Barefootpilot

Hi Nev, Mike got it spot on we are not talking about side slipping the whole approach just the as you flare you line her up with the centre line with rudder. Sorry if any of my post indicated otherwise. Brent, Yep you got it the aircraft I fly mostly, only has castering nose wheels so all ground control is by diff breaking however I was thinking more along the lines of Cessna 180's with the one wheel breaking idea. Some of these idea's are suitable for some aircraft but some will just plain not work in others so if in doubt ask someone with time on type. Adam.

Hello again, Ian I agree with your thoughts I just put the example out there so if one day someone needs it for some reason they have at least thought about it. In the situation described it would be best to go around and find another place with less crosswind to land. I would just like to clear up a few points (just the terminology is a bit confusing to me) You say "The scenario put forward is that you are landing in a severe crosswind to the point that you have run out of rudder (your right pedal is all the way down) but you still are not lined up straight to the runway with the aircraft still yawing to the left." The aircraft won't be yawing it will be tracking or skidding left across the ground. The aircraft is actually being yawed to the right as Yaw is a function of rudder and only effects the aircraft on its axis. A sudden burst of power as put forward will: a) Cause a sudden yaw to the left - under normal circumstances requiring some more right pedal but you are already at full deflection - the aircraft will yaw further left. This yaw left would be from the increase in torque and would be minimal compared to the increase in rudder authority. b) An increase of air flow caused by the burst of power will cause extra air flow pass the rudder but will also cause extra lift causing the aircraft to become even further unstable in severe crosswind - and we don't want lift when trying to land as this makes us even more vulnerable to the uncertainty of the wind. Yes this is true but the short burst of power would only create a small increase that would be barely noticable although as very good point. c) The net effect is that you are trying to land a very unstable aircraft that you are flying far beyond its safe operating limits. d) Full rudder with power and close to the ground - YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT for that sudden gust or whatever Absolutly true! All in all I agree with you completly you are risking alot just to prove a point and its probably not worth it! But if you get stuck and don't have a choice one day this may get you out of a pickle. Just to open another can of worms! Another way you can over come lack of rudder in a cross wind if you have differntal brakes is to land on the down wind main gear first and use brake to aline yourself with the runway. As you slow down you are probably going to be weathercocked into wind with a possible ground loop if you are not lucky but again if its a choice of crashing or ground looping! Warning!! I don't not recommend this technique unless you are very confident with aircraft and even better you own it so if you bend it, you only have yourself to blame!!! Adam.

Ian I'm a little confused by your warning. This method does work only because the increase in power in-turn increases air flow over the rudder giving it more authority it doesn't matter what way the rudder it pointed (It also increase lift over the inboard sections of the wing but thats beside the point. NOTE: Lift only increases for aircraft that have the engine up the front!) The best way to keep from having to do this is know your and the aircrafts limits! Remeber if you roll your aircraft into a ball and its above the cross wind limit or even the demostrated cross wind your insurance agent will probably laugh and walk away! Adam.

Queens birthday may put a few people off from the brissy area as I believe this is the Old Station fly in which brings alot of people up north. I agree with the fact that Port Mac isn't that far north but your reasons are fair as always Ian so once you get a system sorted maybe we could head further north up towards my way! Adam.

Not exactly a Trip but it was a bit of an adventure. About two months ago Two friends and I purchased a Thruster T-500 in a partially dismantled state. It had been undergoing a re-build for the past 8 years by two separate owners who both had lost interested at some stage and the family pushed them a little to get rid of one of there toys. This is where our story starts. We drove down to Yeppon to pick up our new toy and where very happy when we finally got a good look at it as it was in pretty good shape. After very long day we got it back to our work hangar and retired with a few ales to celebrate getting it back in one piece. Over the next few weeks it all slowly came together with very few hitches thanks as always to Tony’s help. I already own another Thruster so I kind of knew what to expect but there is always something that you can’t quite remember how it is suppose to go! So Seven weeks after our purchase and a few longs days slaving away in the hangar it was time for its test flight. This was left up to me (Thanks guys!!) mostly because I had done most of the work and I am also the only one with time on type. Now anyone that says the first test flight in fun is a complete liar! But after 20 minuets with some steep turns and stalls it was time to come down and see if I could remember how to land a Thruster. All went very well with only some slight trim adjustments needed not bad I thought! Now Thruster 25-0295 is back in the air where is should be after what could be described as a very long re-build! Adam.

Hello, All going well I'm going to try and get down there from Airlie Beach in a Thruster or maybe a Tiger Moth. Won't know until it gets a bit closer though. Adam.

I'm sure Tony will jump in here but as I have just done this I thought I'd jump in too. First check that the front of the rib is over the leading edge of the front spar you will be able to feel/see this. If isn't over the top it may take a bit of a thump to get the rib over the leading edge of the main spare if that isn't the case.... Tony???? Hope this helps. Adam.

In a stabilised approached you should have a constant angle of decent and constant airspeed with very little adjustment to power (conditions depending) The easist way to set one up in the begining is to start on a long final at 1000' trim the aircraft get the target airspeed and start you decent keeping the airspeed and decent angle constant and using power to control decent and elevator to control airspeed. (I know that last point will cause some discussion!) As they always say the key to a good landing is a good approach!

Hello, I pretty sure this has been asked before but who has the best method for removing those pesky oil stains from my nice new dacron? Adam.

I've flown a metro with over 30,000 hours and they have just been extended to up to 50,000 hours. 11,000 for a ultralight! its lead a long and hard life i'm sure! Adam.

Hello, Just wondering if anyone knew where I could find the rubber dampeners that stop the raditator from moving to much. I've been told you should be able to get them at a bike shop but does anyone know anywhere online? Thanks Adam.

Hello, I'm looking for info on the Rotax 532. I am familiar with the 582 and have been told they are very similar but cannot find any information on them (eg rpm limits cylinder head temps) and any other handy information on them would be greatly appreciated. Adam.

A dirty weekend. I was lucky enough to get a long weekend last week and got down to Brisvegas for a bit of fun flying. After a quick ultralight BFR thanks to Kevin Walters and his Drifter I headed out to Watts Bridge to brush of the cobwebs of my poor neglected Thruster. I hadn’t flown it for almost a year but I had dropped through a couple of months earlier and did an annual inspection and some engine runs and with Tony Hayes keeping an eye on her she was still in good shape. The weather gods where kind to me on Saturday and I got a couple of good hours in getting used to her again and just enjoying the back to basics, wind in the hair experience associated with these fantastic little aircraft. After a few ales with some old friends on Saturday night it was up early for an early morning flight. Some fog was still hanging around as well as some clouds passing through but with plenty of holes and a base above 500’ I was off to make the most of it. I ran into an old friend Sandy who has just completed the test flying on his new Starduster a beautiful little aircraft and he invited me to take her up for a fly, so without hesitation (from me anyway!!) off I went. The old saying rings true with this aircraft, if it looks right it will fly right! After 30 minutes I brought her back down for the landing after a bounce and a go-around I got it right the second time and think I only took about 20 years of both mine and Sandy’s life! Unfortunately I had to dash after that although the rain was starting to set in. All in all a great weekend and I only wish I could get down to fly “real aircraft†more often! P.S. The Starduster is for Sale MSG me if you want more info. Adam.

I haven't flown the skyfox but from a Thruster point of view I prefer to wheel them as it is kinder on the tail wheel unit. On other G.A. aircraft its not such a big deal but i've found wheeling it on in a bit of wind gives more control if you get a gust when your about to touch down. If your almost stalled and get kicked sideways there isn't much room to do anything. I alway try and practice a few of each to keep my hand in. Hey thats half the fun of flying tailwheels! Adam.

I forgot one bit. Aircraft where made to fly not to sit and gather dust! So Keep em Flying! Adam.

Tony, You know very well where I stand on this subject but I'll put it out here for everyone else. The past needs to be presereved and the original rego should be given as a right, not faught over because someone in an office would have to do some work! Without the rag and bone ultralights that so many new comers seem to look down there nose at you wouldn't have your new plastics and be able to fly them with the relative ease that the RAA provides. A bit off the point but everyone is pushing for higher max weights/GA self admistration. What about protecting what we already have! How about protecting some of the airfields that are closing and how about taking a bit of pride in our humble beginings! Off my soap box now and I'll write an e-mail to our president saying i'm all for it Tony. Adam.

Hello, Just to back up what Tony says I bargain on about $40 an hour for a running cost add to that hagared and all the little things that you like to do to make it your aircraft (gps + comfort things) They are a great little aircraft perfect for local flying or short nav's just wish I could live closer to mine! Tony could you e-mail me info on the $7500 one (probably dreaming but always looking for a bargin!!! Adam.

Hello, I've just moved up to Airlie Beach and was wondering if anyone knew of any ultralights operating around the area? Adam.

Hello, Good to see you out asking questions early! you'd be surprized how many people get 3/4 of the way through training befor starting to ask questions!! It would make sense to start out in RAA aircraft probably all the way through to the cross country endorsment and then go get in a G.A. aircraft get your PPL which shouldn't take much and continue on to your CPL. The $$$ saving can actually be a fair bit! After that its up to you RE Instructor Ratings/Instrument Rating/NVFR and all that stuff. Bare in mind I still haven't meet anyone who has got a Multi (let alone Multi IFR) job at 200hrs. So in my opion I'd wait until you have a bit of time under your belt befor doing an Instrument rating as it will only cost you money you probably don't have! As for Instructor rating, please do everyone a favour and if you don't want to instruct don't do a rating! there is nothing worse than instructors who are there only for the hours so they can move on. There are plenty of jobs for low timers if you are prepared to move away from the big smoke. Anyway thats my opion and get yourself into a real ultralight (Drifter or Thruster) and have a ball! Adam.

From looking at the video not knowing what type of aircraft it is I don't think it has ailerons??? You can see when he turns he uses alot of rudder. As for the pitch forward yes it is a good thing to keep the speed up until impact but I wouldn't want to be hitting the tops of those tree's any faster than i had to. Then again there are people who say fly it into the tree tops and those who say stall it in. My theory is Force = MV^2 so less V alot less force! Adam.

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/Videos/2006-7-8_UltralightOutOfGas.wmv Just a link to a video I found of an ultralight having an engine failure after take off. Just a reminder of how little time you really have to recover. Also this site has heaps of great videos if you have broad band i'd recommend getting the beech goes low video ... only in africa http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviation_videos.htm Adam.

This was work! Taken at One Tree Beach Northern W.A. at a little fishing camp we used to take very lucky people to. What you can't see is the three sharks swimming around the floats.

From memory (haven't got the ops manual with me) CFI's are allowed to do it for training but no one else e.g. senior or normal instructors. I'll have a look through the regs and see if I can find it. I can see why people wouldn't want to do it but I believe if in the right situation it is a real learning experiance.Having the engine idling and having a stoped prop are very different. As long as the instructor is switch on they should be able to stop the situation getting out of hand, after all thats what they are there for!

Hello, I'm currently in Melbourne (Latrobe Valley actually) and slowly adjusting to the cool weather down south and was wondering if anyone knew of any schools looking for an instructor for summer. I've completed about half of my instructor rating before being wisked away for other work but am keen to finish it off and get some flying done. I have about 2000 hours g.a. and about 50 or so ultralight in Thrusters and aP92. Any Ideas? Adam.

One thing to think of when carrying a cooker is dangerouse goods. You can't really carry fuel in an aircraft (except in your tanks of course) to the point where we really shouldn't even carry a jerry canwith some spare fuel.Gas and other flamable substances are a no no and if you get caught by the wrong people you could end up with a please explain.