Methusala

Nev, I have apologised for mistaking the gist of your post. I am an amateur pilot with less than 1,000 hrs in basic planes over the past who knows how long. I read de Crespigny's book and agree that a lot of very fancy footwork only just avoided disaster. I have not read more than one tech report on the Air France disaster but it left me (and others) wondering why the crew thought holding full back stick would have been wise under the circumstances. You have provided a plausible reason for this and I thank you. )

Nev, I'm sorry if my reading of your words was in error. I cannot see how the Air France accident near the Azores was anything but pilot error. Whatever software fixes embedded in the FMS systems to prevent pilots from crashing obviously were not enough to prevent catastrophe. Nothing can prevent bad outcomes resulting from profoundly incorrect actions. Airbus seem to be doing well and 'fly by wire' is set to become universal as greater efficiency demands more technological inputs.

I don't get this implied antagonism towards AB. I have read praise of Airbus from many eminent captains for their aircraft. Richard de Crespigny, Captain of QF32 had nothing but the highest praise for the Airbus engineers, responsible for writing the POH, on the A380. In particular he was astonished that every question he asked during the 5 hrs preparatory to landing the crippled jet was answered. 'Automatics' did not prevent the crew from managing a nightmare occurrence into saving the plane. Others comment that the workspace is far more user friendly than Boeings because of the side stick controller. A350's have the quietest cabins I've experienced and have a lower cabin altitude than others. Seems that criticism of Airbus may be based more on prejudice than experience. Remember: "If it's not Boeing - I'm not going!"

Best compromise...T-600 Vision (Jabiru 2200 of course!)

We have an 'A' model Karatoo project which may take a bit of work to get back to Flyable. PM if interested/curious. Don

Just looked up the specs... says up to 300l/hr. I used to pump from 60l drums. Don't recall it being terribly slow but it was a long time ago and so not crystal clear in memory. Beats hand pumping!

I think that he will find difficulty in obtaining parts for the engine. Must need a full strip and re-build with a smashed prop.

Collings wrote a bloody good book called (I think) "Riding the Fire".

Great replies you blokes!!! Agree that any additional information is a plus to "see & be seen". Nev, I agree with"pass on the right". Just that, as has been said in this thread, Things can and often will happen within seconds. That's why I have mentioned the dichotomy of *turn left for circuits* and *pass always on the right*. As you say,Nev, we have to be soo clever. Never stop learning (and thinking too).

Please comment: We were "Shootin' the breeze", in the clubhouse the other day. Actually discussing see and avoid scenarios. Someone mentioned overtaking or passing another aircraft and spoke of conditioned reactions. My mind was confronted with the fact that circuits are most commonly left handed whereas the accepted avoidance manoeuvre is to turn right in a descending turn. Which one is going to be the "conditioned reaction"?

SorryJacko, many of us are to old and tired to put up much fight any more. Understand that we have been trying to carry the torch since the 60's when we marched through the streets of Sydney in the Moratorium against the Vietnam war. Carrying the torch for the plundered native forests through the 80's and 90's then trying to change minds on the mad plans to flame the Middle East in the "War against Terror" (haw, haw!). Watching, shocked as a functioning govt is replaced by a grotesque effigy shouting "Axe the Tax" and (disgracefully) "Ditch the Witch. Now we are being led to a "Gas led " solution to the existential, urgent collapse of the living planet. So...No , we don't easily become active in the face of such stupid resilience on the part of ill-in formed voters and a system which takes no mind of the valid opinions of voters.

Not looking forward to that either OME. Best to remember that as a mega-star collapses it releases an unimaginable fireball consuming all around it. Better in our old age to concentrate on our grandkids/pets and not think too much about the future. Have a good day, Don

"Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat historic mistakes". I hoped that the neanderthals inhabiting the powerful positions would benefit from the Vietnam war experience. The "world's greatest military power" humbled by a society schooled in millenial struggles against powerful invaders. Staggering it was to see in the 90's headlines stating that overcoming Iraq would be a "cake walk". Fools whose only life experience was as indulged rich kids in a society drunk on its material indulgence. As they gloated over Russia's "Vietnam experience" in Afganistan they blindly walked into another killing free for all. Now they use the corporate media to whip up similar hysteria against Russia (the west's eternal Satan) and China, an industrial miricle that they inadvertantly created. You can argue from your armchairs the relative merits of one war killing machine over another but remember...guns don't solve problems, they only magnify them.

We had breakfast at the Tumut Aero Club on Sunday. These 2 men had spent a week based there. Reports were that they were very nice fellows. Always such a waste and a tragedy. IMO powerline surveys should be helicopter or drone based activities. Too dangerous for fixed wing.

You can always trace the money. It is said that the original Rothschild averred, "Let me control the money and the voters can go hang themselves". (Or something akin). Last time I looked the US had cornered around 75% of Aust. industry. You can expect the tiny population of true oligarchs in the states to urge their political enablers to defend that investment. However I don't take any comfort from this: See the Munro Doctrine and how it is administered in relation to the South American states. Especially Cuba and Nicaragua. The awkward decision to buy Super Hornets (against overwhelming contrary advice from the wiseheads in Defence) and then the stupefyingly dumb purchase of F-35's shows the power of these oligarchs to direct foreign powers to support their armaments cash cows. BTW there is a lot of difference between being "independant and un-aligned" and "isolationist". See Switzerland and Sweden.

I suspect that more than a few people were pleased enough to build a Quicksilver as supplied. Surely another, well researched kit would receive similar reaction. I'm not familiar with this Aerolite thing.

Spacesailor, You have been dudded by the old "grandfather clause" switcheroo. I know that at least 1 Baby Great Lakes acrobatic biplane was registered as 95.10 by manipulation of this "get home free" card.

I am far from being an anthropogenic climate change denier and I have a strong interest in progress towards carbon abatement. I do however posesss a pretty active BS detector. I see the current interest in EV's as, perhaps, PR window dressing. Look over there... The public are mostly unaware that cement is the world's greatest single industrial contributor to CO2 production. 8% in fact, but we hear little about plans to de-carbonise cement. Anybody been offered a "carbon offset option" on their unit/home purchase?

I used a fuel injection pump (second hand Bosch from wreckers) for years. Electrical connection from my ground vehicle via a 10m lead to cigar lighter socket.

What would be the "kicker" in this plan? Do you expect to re-coup the cost of development and presumably higher production costs in fuel savings? To simply expect mass take-up of electric/battery power on feel-good principles is not a sound idea.

I think that the case of united world action taken to stop use of chlorinated fluorocarbons in industry about 1980's from memory worked as well as could be expected. An uncoordinated plea to individuals to only support products manufactured with substitutes would have had little effect. We can easily see how "voluntary agreements" by industry to adopt socially worthwhile goals fail with almost 100% certainty. Climate action is enabled somewhat more effectively in command/control economies such as China but is almost totally ineffective in laissez-faire capitalist ones such as in the west.

I think that the idea of switching to any form of electric propulsion for transport is only justified, given the state of world political thought, if you either a) prefer an almost silent form of propulsion, b) you wish to economise on the cost of burning hydro-carbon fuel, or c) you cannot conscientiously face adding CO2 to the atmosphere. If "c" then you need to consider the addition of CO2 as a by product of the manufacture of the aircraft and rule out aviation entirely. It is common knowledge that we don't have the proverbial snowball's chance in hell of avoiding average atmospheric temperature increase of less than 2deg C even if , by some miracle (and I don't agree with Scummo in miraculous beliefs), we started to seriously de-carbonise tomorrow. As discussed widely in other aviation forums, a new form of battery is not within a bull's roar of the present. Simply put, individuals chasing electric power solutions have only a tiny effect on the carbon load in the atmosphere.

ANO 95.10 states the following:- approved kit means a kit for the assembly of an aeroplane, being a kit: (a) that was manufactured by the holder of a certificate of approval in relation to the manufacture of kits of that kind; or (b) that was manufactured in accordance with an approval given by CASA; or (c) if the kit was exported to Australia in relation to which there has been issued, by the appropriate authority of the country from which the kit was exported, a certificate that is acceptable to CASA and that relates to the airworthiness of the aeroplane that can be assembled from the kit; or (d) in relation to which the RAA has issued a certificate stating that the kit meets the standards set out in the RAA Technical Manual.

I saw a similar operation in effect south of Canberra couple of years ago. I would describe what I saw then as extreme maoeuvering with very minimum altitude. Very risky. Don

Dean Wilson's Twin Explorer