djpacro

Design dept at that time - then on to Wamira with the Australian Aircraft Consortium. Spent a few years at Avalon in the '90s.

 

Ralph Murphy worked there for a while.

 

 

Mark, I worked at GAF then too, altho at the Bend I knew many who were at Avalon. eg flight test.

 

I know another old GAFFER who has a Savannah too.

 

 

They are replaced several times a year so you should be able to find some-one who'll let you have a recently superseded set for info.

 

 

That looks useful, Michael.

 

I've been going thru the Ops Manual recently to get up to speed on a few things. So, I have no immediate need but an online version could be handy.

 

I'd be happy to put it on my website, on a password protected page as I see there is copyright on the Manuals. http://community.ozaeros.net/

 

 

I wasn't defending the behaiviour of the Tiger flying I was saying what he did could have been quite legal .....

I agree with all you said, SP, I just wanted to note that it may not have been legal (I'm assuming that the pilot had approval to do aerobatics down to 500 ft). Regardless, something wasn't right with the situation. As alf jessup indicated, at a strange airfield it is not easy to find a way or the right person to simply discuss.

 

 

it's also legal to spin to 500 foot if the pilot is so endorsed

The approval comes with a number of conditions plus the relevant regulations. Doesn't seem to make sense to me to be over a busy airfield, spinning down that low with no advice over the radio. Maybe he/she had a good reason eg practicing for their air display - doesn't negate the need to adhere to good practice such as an observer on the ground looking for other traffic in addition to radio calls.

alf jessup, even if not complaining, it would've been worth a chat to the local CFI.

 

 

Thanks for the reminder, brentc; somewhere in my memory cells is some information on the difference between pressure altitude and geometric height - temperature variation from ISA was a significant factor as I recall.

 

 

I've only had mine for a short while and they seem good, thanks Michael.

 

 

I stuck on my Restricted PPL for years for the same reason.

 

Will we see you at any aerobatic contests in '09?

 

 

Info in PM for you, Adrian.

 

 

Strikemasters & Hunters. Bill Riley's hangar is some distance off the airport.

 

 

PS - we were there by invitation of the owner.

 

PPS - if I told you what I know about the P-51s I'd have to shoot you

 

 

Its been a while since I've flown that route, Adrian, but my recollection is that Mt Alexander is fairly prominent - I wonder if that would have worked as a reference for your nav checks? i.e. it would always be right of the nose.

 

One of my students put the deviation in but the wrong direction so imagine how hard it was for him to work out why he was off track. A wind which is significantly different than forecast will have the same effect and I recommend that you brush up on the section in your notes which deals with that. Reminds me of another error (which I've suffered from) - reading from the wrong column of the flight plan (usually the GS number) so I now highlight that column.

 

Flying dual with my student I didn't check his plan is as much detail as I would've if he'd been solo so we had an interesting discussion on the first leg of the flight. Can't be too many reasons to be 20deg off track.

 

 

I suggest that you have a very close look at the total £ that you'll spend and the value in $ when you sell. For example, I see an apparently nice Pitts S-2A for sale on pilotweb for £49,500. That's $104,000 before you start dismantling for shipping. See that other thread for costs of shipping etc etc. Doubt whether anyone would pay more than $100K for it after all of that. i.e. it could cost you a lot of money as well as the pain of doing it.

 

 

Managed to get flying today with a headset that is normally unusable in the front seat. Worked 100% with the ferrite core. For info, a simple story on the subject at http://www.mglavionics.co.za/Docs/EMI%20suppressor%20for%20VHF%20frequencies.pdf

 

 

I’m on my way home from the fly-in at Oshkosh, which, for those of you reading this in lower Slobania or the outback of Tanzania who don’t know, is the largest annual outdoor event in the world. It’s airplanes, good friends and a seemingly endless supply of porta-potties. Unfortunately, as I was driving around the far south parking area, there were none close enough to solve a pressing urinary issue. So, I solved it as only a farm kid would and right there, in front of God and everybody, I pee’d on row 147. A personal first.

 

Relax, it’s not as bad as it sounds: this was the day after the show shut down and row 147 was an easy half mile away from civilization so, I offended no one.

 

The same could not be said of my performance at the welding forum. I stood up there for an hour and a half excitedly pontificating about the glories of welding and how zen-like the skill could be. As I finished up, the large crowd applauded, I stepped down off the stage with a triumphal feeling within and someone came up to me and whispered in my ear, “Your pants are unzipped.†Ah, Man! How stupid can one person be?

 

And then there is the most classic line from the entire fly-in. I had just stepped into a porta-pottie when I heard a loud voice from the one next door. It was a woman scolding her young child. “No, don’t look down in the potty! Don’t look down!â€

 

Listen to your mom, kid. It’s good advice. And it put me in mind of the time I saw a guy coming out of a porta-potty holding his wallet by a corner as he shook it off. My mind refused to let the image of the wallet-recovery process play itself on my mental screen. Yeeeeech!

 

The possible high point of the fly-in, however, was discovering free WiFi at Arbys. It became such an after-fly-in evening ritual for me, that, if anyone was looking for me, they drove over to Arbys. How many office locations have Diet Dr. Pepper on tap, fries and apple turnovers?

 

Still, being on the road is getting really old. In July I spent 22 days on the road, and flew 23 hours of Pitts dual in six days during the short time I was home. I’m pooped! In a good sort of way, of course.

 

PS

 

Now you see why I write this blog: what legitimate magazine is going to let me write this kind of drivel? :-)

 

PPS

 

The aerial high points of Oshkosh included a B-52 making a 200 foot, pedal-to-the-metal pass, the majestic Boeing 40A, the similarly configured Zenith and a WACO ZPF (single-place WACO with a sliding canopy) that I’d love to own. I’m certain that when ("if"actually) my brain finally shows up from Oshkosh and I’m no longer in my current zombie-mode, I’ll have other, less biologically-oriented observations to offer.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

This is from Budd Davisson's blog at Thinking Out Loud: Budd's Blog

 

 

Thanks for the reminder, OzChris. Seems to work - will investigate further.

 

 

My agent told me that the exchange rate used for calculation of GST was as of date the ship departed the USA or I could provide evidence of what I actually paid - so we did the latter.

 

 

Well, I bought a new headset and it also squeals when transmitting on frequencies 118.1, 119.1 and 119.9. Fine on 123.0 and 135.7 etc.

 

Fine in the rear seat and fine in other aeroplanes.

 

i.e. same behaviour as the good one of my old DC's.

 

Flew with someone else in the front seat - his Bose worked fine as do many other headsets. Other people have headsets which squeal like mine.

 

Experts had previously replaced the antenna cable. They had also replaced the radio with same model NARCO COM 810 (that's a separate story but didn't really affect the squeals).

 

Local radio expert mutetred something about old tube and fabric aeroplanes with modern radios.

 

http://www.aerialpursuits.com/comms/commsfaq.htm has some other ideas:

 

- yes, intercom box is mounted right below the radio

 

Don't know about the other factors except the power supply - squeals seem less at the end of a flight so after the batetry has had more charge.

 

Only other info worth mentioning is that the antenna itself is old, maybe 30 years.

 

 

US$7700 to disassemble, pack and ship in a 40 ft container from a state on the east coast of USA to Melbourne. A$2500 from the ship to the airport including customs, local cartage and agent fees - saved some as there the organisation assembling the aeroplane was a quarantine facility so the container wasn't opened until it got there.

 

Plus GST on the purchase price of the aeroplane.

 

Haven't got the bill yet for assembly, annual inspection, paint touchup, engine work and all the other stuff that you'd reckon that a serviceable airplane in the USA would have in half decent condition.

 

Didn't get an export CofA in the USA as that needed an annual also - required within 3 months (from memory) of applying for the ECofA.

 

Agent at this end was CCS - very good. Agent at the other end had arranged for new aircraft before but didnt know the rules so tried to insist on an ECofA. Guy who inspected the aeroplane was recommended to me but I think he was blind although he did an excellent job of packing in the container. Some recent aeroplanes in a container to Melbourne ended up loose in the container.

 

I spoke to others who regularly imported so learnt a lot before I did it. Was difficult to share a container with others in my case as mine was on the east coast and others were in Kansas or on the west coast. I toyed with the idea of flying the airplane west but had run out of holidays so had to get back to work.

 

My only regret is that I didn't buy 2 airplanes. My wing needed the 40 ft container but plenty of room for another. Bought when the Aus dollar was high - I needed to mention that as I normally buy at high prices and sell low.

 

 

Friend of mine with a 7ECA. Recently overhauled Lyc 0-235 so nearly 2400 hrs to run. Wings totally rebuilt recently. The rest is neat. He wants to sell but I suggested he wait until the 760 kg rule comes in. I'd like it myself.

 

 

Stall was reduced by about 8 or 9 mph

VG's can have a significant effect so I hope that some-one is looking at the effect on the design flight envelope eg http://www.recreationalflying.com/forum/general-discussion/18066-va-vso-vvvvvvvv.html

 

 

Like most places requiring prior permission - if you plan to go there and don't ring first then you're likely to get a terse greeting from the CFI or owner. On the other hand, they understand that pilots need to go somewhere in bad weather so I'm sure you'd be most welcome.

 

Years and years ago I was returning to Moorabbin from the north. Weather deteriorating and marginal VMC (low cloud and drizzle) by the time I got to Sugarloaf - not far to go to Moorabbin so tempting to keep going - I turned back to Whittlesea which had a similar reputation back then. Most welcome.

 

Friend in another aeroplane continued on - he was in a 182 while I was in an open cockpit biplane so a different perspective. While I waited for a few hours I heard on the radio about an aeroplane going down just past Ringwood (from memory). Was some-one else - my friend got back OK. Weather was bad enough without having an engine failure too - but that guy got out of it OK too.

 

 

Specific to Sensenich props but also some general stuff on page 4. Note the heading on that page is "Continued Airworthiness Requirements" - I'd ask the manufacturer of your prop for similar guidance.

 

 

I'd also recommend Punkinhead. Also Lahona - I've used them in the past as they had a template already for my airplane.

 

Funny thing is that yesterday in the mail I got a paper flyer from Bruce's Custom Covers in the USA. They must review CASA's aircraft register and saw my name on a new registration only a week or so ago. Flyer tailored to the type, prices in Australian dollars. Trouble is the statement "During the last year the U.S. Dollar has become reduced in value, relative to the Australian Dollar, by about 20%.....a great time to buy America....$1AUD=$.647USD"???

 

 

What do you fly, Ryan?

 

Ever get to the Melbourne area to have a look around at aeroplanes?