discharge battery with 22 amp/hour rating. It was slightly smaller & lighter than the old Motobatt I had but has been great even on cold mornings and after a month or more sitting with no use. Ritar is a Chinese manufacturer that produces all sorts of batteries from small to really huge. It has a design life of 6-8 years and is capable of being fully discharged multiple times. It is a gel lead acid battery. Don't know its CCA rating but it easily turns the 3300 over & the best part is that it only cost $130.00. Have a look at one of these. China is by far the largest battery manufacturer in the world and is leading in battery technology by a long way.
  23. kgwilson
    Harrison Ford is a very competent pilot and started flying in the 1960s. He has multiple type ratings and has been an advocate for sport and private aviation since then. He has owned numerous aircraft and made a number of Aviation films using his own money. He almost died after an engine failure and landed on a golf course in 2017. That was the 3rd forced landing and the Taxiway incident was well publicised. He owned the incident straight away and it was later established that the taxiway was easily mistaken for a runway. He was 74 at the time & is now 82. Have a look at the video he did quite a few years ago called "Wings over the Rockies" as a freebie promotion for the Wings over the Rockies Aviation Museum to encourage young people to get in to aviation. It is one of the best recreational flying docos ever made.
  24. kgwilson
    The difference was Harrison Ford thought the taxiway was the runway.
  25. kgwilson
    My kit including avionics cost 47k in 2011. 3300A engine 18k. I added a few things like Dynon EFIS, EGT, Carb Heat etc & painted it myself. Total cost flying of 70k. My guess would be at least double that now, probably more.
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