AVOCET

600kgs , like every thing else , It was designed for the 760 kg weight increase that didn't happen ,but there's always GA EXPERIMENTAL . Cheers Mike

That's what I set out to achive with the Avocet , good payload , 2 seater MTOW 700kg Empty 394 kgs . If I could only relocate the engine to the front ,but doing so makes it to big for Raa aus Rego , It's got potential as an amphib but with the current climate , doesn't get one to excited about spending the doe needed to develop it ,there's not much in the way of grants to develop in the aviation sector , You know if I was developing an app for smart phones there seems to be plenty of cash available ,! Cheers Mike

Gees Old man , I know by having read many of your posts over the years that you have a way with words , that last post almost had me tearing up , I think it may be time to write a book or two , don't laugh , I've givin this advice before , and it only takes a gentle nudge sometimes to get the ball rolling , Cheers Mike .

While we're talkin about gallahs , I keep getting this image of Tony Abbot Sitting in one of those inflatable pool deck chairs with a cold beer and sunscreen & umbrella sitting of the coast of Chistmas Island telling all the refuge boats to "GO BACK"!! Signs A politic Al Cheers & no offense

That's not meat their full of ! Signed A politic Al

Di did you do that in your head ??

Who's the Mother ?

Looks like a couple of guys had to walk back to their planes , Probly left the master switch on ! Cheers Mike

Those guys new exactly what they were doing , I agree it's good to see some real aviators . By the way , I had a fellow fly in for some work on a cracked jab flap horn , and he got my old southern cross generator going again after 30 years of sitting there , Nice to be able to have spare electrical generation. Cheers Mike

Carnt read the numbers , can you write them for folk on I phones , please cht +egt Thanks mike

When I made the the Avocet I had originally had intended to have an aircooled tractor on the turret, but it would have ment having the prop arc over the top of my head , I resolved myself to a pusher and was concerned about the cooling of the 3300 jab I couldn't believe my luck when I heard about LCH and was the third person to install a test set of heads , ( first pusher ) any way , long story short was they worked straight out of the box with quite a small radiator , I had had made , every thing including hoses and pumps fit snugly into the turret ,( see my photo album on my site , just press avitar. ) so on a tractor instalstion jabby there's plenty of room under the cowls . I know of at least 4 installations in j 230 's that work great and turn the jab engines into a 6 cyl type rotax , the weight penalty isn't that much , and the jabs have plenty of power and capacity .although , I had to put a 30 amp alt , the one that goes on the vac outlet, and leave the jab alt for a back up , It adds more cost , but you end up with a reliable engine and duel every thing . Like any thing , time will tell , but at the moment I carnt speek highly enough of LCH Like most things , LCH , fuel injection ,electric ignition ,is the way of the future , way of the future , way of the future ......... The way of the future..... Cheers Mike Ps quote last line of post : The Aviator . ( the film of Howard Hugh's )

Just picked up on eBay $14.00 UNDERSTANDING AND. FLYING ULTRALIGHS BY FRANK C BAILEY Early days flying in Australia when they were flying at 300 agl and the new regs alowing them to 500 ft . There's an interesting chapter of teaching yourself to fly these , emagine the liability of publishing these instructions today ! Does anybody know where you could get a set of plans for something like the BI-RD ultralight ? I wouldn't mind having a go at building something like that , cheep flying . Cheers Mike

What brand of Mogas ? Mike

It's beginning to sound to me that these laws were written by a bunch of Pharisees ,& to keep themselves employed by arguing the interpretation thereof , If there not clear enough for the average pilot to understand ( for which they were ultimately written ) after 17 years of flying I've probably got enough black marks to put me away for life ! But I really don't think they care that much . I remember when the amateur home built rules came out , I really think they where penned to stop joe blow from setting up shop and building lots of kits to flog to the general public , it didn't stop some people from offering builder assistance to folk and that in general was a good thing and that stopped a lot of crap examples from getting into the air ,or being totally rejected buy the inspection process , And after all ,the AUF was keen to get as many aircraft flying to boost their numbers , I think it worked out well . I guess my point might be that some of these rules are their to stop some people from taking it to far , like trying to set up for example , starting a fleet of U/L freight planes ect . But really folk going about their own buisiness & minding their own buissines ,don't really show up on their radar all that much , and the odd ramp check is casa's way of reminding us all ,who's in charge , and that ,when all's said and done:, as the saying goes , there's more said than done! Mike.

I guess the next question is how can the taxman condone an activity that's deemed illegal by casa , another gov . department ? When push comes to shove . And since when is the taxman allowed to knowingly tax illegal activity? Still confused Mike.

What about all the folk who claim their travel & their plane u/l against their tax IE ,aircraft manufacturers going to airshows , doing demo flights I was always under the impression as per Raa acknowledgment that you could ,as a self employed person , just like flying schools I also know folk who enquired to their accountants before they built or bourght aircraft , & got the ok . Unless aircraft are 95-10 there not really ultralights , are they Cheers Mike

Try BP 98 , doesn't seem to make the fuel lines soft , not like caltex vortex 98 ,apparently the caltex has up to 40% toluene , that's what causes the problem

So if i'm reading this right , this means I carnt load my motor scooter in the back of the avocet and have ground transport upon arrival ?? Or as far as " goods "are concerned it would seem that nothing at all can be carried in a rec aircraft , not even an Ersa or mobile phone? I'm a bit confused ! Cheers

The fuel smell in the cockpit with Mogas is the fuel seeping through the fuel lines , doesn't mater if there silicon or rubber , The best fuel line to use with Mogas is the Teflon hose system , they use it in drag racing ect because nothing reacts with it . Or you've got a seeping join or fuel tap , quite common in jabs . Cheers

What about all the aircraft that fly to NATFLY , Ausfly , Avalon ect to set up trade stands and sell goods that they've carried there in their a/c , like hats , stickers , posters ect ect . This has been going on for years and as far as I know , nobody's ever been challenged , I'm sure their are lots of examples of this happening every day . Cheers Mike

I think unless your in a position to make a decision yourself , these "so called "mods ,it's all going to end in tears , and acute wallet drain ! Danger Will Robinson Beware of hanger talk . Cheers Mike

Pretty sure the wing profile is NACA 4412 on all jab wings . The 230 and 250 wing are 4ft overall longer than the 200 wing . 1 mtr cord including flap for the 230 & 200 4ft cord for the 250 wing The 230 has longer flap & aileron The 250 has same length as 230 but is proportionally wider . 250 wing is not an option on j160/170. Cheers . Cheers

Your hanging your tounge out of the wrong side of your mouth !! Cheers Mike

Does that casa requirement cover the dressing of the timber ? I've found that's where some if not most of the trouble starts & then the glue up . .the people that do the dressing Probly don't even know who casa is . Cheers mike

I guess this posts almost done , My wife's French , always handy for a quick translation . I'm a pattern maker and had a fine furniture buisiness for 25 yeas in bundaberg , (no I'm not giving my résumé ) I've had a lot to do with timber and jabiru props and the kiln dried hoop pine that is used is not a constant product , seasonal growth diferance from year to year , trees that have been stressed in storms many years before their cut down ,can have quite differant carracturistics in the final plank , even planks from different trees & differnt parts of the tree can effect warpage , I've seen hoop boards that are planed flat and then days or weeks later look like a propellor ,. The way jab used to plane their wood was to put rough sawn timber into a thickneser And then glue the laminates together , . The correct way is to plane one side flat on a plannerand then use the thickneser , this way the board has a better chance of staying flat but is very "time " consuming . Timber is a fickled thing and takes a keen eye to decide what planks to use . Props that end up warping on there own have more than Likely timber that going to warp no matter what . Many a good looking plank carnt be used for making furniture or props With the jab props it's been the luck of the draw Cheers mike