newairly

I heard on the news yesterday that the NSW Government is to mandate the use of ethanol in all petrol at 10% bt 2011. What will be the option for most ultralight engines where ethanol blends are a no-no. I do not operate from an airport and have no access to aviation fuel. I understand that ethanol blends are also unsuitable for many outboard motors and many small engines.thumb_down Phil

It could be RF getting into the mic/intercom. This could happen if the antenna or cable is faulty causing RF to be radiated away from the antenna. Maybe something has changed. I have a similar problem with an Icom A20. I can not use a headset with the built in whip, but it is OK with an antenna mounted remotely. Good luck. These things can be very frustrating. Phil

What engine do you intend using on your Tyro? There seems to have been a range used from Rotax 447 to VW conversions. I have a Tyro with 447. Phil

Winch launching is a tremendous buzz. One moment you are standing still and a couple of seconds later you are pointing at the sky and aiming at a convenient cloud. The climb angle and rate is staggering. Of course there is always the possibility of a loud thump as the cable breaks and leaves you in an interesting attitude. That is what training is for! If you get the chance do it. Phil

What a great bit of gear! I hate to think what it costs though. The motor bike job is $200 each . Not bad if it is a good headset. Phil

Hi all, I wonder if one of these could be adapted as an intercom for ultralights LBH Retail It is an intercom system for motor bikes which uses Bluetooth to communicate and can also communicate to other devices, such as mobile phone, GPS. If there was an Bluetooth interface for a radio it would be perfect. No wires. Any thoughts. Phil

Just wondering. Can gyroplanes be registered as ultralights, or do they have their own regulations and organisation to control their operation. Phil

I agree that it is time that some rational discussion appeared to counter the hysteria about green lasers and aircraft. This web page has a very understandable discussion about the real situation. http://www.equipped.org/lasers_airliners.htm There are many other authoritative sources that can be easily found by a Google search. It is clear that 5mW class green laser pointers pose absolutely no threat to aircraft at any distance. Note that 5mW is 5 times the proposed maximum power to be allowed in Australia. In addition note the discussion about the current use of lasers as distress beacons. The idea is that these can be shone at a search aircraft to take advantage of the superb visibility of these devices. No problems seen there it seems. There is absolutely no need for action to be taken to ban these devices, or to charge people deliberately targeting aircraft because there is no risk to public safety. They should be charged with stupid behaviour perhaps! The only risk comes from the hysterical press reaction. Phil

Below is an extract from the handbook for the Curtis JN-4, the famous "Jenny" from 1918. ie. 90 years ago. What is said is still generally good advice for low performance ultralights. Even the gliding range looks similar. Phil -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation JN4-D Hand Book 1918 HINTS ON FLYING RIGHT HAND TRACTORS (1) Look over machine in general way. (2) Be sure of gasoline, oil and water. (3) Test motor for revolutions. (4) Be sure controls are working properly. TAKEOFF (5) Start off full power directly into wind. (6) Watch your direction carefully and counteract with right rudder the machine’s tendency to turn to the left, due to the propeller’s air blast striking the left side of fin more forcibly than the right side. (7) After attaining a few feet headway, raise the tail with controls and keep it in this position to prevent machine from leaving the ground until it is well past its minimum flying speed, at the same time watching your direction carefully. If your course permits keep your machine on the ground until its maximum reached. Then, very easily and smoothly, take it off the ground. By following the above plan of a high speed take-off a large degree of safety is assured, for if engine trouble develops soon after, you have surpassed the machine’s rninimum flying speed and you have a good chance to pick a landing spot that would not he possible if the take—off were made at slow speed, for the machine would immediately start sinking on loss of power and also lose its controllability to a large degree. (8) The most dangerous place for engine failure is just after leaving the ground. (9) When once under way it is advisable to attain a safe altitude as soon as possible, and it will be found that the best results can he attained by a high speed, low-angle climb rather than a slow speed, large angle. A steady, fast climb is the best for all purposes. (10) After a height of not less than 800 feet, a turn can he contemplated. It is advisable to reach a higher altitude if possible, hut do not attempt one lower unless necessity demands to miss obstructions or to play safe on a certain forced landing spot in case of engine trouble. (11) Never forget that the engine may stop, and at all times keep this in mind and plan on a safe landing place within gliding distance of wherever you may he. If you are still on the climb and wish to make a rather short turn, nose the machine over until you are flying level so as to keep the speed high. At the same time bring to play the rudder and ailerons in the correct proportions and in the proper directions to give a smooth, even turn. A large, easy turn with little bank is more to be encouraged than short, sharp ones, using a steep bank, for if banking is not properly done either skidding or side—slipping develops, both of which, if carried too far, are very dangerous. At no time let your machine attain a high angle of climb, for in so doing you are encouraging it to stall which would necessitate considerable altitude to recover from safely. At all times remember that although you are controlling the actions of the machine it has a considerable amount of stability itself, and he a little free with the controls rather than stiff and rigid. (12) Do not at any time jerk the controls, but he firm and steady and above all smooth in their operations. This forms a quiet and confident mind which is invaluable in flying; also it reduces the strains on the machine to the minimum. Now that a safe altitude has been reached your anxiety diminishes, for with height there is safety; hut remember to keep within gliding distance of a landing place. (13) Directions of wind here enter on the gliding possibilities of your machine, for although at all times you go the same rate of speed through the air your relations with the ground change with the wind, so if you have to glide into a wind you cannot glide as far over the ground from a given height as you can if the same wind were behind you. You will also notice by flying in a side wind that in order to keep a straight course over the ground the machine must he swung around into the wind on an angle depending on the velocity of the wind. ‘[his is to offset the drift of the machine. (14) Drift must also be counted on in making turns, for by side drifting the horizon appears to be moving in the opposite direction, which is very apt to mislead one as to his actual turning from the result of the rudder. LANDING (15) When within the correct distance for a glide of medium velocity to your contemplatedlanding place, shut off the engine and nose machine over to the proper gliding angle and head for the field in a direction to bring you directly into the wind. If you find you are too close to the field and your machine is developing excessive speed, start “S-ing†to reduce your speed as well as altitude, If you have considerable altitude to spare an easy spiral may he executed, but neither of these should be tried unless you are perfectly confident of their success. The best way is a long, straight glide into the field, and it gives one a fine chance to judge distance and wind. (16) Never glide too flat for your speed falls off and you settle instead of glide down. In so doing your controls become inactive to a large degree, and this must he avoided in all cases. A strong blast must be on all controls in the correct direction at all times to have the machine sensitive to their movements When you have glided toward the field and are still about fifty feet from the ground you should start leveling off, but gradually allow the machine to glide down within about six feet of the ground where the final leveling off begins. At this point the machine is skimming along, neither rising nor falling, until its velocity wanes, then as it sinks you increase the wings’ angle to the air so as to bring the lift again up to the weight of the machine for its loss in speed. As the speed lessens the angle should increase more rapidly until the machine is flying in the correct position for landing at its minimum flying speed. At this point the machine should be just grazing the ground with its wheels and tail skid. Only practice will perfect landings, for it’s only a combination of good judgment of distances and speeds. (17) In making turns you will notice the marked tendency of the machine to nose down on a right-hand turn and to climb on a left one, the latter not being so noticeable as the former. These peculiar actions of the machine are caused by the gyroscopic force of the revolving propeller and must he compensated by the elevators to keep the machine level. In banks of over 20 degrees the rudder and elevators begin to exchange their proper actions with one another until the vertical is reached, when the change is complete. This must be clearly understood, for to expect the elevators to control the horizontal balance of the machine when on a steep bank and the rudder to control the direction of same might end disastrously. (18) The most common danger at present to new students is the spinning nose dive or tail spin. Although it is not dangerous to the man who knows how to get out of one, it is very wise for the beginner to stay well away front the possibilities of having the chance to see if he can get out of one. There are several ways of getting started on a spin, but excessive banking with considerable rudder on seems to be the foremost way of all. In turning, if the nose falls due to stalling or some other cause, a spin may develop. In a spin the ailerons and elevators are useless, for the air blast strikes them from the side instead ot straight on. The only available control is the rudder, and this is your best friend. All the possible rudder should be put on in the opposite direction than you are spinning even if you have to put both feet on one side of the rudder bar. Remember to hold that rudder and keep the motor going full to supply all the possible air blast. This is the only remedy and if you have enough altitude you have nothing to worry about. The centrifugal force of the revolving machine must first be stopped and this takes place somewhat slowly, hut as soon as you feel the rudder acting you will feel your elevators and ailerons regaining their control, whereby you can complete the work started by the rudder and regain your proper balance. END

Again from the horses mouth FAR Part 1, Section 1.1, Definitions, defines "time in service," with respect to maintenance time records, as that time from the moment an aircraft leaves the surface of the earth until it touches it at the next point of landing. That seems pretty definite. Could make some difference to mandatory maintenance costs for fixed hour items. Phil

The washing machine pressure switch is a good idea. I even have some! They appear adjustable as well. I want to use the hour meter to record air frame hours. I have a unit similar to a "Tiny Tach" which records engine running hours as part of its functions. The engine is a Rotax 447 so no oil pressure. Phil

Hi, Can anyone help me to find a source for an Airspeed Switch to use in conjunction with an hourmeter to enable the recording of actual flying time. The switch connects to the pitot pressure and closes at (I believe) about 27mph IAS. Do most ultralights have this sort of thing installed, and if not why not? Phil

The energy content of ethanol is lower per unit volume that petroleum so you would expect a significant increase in fuel consumption. About 2% increase at 10%ethanol. eg E10 However the only time I have tried it, on a long trip in NW NSW using ordinary unleaded one way and E10 back, I seemed to get better economy with E10. That was in a 2000 Magna wagon. The overall fuel consumption was about 8.5l/100km. Ethanol is an oxygenate and supposedly helps reduce some emissions so maybe it can promote more efficient combustion. However I would not use it (E10) in a Rotax because some fuel system components may be incompatable. Have a look at the article "the good, the bad, and the ugly of oxygenated fuels" on this web site which also has a wealth of other useful info about Rotax http://www.800-airwolf.com/articles.htm Phil

Can ArmorAll be used over dope, such as Randolph? Is there any advantage and does it prevent repairs from sticking? Phil

Also look at http://www.ultralightnews.com/features/oilworks.htm Phil

Take a look at http://www.ultralightnews.com/features/oiltest.htm They compare 4 types of 2 stroke oil using 4 brand new Rotax 503 engines. A very meaningful test for most ultralight owners. Pennzoil comes out extremely well and is what I use. It is low ash. $33 for 4 litres at my local stockist. Cheaper than the Castrol at Repco. Phil

I would not fill any plane from a container without using a "Mr Funnel" to catch contamination, especially water. They are also made of conductive plastic which reduces risk of sparking. Phil

I have had, and still have, the same problem with an Altronics headset and an Icom IC-A40. This has been covered extensively in a long series of posts a couple of months ago. A search should find it. In my case using an external aerial well away from the hand held stopped the feedback. It is impossible to use if the antenna on the handheld is used. Phil

What happens when the engine stops? I don't think it would control too well under autorotation. Phil

Yenn, I saw that one also. In a another article he says that later information from people who read the exhaust suggestion leads him to believe that mixture is often the problem. I would think that if the mixture is wrong in that intermediate region where both the needle jet and main jet control the mixture it may not be possible to hold an intermediate RPM because as the RPM rises the incorrect mixture may cause the power to drop. I suppose this could be either too rich or too lean. In my case I think too lean because this the full power condition. My exhaust is Rotax standard. I have also seen a reassembly guide for the Bing which says that the sieve sleeve should be positioned with the bottom level with the main jet, and that it will "assume the correct position" when the float bowl is fitted. This suggests that it is meant to sit in the recess at the bottom of the bowl. phil

Where should the sieve sleeve sit? I am puzzled about the location of the sieve sleeve in the carby. The one that was in when I got the aircraft was located at the top of the mixing tube, and fitted quite tightly because it appears that the plastic rings top and bottom had shrunk amking the sleeve barrel shaped. In this position I can not see what it would do as no fuel seems to pass through it to the main jet. The new one I got is a loose fit and sits in the well at the bottom of the float chamber where it would appear to be in the fuel flow. One reference says that the purpose of the sieve sleeve is to stop bubbles entering the main jet so this location makes sense to me. However none of the guides to reconditioning Bing Carburettors mention where the sleeve is supposed to be. Help. Phil

Thanks for the suggestion, but I checked that. My problem is lean mixture at full power. Phil

Bob, Responses to your suggestions, Altitude is higher than before. Previously about 500ft, now 2500ft. This should give a richer mixture. The exhaust system is untouched and is a standard Rotax. I have checked it for any blockages, eg. from mud wasps, by removing and soaking with water for a day and vigourously shaking. Nothing came out. I have carefully checked for possible carby leaks and can not find any places. The O ring is in place on the top cover. Prop is a fixed pitch Bolly, so no issue there. Static RPM on ground is approv 6350 I am probably 20kg lighter than previous owner, but ground run is similar to climb in flight for EGT. Oil is the same. Still using some given by previous owner. Pennzoil and ULP at 50:1 carefully measured. I don't think the rigging is different, but yes, both ailerons point very slightly up compared to the bottom surface of the wing. I asked Dafydd Llewellyn about this and he did not think it was an issue. Do you have any other comments? I have looked at http://www.800-airwolf.com/articles.htm What an excellent resource! Pity the scanning is a bit lght in density. In part 11, page 2 he again talks about problems holding RPM and comes to the conclusion that as well as exhaust systems it can also be caused by mid range mixture. He suggests using the choke as a diagnostic. I will try that. I also looked at matronics.com which is where I got the idea that lean mixture might be a cause for hunting in RPM I guess the next thing is to order another main jet, 170 this time and see what happens. Given that the EGT is fine at lower throttle settings it seems that the needle may be OK. At full throttle the needle is out of the needle jet according to the descriptions. I wonder if the needle jet may be partially blocked? The engine runs smoothly from idle at approx 2000RPM to full power, 6350 static and does not complain about rapid throttle openings. My next thing to try is the effect of applying choke while at full power. Apparently it will still enrichen the mixture and give a guide as to what is the problem. I can also try turning on the electric priming pump. Thank you again for giving me so much advice. Phil

Not out of the woods yet Firstly, thanks for the many really useful replies. After looking through the incredible amount of information available about setting up Bing carburettors I found a description of how to check the fuel level in the float bowl http://www.ultralightnews.ca/bing/bingservice.html The level was about 3-4mm low. wonderful I thought, maybe this is the problem, so I adjusted the Float Arm to get it to the specified 1/2 inch below the rim with the floats removed. So far so good. I then tied the aircraft down with a longish rope to allow full power runs on the ground. Result. EGT at full power is still about the same, 1200+, but at lower power levels the EGT drops to about 1100 which is fine. But I still find that is is impossible to get a steady RPM around 5400. It wants to go up to 5800 or down to 5000. I have heard that this may be caused by too lean a mixture and I guess that the main jet is still the main controller for this region. I now have the needle clip on the middle position and a 165 main jet, up from 160 originally. Both as per the Bing chart. It seems that I need an even bigger main jet. At full throttle the fuel flow is probably not influenced much by the fuel level because of the high suction in the venturi. What really puzzles me is that the previous owner claims that he did not have these problems, and in fact the plugs seemed to confirm this when I first removed them. Can anyone shed more light please:help: Phil

Thanks BobT, There is quite a lot to contemplate in your reply! I have looked at the needle. When I pulled it out I found that the clip was on the top (leanest) position. Aha I thought, maybe that is part of the problem. The Bing table says it should be in the middle groove. Also went to one size larger main jet. Hovever no obvious difference on the next flight. CHT still reading 1200. It drops to about 1100 at 5400 RPM. I tried turning on the booster pump in case it was a fuel flow problem. No effect. The EGT probe is a single one at the junction of the 2 ports. I know this is not recommended, but that is what I got. I read that the reading in this position can be well above the actual correct reading. Any experience? Plugs suggest that EGT is not excessive. Light brown. My next effort will be to tether the plane on the ground so I can do full power tests without actually taking to the air. I also want to check the static RPM at full power. In flight it seems low, about 6400 RPM. I have checked the fan belt tension and checked for obstructions around the heads. I have also removed the exhaust and checked for any obstructions, eg mud wasp deposits. I am not sure what you mean about the float level. What do you mean about "the float should be just horizontal when the petrol starts to come out" I will also check the timing. Yes, my 447 has the Bosch points ignition. The Rotax manual describes the procedure well. The prop is a fixed pitch Bolly which is claimed to be matched to this engine. I will get on top of this eventually! Fortunately the plane is operated from my own strip so I can try things without having to leave home. Phil