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Jaba-who

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Everything posted by Jaba-who

  1. Jaba-who
    This is exactly the problem of long distance stuff I was talking about. As I said the statement was made by the pro-EV positive spin techno guy not a nay-sayer. He basically said his group (whoever they were) had done the research and concluded that despite their own pro-EV position, for a large number of Australians - who when asked actually do now do a lot of comparatively very long distance driving in places with no infrastructure ( and which are unlikely to ever get the infrastructure) EVs are currently untenable. Eg. I live in a regional city of over quarter of a million people and I routinely drive 2 - 3 hours out of town. ( did it yesterday ) a couple of times a fortnight. I go bush frequently as do an increasing number of people ( when I try to find a camp site seems like more and more people are there) There is no way I want to stop for even half an hour to refuel if in fact I had somewhere I could refuel. I am typical of many many Australians. I think when even a pro-EV guys says “yep we have done the research and they are not yet suitable for a great many Australians” I’m inclined to believe it.
  2. Jaba-who
    Is that in Brisbane? Serious question. Something I have wondered about. How robust are the panels? How are they protecting from hail damage?
  3. Jaba-who
    Was listening to ABC radio a few weeks back and even a pro-EV optimistic ++ techno-wiz conceded that EV are not a viable option for significant number of Australians for foreseeable future. Major factors - range ( even current long range distances are less than typical country travel IN AUST. Beware figures quoted for Europe and USA.) Charging times for long range EV will preclude long distances in a day beyond a single charge. Rapid charge currently not comparable to stopping and filling up petrol tank. Even the guru suggested many city dwellers who have frequent trips into country will require two vehicles if they want to own an EV.
  4. Jaba-who
    Might not have been any. If the only options were radio and you didn’t have one on the ground and mobile phone but there’s no reception there then that’s it. But I agree that a plan to indicate the wind direction would have made all the difference. In retrospect if a plan had been made eg to point the vehicle in the direction of the best runway it would have been all they needed. That of course assumes the pilot knew ahead of time there was no windsock. Was any of the ground party aviators? I have been told the most glaringly wrong or faulty info about the state of bush strips by non-pilots. They may not have even realized the sock or lack of it should have been advised to the pilot.
  5. Jaba-who
    Unfortunately If have disagree on some of this, Nev. In the world outside community airfields ( ie farm strips) windsocks are often a luxury. They can be: never been one from day 1, was one but it blew away, perished & fell to bits. They can be there but rusted in place and don’t swing with the wind. The old idea that a certain angle indicates a certain widespread has now no basis in reality. That was true when they were all made with heavy canvas type stuff. They now come in all sorts of materials, lengths and tapers which all effect how much they angle out in a wind. I have found that wind direction at any height is no indication of ground level direction. This is especially true where there are features such as hills, trees gullies, areas of farm land interspersed with tree corridors ( for wildlife that now exist in many places. ) best you can hope for is somewhere in the same quadrant and even that isn’t a certainty.
  6. Jaba-who
    When I was flying helicopters I initially had a helmet ( ex-military disposal but don't recall the brand - old heavy and horrible) -needed to replace the mic but the phones were OK. Then got a gentex sph-5 and didn't need to replace anything. When I used it in a few fixed wing situations I got an adapter to convert the NATO plug ( single plug) to the typical two plug system for the GA fixed wings. And it worked fine there too. Oddly my David Clark headset with NATO plug wouldn't ever work properly in the Robbie but worked fine in B206. I also bought a small device to plug my phone to work through the headsets and it would not work in the Robbie but worked fine with the same headsets or helmet in a fixed wing. Seems you can get lots of complex negative interactions.
  7. Jaba-who
    I guess some of the factors may have been pertinent to anyone anywhere but I agree entirely. The choice of an aircraft in controlled airspace will do little to focus the class G pilot on the possibilities as apply in uncontrolled airspace. The article will probably engender a degree of complacency in many readers because of a thought process something like "clearly the fault lies with the controller who was supposed provide separation. This doesn't apply to me in Class G. " Psychologically it is well shown that once a person perceives some part of a scenario does not apply to them the tendency is to disregard the entire lesson. ( I forget the name from my student days but this phenomenon even has somebodies name - "the xxxxxx effect". Surely CASA could have found a class G event.
  8. Jaba-who
    I mentioned your safari and that you all may be coming to Atherton at our Atherton aero club meeting today. Lots of interest and much willingness to put on a BBQ at the clubhouse at the airport etc. for you. What we can do and how people can be there Will depend a lot on dates, day of week etc. Let me know if Atherton is still on the list of possibles waypoints and dates you might be there.
  9. Jaba-who
    No problem about flying RAAus registered aircraft in controlled airspace provided it is equipped with radio and transponder. Once that’s in place it’s just like any other aircraft. But there are some factors that are pilot and aircraft specific. Aircraft - If in flying in CTA you have to fly over built up areas then the C of A for that aircraft has to allow it. I have to admit I’m not up on the c of a provisions for RAAus but a VH ( in experimental class) may be certificated in its C of A to fly over built up areas or not. Usually if it is a normal design kit with no engine mods etc then it’s included. If it’s a weird engine or highly modified etc the c of a may restrict to not over built up areas. The pilot must have an RPL, PPL or higher ( to fly in CTA) AND as well have the RPC ( to fly the aircraft). A bone fide RPL, PPL etc student flying solo on an instructor sanctioned GA solo flight in CTA is covered as well. But not if you are on a RAAus Student flight. I have heard anecdotally that there are a small number (maybe only one) of RAAus flying schools who operate in CTA with apparently some form of dispensation. But those stories were always from people who could not actually verify how or why etc. so take that with a grain of salt.
  10. Jaba-who
    I don’t disagree about the froth and bubble of the promotion (I looked at their display at Oshkosh 2014) and felt the same. Nice aircraft but I remember quoting that the ICON display seemed very shiny and sparkly ( like the mirrors in “smoke and mirrors”) The legality stuff sounds crazy. And the last price blowout I read I think just seals the coffin on them. However to play devils advocate. Of The ones that went down weren’t two (as best as has been released so far) pilot error. ( the ICON manager or whatever position he held - didn’t they fly into a box canyon and stalled it trying to make a tight turn out? And the pro sportsman guy - although he wasn’t actually seen hitting the water he was seen immediately before it hooning doing beat ups at extreme low level with climbs a steep turns. Blood levels of amphetamines or cocaine I forget which in blood samples. This latest one just says it sank. Looks intact otherwise. Maybe got swamped while moored. Or maybe hit a submerged log or something and holed it. That’s hardly the aircraft design or manufacturers fault. Anyone know how it sank? I think Bexs comment that the people who have them need to not treat them as a jet ski is very true.
  11. Jaba-who
    Yeah. Comes about from the constant exposure to adverse publicity - eg weather warnings, politicians, news etc etc quoting how events are happening in “north” Queensland and which then have major impacts on us but the events happened in the Rockhampton and Mackay area. Our tourism industry for instance has been decimated three times in the last 20 years when cyclones have hit Mackay or Bowen ( roughly 800 - 1000 kms south of here) and where we had no problems. But the media constantly referred to “North Queensland” and people cancelled their bookings in droves. Similarly we have significantly poorer road maintenance and building programs here but the main highway in central Queensland is being upgraded which is fine as it’s needed. But representations to have money allocated here are rejected by politicians exclaiming that “north” Queensland already has $XX millions being spent on upgrades. But ignoring the fact that that money is being spent somewhere else in the country and only called “north” to deflect criticism. Same thing happens across every facet of society. North Queensland health budgets are same.
  12. Jaba-who
    Getting back to the original question. I've noticed that my iPhone and iPad seem to vary in their reception. Sometimes they are solidly the same number of bars etc. and not only when they are both full signal. Sometimes with just two or three bars. then other times the iPad does drop back to being a bar or even two lower than the iPhone. Never noticed the iPad better than the iPhone though.
  13. Jaba-who
    OK. Sorry then. Can't help you. Mackay is as far from here as Sydney is to Brisbane or Melbourne.
  14. Jaba-who
    Do you mean VFR is safer than IFR if you follow the rules (for either or both) Or Do you mean VFR if you follow the rules - is far safer than - VFR if you don’t follow the rules.
  15. Jaba-who
    Depends what you mean by “north”. To us in North Queensland “north “ equals Townsville or north of it. To southerners “North Queensland” is anything north of Brisbane and south of Mackay. Anything north of that just doesn’t count as civilization. Quite a few in the cairns area. Off top of my head I can think of about 7. All fly out of the small airports around cairns. Atherton, Mareeba, Innisfail. Look up atherton aero club, fnqflyers, Nq aeroclub Facebook pages. Otherwise if you want contacts I can give you some.
  16. Jaba-who
    Standard operating procedure for Internet forums. Start with one topic - evolve through several others.
  17. Jaba-who
    I think if we got serious and did some research we could find multiple contenders for that position. ( with them in every party)
  18. Jaba-who
    Actually it was not a clear breach of entitlements. In fact it was approved prior to her taking the flight. That was agreed by even the Labour Party. What it was, a “clear” breach of, was it failed the pub test. Despite it being within the rules and being legal it clearly was inappropriate. Unfortunately The pub test has no solid basis in definition but rather is a variable set of conditions depending on which pub you go to. Clearly I would agree that to hire a helicopter even for a function to which there was no debate, she WAS entitled to paid transport - where multiple other forms of cheaper and minimally more inconvenient methods existed, she should have chosen one of those methods. That is where it failed the pub test. At the time there was no requirement to only chose specific forms of transport. But it did not fall outside of ministerial guidelines and after that even those guidelines have been tightened although, realistically,I don’t think they are still as tight as they could be.
  19. Jaba-who
    Ok. Found them. Not sure they would suit my Jab. The Jab Spark plugs are fully inside the Ram Air ducts and they currently have 90 degree bend cap and I think they only just fit inside the duct. I don’t have the plane here at home so I am only making a guess. Don’t think there is any gain. But what might be worth pursuing is the fact they are resistor type caps. The standard Jab spark plug is I think non resistor type ( I think it’s a NGK D9EA ). And I do ( and always have ) suffered to some degree with ignition noise. So would changing to a resistor type plug or adding a resistor type cap make a difference? Anyone tried it already? If so what result.
  20. Jaba-who
    Tried a search but couldn’t find them. Can you give a link with a specific page or maybe a serial number or code? Or a photo?
  21. Jaba-who
    And as if to emphasise my low opinion of reporters and aviation stories I just read some of the utter crap in the text about an ultralight down near Bundaberg. This time not a lack of fact just bizarre statements. Like the homeowner came home after a call that an ultralight had crashed into his house. Ok so far so good. But then ..... It was reported he “was at home” several years ago when a different plane crashed in a different area several years ago. What??? It’s news worthy to state a home owner was at home when a plane which had nothing to do with him or his house crashed in a different part of his region several years ago? Really? I have been home when accidents that didn’t involve me, my home or my immediate area happened. Hardly news worthy to relate it to being at home at the time. Also the story stated multiple times the pilot had a minor leg injury. Then at the end it gives a report from an ambulance officer to say it wasn’t fatal. Very odd chronological to and fro-ing. I suspect it was a school student on work experience who wrote the story. At least I hope it was.
  22. Jaba-who
    Basically the media seems to have two major areas of failure. The first is when there is a lack of knowledge about a specialist topic they don’t require an expert or even someone vaguely knowledgeable to handle the story. They just flog it off to anyone who makes an event into a story without adherence to fact. I see this almost every day in either an aviation or a medical related story. When you know something about the topic you just cringe when you read the utter rubbish they print. The second is that all facts will be ignored or corrupted to suit an angle or preconceived belief. Especially if it can be made into something controversial or to start a thread which can be dragged out over multiple editions or programs. This will include selective editing, cutting and pasting etc. I would never give an interview or opinion to any media person after seeing the corruption that has been done to colleagues who gave a straight forward factual statement about something which was then highly selectively edited to produce a completely opposite response to what was said so as to generate a controversy where none existed and to paint the speaker in a bad light.
  23. Jaba-who
    If you fly in areas with multiple frequencies ( a ctaf, a couple of FIAs in close proximity and fly with a few friends and use 123.45 for air to air comms then even a minotor frequency is not enough) The other thing that sucks with a single radio with a monitor frequencies is that if a signal is picked up on one frequency it locks on it and blocks the other frequency even if the other frequency is the one you really want to listen to in preference. I long ago moved to dual comms and wouldn’t get an aircraft with less than two again.
  24. Jaba-who
    I’ve basically settled on the MGL V6. Had quite a lot of emailing with MGL in South Africa. Direct from the horse’s mouth it is the V6 they no longer provide and the V10 is the one they will sell me. But it’s the V6 I want because of the inbuilt 4 place intercom. The V10has gone back to a two place intercom which is no good to me and I am trying to avaoid the stand alone comms panel which I am sure is a contributor to the noise issues I have. Paradoxically I can still get the V6 from Aircraft Spruce in the USA but not the new V10. MGL tell me they went away from the four place intercom because of less demand and because they found people were having trouble setting them up. But then on the next email tell me how easy it is to wire them up even with two comms ( which is the absolute minimum I will go with). Hopefully nothing has changed since I last emailed all the players concerned in late December ( been away on holidays for 3 weeks in Jan so the whole lot was put on the back burner- but time to launch it again). But anyway that’s where I am at present and I’ll be ordering the V6s out of the states this week unless I hear something that stops me in the mean time.
  25. Jaba-who
    I’ve been through the same thing in the health field. If you have a “cause célèbre” you find a way to weave the words safety into the argument and then it deems it above criticism. Even the stupidest ideas can no longer be criticised when they have been suggested to involve safety. There is no actual requirement to demonstrate how the idea might enhance safety the speaker just has to include it in the monologue. Any mention of disbelief is shot down with the suggestion that the disbeliever is as good as racist, homophobe, climate change denier etc. simply by questioning how safety is actually affected by this “great idea”.
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