jordy

A good number of people (including me) used 303 on dacron over here in Ireland/UK and ended up with mould problems. Might be OK in a warm dry climate, but I wouldn't recommend it if there is any real humidity around. I have the photos to prove it if required. PITA to remove the black spots, the local agent for 303 advised Milton baby bottle sterilising fluid diluted 4:1 in warm water and left on for just long enough for the spots to disappear - about 5 minutes. Rinse very thoroughly with plain water, drip dry in the breeze/sun and then fly it for a final blow dry. Did the trick, had the a/c for 3 years after with no ill effects or fabric problems.

 

Nick

Tony, armour-all or U/Lam in a high humidity area?

Hey kite, when are you heading off and what is your intended route?

Craig,

I agree with the guys above, check your policy. (I'm going through the same thing at the moment) We worry about something happening while we fly but will happily (over) load our families in the family bomb drive day and night to go on hols sharing the same abused piece of tarmac with every other fool out there-half of them going the opposite direction missing you and your beloved by 1-2 mts- whilst we chat, listen to radios, eat, talk on the phone get tired, grumpy, argue.....................it goes on and on.

or

Fly in a machine which you have personally checked out to every possible degree, been trained in by an expert trainer to the best of his ability, in a sky which by world standards is amazingly free of other users, and those that are out call you and tell you where they are and what they're doing!

I've made my choice..:thumb_up:

Dozer,

Some of the earlier Drifters (mine included) wire braced and 503 have a max front seat wieght of 92 kgs and MTOW of 400kgs. The critical thing in establishing the suitability of this aircraft for is to make sure you are within the parameters of the C of G ( which off the top of my head are Forward limit - 406 mm aft of datum and Rear limit - 533 mm aft of datum ) whilst sitting in the aircraft. You need to analyse this infomation to ascertain if the plane will perform or in fact be safe to fly. There are many Drifter pilots out there (myself included) (this is where I hang myself) (Pies and Ice coffee does it for me):ah_oh: who fudge on that placard limit. But I guarantee they are all within the C of G.

Thanks Frank. I thought that may be the case. You guessed right with the prop, 3 blade 60 in Brolga gearbox has 2:24 ratio and all revs are correct even after deleting the infamous Rotax tacho exaggeration.:faint:Still gotta love that 503. one up its sooooooooo sweet.

Thanks again. May PM you later to grab some more info if thats Ok!!

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Frank , I also have a cert drifter WB503 recently refurbished by myself and a lot of phone advice from Wayne. A few questions if you please. What degree pitch blocks are you using? I'm finding with a 14degree block is great by myself but as soon as a pax jumps in and the day warms up the bum falls out. We live in a little micro climate of rainforest and mountains so get quite hot & humid during the summer days as I would imagine your place does. Would it be a feasible solution to change blocks for corresponding seasons?

Regards jordy

A duck walks into a pub and orders a pint of beer and a ham sandwich.

The barman looks at him and says, 'Hang on! You're a duck.'

'I see your eyes are working,' replies the duck.

And you can talk!' exclaims the barman.

'I see your ears are working, too,' says the duck. 'Now if you don't mind, can I have my beer and my sandwich please?'

'Certainly, sorry about that,' says the barman as he pulls the duck's pint. 'It's just we don't get many ducks in this pub. What are you doing round this way?'

'I'm working on the building site across the road,' explains the duck. 'I'm a plasterer.'

The flabbergasted barman cannot believe the duck and wants to learn more, but takes the hint when the duck pulls out a newspaper from his bag and proceeds to read it.

So, the duck reads his paper, drinks his beer, eats his sandwich, bids the barman good day and leaves.

The same thing happens for two weeks.

Then one day the circus comes to town.

The ringmaster comes into the pub for a pint and the barman says to him 'You're with the circus, aren't you? Well, I know this duck that could be just brilliant in your circus. He talks, drinks beer, eats sandwiches, reads the newspaper and everything!'

'Sounds marvelous,' says the ringmaster, handing over his business card. 'Get him to give me a call.'

So the next day when the duck comes into the pub the barman says, 'Hey Mr. Duck, I reckon I can line you up with a top job, paying really good money.'

'I'm always looking for the next job,' says the duck. 'Where is it?'

'At the circus,' says the barman.

'The circus?' repeats the duck.

'That's right,' replies the barman.

'The circus?' the duck asks again. 'That place with the big tent?'

'Yeah,' the barman replies.

'With all the animals who live in cages, and performers who live in caravans?' says the duck.

'Of course,' the barman replies.

'And the tent has canvas sides and a big canvas roof with a hole in the middle?' persists the duck.

'That's right!' says the barman.

The duck shakes his head in amazement, and says .. . .

'What the hell would they want with a plasterer??!'

I'd love to have that 2000 fpm climb rate at 50% fuel

Hey Rob ,

Give Wayne Fisher of Spectrum Aviation a ring on 02 66224466. He deals mainly with Drifters but has all the guff on Dacron care,wear and tear

regards ;)

Look in your RAA Mag , He's your association secretary and your board member for Sth Qld. All his contact details are there.

Nice Post Doug............

Two Aussies are sitting down for a break in their

about-to-be-opened new store As yet, the store isn't ready although

the shelving is all in place.

One says to the other, "I bet any minute now some tourist is going

to walk by, put his face to the window and ask what we're selling."

No sooner are the words out of his mouth when, sure enough, a

curious bloke walks to the window, has a peek, and in a Kiwi accent

asks, "What're yer sellin' here?"

One of the men replies, "We're selling assholes here mate."

Without missing a beat, the Kiwi says, "Geez, you must have had a

bloody good day, you've only got two left!"

thanks

:thumb_up:Hey, newairly & Knighty,

Guys thank you. You've given me exactly the info I needed.

Amazing rescource this forum.

Kind Regards...

Hey Guys , I'm mounting a second EGT in a 503 and wondered if it matters if the probe is placed on the bottom of the ex pipes facing upwards or visa versa?? The second option gives me more room. Any ideas??

Currently I only have the single probe just past the junction of the individual pipes join into one.

Regards Jordy:help:

Shaking his head violently to clear clear the effects of the collision Disperse quickly realised that his lot was up if he was to stay stapped in the disintergrating wreck that once was his dream machine. Summoning all the skills he had learned as a master in the dreaded art of origami he quickly fashioned a make shift hang glider out of the masses of second hand Chzechoslovakian newspaper floating past him that used to be an integeral part of his planes structure. (Thankfully there was copious amounts enabling to fashion a craft of some syle) Kicking free and launching himself from the falling now scavanged wreck he set off down towards the gently floating Slarti with one thing on his mind...........

[ will accelerate you up to flying speed in a westerly direction, up to 500kts gauranteed.

Cheers,

Glen (Who also got 90 something % for HSC physics, first for physics in the school, then went and got an Engineering Degree).

That messes with the Drifters VNE of 80kts a bit

Compounding the equation is the fact that we all are hurtling through space at approximately 66,638.2mph... maybe our IAS should stand for Indicated Atmosphere Speed... The conveyor seems rather insignificant now doesn't it.

Oh yeah the plane does fly. The only thing the afore mentioned insignifcant conveyor changes is ground speed and I've yet to meet a pilot who upon takeoff rotates at a certain ground speed.....

Just a few thoughts rattling around............

what happens if the conveyer is sitting on the equator facing east?????

.........its already doing 1000mph towards ya >.......................

Harv ,

Wayne is definitely the book of knowledge on this one. Mine didn't have a lot of damage, an out of shape vertical stabiliser frame which was staightened and sleeved, the rudder had a crack in the top of the frame which we cut out and engineered a sleeve to insert.

Be wary with the stay pole that runs from the rear wing saddle down between the passengers seat and fuel tank. This stay eliminates all forward and aft movement from the engine It should have no movement at all. My old girl had a fair degree of slop so I had to drill and sleeve it .The "U" bracket that the pole sits in has 2 bolts that run though the pan. Check or replace these. I also replaced all those little plastic washers between the poles and clamps. no doubt you have read the alert on the bell crank underneath the passengers seat. Aileron rod end are new. When the stick is moved from side to side to its absolute max (gently) check to see if the swivel in the rod ends at the base of the stick and into the bell crank haven't maxed out and are starting to turn the actual rod end. (Its a fine ajustment).

Check where the end of the main tube wraps around and is rivetted to the vertical pipe whiich holds part of the tail wheel assembly and the vertical stabiliser. Check the rivets for wear.

Mate these are just a few of the jobs i had to do on mine and shouldn't be considered gospel but might be worth a quick look.

Regards

PS. I have a copy of one of the original owner manuals and can e-mail to you if you wish.

Before i downsized the photo you could zoom in and see onlookers lying on the road against thier car taking photo's.( and holding their ears as well i would guess) rather than it being the cars shadow. I've never flown into there but if the photo is genuine it is some sort of amazing feat!!!

St Marteen

Hey Vorticity,

Good to know i'm not the only one battling through a drifter rebuild. Also a Aust flight 503 wirebraced, mine unfortunatley was not flyable at purchase, a real basket case but, this is the important bit for me............ It had maintinence records and.......... I knew the owner or more to the point trusted him. I'm progressing slow but surely with the help of a few experienced friends and that amazing lifeline to Wayne Fisher who has supplied new skins and all the needed extras complete with video. I must admit to getting fed up and frustrated at certain points but a quick fix of watching Wanye throwing his machine about at the end of his tape is more than enough to get me motivated again.

Mid March looks like the date.

A couple of questions if you please: flying wires what determines replacement? Ive removed the heat shrink and there is no corrosion on the swage

What type or style of compass did you end up with ?

Helmets from the pic looks like raptor gear, are you happy with them?

Regards Jordy

Hey Kim welcome. you say that you fly out of Bindoon abandoned?? Would that by any chance be the strip at Keaney College ???

Pavarotti passes away and heads to heaven.

He knocks on the pearly gates

St Peter opens them and says ' Oh it's you Luciano, come on in.

Squeeze through'.

Pavarotti says ' Hold on, I 've got an envelope for you, from the

Pope.'

St Peter opens it up and reads it.............

Dear St Peter,

'HERE'S THAT TENOR I OWE YOU'

Darren, I agree to a certain extent and plead guilty to posting the Steve Fossett article on the site. But in my defence look at the time it was posted ... So therefore plead a major bout of non awakeness :;)6::;)6:.zzzzzzzzzzzzz and had I thought a bit more would have posted on another site.

On the crash side surely an international incident involving RA or ultralight / home built craft pertains to all of us. Although some are down right stupid and many sensationalised (if thats a word) are excellent examples of what not to do. Many of us have a major love but limited experience in the world of avaition, we cringe in horror at the accidents, shake our head at the stupidity and feel for the tragic loss of good people, but it reminds us and constantly installs in our psyche how careful and ever alert we must be in this amazing sport.