Thirsty

You're right but I do it anyway in the hope that others are as well - makes me feel safer.

Frank when I say least in reference to cruising levels what I think in my head is 1500' is the lowest (least) height I would cruise at. So now I know that's an odd number so every other odd number going up will be in the same direction - works for me :)

I use east is least for both magnetic variation and cruising altitudes. Whatever works for you I reckon.

Yep Murray Bridge.

Sunnyboys and redskins paid for with empty bottles - sigh :(

Piper Malibu - pilot injured but stable. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/two-escape-injury-as-light-plane-makes-crash-landing-in-narrabri/story-fni0cx12-1226952299108

Thanks guys. Still don't know what the issue was. The local expert is going to strip the engine and report but it looks like the engine is toast. The prop was damaged beyond repair too apparently. I'll post back once I know something. The student was fine though admitted to being a bit nervous after we'd landed safely. She went straight back up in the schools 160 and was fine about it all.

Hey guys, Had my second Jabiru (2200) engine failure yesterday. Was taking a TIF and on climbout at about 1500' the engine went bang, bang, bang so I pulled the throttle to idle and before I could turn the mags off the prop stopped dead. I set up to land in a field and another instructor (CFI) flying at the time suggested I turn back to the field and land downwind. I hadn't thought of that 'cause I'm used to flying a J160 which probably wouldn't have made it back and this was in a J170. So I turn back and misjudge it, land about halfway down the strip (1.1k long) at 80knots indicated and managed to stop well before the end of the strip. Don't know what the issue was at this stage but felt very much like my last one which was an exhaust valve failure. Aircraft and engines are well maintained by a very experienced engineer but flown by students so who really knows what it's gone through. Will post back when I have more info on the failure.

I have many hours flying in and working around helicopters and I reckon they are as safe as fixed wing insofar as mechanical failures go. It is true that there are many more linkages in the flight control system of a helicopter that, if one were to fail, would lead to the end of the helicopter as opposed to a fixed wing aircraft. Arguably the only really important flight control in fixed wing is the elevator whereas in a helicopter they are me all equally important. I can't recall an accident in a helicopter where it has been proven a mechanical fault was the cause. So we come back to my favourite way of thinking about flight, aircraft fly beautifully until a "pilot" touches the controls whereas a helicopter will only fly with the pilot manipulating the controls. So, almost all accidents are the pilots fault.

There's nothing in the regs to say you can't conduct a joy flight - you just can't be paid for it. Take anyone you like for a joy flight so long as, at a maximum, you share the costs and all is good.

If it's not an LSA doesn't that make it certified with a CASA issued CofA? In which case no mods are allowed without a CAR35 (or whatever they are now) engineer signing off on it. My J160C is that boat.

That is fast but check this pylon racer out (flying starts at 2min in):

This joke reminded me of a very funny song:

Thanks for posting - I need to get out and do some of that! I'd love to see the full length video slowed down and without music too :)

I think what happens with this scam is they will "pay" you via Paypal but will "pay" too much. They'll send you an official looking Paypal receipt showing the "overpayment" and will ask you to refund the amount - if you do that without checking your real paypal account you probably deserve to help fund these idiots :)

A lot of jabs have a fuse in one of the wires coming from the stator. If the battery is a little low and you rev the engine a bit after starting you can blow the fuse. If it has a fuse I'd put money on it being blown. If no fuse and the wiring looks ok and you think the battery is ok and the stator is putting out the appropriate voltages (sorry, lots of ands!) then the reg/rec will need checking. One last thing, just because the battery is holding a voltage under no load doesn't mean it's ok. Put a load on it and see what the voltage does. Hook up some 12v appliance to it and check.

I don't! My J160 weighs quite a bit more than air :)

My mate and I flew from Adelaide to Wollongong last Thursday in our J160 to be there when Ryan arrived back where he left from 10 weeks ago. I think it was a top effort from a young guy with not much flying experience. He speaks very well and is a great ambassador for young people to get off their bums and go do something. It was actually a pretty emotional moment when he parked in the shadow of the PC9's 'cause his mum and dad were both crying and happy to see their son home safe and sound. A young guy doing this sort of thing gives you hope for the future :)

Actually one of the people recommending can be a lame. Only one MUST be an L2. And if he is restricted in some way if he does get his L2 authorisation he can still work on training aircraft so long as he doesn't go outside his authorisation. If he can get a wide experience with a flying school for instance he'll be right. I'm unrestricted though I had never worked on a rotax engine before. Even if you are unrestricted you are trusted to recognise your limits and only do work you KNOW you are comfortable doing.

Correct. Get him to work with a current l2 and get a diary from ra aus to record all the work he does. Then get the l2 to sign off the diary entries. After a few months he can send in the diary along with an application form and, if we have a tech manager :), he will likely get his unrestricted l2. That's exactly what I did a couple of years ago and I am an ex raaf tech as well though I worked on helicopters so I was part way there :)

There is discussion on another thread where it was stated that it could be very hard to get an insurance company to pay out in the case of a claim. I'm curious to know if anyone has had an accident/incident and had their claim paid without too much drama or on the other hand if you've been shafted on a technicality.

Under the seats is the fibreglass cross beam that carries the loads from the wing struts - that beam is very strong and would take a lot of breaking. I think the structure under the seats is fine :)

I'm pretty sure the jab ice starter motor is made specifically for the jab. I doubt there would be an aftermarket part that fits. It would be interesting to now what the problem is, most things can be fixed unless the casing or mount is broken.

I've got a few hours in 380 and was shocked to see the story of your crash on the news. Not sure if you know John Harding Steve but he was a previous owner and his partner was the inspiration for the hey Jude painted on the cowling. He also was shocked but not overly surprised, I think he said he'd had a few sudden engine stoppages in light wings over the years :) Get well soon mate.

Yes might just try doing that. We use Shell Optimax presently but might try a few different types.