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Litespeed

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Everything posted by Litespeed

  1. Litespeed
    But at the price of a carbon cub? Damn those are expensive. Ole could build two aircraft for you and a heap of change
  2. Litespeed
    One of my instructors was a nice bloke called George, he was a F111 instructor and then a Blackhawk instructor- a very very top notch pilot. After leaving the services he became a lowly GA instructor and loved it, he finally had time to enjoy his job, look at scenery and unpucker his spincter.
  3. Litespeed
    One of my instructors was a nice bloke called George, he was a F111 instructor and then a Blackhawk instructor- a very very top notch pilot. After leaving the services he became a lowly GA instructor and loved it, he finally had time to enjoy his job, look at scenery and unpucker his spincter.
  4. Litespeed
    Regarding failure of the 'A' pillars that is at extreme g loading in a crash and greatly reduces the G load into the pilot cabin and that can be a life saver. Similar to modern cars crumple zones, the best design will crush/disgard structure to take up g Loads and save the pilot. Humans are very poor at absorbing big g loads.
  5. Litespeed
    Yes the SF1 is a cool little beasty. I picked that photo because I love the plane and the pilot is a doppelganger of me- minus my grey hair. There are lots of threads re the Jabiru motor etc on the site, have a read. But keep in mind some posters are very biased for or against a Jabiru, irrespective of the actual facts. Shock cooling/icing is a issue in any carb engine, and yes the ultimate solution is a modern injection system and rotec heads. Modern ceramic coatings are also worthy additions. And such a motor would still be cheaper than a rotax.
  6. Litespeed
    Adding injection makes a Jabiru 6 purr like a pussykat
  7. Litespeed
    The vast majority of problems with Jabiru engines are poor maintenance, not running at correct revs and a bad rep that is generally completely undeserved. In flight stoppage is extremely rare, if it has fuel and spark they keep running. CASA claimed lack of fuel in the tank as a engine failure. As far as tbo goes even if they are rebuilt at 50% tbo it is still cheaper than a rotax which is a basic replace everything bar the cases overhaul. If your worried about failure do the island hop route to Tassie.
  8. Litespeed
    Yes, I always worry about anything I buy from the USA, some are in metric and some are still not. Does not help with trade, but as soon as their economy picks up some orangutan starts a trade war, points a gun to the head of its friends and invites a burgular over for dinner.
  9. Litespeed
    Yes, Nev- Ole Hartman at AAK makes awesome aircraft. Tough as iron bark and can land where you would normally rip off the undercarriage.
  10. Litespeed
    Hey Jethro, If your looking for a tough as nails, easy to fly but not bus like aircraft with exceptional crash survivability, then a local product is what you want. It is called a Jabiru, can be kit or factory built. Lots on market and cheap compared to any imports. If you absolutely have to impact the ground or a tree or a riverbank etc- it is the machine. It is easy to kill yourself or get mangled in any aircraft. But history has proven you have to try real hard in a jabiru, the cabin structure is amazingly tough and absorbs a lot of forces instead of transferring it to the pilot. Manage your engine well, maintain it well, keep fuel in the tanks and fly to its envelope. If it all goes really wrong- there is nothing I would rather be in. Physics is a cruel mistress but a Jabiru can be a fairy godmother. The only fatalities I know of where A flight into a mountainside - cumulus granite. Wings torn off in a very powerful storm cloud in Europe. A nose first vertical into the ground after stalling. All were pilot error and generally non survivable in anything with wings. I would always trust one. Litespeed
  11. Litespeed
    Fair enough Bex, but for a light aircraft it seems like a solution looking for a problem.
  12. Litespeed
    Bex, I commend your wish to find new solutions but this is a case of KISS. All other things been equal, I would always go a full metal skin for longevity and sale ability. It would probably put off a lot of potential buyers having such a hybrid covering. Even if it was a great engineering solution you may find it a hard sell.
  13. Litespeed
    We have big tanks to justify the big planes we bought to move them about. We have big planes to move the big tanks.
  14. Litespeed
    New drones for RAAF. Or how to burn billions? Turnbuckle Turnbull and co have announced a staggering $7 billion to buy and use 6 MQ- 4C Triton drones. That's over a Billion a plane. The MQ-4C is a modified marine version of the common Global Hawk which is cheap at under $20 million flyaway fully loaded. The Triton comes in with the latest and greatest tech, bigger range etc and fully loaded $120 million US including the development budget is a big $182 million US. These are the costings in 2015. A very far cry from the supposed $1.2 billion per plane we will pay. Something's going on here and it isn't running costs of the airframe. More genius from the government in buying majic beans?
  15. Litespeed
    Safer to get on a boat and walk the plank.
  16. Litespeed
    The apu is a long way below that point.
  17. Litespeed
    Oh the humanity, all those poor passengers worried about the tail about to explode from all the fuel in it...........as fireman rushed to cool it. Great reporting yet again. As for the incident, dumb parking and even dumber taxiing from the A330.
  18. Litespeed
    And with a Jabbawokki it will always look after you, you have to try real hard to get smited in one. Unlike most. But I do love Drifters as well
  19. Litespeed
    I am in love, might stop drooling by next week
  20. Litespeed
    I wonder why you wish to go a big heavy over powered version? Besides the ability to spend a large amount of extra money, what is you rationale? Several legends of the drifter are on here, maybe they could comment. Sorry if this sounds overly critical.
  21. Litespeed
    But I am a mad bustard, my doctors say so. Always dream about doing a revised AR5 because 213 mph on 65 HP is kinda slow. Just add a Simononi with 110 HP. Now that would be a rocket ship under 300kg.
  22. Litespeed
    Got me thinking about the fun that could be had...........what about a big single or twin flying wing aka facet opal. That would go like stink. Just need a bucket of dollars, a bucket of time and two bucket size balls. Perfect for the bucket list.
  23. Litespeed
    Frame parts are usually easy to get from the states or anywhere lots of the Avidflyer were sold- they were a kit aircraft. Anything on it should be easily made locally anyway, if needed. Many variations were built eg. The Kitfox. The Avid is a good aircraft and the Jabiru are great engines.
  24. Litespeed
    If the belite is too pricey, then almost anything will be out of reach.
  25. Litespeed
    I agree the pilot stuffed up but <mod censored> happens even to the best of us. You still should not have solid stuff in the area that can save a stuff up. Remember we plan airfields to account for safety room, when bad things happen. We all condemned putting shopping malls on the edge of airports, why is a lift machine on the edge of the grass runway OK? "Stupid is as stupid does"- Forrest Gump.
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