Modest Pilot

If you have the factory VDO CHT setup, you might consider a 6 position double pole rotary switch ($10) and 3 sets of CHT senders(6 probes $90) from Sonex. (strangely the VW K" series are best for late model Jab engines) You can do a similar setup for EGT senders from Leading Edge Airfoils are $32 each. There is not a lot you can do airbourne with a Bing carb but if you do a reading every hours or so you might pick up an impending problem. The major error in these system stems from the connection of the sender and the wire leading to the instument, it's temperature sensitive. If it's in the engine compartment errors of 40c deg are likely. Hardly worth spending a couple grand on a setup if the sender leads will not reach the instrument in my opinion.

I found two of these nuts broken when recently installing a new 3300 engine. One had actually broken in two. Looked like they had been over torqued. Just goes to show it pays have a second person to go over everything. Maybe AN363 would be a better choice. The MS21042 used are thinner, they are supposed to have they same tensile strength. Both are carbon steel and come cad plated.

I recall at the Jabiru Engine forum at the final Narromine the engine man said that Aeroshell 15-50 was better at ensuring that small particles got flushed out of the hydraulic lifters. This problem could let the lifters jam open and might occur as they run horizontally instead of the more usual vertical mode. Quite how this worked was not stated; maybe the semi-synthetic blend flushes better. I notice that the oil filler label now reflects this on LSA aircraft.

According to eyewitness this was not a turn back accident. Aircraft had completed some airwork and an approach and go round to check gear extention/retraction.

You can get a clamp at motor cycle shops to go on the cable. ($16) It has a nozzle that you can attach to a pressure pack (usually graphite grease) and it will fill up the full length of the cable. Wonderfully smooth throttle results but you may need to snug up the blocks on the throttle shaft to stop throttle creep.

These are really early heads. Do yourself a favour change them. I got some of the ones before the thin finned models with 20-40 hours on them from Jabiru for a very reasonable price. They work well on my solid lift motor No 506, huge power increase, the orginals gave all sorts of problems including cracking.

Unfortunately you will have to lift the engine off the mounts. An engine lifter or chain block will do fine, make sure the engine balances fore and aft before removing. You only need to move the engine forward a couple of inches. Position the rubber mounts and move the engine back on to the engine mount. You now need an oversize bolt and nut to compress the rubber mounts. Now clamp up the rubber (the best clamp is the small sliding type used for woodworking) Remove the oversize bolt and install the normal mounting bolt. The socket that you use on the rear side (bolt head) will need a nut glued in so that you can push and keep the bolt fully home. You will find getting the lower port nut on the 3300 a pain!

Walter the 95 octane fuel at Gympie Matilda is Shell. B P used to have the specs for all Aust fuel on their website but it seems to have dissappeared. The thing that struck me was that there was a lot of different additives added by each company, large differences from state to state and changes of blends for each season of the year. The exemtions from the poisons list was interesting and I wonder if they are still current? You really don't have much of an idea of what you are getting, I stick to Avgas for this reason.

You could try the Sonex site. Look up the video on Tony Spicer's Sonex. He was very happy with his Prince prop, but although the pitch did go courser in cruise it was not by very much.

There was a Chinese Motor Glider at Oshkosh this year that looked like a good concept. Powered by a 40kw system that cost $33,000 US. The LiPo battery cost $10,000. (good for about 1000hours of engine time or 700 cycles?) The guy at Sonex said that was a good price; the one they are developing looks like it will have a $15,000 price tag!

Call Matco; they are very helpfull. The package they will recommend was almost impossible to find in their catalog. Be aware that it has a different axle bolt pattern to standard Jabs and you will have to fill and rebore the U/C legs. Also you have to specify a special axle nut it you want to fit wheel spats. The recommended tire is narrower larger diameter 6 ply aviation tire, but is as hard and thick as 10 ply Trellborgs and similar in price. You will also have to decide to change the O rings in either the Master or the Slave cylinders, if you go with the slaves it's only a couple of bucks and saves the hassle of getting at the master, you will then be stuck with Dot 4/5 fluid which might not be a bad option anyway. Package will cost around $A1000 delivered plus tyres.

Matco brakes used on U S A J230's are the external model. They give a heat sink area about four times greater than the standard Jab disc. Assumed worst case; 700 kg wt, 10 kn downwind, touch down at 50kn; requires they dissapate 12280 ft-lb K E at 10ft/sec deceleration. The standard Jab brakes won't do half that. Single calipers at 450 psi pressure on the brake pads should do the trick, for the eight cylinder J250 being built up here, if it requires to much pedal push another set can be added without any trouble.

Carb Ice can be a real problem on Bings, a friend was flying off his intial 25 hr test flying time over the airfield in his Pulsar (3300A engine) on a fine humid day and the engine stopped dead. On landing after recovering power with carb heat there was still some ice in the carb. The engineers at Jabiru in Bundaberg advise me not to operate at below 2700rpm. I was worried as EGT's are 700F at this setting, far better to go for revs they say.

The Sensenich prop (bought from Jabiru) require bolts 1/8" longer than the regular prop. Wonder if this was the mistake

The soldering is fiddlely but not to hard to do. The D10A only requires a + and a - connection to work. If your G P S goes to the aircraft earth one extra wire is required for it to pass info to the D10A. To get all the features you need the remote compass module as this is the only way to get temp info to the D10A. This will give T A S and instant wind velocity. Worth buying the wiring loom if you go for this option.

The choke on a Bing carb is not really a choke it's a start circuit. Either use full choke or none. Part choke will just screw things up.

I remember when my Aust Licence was a plastic card, my american friends thought it was a great idea. Of course it wasn't quite right; the radio licence was issue date was 1858! Progress????

Maybe an obstruction in the fuel system. If you have a fuel flow meter should be around 31lt/hr at your OAT. You could also check by disconnecting the fuel line at the carb and measuring a minute of flow on the boost pump.(be careful fire risk!) If flow is low check the fuel filter and for kinks in the fuel lines. One other thing, check the fuel bowl somehow a white compound had built up after 50 hours in my aircraft. Looked like fuel slosh, how it got through the filter beats me, it was extremely difficult to remove.

I put a double bubble level that you can buy at BCF (used for getting RV and caravans level) mainly to get good fuel dip readings, found that it also helps to get the aircraft dead level fore and aft to get real good oil readings.

Take the wife flying, everyone knows that they come with a hairdryer attached, the perfect cold weather start heater!

I had a look at the Australian site you mentioned, did'nt realise that the kit had become so advanced. The cook says I'm getting to old to even buy green bananas and must sell the Sonex first! Still thinking about it!

Nothing like an RV8, in a class more like a cross between the Pollen Special and a Mustang II. Dick Eaves a Canadian Lame designed it and has build two. I saw the first C-GZVV at Oshkosh. Beautiful aircraft by a master craftsman. Wonderful flying aircraft; has a Riblett Airfoil: 37A214--37A212 at the tip and 0 deg prop thrust line to the tailplane. Speed tops out at around 210kn, 75% cruise 180kn, 2000'/min climb, stall 55kn. The first one has 1.5 deg wing washout, the stall so is benign that he did the second one at 0.5 deg and probably 0 would be O K, it's that Riblett airfoil I suspect. No kit but most of the hard bits can be purchased, but it's still a quite project. Look up www.nexusmustang.com

We were up at the hanger today (rained in again) one guy suggested that it was O K to carry more than one pax in a J230 the catch being to be legal anyone over the 1 pax limit had to be dead!

Each Jab aileron cable run has two 90 deg turns. Each 90 deg in a Teliflex cable gives about 15 thou slack. Guys in the U S A have been running the cables down the wing struts in J230/J250 and that halves the slack as there is only one turn. (see recent Kitplanes articles) The later J230 lends quite well to this setup. The J230 was flutter tested for the ARB (U K) at 160kn with electrically driven offset weight in the wings so I guess that any flutter is not divergent; still it is a nuisance; and I have yet to fly a J230/J250 that does not vibrate to some extent in this area.

A factory built LSA can be registered for training or private only. The advantage is a private only can be maintained by an L1 owner and thats includes the new owner if the aircraft is sold.