Ian Burdon

Difficult farming - droughts, floods and even when through all that - birds.

Try get approval

They have been using this method for at least 20 years now with very few incidents.

Power line caught the undercarriage and looks like he made an aircraft carrier style landing only taking out a couple of very young trees,

Would have probably been a different outcome if it had been into the older orchard.

But this method is far safer and more effective than quads and shotguns

Have you tried a can opener?

It has been suggested some pilots not coping with engine failures could be a reason for the draft proposal for Jabiru aircraft. Please don't say the fatalities have not been in Jabiru aircraft as it really is not the point.

But it does show pilots not coping with engine failures.

Ah right, so all the RIPs over the last few years have been imaginary?

Many years ago had a Honda Accord come into my workshop with a serious big end rattle, off with the crossmember and sump to find a 12mm ring spanner inside! My customer left with my bill determined to get it paid for by the mechanic who set the tappets the week before!

This happened to me in a pa28 just after rotation. The main thing is to stay calm fly the plane and ignore the noise. Top latch did not secure. After reaching a safe alt opened air vent to equalise pressure or let incoming air out, slowed down, passenger relatched and we finished the navex. My instructor taught me this on another occasion so I guess it is fairly common in this particular aircraft. No problems with my Jab so far but always expect the unexpected is my motto.

Thanks guys for the warning about the yellow bushes. I changed to the new red ones yesterday. The old yellow ones ( replacing the original black ones) showed no signs of cracking and they had been there for 9 years and 1 month, and about 350 hours of flying.I remember when I put the yellow ones on, I cut off one or 2 segments because I thought the deformations required to fit the whole thing were too much, with about 15% deformation being right to have what I reckoned to be the right preload. The new red ones have had the same treatment. I cut off 2 segments and it all feels real tight, if anything I reckon the nose leg doesn't move enough when I load it up.

I really like my plane and it hasn't missed a beat for more than 10 years , but I have to say only 400 hours.

 

cheers, Bruce

Thanks guys for the warning about the yellow bushes. I changed to the new red ones yesterday. The old yellow ones ( replacing the original black ones) showed no signs of cracking and they had been there for 9 years and 1 month, and about 350 hours of flying.I remember when I put the yellow ones on, I cut off one or 2 segments because I thought the deformations required to fit the whole thing were too much, with about 15% deformation being right to have what I reckoned to be the right preload. The new red ones have had the same treatment. I cut off 2 segments and it all feels real tight, if anything I reckon the nose leg doesn't move enough when I load it up.

I really like my plane and it hasn't missed a beat for more than 10 years , but I have to say only 400 hours.

 

cheers, Bruce

Ian, I dont know how to post a picture on this forum but if you send me your email address to [email protected] (re-insert @) I will send you one showing a new rubber that failed soon after it was installed on the aircraft.What year were these defect rubbers installed and why wern't pilots in Australia as well informed as those in the UK? ..........Not sure exactly but must have been around 2007. I cannot say why you are not informed but once the problem was known in the UK the yelllow rubbers were changed for the red type.

 

Where did you find out about the preflight procedure for the nose leg?.........Over time you make your own procedures so that you are know that the aircraft condition is to your satisfaction. Heavy nose wheel landings were a common occurrence when the Jabiru was introduced in the UK. It was due to a combination of poor rigging and pilot technique. As Inspectors, we quickly recognised the signs of a heavy landing with crushed rubber being one of them. For a preflight, I put my foot on the front tyre and pull the nose of the aircraft down - it checks the tyre pressure and also the 'give' in the suspension. After a while, you dont even have to see the rubber - you can feel the amount of 'give'. For the pilots with fairings - you have to make the choice of your aircraft looking good over a proper pre-flight check. Personally, I like to eyeball all critical areas so any fairing that cover these areas are not fitted.

 

Incidentally, the 'foot on the tyre' check can also be done on the main tyres. Gently move the aircraft back and forth by the strut while looking and listening. There should be NO movement where the leg is bolted to the fuselage. If you have a fairing fitted, you should be able to hear the movement.

Hear hear... What Planey said.

Hear hear... What Planey said.

There were indeed a batch of yellow suspension rubbers that did not last the first full power run. This was flagged up and many owners in the UK changed to the red rubbers that were being used for the larger 4 seater aircraft.Going back a bit, the first suspension was made up of individual black rubbers identical to the top rubber suspension. These were sandwiched together with aluminium washers and locktite. They did the job but started cracking (just like the top rubber) after long exposure to the weather. The first batch of yellow nylon rubbers lasted quite well and only failed after a heavy landing.

 

There is of course no excuse for not recalling these poor quality yellow rubbers but owners also have the responsibility to preflight the nose leg assembly and if this is done properly, the failing rubber will show up. Put your foot on the nosewheel tyre and pull down on the propeller flange and inspect the rubber. If they dont hold their shape then change it.

What year were these defect rubbers installed and why wern't pilots in Australia as well informed as those in the UK? The procedure you describe would be difficult to perform unless you had another pair of eyes behind the nose wheel to inspect for cracking.

The other pilot that I know of had just performed a 100 hourly and had checked this area thoroughly.

When he heard of my problem he inspected again and saw some very small cracks. When proded lightly the rubber failed.

Where did you find out about the preflight procedure for the nose leg?

You seem to be quite knowledgable on this subject. Thanks for the reply Roger. Ian.

BobThe motor was in poor condition when i bought it using around 200mls/hr (stuck rings in Pistons). It had a top end rebuild at 580 hrs.

 

I then suffered a no.2 exhaust valve head separation from the valve stem at around 650 hrs. This was mainly due to finding out afterwards that it was running too hot and too lean on a few cylinders. My factory temp gauge on no.6 always showed good temps. I then carried out a full rebuilt including new fine finned heads, Nickasil coated standard barrels (experiment), stainless valves, Full Egt and Cht monitoring of engine fitted etc etc and by around 750 hrs found excessive blowby . This was due to the valve guides being worn/oversize and the nickasil coating coming off the barrells (experiment didn't work). So at 750 hrs i again fully stripped the motor, New Pistons, New Barrels, new K liner inserts fitted to the heads, Ceramic coating etc. I sorted out heating issues and carby issues and now all temps are excellent. CHT's around 110 - 120 C down the hole in the head between the plugs. EGT's around 680 - 700 F at cruise and 620 - 650 F full power. I have now done 1008 hrs total time on airframe with 258 hrs on the latest rebuild and all signs are looking good. No oil usage between service intervals and 72 - 76 / 80 at the 1000hr service done 2 weeks ago.

 

Cheers

 

Andrew

IanSorry to hear you had to find out about the bushes the hard way.

I bought my Jabiru SP6 back in September 2009. I am fortunate enough to live in Bundaberg so i have always had one of the Jabiru guys carry out my 100 hourly services.

 

It was first registered in 2001 and had 560 hours on it when i bought it. During the 700 hr service back in 2010 they recommended we change front susspension bushes as well as doing the Main leg bolt upgrade, replace the rubbers and the seat belt mount position change. I do recall him saying something at that time about the Yellow bushes weren't as good as the red bushes that the now use. This was all done and i guess this has saved me from experiencing what you have just gone through.

 

The plane is going well with over 1000 hrs now and i will continue to have the 100hr services done at Jabiru just for the added piece of mind that if they are aware of any issues they will address it on my aircraft straight away.

 

Cheers

 

Andrew

 

(JabSP6)

OME, thanks for the pic down load info.

I think some honesty would go a long way on J's behalf.

Don't know what RA- Aus is doing on the matter.

Cheers Mark.

Ian.

I like that one. It can be fixed.

Thanks J170.

No damage, so no worries. For him that is. If you ask me Jabiru have a lot to answere for. How many timebombs are out there. Cheers David.

Hey Andy, thanks for the reply. They should have listened to you. No avgas leak this end. RA-Aus have a sample so we'll see what happens. This was about 3weeks ago. I was told there were no other failures. I'll check out that post. I wish I had found this website earlier. Sounds like someone doesn't like canned worms.

Ian.

Thanks David. RA-Aus said there were no other incidents.

Thanks planey.

People need to know of this problem now not when Jabiru have, quote "done their investigations." Judging on their email to me they definitely knew there was a problem with the bush. There is no time or cycle limitations on it. Mine is a 2002 year kit. Compleated in 2004. About 400 landings. Always hangared. The other was older, I'm not sure by how much. The bush looked fine on the outside and was still quite hard, but was like crumbly cheese on the inside. Anyone with these bushes definetly needs to change them. You would not want this to happen espessially on T/O as you have full power and landing wouldnot be much better. I will post a picture of it if I can work out how. I've Just Landed and am still finding my way [:{)

The pic won't upload as it exceeds the limit. I'll try putting it on my avitar.

Cheers to you. Ian.

The suspension bush collapsed without warning during runup check causing prop strike. I have already posted a more detailed thread.

The suspension bush collapsed without warning during the runup check about 3 weeks ago,causing the prop to contact the ground. Not happy:( Another pilot from my area heard of my misfortune and checked his ac. It looked ok until he poked and proded a little and then it fell to bits.We have both lodged SDR's with RA-Aus. Have had less than poor response from the Buisness Manager of Jabiru. She seems to want to blame me for not inspecting propperly but this is not the case. AC have always been stored in a hangar and well maintained. An email from their spares dept told me "the red bushes are better quality, and the yellow ones appear to wear out after a period of time." Thanks for nothing!!! I thought they were supposed to warn pilots of this in a Service Bulletin. I'm just lucky this did'nt happen on T/O or landing. I also had a passenger at the time. I don't want this to happen to someone else so have created this thread. Does anyone physically check their suspension? Apparently your supposed to although I can't find mention of it in the Flight Manual or Technical Manual or on their website.