AVOCET

I've been playing with a plasticine model for a while . I posted some photos of 3 amphib concepts a while ago . The incident page in the raa mag has kindly used one of them in the heading , top right corner

Nice . It gets me excited to see what's available in the way of materials and light weight systems that can be utilised to make ; any thing you can dream up ! Mike .

I've been trying to get him to get his raa certificate . Your right though , this is what I've been doing in situations like this , Nics been involved from the beginning , and is more than capable of trying to find DADS stuff ups ! He works with me full time now . This is how I've been able to keep this project safe and albeit compliant .(maybe not compliant !) Mike

When I first had the brainwave of the avocet in 2008 I took the concept drg. To show Rod in bundy , he smiled and said : you'll be a lot wiser in the end : His advice was to start with FAA part 23 . It was good advice and I constantly made reference to it , I found most of it common sense engineering principles and practices that have been accumulated . In other words good advice and guidance . I have found that gleaning the wheat from the side of the field makes just as nutritious bread , as the wheat that the master 's have reaped from the centre ! Mike .

I really don't think this one can be solved by a phone call to the tec man

Yes , I wouldn't recommend it . I saw a program where they took Toyota landys to the North Pole And that's how they stopped the diesel freezing . Mike .

Don't they use a bit of avgas in the diesel in places like Antarctica & Alaska Where diesel is used ?

Aah , I get it , your wondering why the tail is so high and swept up , It's like the c17 or caribou, or those other military transports, The avocet has clam shell doors that open up the back , the prop on top liberates the inside space for a single bed ambulance , or motor bike . VH rego of coarse . As a raa rego it's limited in what you can do : one pilot + full fuel + 60kgs baggage . It was designed for the 750 kg weight increase I was told at the time by the powers that be , that 750 kgs was a go er Bit hard to shrink it without starting again!! Mike

Easy for most to comply , Harder for some , For me , I'm developing & testing a prototype , that can and does require many adjustments to control surfaces At any time ; I've spent the last 6 months changing the v / fin , major work , ( I don't class it as a mod ) The only pilot for at least 120 kls, If I had to pay for assistance to remain legal, ide be out of pocket big time , so if this new or not so new rule makes me a criminal, what am I supposed to do ? Shut up shop , move , or complain ? Or just ignore .?you tell me . It's easy for some to sit back and judge , I moved out here 10 years ago from bundaberg mainly for the privacy so we can develop new ideas without the prying , and spying eyes , and having been close to the early years of jabiru , I know how frustrating and time wasting people can be . Mike

Well then , I stand corrected . What's all the fuss been about then ? Mike

Don't quite get what you mean about angle of tail section : if your referring to the tail plane incidence , it's set to neg. 3 deg. And the wing set to pos. 2.7deg with a 2.5deg dihedral . The pugouids ( spelling?) are all fine and it doesn't show any signs of pitch problems . It a stable plane to fly and can be landed on trim alone .(smooth air) Mike .

Nicholas is doing most of the work , I just tell him what to do , he's good to work with and is a quite capable young man ,( wish I was 21 again ) Yea we've got a few plans to try and make some money out hear , I'm going to ( after I've sorted the avocet to a standard we can sell a kit or two .) build a single seat electric engine type of sailplane . I've done the preliminary design and just waiting for some $ to buy more tooling resin & cloth Mike Ps . there's not much to do out hear but work

Back on the horse , yea , soon I hope . Ide like to take it to Port Pirie flyin in August 24 , I think . I've been busy lately building an controlled climate room in the hanger with son Nicholas. He's bought a 3 D printer from the USA Regards mike

Sorry , but he used my post in his rant, The last thing we want to do is offend , And I wish Rod all the luck in his endevers ( there's those swigglys again )) Cheers

It's great that the cause was identified and passed on , what eerks me is that knee jerk rule changes that don't take into account all the ramifications . Is this the future ? , every times there's a accident !

It's also discriminating , to all those , who through no fault of their own , have difficulty in reading & writing . And for the the record I've built 21 raa registered aircraft , designed the avocet , built , test flown , crashed , & built another one.!!??? .all on a fourth grade education .!!!! Cheers Also did a full nut & bolt restoration on my 1955 land-rover ( same age as me !)

Sold a plane to a guy , similar history , He was confident in his perceived abilities , 5 hrs tops , Reality check , after 21 hrs went solo . Flying isn't like riding a bike , Cheers

No problems hear either,received on time , and also had a requirement to submit a new weight & balance for 600kg . No problem Cheers Mike

COMPOST!

Part of the preflight check ,walk around on jabiru type rod end connections , is to physically move the rod end to make sure it's not seized up or stiff , which could , and probably will sheer the rod end . This has happened on flap rod ends and results in one flap operation ! Mike

Goosy Goosy gander , where shall I wander , up there , down hear , in the avocets hanger . Never to fly again , Cause it's a one mans show , Theirs to much talk of danger .........

W will you do the same for me maj . I'm only " t(to quote those who eventually fly to d/vale ,) It's in the middle of nowhere!! Cheers ,

2000. Hr bottom end only

I'm curious as what you see as the difference rpl as far as theory is concerned , It won't be that much , if at all different from what's already in place , it's much the same theory , and the flying component , well , the aircraft won't know the difference , will it . I still think your looking for cheep lessons , and that only impacts the flying school .

I think I got my point across ,amongst friends. Goodnight , Mike