Patrick Normoyle

Unfortunately not once but three times, but some good old ingenuity ( really big rubber bands) on the knee board and I'm sorted, my girl flies true hands off so changing maps, updating flight plans etc is relatively easy, but with he iPad, it can change maps as I move across the planet, I still use both electronic and paper,

I have a ready supply of cement, so a spoon full a day and I'll harden the .. . . . . Up ! We love the site and don't care where it's hosted.

Here is the link for your enjoyment. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012C00415

CASA Are very clever, they make the determinations the say we MUST have an ASIC, and they instruct AIRSERVICES To do their dirty work.

I don't use a spell checker other than the one that auto corrects, I talk with a lisp, I am a Queenslander and I work for the government, therefore, I doubt I have anything really intelligent to say anyway, but if I do, and you listen, I will talk slow and sound drunk and if you can't understand me then we truly have a problem. So, in a nut shell, I talk like I type and that's just me.

Yep and a terrorist and a blah blah, it is a joke, I have to wear one at work, and the BS we have to go through to issue visitor passes to my wife and kids to visit me in the tower is stupid, you can't get in unles " I let you in" so why would they need one. I had my manager instruct me one day to make I sure all my kids had a visitor pass on while in the tower on Xmas day ( I had to work so we did Xmas lunch in the Airconditioning ) mind you, one of my kids was 5 months old at the time, a real security threat there. And with all the computer power and reduction in staffing, ASIC's still cost a bucket load of money, I'm lucky I don't pay for mine, thanks Airservices, but I feel for you all that do. For those that don't have them, my only advice would be, stay out of any security controlled airport, we have been advised that if we are challenged by the Airport safety/security officers or APIS or AFP, whilst we are airside without an ASIC, it is too bad, you get arrested and detained, questioned and if not a Binladen, you get released and fined for your efforts. The big problem may be if you land at a security controlled airport, they may impound / lock up your aircraft and prevent you from flying your aircraft out without being escorted be a Red ASIC holder. Unfortunately, there is a big cash cow of a barrel that CASA has ove us all..

Deskpilot, it doesn't, I work in Adelaide tower, but pop in one day and say hi.

Another south Aussie, welcome, I'm down at Aldinga, drop in some time or fly to Adelaide, I work in the Tower.

What do you guys and gals recommend for an external GPS for the iPad ?

I love the tail dragged, that's why I built my Fisher, I can take off and land in a standard high school oval, in sand and all other surfaces, I have installed hydraulic brakes so stopping and turning is no problems, as long as you concentrate all the way through landing roll and take off, your all good.

I'm sold on the Ozrunway kit, on my iPad 3GS it is awesome, the latest update has a lot of fixes, the platform is stable and updates quickly, very power hungry though but if you reduce the brightness it improves slightly. I have a Fisher Mk 1, so paper can be a problem, dont worry Mr CASA, I have the required paper copies with me when I go long distance. I have a kneeboard that holds the iPad in place and a flight bag that sits at my side with the paper junk in it. To back it all up I also have a Garmin GPS 196, so should I get lost "I SHOULDN'T LEAVE THE CIRCUIT AREA", I love the gizmo's available, but always have my position fixed on a paper copy and a paper flight plan, but at 60kts and in VMC I don't have many problems. I have a fuel endurance of 5 1/2 hours with the reserve remaining of an hour, if the bladder holds out that long and the turbulence doesn't change my plan, I'll go for the full time, the iPad has plenty of battery juice for that, I use a charger inflight so all is good anyway. Another thing I like is the "Find My Device" App, so if I am within phone coverage and the wife is looking for me, she can track my progress and not worry so much..

I find that with water the temps barely register especially with the EGT With an operational range in the mid 400 to 600s plus my wife would kill me..

If you've got use it as long as the data is accurate ( as best as you can tell ), a precautionary landing or a return to the field instead o heading off on a long trip due to a high indication is free, a re-bore or replacement engine is very costly. In saying that, an EGT is very useful more so than the CHT especially on th 503, I have dual EGT and CHT plus 2 water temps on my 582, yeah I know what a nerd, but for me it's almost like have a bit of extra insurance. Before setting course on a medium to long trip, I'll check them again as I do prior to take off, during engine runs, before climbing to height for a crossing of tiger country, for-warned is far better than surprised like hell over tiger country. I use my blow torch to gently test the probes on the bench with the guage attached or using a meter to check output. I'm from the group " More is always better " ! Good luck.

Weight and balance calculation sheet ! Someone asked for the file to be emailed, I am in Melbourne, send me your email address again and I'll send it on.

Sorry Rumby, just getting back on the forums, I hope your a fellow Mk 1 owner, I paid about 28K in 2000, add another 4K for radios and gauges and gizmos, 1-2k for 2pak ( not the singer) paint and your done. I did the dual control two seat thing, 582 donk and spats, Wayne is the Drifter GOD, his knowledge and experience is just awesome, if he helped Noah build the Ark, that damn thing would still be flying under the 19 reg of course. I have done 458 hours on mine, flown all over the country, i am lucky, I have a wife and a winged mistress as well, I'll never diverse her ( the aircraft that is )..

Tomo got it in one, you were born with two testing devices and as long as you still have two hitch hikers tools aka, thumbs, your set, best place to test is near a rib, an inch or so away from the stitching, press down nice and hard, if you go through, you don't go flying until you re-skin, if you don't, your right.

I purchased a 200L drum of the penrite oil before they stopped making it, I am now down to my last 25 or so litres, and am looking for a replacement. How have you found the penrite hi per now that you have been using it for a while ? Still happy ? What rpm do you run at ?

David, I'd have to agree, especially in an organization such as ours, accountability should be seen from the student pilot all the way up to the CEO, I'm not a great fan of aver management, working for the government with its layers of belligerent lazy individuals who can't see past their own ideas and power hungry ways to see the greater good, the whole reason they are in the position is to see, introduce and manage for the greater good of the members. We rarely see a soldier fall on his sword, there should be a great deal of this going on, however power hungry people crave the power. ( my weekend rant, sorry, wrong place wrong time). I'm sure if the ATSB could hey would, if they couldn't, then RAAus would copy them into their report, our organization may get accesses to the wealth of knowledge and expertise of the ATSB along the way. We all know and appreciate that RPT and charter/ scheduled type accidents/ accidents must take priority, but in the near future, given the right conditions, aircraft and pilot, we may be mixing with some of these important types, it would be prudent that we hav a working relationship with the ATSB, especially if it is on offer on the table..

Maj, I was just checking the website and they state the max weight as 100kg and maximum speed as 15km/h, did you have and problem with the hub cracking under load or the rubber running off the rim at high speed ?

Awesome thanks for the photo, do you still Drift, Maj?

Be careful installing the new tail wheel, try and keep it tight to the spring, and if possible get the attach- point of the spring enlarged to prevent the tailwheel from wobbling side to side, if you increase the height of the tail slightly with a bigger when, you might notice you will get te tail up a little later than usual, the weight and the angle of attack will be change slightly, weight is greater and the angle is less. I am going to install a Matco 6" pneumatic tailwheel, it comes with the bracket etc from aircraft spruce, will give me better results and the weights are similar. I installed a wheel skid to the tailwheel for use on sandy beaches, took some time to get it right but got it right and it worked well, but if you are one up then the prop has enough guts to lift he tail in a standing still position to get you out, if you are two up and landing on sand make sure it's compacted ( look for shallow tyre tracks ) from cars, have fun, and isn't this te best part about having the 19 reg, change is as good as a holiday.

Usually the COG / Lift is calculated by placing your aircraft off the ground on a very sturdy box with a length of pipe ontop to allow the aircraft to move for and aft, balance the aircraft with the pilot weight in the front seat, I used dive lead weights and some dumbells, weigh them and place on the front seat.. Then drop a plum bob from the leading edge of th wing down to the floor pans, mark this spot, then transfer a mark from the point where the steel tube sits under your aircraft and mark the floor pans, the distance should be between about 406mm to 440mm give or take, but you should have the weight an balance details from when the aircraft was first built. I'm lucky, I built mine. Any significant change to our aircraft and what you are doing is ( in my opinion) significant, you should recalculate your weight and balance, Wayne has a sheet that he supplied with his Fisher Mk1 tat I built, the distances may be different for a SB. Also, the further away from the centre of lift you make the change, the greater the effect, imagine a child's seesaw with an elephant at one end and a mouse at the other, there is a point at which the mouse can lift the elephant by moving the fulcrum away from the mouse, once balanced, any small changes at the mouses end ( the aircraft tail) and you can become unbalanced, especially any increase. You can't just weight the old and new parts, and put the difference of the two as additional weight in the nose.. Let me know if you want me to email a copy of my weight and balance instructions?

Just read the update, Justin that is great news, happy flying.

It is my understanding that the trim tab is used to counteract the uneven displacement of thrust air from the prop to one side more so than the other and the rotational torque force from the engine, my fisher Mk1 has one, every drifter I have flown has had one, 503, 582SB AND 582SB on floats.. I agree that the rear cables from the trailing edge of the wing spar that run to the main tube bolt should be taught, to make the installation / removal easier I have installed adjustable turnbuckles to each wire, they are then adjusted to be taught and equal in length, this should make the leading edge of the wing at 90deg angles to the main tube.. They should never be slack as these cables translate the rotational forces from the running engine into the airframe and as you can see above they can be caught by a spinning prop.. Another possibility, is your verticle stab really verticle or a little to one side, I'd hav a look here also, the cables can be adjusted by as you and others have mentioned, twisting the cables by a maximum of 5turns, remember one direction will shorten, the other will start to unravel the cable.. Good luck.

My understanding was that many years ago, a property owner had rights and responsibilities of use to 300ft above his/her property provided that did not infringe on gazetted or documented airspace or other provisions. This followed in the foot steps of early ultralight aircraft use over your own property or with permission of the property owner of no more than 500ft. With greater numbers, design advancements and uses, came the agreement that AUF/ RAA would govern the body of pilots and aircraft that fall within the listed catagories. These old rules have been long removed and replaced with more modern and appropriate ( sometimes more restrictive ) ones. You can't ask to be allowed into CTA under a new set of rules and such but expect to have the old ways still apply, it's called change. I am not a lawyer, but i am fairly confident that if you tried the "oh i didn't know i needed a lecence or registration" to fly over your own property, the Judge would laught at you for using the IDIOT defence. But good luck to you if you want to try it. Rego, Licence, maintenance and operating costs are all a part of our sport, this is the real world and we have to act responsibily or face the consequences. That dosen't mean we can't try and get the rules changed to better suit or desires, we can always hope.