Louis Moore

Louis, you may be interested in this compass which is for sale about an hour's drive from my place on NZ's equivalent of e-bay:http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/aircraft/aircraft/auction-483882842.htm

Let me know if you're interested and I can follow it up for you.

Info sent - I have decided to wait for one that doesn't need the work

Speaking of cooling system, I think the P51's cooling system actually ADDED thrust and performance to the whole plane, now thats design!

I'm going to take a wild guess here... Louis and Thomo equalled a shorter landing and significantly more climb rate and MUCH more comfortable flying than when it was me getting taken for a joy flight by Louis the day before... just a guess.Hey Thomo... the Auster really is a lovely old thing to fly, isn't it?

The BFA, sorry to be the barer of supposed bad new (supposed because in the long run you will realize apple is simply BRILLIANT and correct the erros of your ways) but if you want the best app for VFR GPS use it is hands down Oz runways (even those who hate apple agree about this app).

If you get a stand alone GPS receiver eventually it makes it a very inclusive GPS system. In my opinion it is the only way to go, then again I do love apple!

Too much to read Louis. But now I understand what you were going laying all over the tarmac with the camera on Saturday... and here I was thinking you were just trying to be artistic with the setting.Didn't you make another set? The set I wore?

 

PS... these headsets did actually work. Well.

The other set was a called Peltors, There standard aviation ones, I did not make them!

An old trick used by drugrunners and smugglers in the Americas.

Why would you not want your rego seen? That would attract attention straight away if you were involved in illegal activity.

http://www.liquidcooledairpower.com/cj-pricing.shtml

This one give you no more HP because it uses the orig cyl, still it's a cool conversion!!!!

Some just have the cyl heads poking through the cowling to capture the slipstream, which I read is not acceptable, but a lot of a/c have that method.

There are lots of ways to cool and many pro's and cons for each. It is very dependant on the particular engine, aircraft and install. As a rule I really like water cooling because the tolerances can be tighter giving you extra HP (Lycoming used to make a water cooled cyl that could be fitted STC to their engine, it gave an increase in almost 50hp just by tighter tolerances!) also water cooling can help reduce the hot end cylinder and shock cooling (by the installation of a thermostat, shock cooling is a big issue for a lot of pilots who fly GA and can not operate an engine i.e A LOT OF PILOTS!) and all around seems to be an effective way of "controlling" the cooling. Issues of course are weight, needing to have extra plumbing, radiator and other associated sections that can fail etc... etc... etc...

I have spent lots of time throwing various tools at Continental and lycoming engines and to be honest, if there flown correctly they seem to last just fine (minus the occasional 210 or 182!).

When I relic. an aircraft I had to put on lettering underneath the wing about a meter high. That would be bigger than some a/c. Then I had to photograph it and send to the Raa with some signed statements. I guess later you could say "It fell off"

:roflmao:That is so true Guernsey, I have to edit my original post now!!!!

Here is the album I created for yesterday http://www.recreationalflying.com/useralbums/flying-with-tomo.131/view

Here is the Auster all prepped up as Photo Ship One!

Tomo enjoying the breeze with the doors off

View from the pilot seat! (The struts look a little bent due to the panoramic software having issue with the fact the plane moved forward a little between each photo!)

Finally leaving pittsworth aerodrome that night.

Hey Louis - good stuff! BTW, did your wife ever find out about how you used the living room as a workshop in her absence??CheersNeil

Wow! Louis that's some good looking Auster compared to the one I used to fly.What engine do you have in it and what are your performance figures.I love that 'Grandfather Watch' on the panel, what did you do with the chain?

Alan.

Hey LouisIt looks absolutely fantastic... A beautiful little aeroplane. Is that an 0-290 or has it been up sized ?I see you have the bigger rudder so you have a 9 knot demonstrated crosswind component with which to take on the elements!Kaz

It is running a O-235 115hp engine. It is a J2 which is a totally different fuse to the J1, J3, J5 (It is the same as the J4 just with a different engine config). This model is based on the original taylorcraft, it is a two seat only with a hat shelf but no rear open bagage bay. Built initially with 75hp Continental (The J4 actually came about due to import restrictions on american engines!) and was upgraded for banner towing some time in the 70's. Performance is not bad, it is gentle to fly and easy to land/takeoff (even Tomo can do it!) cruise is 80-85 knots @ 2400 rpm and about 60-70 @ 2100 rpm. Burn about 25 lt an hour and climb out at about 500-800 ft a minute depending on the weight and the day. If I fly it every day for a few weeks I can squeeze it in around a 300 meter strip (Not without getting uncomfortable) if I am not up to scratch I like a good 700-800 meters to play with!

I think it has the standard J2 rudder Kaz, crosswinds are really a breeze in it, I am often flying when the luscombe out here is not! It sits over on one wheel very nicely and I have full rudder authority all the way down until about 2 knots I think! You should fly up and take it for a spin one week!

Well done Louis, nice job. Good to see you two boys together.Regards,

Great photo Tomo, will be sifting through mine today and endeavor to put them up later on

Thats a perplexing problem, you need to borrow my massive hammer?

Could not be an issue with the magnets or pickups on the spinny bit at the rear of the engine? (From memory that's where the magnet pickups were?) Incorrect gap set for the one not working (10though I think from memory again, but those more knowledgeable will know for sure)

Can I do that to a pair of 'Dr Dre's'?I'd be the coolest pilot on the block then!

Still I have enough stuff for another set and I plan on making them something like that

LOL! My speciality. Also not putting the plastic collars for plugs on to wire leads before soldering the plugs on to them.Thanks for that Louis, might have to try that.

Great story, PF. Thanks for putting it out there.Every time I see something about places in Oz, I think about flying there (watching a show on Cairns tonight sure had me thinking), but the one that I keep going back to is the visit-the-family trip too. In my case, that's a wing waggle over the two 'local' siblings (Newcastle & Berowra) and thence Moruya, Bairnsdale and (gulp) Devonport.

 

One day... One day...

I used to Maule fabric tester on aircraft I was inspecting, and the "rule of thumb" is really accurate, I could tell by the feel of the fabric under my fingers, how taut it still was, the sounds of it etc... if it would fail before I even bothered pot marking it with the tester!

As a side note, you know you have done it wrong when strips of fabric tear of in flight!

Some time ago I undertook a task of fixing all the broken instruments in my panel in my lounge room, as well as re-painting my rudder, re-doing the interior, re-materialing my dash cover and building an original compass mount (amongst many other various projects for the Auster).

Well I am pleased to say that today, after a little over a month of down time, it all went back together, and rather unbelievably it worked like a CHARM!

Here is the new dash - even the pocket watch works!

Showing of the J2's new deep blue lines and rudder checks, far nicer than the faded light blue that once adorned the fabric!

Catching that smooth QLD winter air just before it gets to dark to fly any more! This is why I own an Auster!

To pittsworth, not far from watts to have a coffee and a chat with me

Here you all go, just posted a thread on home made headsets http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/cheap-headsets.40727/

After reading through the headset post on the site thought I might start a new thread aout my own headset experience. I have flown with a set of David Clarks H10-13.4's for years and they have been a fantastic piece of equipment all told. Comfortable, clear and no worries for flying hours on end.

The issues I have had is

1: my wife gets air sick which believe it or not is actually due to the weight and clamping pressure of headsets on her head

2: aircraft headsets are two bulky to fit in the Auster without me hitting my head!

To fix both issues you would need a nice set of Bose, Light speed etc... for a bit over $1000, I thought there has to be a better way around this! Now I will be the first to admit that I have not the most agile mind when it comes to electronics but armed with google, a soldering iron, multimeter and some bits and pieces I have nutted a process out that anyone can do at home, if there like me and have more time than money!

It's a long article I have written, but I tested the headsets today (without the amplifier system installed, will be testing that tomorrow) and the noise cancelling worked A1, they were really quiet, super light weight and very clear PLUS it cost a total of $140.00 (although it did take a LONG time to figure out and has a few down sides! i.e take 2 batteries to run both ANR and Amp)

This is a set of standard noise cancelling headsets for music that I have adapted a aviation microphone and set of headset leads onto. There are a few issues to get past but the results so far have been really worthwhile, they work really well and for a fraction of the cost of brand ANR's! (Reduction in noise is not as smooth as a more expensive brand, gives things a little bit of a fizzle sound, but otherwise loud and clear)

I bought a set of TDK noise cancelling headphones on special for $19 from dick smiths (normally there about $50 or so from JB Hi-Fi or Dick Smiths). Then I bought

1: Aviation Microphone (P/N PA-7B $25.00)

2: Aviation Microphone Half Boom/Half Wire Headset adapter (P/N MB-MF $19.50)

3: Headset attachment point (P/N MBP $11.90)

4: Mono/Stereo Headset Leads Twin GA Plugs (P/N HSL-SC $25.00)

I got this stuff from http://www.pilotcommunications.com.au/ it is fairly specialised and they had an easy order system and where also the cheapest!

5: Miniature Audio Output Transformer (P/N 273-1380 $4.00)

This is a radio shack item that I got off Ebay (Searched the P/N) It is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART as it is what changes the impedance, or something or other, of the headset!

6: Electrical Project Junction Box (121x56x42 $7.00)

Also off Ebay

7: DIY Cmoy Hi-Hi Headphone Amplifier Kit ($19.00)

Ebay again, not a necessary item but I wanted to be able to amplifie the headsets volume because I am told by my wife I am deaf!

8: About a meter of 2 core shielded wire from Dick Smiths (About $4.00)

PROCEDURE

I pulled the TDK headset apart, drilled a hole in the side and fitted the microphone, boom and attachment to them, secured it and put the headphones back together. I should point out a down side is you can not swivel the microphone on the side of the headset without loosening the attach screw due to the shape of the ear cup (I would seggest glueing the inside nut to prevent loosening). So spend some time lining it up right now and make sure you get the semi boom type mic boom to do later adjustments with that! (I also took out the in line volume control on the headset line as I was planning on fitting the amp at a later stage, not necessary but just neatened up the cords line!) Make sure you fit this in an area clear of the circuit board.

I then soldered to the microphone lead (at the boom) the 2 core shielded wire to extend it down to the junction box at the end of the head phone cord (wire colours are all the same so this should be easy! i.e Red to Red - White to White - Shield to Shield). FIT ALL HEAT SHRINKS PRIOR TO SOLDERING!!!!!!

Now for the hard bit, I snipped the little TRS plug that goes into your Ipod, PC, Mp3 Player off the cord of the headset line. I drilled 2 holes in the top of junction box to thread the cord wires through (one for the headphone line and one for the microphone line), I tied them off on the inside of the box with cables ties to stop them being pulled on. I drilled a hole on the bottom of the box to thread the twin GA plug wire through, and tied it off with a cable tie. FIT ALL HEAT SHRINKS PRIOR TO SOLDERING!!!!!!

Then I soldered them together as follows (this will only work if you buy the same gear as me, you will need to do your own multi metering to figure it out if you get different gear! Mostly for the headphones and finding what colour wire is what earphone and which one is earth)

WITHOUT AMP INSTALLED

Headphone Wires to Audio Transformer

*Red and Green Headphone Wires go to Red wire on Audio Transformer

*Gold Headphone Wire goes to White Wire on Audio Transformer

Audio Transformer To Twin GA Plug Wires

*Blue Wire on Audio Transformer to Green and Yellow wires on GA lead

*Black wire on Audio Transformer to Black wire on GA Lead

Microphone Leads

*Red wire on mic To Red wire on GA lead

*White wire on Mic To White wire on GA Lead

*Shield on mic To Shield on GA Lead.

MAKE SURE THE SWITCH ON THE Y SECTION OF THE GA PLUG IS SET TO M FOR MONO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PROCEDURE WITH AMP

After following the instructions for the Cmos amp kit I measured up and drilled off my junction box to fit it in place. I built the Amp kit but left the input and output sockets (where you would plug your Ipod in and Your headsets, you could leave the input on if you wanted as it would give you the option of changing the headphone over at a later stage with relative ease, as I have mounted a microphone to the side of mine, I did not bother!) off the circuit board. I wired my Headphone wires in and the Audio transformer directly into the board. The wires from the audio transformer to the GA leads and Microphone to the GA leads remain the same. It is hard to explain the wiring on the circuit board of the amp but if anyone is interested let me know and I will draw it out as that will be far simpler.

Enjoy your $140 set of ANR ($200 if you do not bag a bargain like me with the dick smiths sales, or a lot cheaper if your not looking for ANR and just by some crappy generic pair!) headsets that work just like an ordinary pair of headphone ........ at least so far! Will post back when I have tested the Amp System out Tomorrow!!!!

If any one wants more info on how this is done, some badly hand drawn wiring diagrams etc... let me know. So far I can say it is worth the time investment for nutting this all out! From scratch with this info I would think you could put one together

Great article, awesome to get that dream flight done, Well done

Discussions in this thread have, amongst other things, centred on the likelihood of stalling if attempting an EFATO turn back. Clearly, if you are to not stall, then you have to keep the nose down in order to maintain the required angle of attack.I had a little play around today (at 3,000 ft rather than 300!), not to see how quickly I could make the turn and/or how little height I could lose, but simply to get a pilot's eye view of a steep, no-power turn with sufficient airspeed to have no chance of stalling. I chose 45 deg bank because the ATSB state* that "the bank angle for best turn rate for height lost ... is 45deg". Theoretically, I could have used a speed of <50 kt**, but remember that I wanted "no chance" of stalling (even at 3000ft), so I kept it up in the high 60s.

 

What did I find? Well, the manoeuvre itself was easy enough to achieve, but I felt like I was pointing straight down. Not a problem at 3,000 ft, but it doesn't take much imagination to think of the overwhelming desire to pull back on the stick when that all-too-solid earth is just in front of your face.

 

A worthwhile exercise indeed. Now I'm even more convinced. Straight ahead it is.

 

*ATSB Safety report - Managing partial power loss after takeoff in single engine aircraft, AR-2010-055

 

** P2002 POH, idle power, no flaps, 45 deg bank.