Teckair

An extremely thin line between something like this being comical vs being as tragic as the recent accident at Reno. This is the sort of accident where we can take away a lot of learning.

Quite true. One possibility, down on power hoping to clear the Ferris wheel then at the last second could not and too slow to make the required turn to avoid it. Something a bit like that happened to me once.

 

 

Solomon, metalman has been kind enough to offer assistance with what sounds like an ideal trailer. Before the first flight of an aircraft many checks are needed and as has already been said test flying should conducted by an experienced test pilot. It would be a bad idea for you to attempt to fly the aircraft yourself. Maybe your instructor can help with advice in this area.

 

Regards Richard.

 

 

Is anybody in the Melbourne area in a position to assist Solomon with advice about test flying a project such as his?

 

Richard.

 

 

Hi Solomon, you need to say what area you are in and maybe someone in your area can give you some help.

 

Regards Richard.

 

 

Forgot , believe it or not a Chanel 9 chopper with reporters and camera man came all the way from Brisbane , landed next to us set up and wanted to interview me about this , told them no , to much bad news already for ra.aus with out adding more ,

You are part of the good news hendonguy.

 

 

You said if you wish to transit these areas do it in a GA aircraft...what exactly makes a GA aircraft safer in these lanes? (at least when talking 4 strokes)I agree it highlights a problem... the problem lies with Airservices and is not GA/RA...

GA aircraft can legally be flown in these areas and they are supposed to be more reliable due to more stringent maintenance standards. There is a good reason RAAus aircraft are supposed to be able glide clear of built up areas, it has got something to do with owners being able to maintain their own aircraft, without going into too much detail. There is a term Pilot in Command, the Pilot in Command chooses how the aircraft is flown in the given circumstances, to blame Airservices for the actions of a Pilot in Command is pointless.

 

 

Teckair, if you wish to grind your political axe, do it in another thread, this one is probably not the right choice.

Maybe in your opinion, I think this accident is significant and highlights problems with operations.

 

 

Teckair, plenty of aircraft are operating in the areas we are discussing. RAA included. How else are we meant to transit sydney? or should we all be confined to the backwaters, over tiger country. Out of sight out of mind? There are areas one could technically glide to in the sydney lanes (although I wouldn't like to try), and as others have quoted, there is provisions in the regs for over water flights.If your worried about us loosing freedoms, how about not inferring (in an open public forum) that people aren't being compliant.

It would appear there will be one aircraft less operating in those areas. If you want to transit Sydney by air do it in a GA plane. You were the one who said you would rather ditch in the sea than crash into a built up area on a public forum all I did was point out how to avoid doing so. RAAus is supposed to support affordable flying and should not be wasting resources on pursuing turning the organisation into GA MK 2.

 

 

You can fly over water with out glide to land if wearing a life jacket.

Maybe but how many people are wearing one? Common sense tells me that is not a good idea anyway, trying to get the seat belt undone in an upturned sinking aircraft with the buoyancy vest trying to push you through the floor, not nice!!!

 

 

Cam, id much prefer to take my chances with a ditching than an engine failure over the city on the other (inland route) , when u actually fly the route, have a look around and ask yourself, where would I go if the music stopped now.

You shouldn't be flying over either of those sort of places, you are supposed to be able to glide clear of built up areas and when over water be able to reach land in case of an engine failure. Ditching in water or crashing into built up areas are not appropriate options. If people keep doing this sort of thing then RAAus will not continue on in the format that it currently is.

 

 

I understand, and I could be wrong on this point, that the Victor 1 air route is restricted to 500ft. This gives no chance for a glide to the shore. Some places the cliffs are much higher than this. A friend told me that he was once vectored many miles from the shore line abeam Sydney. The Air Services must surely be gambling with peoples lives if they insist that no more airspace can be spared. I would never choose to fly this route! Don

Exactly, there lies the problem, in that situation you have no way out and you are gambling with your life on nothing going wrong.

Richard.

 

 

I think that person was right on the money, I have found if treated correctly two strokes are just as good as anything else. There can be be a problem if the engine is secondhand and been treated incorrectly. There are some people out there who think mixing more oil with the fuel than is recommended by manufacturer will make their engine last longer.

 

Regards Richard.

 

 

Don't know what to say that pole looks fairly visible???

 

 

I have the same model Skyfox CA 21 which was fitted with the Aeropower VW engine which does not have a great power to weight ratio, while I like flying the aircraft you do have to be careful on take off as the climb rate is not always good.

 

 

G`Day Richard,Hope you`re doing well!Now that you mention it, I recall it!.... It was in fact, Steves plane!.... Kevin Carmen came here and flew it from my strip,before buying it....Kevin later sold the Dart and brought the the yellow aircraft, Lightwing or Skyfox, don`t remember which!.... He eventually sold that one also and you may recall, the new owner was killed in it,on take off from Mareeba aerodrome.

 

The Skydart in this photo is one I went to Caboolture and test flew for a student of mine,before he purchased it....He eventually sold it to Peter (sitting in it) and it was housed here for a while so I got to do a bit of flying in it.

 

Frank.

OK Frank, Steve must have been just before my time there, Kevin bought the early model Skyfox and the way I remember it he was the one that crashed it on take off at Wandecla air field which is roughly in between Kaban and Atherton. Kevin died later in hospital, and Arthur had a nasty prang in the Drifter at Innisfail within a day or two, I think this all happened in 1992 just before I left the area to travel down this way.

Regards Richard.

 

 

David, The year I took the Skydart photo was 1986!Frank.

Hi Frank, I was in the picture then or soon after but I don't remember Steve or his plane, but Kevin Carmen had a Skydart like that, maybe he bought from Steve?

Regards Richard.

 

 

Hi Bob,

 

That will be a great fun affordable aircraft to fly and by getting training on that ultralight style of aircraft you are doing the smart thing.

 

Regards Richard.

 

 

Hi Paul,

 

The Rotax 503 can stop suddenly if not treated correctly, you need to learn about that engine before attempting to fly the aircraft. Also you need to get some training on a low speed aircraft before attempting to go flying as it will be greatly different to a GA machine. 30 years ago ultra light aircraft got a bad name due to GA pilots killing them selves in these planes thinking they would be easier and more simple to fly.

 

Regards Richard.

 

 

News flash guys, smoke from the exhaust does indicate a engine problem but not a fire problem. I imagine not likely related to piston rings but if the the engine is fitted with a turbo charger that could be a possibility.

 

Regards Richard.

 

 

Two stoke engines need to be treated differently to four stroke otherwise you will run the risk of cold seizures.

 

 

I saw Farri take a dog for a ride in his Drifter once.

 

 

Glide approaches are way more fun anyway.. Kill the power on the start of base and see if you can put it down exactly 1/3 of the way down the strip.. Makes doing circuits way more interesting when you are on your 7 or 8 lap.Landing short when there is a huge mangrove at the fence line is not an option.

 

Jets use power on decent due to the engine spin up times. Turbines approach at a 60% thrust setting but from that point it will still take them more 8 seconds to spool up to speed in a modern aircraft. The 707 took almost 20 seconds to spool up from this power setting. Props will produce the power almost instantly. The Me-262s greatest weekness was while the aircraft was on approach or just taking off. 80% of the aircraft were shot down during these phases as they could not react with the power.

Gibbo you are right on the money.

 

 

Why would an engine final on late final be a problem. We used to be tought to fly an approach that would allow for an engine failure and still be able to land safely. Dragging it in on the prop is not good airmanship.

I quite agree Yenn but a great many others do not, there was a thread started about this some time ago it referred to glide approaches and how they are safer. It is much easier to regulate your decent on final using power than what it is to a power off at a point when you think you can make the strip without using power. There was a great many excuses put forward as to why you should use power on final, someone even said jets don't do it so we shouldn't, apples and oranges of course. While it might be easier to drag it on the prop, if something goes wrong with the motor you will crash short of the strip. Easiest is not always best.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU9GTHs6N0sHopefully Phil will be back in the cockpit again before long.

A few things which I hope some people will learn from this.

Don't know what else you would expect to happen???

 

 

Interesting, was it effective? It's big wings would probably make it effective. How many do you think are still around? I've seen two of them down south in WA.-Andrew

I don't think the roll control was very effective they were, as had been said in previous posts, best in still conditions and for pilots weighing 70 kg or less. You would need to find out about them and have a low speed endorsement before attempting to fly one, the one I flew had negative pitch stability. I think there would be hundreds of them around they basically started the ultralight movement we have today. It was all about affordable flying until it was hijacked and turned into Casa Mk2.