old man emu

Camden Airport is falling victim to the mushrooming housing devlopment in the Sydney Basin. Not due to any land grabs by developers - the location is subject to flooding of the Nepean River, but due to complaints from Johnny-come-latelys that flying operations are too noisy.

 

Under the headline "Boom has arrived" in the local paper (Camden Advertiser - www.camdenadvertiser.com.au ) is the report commencing " A country feel in a suburban setting is attracting home buyers to Camden." The report "looks at some of the new estates which 200,000 new residents will call home in the next two decades.'

 

A few pages into the paper is the headline "Noisy skies acknowledged but quick fix not on radar". This article deals with the response to an item in the previous week's paper in which certain residents under the airport's circuit area complained of increased noise and "cowboy pilots".

 

Local Federal Member, Pat Farmer, wants to legislate for the fitting of mufflers to older aircraft to reduce noise, and also the fitting of transponders to monitor the height of aircraft.

 

You can see how well briefed he is on aviation matters.

 

There has been an increase in movements at Camden as a result of the closure of Hoxton Park. More Bankstown-based training aircraft are using Camden for circuit work, especially helicopters.

 

Sydney Airports Limited were the ones who sold off Hoxton Park. It was also the organisation which produced a Draft Master Plan for Camden Airport which estimated movements of around 100,000 per year by 2035. People who took those figures as Gospel have been up in arms, and have used local media to misrepresent the reality of the situation.

 

This is another case of the squeeky wheel getting the oil. If those of us involved in aviation, from flying schools, to clubs, to maintenance organisations, to weekend potterers don't start squeeking louder, the aviation community in Sydney will lose another airport. Once an airport goes, it don't come back.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

TC123,

 

Please post some phots of the guage to make assessment of your problem easier.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

When pressurising the cylinders we got a reading of 80/79 on 3 pots and on the other flat one 80/75. The minimum numbers are 80/60 as per Rotax. J.C.

JC,

 

Those numbers ar quite OK. You've got a 5% variation between the best and worst. If we got them for a Lycoming, Continental or Jabiru engine during a 100 Hourly, we'd have no concerns. There are engines out there that are quite happily chugging away at 80/72 and such.

 

They show that each cylinder's rings are working as designed, and there is no burning of the valve faces or seats. As long as the range of values is not wide, you're OK. On those figures, if the low one was 80/68 or such, I'd be suspicious of that cylinder, and would first start looking for a speck of carbon between the valve face and seat. If you ever got to 80/60, then you would start to make further investigations. The engine will still run at 80/60, but its efficiency would not be at its best.

 

What you've got to remember is that this is a Leak down test, not a compression test. When you do the test, you pressurize the cylinder to 80psi and see if the pressure will hold at 80psi. You expect some variation in the readings from the guages as the system settles down. You also need to accept some variation in the accuracy of the guages (although they should be calibrated every 2 years)

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

The engine on my J160 popped its cork last thursday. Two of the through-bolts which hold the cylinders and the crankcase halves together broke with almost total loss of power. Best regards, Bob

We have just had a similar situation with a flying school aircraft we maintain. We replaced the through bolts and put the aircraft back into service.

 

The operators then complained that the engine was stiffer than others when pulled through. Further examination leads us to believe that the crankshaft may have be out of alignment with the bearings.

 

We hope to find out after the enfine has been pulled down at Jabiru.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

I'm told that when the Royal folded, its memorabilia was scattered to the Four Winds.

 

I'm looking for photos which show that south-western corner of the airport, and the Milperra Road boundary. I'm told that area was used for many years as a dump.

 

OME

 

 

I started my training with Chieftain in 1970 in a C150. Was paying $17 per hour dual.

 

I'm sure the plane on the pole was a Vampire. There was a Mustang operating out of Illawarra. I think it was VH-BOY. There was another one hangared over on the Marions Street side of the airport, just can't think of its Rego.

 

OME

 

 

I'm trying to get an idea of what Bankstown Airport was like prior to 1990. Does anyone have aerial photos of the airport fom way back when? I'm most interested in the section of the airport near the Milperra Rd/Henry Lawson Drive. That would take in the 18/36 runway and Chieftan Flying School areas.

 

I'd also be interested in photos that showed the extent of military buildings from the 1940s till they were demolished.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

The best answer I can give to that is: "They did." I can't say if they still do, after being alerted to the nut problem.

 

They do use commercial stuff in the Jab, but I think the deficiencies of commercial over AN/MS/NAS standard only come out when the aircraft racks up lots of hours quickly (flying schools).

 

OME

 

 

MC,

 

Be careful where you get those new nuts and bolts from. My company services a few Jabs, and we found that the nuts used by the factory were commercial grade, not aviation standard. We found several examples of the threads detaching from the nut body.

 

Of the new bolts are 3/8" diameter, that means you should get AN6-(length) bolts and MS21044N6 nuts.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

TC123,

 

Try a mob called Aircraft Composites at Camden Airport. They have a CNC machine and are experienced in aircraft work.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

I've had a brass bleeder break off.

Were you able to extract the bits remaining in the caliper, and where did you get a new bleeder valve?

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

Has anyone had problems with the brake fluid lines down near the calipers, or has broken off the brake bleeder valve in the caliper?

 

I'm running across cases of leakage from the lines at the brass connections. Am also finding that the brass bleeder valve seizes in the caliper and breaks off when attempts are made to loosen it.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

Quentas,

 

Whenever I have to colour match paint, I take a component from the plane to the paint supplier so that the match can be done. Why don't you take a wheel spat to the supplier.

 

Sorry that I can't help you with your particular question. When I getr paint matched, I just label the can with teh rego number of the plane it belongs to.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

Before I purchased an aircraft, I would first seek out a LAME who was going to do the maintenance for me. This would involve asking a lot of operators for their opinions on who they thought were reputable LAME's. I wouldn't be seeking the cheapest at this stage. After culling the list, I would go visit their workshops and meet them. While there, I would observe the conditions in the workshop and the demeanour of the LAME. Your life is going to depend on this guy, so is he the type you'd like to have as a trusted friend? Back yourself to make the right decision based on your ability to size up people. If you like what you see, go to the next step.

 

Spend some time talking to the LAME to get an idea of what's involved in a Periodic. Do this in his office, over coffee. Stay away from the workshop. If he's any good, he'll go through the steps involved:

 

1. Creating worksheets

 

2. Checking for recurrent MRs and ADs, as well as once off ones relating to your particular aircraft.

 

3. Examination of the aircraft's log books to see that all previous MRs and ADs have been completed.

 

4. A brief overview of what work is going to be done.

 

5. Who the LAME is going to subcontract avionics, electrical, airframe and engine work to.

 

6. How the logbooks are going to be written up and where they will be stored.

 

7. How long the completed worksheets will be kept.

 

8. What are the Account payment terms.

 

Ask him about his reference library. Is it up to date for your aircraft and engine. (This stuff if now on CD-ROM) What about his MRs and ADs? (They come from CASA in CD-ROM). How much experience has he got on your make and model of aircraft?

 

Finally, check and note the LAME's Licence number and CASA Approval Number. Is teh LAME operating under his own Approval Number, or that is he using someone else's Approval Number.

 

If you are happy with the guy, give him your business. If he's been able to go through the above interview points satisfactorily, then he knows his stuff. He's been in business long enough to know what the price of his work is in the market. Then you can ask what he charges for

 

1. A "No Problems" Periodic (Possibly in the region of $2000).

 

2. A "First Time in My Shop" Periodic (More involved, cause he'll be looking for hidden problems and completion of prior MRs and ADs)

 

3. A Biannual Periodic (Includes an Instrument 8/9).

 

Armed with all this information, you can make a better decision on who will become your LAME. He doesn't have to be on the airport where you hangar your aircraft. You can always fly away for service.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

I agree that some aircraft owners, especially those who have built, or refurbished their own plane are quite capable of doing a lot of the work required during a periodic. The organisation I work for has a few customers like that, and they are quite welcome in the hangar.

 

However, a lot of our customers own aircraft as an adjunct to their lifestyles, and aren't interested in getting down and dirty. Their requirments are to have an airworthy aircraft which they can pull from the hangar, "kick the tyres; light the fires, and flock off." They would never consider coming into the work area.

 

Then there's the "Enthusiast". This is the guy who has the money to buy and operate a plane, but has limited mechanical ability. His plane is his baby. He's the one who arrives at the workshop with his plane and hovers over it like a blowfly over a paddock patty. He's full of comments like, "Don't push there, you'll break something", and "Would you mind taking your work boots off before you get into the cockpit?" He stands behind you, peering into the job and incessently asks questions, the answers to which you know he will never act upon. He's the sort of guy who will spend a fortune implementing some idea he's read on some obscure website to get an extra knot of cruise speed, but forget to remove unecesssary junk from the back of the cockpit to reduce weight.

 

Enthusiasts soon find themselves banned from the workshop, and get get all upset and huffy with the maintenance organisation. Then they take their business to another organisation and spend the rest of their lives telling their cronies at the areo club about that lousy organisation who refused to service their plane, just because he tried to tell the LAMEs what to do to get that extra knot out of his pride and joy. He also reckons maintenance costs are over the top. After all, he flew 25 hours last year and had to pay the same for a Annual that the flying school pays for a periodic.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

We comlained to jabiru over a year ago about this problem when the chief went for an off road trip across a taxiway and over a ditch after it got him..

Doesn't your Chief always come back to base via a cross country route?

 

OME

 

 

Went to the Jabiru website...no sign of an SB about this. The Jabiru website is my oracle for SBs etc re the Jabiru.Where is this documented (citation please) Who is the publishing authority? Full text of AN (if possible) would be appreciated.

 

Basically, more information please.

Did you chance to look at the "Aircraft AD's & AN's List - Jabiru Aircraft & Engines" thread on this very forum?

 

That's a good place for oracles to stir over the entrails.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

The cost of a 100 Hourly/Annual Inspection depends on factors like:

 

1. The actual manhours involved in the job

 

2. The age and condition of the aircraft

 

3. The complexity of the aircraft

 

4. The currency exchange rate between $A and $US.

 

1. Actual Manhours involved.

 

In order to start an inspection, the aircraft has to be uncowled, and inspection panels removed. Some a/c have complicated cowling systems; lots of inspection panels, and wheel spats. Others - generally the composites - have few inspection panels. Part of the bill comes from the time it takes to take these things off, and replace them at the end of a job.

 

The number of cylinders affects price. Obviously it takes longer to do a compression check on a six cylinder than a four cylinder, and there are more spark plugs to clean and gap.

 

Periodic examinations, such as magneto overhauls, and instrument calibrations add to the time and expense of inspections.

 

2. Age and condition of aircraft.

 

Age is related to deterioration. The older the a/c, the more chance that the material of which it is made will show signs of corrosion, or other forms of deterioration. It takes time and money to bring corroded parts up to scratch.

 

Some items have to be replaced after fixed time intervals, whether they show signs of deterioration or not. These include ELT batteries, fuel and oil hoses.

 

Other items are consumables, such as brake pads, tyres and alternator brushes. Their rate of replacement depends on the amount of use an a/c gets.

 

Then there are items that become damaged due to improper use, notably starter motors.

 

3. Complexity of the a/c

 

Clearly, a twin engined IFR aircraft is going to require more time spent on it than a simple LSA, C-172 or PA-28 due to the number and complexity of its systems.

 

4. The Exchange Rate.

 

Since most aircraft components are sources in the USA, their cost by the time they arrive at your aircraft is dependant on the ratio of the $A to the $US.

 

Can you save money by doing some of the work yourself?

 

Well it depends on your LAME. Remember, it's his reputaion and Licence that is at stake every time he signs a Maintenance Release. If you make a mistake doing a job which is part of the inspection, and your aircraft crashes, it won't be your name that is mentioned in aviation circles as the one who goofed. It will be the LAME's, and it might result in the destruction of his livelihood.

 

Also, what do you do for a crust? How would you take it if someone who did not have your experience doing your job came to your workplace and started to "help" you do yours? How would your fellow workers react?

 

I know that if owners come in to my workplace and hang around "being useful" , you can feel the tension rising in the hangar. The heightened tension can lead to fellows making mistakes doing jobs they can normally do blindfolded.

 

How can you reduce your costs for Periodics?

 

Look after your aircraft. Don't bash it around. Learn to start it. If you notice a problem, have it checked out immediately - a stitch in time saves nine.

 

And if you want to make a small fortune from aviation - start with a big one.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

This AN requires that before the next flight, steps are taken to disable to fore/aft adjustment of the rudder pedal shafts. THe problem seems to be that if the pedals are adjusted all the way out, there can be interference with the movement of the rudder controls.

 

There is a simpe fix for this.

 

Firstly get hold of a right angled drill attachment.

 

Get four AN3-10A bolts and four MS21044N3 locknuts.

 

Position the rudder pedal shafts so that they are in about the middle of their fore/aft travel.

 

Drill horizontal holes through the shafts and their collars.

 

Fit the AN3-10A bolt through each hole and secure with a locknut.

 

Repeat for the right hand pedal set.

 

This job should take less than half an hour to do. Don't forget to vacuum the cabin floor to pick up the metal flakes.

 

Note

 

The need for urgency for this mod seems to depend on the number of different pilots who fly the aircraft, and their heights. If you are the only pilot, and have medium to long legs, you are unlikely to encounter the problem.

 

If many people of shorter stature fly the aircraft, it needs to be done straight away. These people also need to obtain an extra seat cushion.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

From "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft is Australia and New Zealand" David Eyre, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd, 2nd Edition 1988:

 

"Beause of the interest in racing in the 1930s a few Swifts were fitted with Gypsy Major in-line engines, increasing the power from 75 to 130HP. The first of these, G-ABWH, afer an interesting history which included racing in the USA as N27K, appeared in Australia.

 

First registered in July 1939 as VH-ACG (c/n GS32/2), it crashed on the fairway of the Great Lakes Golf Course in Sydney on 18 December 1950. It was eventually rebuilt in Adelaide in 1963 and was flown in the 1964 Ansett Air Race from Brisbane to Adelaide. Subsequently it was placed in storage, but in recent years (pre 1983) has been restored to airworthy condition an is based in Perth.

 

VH-UVC (c/n S32/10), built in 1932 and fitted with a Pobjoy radial engine, was first registered in October 1934, but was retired and placed in storage in 1968, where it remains."

 

ANYONE KNOW WHERE VH-UVC IS?

 

Wingspan: 7.32 m (24 ft); Length 5.6 m (18ft 4 in); height 1.61 m (5ft 3.5 in); wing area 8.36 m^2 (90 sq ft)

 

Speed:

 

Max: 165 Mph (144 kts); Cruise: 140 mph (122 kts)

 

Empty weight: 276.74 Kg (610 lb); MTOW 512.57 Kg (1130 lb)

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

After all susburban myth is that that most of the wear in motors comes from the first few second after start when everything is cold and nothing is being properly lubricated. Ginger

 

thumb_down

If you are very concerned that you engine oil has drained to the sump while the aircraft has been sitting unused from week to week, why not grab hold of the lump of wood or metal that spins around at one end of the engine, and pull it through a dozen or so times, or maybe more. It's not hard work, and it might not get the oil pressure up to operating level, but at least it will get the oil moving on its journey through the engine.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

it will be interesting to hear if it was an engine failure.

Although the pilot was a student, if he was flying solo, he must have been cleared to land a plane, and would have had some emergency landing training. If the engine cut out, I'm sure he would have got the plane to the ground in one piece, and if it broke up on impact, most of the aircraft would have been in one heap.

 

It's the separation of the wings and tail from the fuselage that's the intriguing thing. That comes from over-stressing the airframe. I'd guess that the incident started at altitude. I'm also guessing that there'll be a simple answer, and I'm betting that the canopy came open. These aircraft have a clamshell canopy which hinges from the overhead centreline of the canopy. If the passenger's side opens, it is very hard to reach across the cockpit to grab it, and you would need a great deal of strength to pull it down. Then you have to tie it down. All the time you would be trying to fly the plane

 

The size of the pilot would also be a factor. The young fellow who had the incident a month or so back was a big, tall, strong type. If you see some of these student pilots walking around BK, you'd reckon they'd get swept awat in a soda stream.

 

I also heard a rumour that someone from the USA was coming out to investigate the incident. Has anyone heard of the ATSB is taking an interest?

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

Makes you wonder if it was the same cause???

The thought was strong in our minds. However, from the pictures I've seen on the TV, it appears that the aircraft may have broken up in the air, as the wings and tail were separated from the fuselage.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

Please refer to my earlier thread "Hatches and Harnesses Secure????"

 

It was the same aircraft.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

You have to look along the fuselage. The Comper Swifts were originally built for air racing, so I suppose it was a case of "Go Fast - Turn Left".

 

Most were fitted with Pobjoy 3 cylinder engines, but AGC is one of the few that were fitted with a Gypsy. Actually this aircraft is a real rare bird.

 

Old Man Emu