boingk

5 year overhaul is something to be mindful of, and if yours is 9 then I'd go for seals and gaskets at the very minimum, assuming bores and pistons are alright. I would consider at least a topend bearing as well, as two strokes really do thrive on use and neglect will only yeild failure. - boingk

I would also wager that a set of regular foam earplugs rated to 25dB under your topmarket 25~30dB reduction passive headset would do the trick of far more expensive headsets. - boingk

I'm particularly liking my Rugged Air RA-900. Search for a seller 'ruggedradios' on ebay and you'll get factory direct pricing, too, with the RA-900 (full-flex boom, stero sound, 3.5mm jack in for music/audio, sidemounted PTT and nice comfy headset with 29dB noise reduction) coming in at about $185 landed. I swear by this headset so far and its comfort and noise reduction are brilliant in the aircraft I've flown so far - Skyfox Gazelle, C150M and Gardan Minicab (Cont A65 powered). Lowest fatigue headset I've used. Cheers - boingk This is it: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rugged-Air-RA900-Aviation-Pilot-Headset-Aircraft-NEW-/230404123790?pt=Motors_Aviation_Parts_Gear&hash=item35a527ec8e

I've heard a similar thing with motorcycles in regards to 'coming off', and think the use of both phrases - and all like them - is total bulldust. Its like saying there are only two types of pilots - those that have crashed, and those that are yet to crash. If you have an incident of any type in an aircraft you are familiar with (ie received appropriate training) then you are doing something wrong. - boingk

What are you thinking of doing? If an engine is sat idle for any prolonged period of time you get all sorts of problems coming up - leaking seals, brittle gaskets, carbys gunking up, ditto fuel lines, not to mention bore corrosion. You MUST use an engine regularly and service it as required. I would not want to do otherwise with the piece of mechanical engineering that is sustaining your flight! - boingk

Photo instructions: Right click photo you want after finding it via google.com/images search. Select 'attributes' or 'image properties'. Highlight (click & drage) all text with the web address - eg http://www.somewebsite.com/theimageyouwant.img While highlighted, hold Ctrl and then push 'C'. Now type ". Post the message and you'll see the image. Yay! - boingk

Bingo - thats exactly what was being taught this year to me during my initial flight training for Commercial, since abandoned. Also bingo on the not caring as long as the important bits are there. Cheers - boingk

Hi there Jack! One thing I do to help dust off after a while of not flying, or even just to relax after a night at work, is boot up a game on the PC called 'Aces High'. Its a free download game, google and you'll find it. Its a WWII combat simulator focussing on aerial combat etc, and I love running up a fighter plane and doing all the things you need to do to get it off the ground and performing well. Landings are great as well; they need the proper compliment of speed, gear extension, flap position and engine settings. You also get flight emergencies if you are damaged such as oil starvation or control surface damage, giving you interesting options about how to arrive safely home. I remember once dogfighting at 20,000ft in a Yakovlev 9u (Russian fighter) and getting the other guy but losing my engine oil due to a cowl hit. I shut her down and started gliding back over about 50 miles. The landing ended up being a bit of a non event, just a really long glide! Of course the best thing is to get back into the real world flying - I fly whenever possible and am currently in the process of selling my plane to buy one I'm more able to afford/justify. Hopefully I won't have too long in the changeover! Cheers - boingk

Exactly - if you notice an error correct it. The other day I was landing on 26 at Goulburn and incorrectly made a call indicating I was on downwind for 22. Immediately after the call I made another stating "Correction, turning downwind for runway 26." - boingk

Sopwith Camel Yakovlev 9U I-16 Rata I'd love any of them, and apparently there is a Rotec radial-powered I-16 somewhere that somone has made for themselves. Speaking of which, the Camel had better be powered by the Rotex job as well... don't think the consumption of Castor oil would be particularly cost effective. For the moment, I'm looking at a Preceptor N3 Pup; a half-VW powered, 3/4 size, single seat Piper J3. Cheers - boingk

Personally I do not see either one as 'safer', much as a fire without a guard is just as safe as one with a guard - you just need to pay attention and make sure that *you* are doing the appropriate things. A friend (who is an RAA instructor) told me no end about incidents and so-ons when I got my tailwheel endowed Minicab. I remember one story that went along the lines of a fellow nosing-over a near new something-or-other, and it happened 'for no reason'. I flat out called Bull Sh!t and told him that it must have resulted from pilot error - even with my low tailwheel time (15 hours or so) I am accutely aware that things will get out of hand if you let them. One other factor I suspect was that this particular fellow had never flown a tailwheel. I would recommend them to anyone as they are just another aircraft with a slightly different set of needs. No flaps? Sideslip. No nosewheel? Stay on that rudder and stick full back on takeoff then ease forward as your IAS rises toward takeoff speed. Same on landing but with speed slowing. Rudder full forward when taxiing with a tailwind. Other than that they fly just as nicely as any other aircraft, with the added bonus of having better aerodynamics due to the generally diminutive tailwheel. All my flying before the Minicab was in nosewheels (C150M and Skyfox Gazelle CA25N), and I have no qualms whatsoever (now that I have had tailwheel training) about flying tailwheels. Cheers - boingk

Well said guys. Standard calls for me are like the following: "Goulburn traffic, Minicab 0825 entering and lining up runway 22. Goulburn traffic." "Goulburn traffic, Minicab 0825 depart runway 22 for Crookwell, heading 297 degrees magnetic, on climb to 5000ft currently passing through 2500ft. Goulburn traffic." "Bathurst traffic, Cessna 150 WXR approximately 10 nautical miles to the South of aerodrome, inbound at XXXXft on descent to XXXXft. Expected arrival in circuit UTC XX. Bathurst traffic." "Minicab 0825 to Plane XXXX, currently in circuit and advise local conditions favouring runway 22 with moderate crosswind. Cloudbase 5000ft with nil precipitation, cannot advise of current weather beyond local area. Use caution on flight to Maruya as cloudbase appears close to mountain saddle, with tops in cloud. Would advise against. Minicab 0825" In all cases, except for last, I clearly state who I am, what I'm doing and what I will do. In the last I state who I am, where I am, and my advice on current conditions... as far as I am able to advise. I would not give further advice as I would not be in a position to do so - I was not expecting to head into Maruya that day and did not have a printed report with me. I could see the range you need to cross en route and advised on that. As long as you stick to the basics of who you are, where you are and what you're doing then you shouldn't go too far wrong. Cheers - boingk

Collapsible container available from hiking and outdoor shops with a capacity of 20L. That'd do it I reckon. Cheers - boingk

Thanks for the offer of the photo, that'd be great! As far as the rego goes, shes fine until mid next year as the previous owner (cheers Tim!) fixed that up for me. The photo is just old and one I originally got from him when I was making an enquiry. Last thing I want to do is get on the wrong side of the law - lost my roadgoing licence for a short time 2 years ago and that was bad enough! - boingk

Well it idles happily at 900rpm and anything below 750rpm it gets a little cantankerous... although it won't ever stop and minimum is 600~650rpm. I handprop mine to prime, about 12 blades does it nicely and then it should go first or second hit. Forgot to mention I don't have a starter motor :) - boingk

Tomo - shes got a Continental A65 in her, with 10 thou oversized pistons that are ceramic coated on the face and lightened and strengthened ala A75 specs. - boingk

Here we go Bigfella - one of the dash: Nothing too special, but your altitude, speed, vertical speed, mag compass, turn/bank are all there, complete with oil temp and pressure plus head and exhaust temp. Lol on the speed, eightyknots! Unfortunately I might soon be looking for something a bit simpler - my financial situation isn't that great and I may have to end up selling her. I was originally going to use her as an hour builder as part of my Commercial licence on the advice of the local flight school and its CFI. I am now not going that route (too many bad reports and economic termoil) so cannot really justify the cost anymore. Anyone interested? - boingk

Good writeup and article... heres how I took it: Did not have appropriate training OR rating for instrument flight Aircraft not rated for instrument flight, despite being so equipped Undertook instrument flight and developed spiral dive Inability to recover from dive Subsequent BRS deployment That certainly is breaking all the rules, and is not something to be taken lightly. Taking a craft into instrument flight conditions is total BS if nether you nor the craft are rated for it - what did he expect to happen? He's right about one thing though... he is incredibly lucky. Thanks for sharing. Incidentally, an artifical horison can indeed be an aid to flight in ways other than instrument flight - what about high level flight (7,500~10,000ft) where the orientation of the aircraft to the ground is not always immediately apparent? Just one idea. I think the main point here is that any instrument is useless if you are not equipped with the knowledge of how to use it properly. - boingk

$100 - Loan per week $50 - fuel/maintenance per hour $50 - weekly hangarage That adds up to $200 per week for flying one hour... or $250 for tweo hours, or $300 for three hours... and so on. I would not choose to hire if I could buy. - boingk

Flying for me is the same rate as hiring for one hour, inclusive of purchase, maintenance & running costs... and thats for one hour of flying per week; any subsequent hours are at a substantially reduced rate. I know several girls who like beer, too, all good lasses. My girl isn't one of them, but she's warming to it. She also likes cider and is a bit of a wine fan. Works well. Beer isn't so much the culprit of 'stretching you out'; that would be alcohol in general. Fat has 37kJ per gram whilst alcohol has 42kJ per gram - if you don't hit the gym/pavement/water/situps you will feel the effects eventually, no matter what. The fact that I eat like a teenager, drink like a fish and *don't* look like the broad side of a barn is testament to this! Back on topic... I have no idea how many hours I had to get my GFPT and RAA licences. Total is 70ish hours to date since the start of the year, with several months of zeros in there along the way. I was going for my commercial licence but have since abandoned that idea and am flying recreationally while using my degree to get into the now warming social sector, using my degree. - boingk

Cheers guys! And yeah... definitely loving it, burnt in stripe and all! That was the second sortie in two days; I'm limiting myself to an hour at a time initially while I rack up my initial solo taildragger hours. Last thing I want to do is push the envelope and come unstuck. One thing I love about this aircraft is that, coming from a CA25N Gazelle and a Cessna C150 Aerobat, it seems to have the best of both worlds: Better climb rate than the Gazelle Cruise approximating the Cessna (factoring climb to alt.) Economy of the Gazelle Comfort of the Cessna I really find that hard to argue with... and the fact thats its a pussycat to fly is icing on the cake! Cruise is 80kt, climb is 600fpm solo and economy is 14L/hr. She's sensitive in pitch but otherwise quite docile and well mannered in flight. Landings are 60kt /1st stage flap, 55kt / 2nd stage and landing at 50kt and flaring to 40~45kt and touchdown. I use 3rd stage of flap as a drag brake or for shortfield, and am coming in on 2nd stage about halfway down the grass strip at Goulburn. Only thing I'm not happy with at the moment is the printed starting instructions, as they recommend closed-throttle starts which are nigh impossible unless the planets align. I'm currently in favour of an 850~900rpm shutdown and subsequent starting from that position, as it won't provide enough thrust to move the plane once you unchock it and gives very positive & reliable starts both hot and cold. Only other both was the recommendation for 1st stage of flap for takeoff on the cheat sheet, as I found it uneccessary on either runway at Goulburn. I'll try and get some video figured out once I get skywards again... probably just my phone blutacked to the rear firewall but that should be enough. Cheers all! - boingk

Have finally got my aircraft into the air with only myself aboard, after requisite tailwheel training with the CFI. Loving it! - boingk

Thats hilarious. Wonder where the people monitoring the camera feeds were? Hell, even get an infra red camera to set off a preemptive alert if a thermal mass larger than a certain size gets within x meters... that'd work and be relatively cheap, too. Would have loved to see the look on the staff's faces when they realised what had happened :D - boingk

You can! PM sent. - boingk