Virago

Hi Graham, Seems like a great idea ... I have misgivings about fuel tank splitting too. Where did you source your hypalon? From what I have read, DuPont stopped making it around 2009. John.

Hi Ron5335, The canopy's looking great! Can't wait to see some pics of the whole finished project! John.

That is fair comment Nev ... and very true. John.

Bear in mind that the cockpit voice recorder, if found, may only have the last 30 minutes of the flight. If all on board were no longer alive for many hours, there will be nothing of use on the CVR provided it operated throughout the whole flight. The FDR readout may be more useful .

An excellent and enlightening read. Thanks for posting this. I for one always believed the pilots were faced with an emergency of frightening proportions and that they did all they could to save the hull and the pax. I also believe they were overcome by smoke/annoxia early in the event and lost consciousness (and subsequently their lives.). The media love a good conspiracy theory and in this case have flogged it unmercifully. I only hope that the FDR and CVR can be retrieved and that they will help clear up this sad occurrence.

Hi David, I have a Sierra 100 project underway in W.A. The fuselage is well advanced, the tailplane is ready for painting and the next job will be to do the mass balance weight for the tail. The kit is designed for the Jabiru 2200 engine but I am looking longingly at the Belgian D-Motor which is liquid cooled and offers 95HP.

I've fitted the RC Allen trim servo and moveable tab (complete with rocker switch and LED position indicator) to my Sierra project. I've flown a Cheetah with the exact same trim system and the fore/aft authority is excellent.

He isn't the first and wont be the last to fall asleep while flying on autopilot. I tell you what's more scary though ... and that's waking up from a microsleep while riding a motorbike ... been there, done that! Happened on the way home to W.A. from Phillip island in 2005.

Hi Gareth, looking forward to hearing about your first flight! John.

An aircraft, reported to be a Glassair III has crashed and burnt on an oval at Lakelands following an engine failure after takeoff from Jandakot. The two occupants have been flown by rescue helicopter to Royal perth Hospital suffering burns. Let's hope their injuries are not life threatening. John. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/20233506/plane-crashes-near-high-school/

A good friend of mine was killed while competing in a flour bombing contest at a flyin in the mid 80's. He was flying a low wing, open cockpit single seater and was seen to be looking backwards while throwing the flour bomb. He few into a tree ... took a wing off. Be careful during any low level activity when it is possible to be distracted.

Not much meat on her ... It'd be a bit like hugging your brother wouldn't it?

Sure is looking good Kevin ... you're a great inspiration mate! John.

Hi Marc, There are no impedance differences between GA helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Helicopters normally use curly cords and a single NATO plug whereas GA headsets normally use the two separate jack plugs. There is, however, a lot of difference between GA and military headsets. It is possible to use military headsets in GA with a special adapter which includes a mic preamp which runs off the "mic audio" voltage supplied from the GA radio. The adapter would also provide impedance matching for the phones circuitry. GA phones are 600 ohm whereas military phones are much lower impedance (around 8 ohm). Hope this is of some help. John (retired avionics LAME)

It was a C172 seat rail failure that initiated all the litigation issues in the States about 20 years ago. That resulted in most piston engined aircraft manufacturers ceasing production for quite some time until it all the insurance issues got sorted out. It's also why aircraft cost so much more (relatively) that they did before. Hows your Sierra 100 coming along Kevin?

I clearly remember reading an article (and photos) in Pix magazine about someone who built a Clancy Skybaby in their backyard shed. I was only a young boy at the time and have been interested in homebuilt aircraft ever since. My Morgan Sierra 100 project is coming along quite nicely and I often think about that Pix article.

Hope no-one was sitting on the dyke at the time ...

Back in the early 70's, I was a right hand seat pax in a Cessna 310 over Darwin when the pilot said he couldn't move the ailerons left of centre. He made a very careful emergency approach into Darwin airport and landed successfully. During the landing roll, the yoke became fully locked (roll mode). The cause was a loose cable who's BNC connector had become lodged in the aileron chain at the back of the yoke. The early Cessna radios (500 series) had cables and inline connectors which extended out the rear of the mounting trays and which always had to be tied up but were just begging for situations like the one described to occur. Fortunately, modern avionics have cabling which is fixed to the rear of the racks so there is much less likelihood of plugs interfering with controls. One can never be too careful when carrying out inspections around aircraft control mechanisms.

I see on the D-Motor website, one has been supplied to Morgan Aeroworks for installation into a Cheetah in place of a Jab 2200. I will be real interested to see how that pans out. Any comments Garry or Tim?

I just noticed this morning that there is an airworthy ES52 Kookaburra for sale on eBay. That should bring back some memories ... my earliest glider flights were in a Kooka at Cunderdin (W.A.)

I flew GA aircraft for over 30 years and accrued something like 1500 hours but I can't fly a computer flight sim to save my life. I can take off and fly around but there's no way I can shoot an approach and landing. Having said that, a couple of years ago I treated myself to an hour in the 737NG simulator in Perth. I loved that and found I could approach and land quite ok. So I guess computer flight sim programs still have a way to go compared to the real thing.

Hi Gareth and Craig! I have to agree with Garry ... top job! John.

Looking great guys ... love the built in fairings! John.

I understand some engines can be adversely affected by in flight adjustable props ... Don't know what type of engine you're using but it would pay to swot up on that aspect. John.

Hi Jim, Don't know too much about ethanol but one thing I can tell you is only use vinylester resin when making anything fibreglass that will come into contact with fuel. Now, if anyone can add anything about ethanol, we'll both be happy! John.