boingk

I used to be charged $185/hr (I think?) for hiring a Gazelle, including all landing and fuel costs. Now I pay $50 a week hangar rent, $105 on the loan for the plane and the remaining $30 would make up my fuel & oil cost for an hours flying. If you factor in maintenance at $10 an hour then all I need to do is fly more than one hour a week to make parity with hiring... so why not own the aircraft? Do the math. Buying can certainly be an unexpectedly reasonable option. Cheers - boingk

extralite raises a good point - I myself am considering using my flying personally and getting a job in the sector I got a degree in... unfortunately my sector was somewhat devastated by the current government and is only now bouncing back after radical cuts in the last few years. Have a chat with the people who are actually doing it. Cheers - boingk

Bingo again. I've paid too many times only to have somone f*** it up, so apart from a trusted few dealers I do most things myself, too. - boingk

Possibly not, but then again I didn't design the engine. All I know is 'Diesel Oil' has been very good in similar engines; similar in that they're asked to sustain 5,000rpm through a unit gearbox for long periods of time. Bingo. Cheers - boingk

Getting edgy guys, and seriously... I am in no way condoning that everyone rush out and buy Delo 400 and use it in their engines. Why do people keep saying that I am? I will reiterate yet again - for the third time - that if you even think of using an unfamiliar oil, ask the guys that made the engine about it. They will straight up be able to tell you either yes or no. If they can't give you a definitive answer then do not use the oil. Regards - boingk

Ah righteo Mick, yeah going back to 80kt would be a bit frustrating then! Sorry to hear about the injury, always a bugger when something like that gets in the way. Cheers - boingk

Mick, check out a Gardan Minicab if you can - I'm a reasonably largish fellow (6'2"/90kg) and have no worries fitting into my Minicab with an equally largish fellow seated next to me. Its got reasonable cruise figures (80kt solo / 75kt dual @ 15l/hr) and flies nicely. On the poll I voted 'I'm happy with the one I have' as yeah... I'm happy with it! Cheers all - boingk

Vev - Now worries, although I don't know why you'd be concerned about my posting or the reasoning behind it. I merely brought up an oil that I've run for thousands of kilometers, over a wide range of conditions, in very high performance engines with integral clutches and gearboxes. I twice recommended that anyone even considering it do the appropriate research first - this would most likely be contacting the factory and asking them if the oil is suitable. Dazza - Fair call on the factory recommended oils, but to be honest I haven't got a lot of faith in motorcycle and automotive manufacturers recommendations... apart from oil weight and change interval recommendations of course. For most modern bikes, any decent synthetic oil in 10W-40 would be fine and I would highly recommend Dello 400 15W-40 due to my good experiences with it so far and the literally night and day difference in gearchange feel. As for diesel engine oils... they are generally intended for long service lives at high temperatures and are therefore often made with some of the best base stock you can get. They generally contain higher amounts of zinc di-phosphate (ZDP) and other protective, anti-wear additives than other oils (thats a good thing) and are generally quite suitable for many modern engines. Again, I would strongly recommend doing all appropriate research before using any unfamiliar oil in your aircraft. Regards - boingk

Mobil 1 series is a very high grade oil and as far as I'm aware may be suitable. I would refer to manufacturers specs to be sure - both engines' and oils'. One oil I would recommend at least looking into is the Dello 400 range - it is intended for 'mixed fleet' use and is formulated primarily for long service interval deisels. I've been using it in my motorcycles (VTR1000F / XR600R) for a few thousand kay and can so far say that its the best oil I've used in terms of engine smoothness and gearshift feel. Doesn't seem to be going 'downhill' as quickly as other oils I've used as time goes on, either. Again, I'm not saying go out and use this stuff in your aeroplane... but its been good to me in my motorcycles and is certainly worth doing some research on. Cheers - boingk

Damn... thats unfortunate mate. I'd be spewing if that happened to me, especially as my aircraft is wood/fabric and would most likely need a recover! I'm in the process of sprucing the Minicab up and am considering leaving my phone number on the side of the fuselage, under the canopy. If anyone has any questions/comments/death threats then they are more than welcome to call. Should probably add that I'm in a shared (and locked to non-members) hangar. Haven't met everyone yet but those I have seem like great people. Cheers - boingk

My 'Cab has an easily accesible engine and panel... ...but you have to hand start the thing Human factors? - boingk

Wow icebob... thats something! And yeah a carrier landing sure would be hair raising at night, crazy stuff indeed. Solomon, I've got a saying; dream your life, then live the dream. I'm doing it at the moment and would advise you to as well. If the dream is to be a fighter pilot, then go for gold. Cheers - boingk

Yep, under reporting for sure. I had the flying schools C150M have a stumble on me at about 5,500ft over Braidwood on the way to Moruya. First thoughts were carby ice so I put in carby heat. Sure enough, after about 30 seconds it improved markedly and I was on my way again. Does that constitute a report? What exactly does? Cheers - boingk

Awesome.... lost for words. Would love to have flown some of the aircraft that you have while in service, must've been a grand feeling mate. - boingk

Yeah mate I queried the previous owner about it and he pointed to two names decalled onto the fuselage under the lefthand side of the canopy. He told me they were cabinet makers and part time aircraft constructors, who were also previous owners. They apparently gave the craft an inspection about 5 years ago and noted that the airframe was in 'very good original condition' and would have no doubts as to its strength to original parameters. You can see the patched inspection points on the airframe if you look for them. I went into this very sceptical, on the basis that buying a craft worked out better than renting one. I believe that after the money spent on new prop, tyres, and batteries I will have invested a further $700 or so into the aircraft. This is fine by me and is mostly filed under 'preventative maintenance'. Cheers - boingk

Well, everytime I look in the back of an RAAus mag theres at least one - if not two or three - incidents involving a Jabiru powered craft either neccessitating a shut down or suffering mechanical failure of some sort. I reckon the poor old Jabiru design is either suffering 'tall poppy' syndrome via market saturation or the design is being overstressed. The internal combustion engine may well be somewhat 'off the mark' as far as perfection goes, but then again it is easily constructed, maintained and operated. I say thats a pretty good deal. As for environments that weren't anticipated... thats crap. All air designers know that engines may well be used anywhere in the world and under almost any condition - thats the precise nature of aircraft. The Merlin engines were reliable in Lancasters because they were detuned and subjected to much kinder operating conditions. They were somewhat cantankerous in Spitfires because of their greatly increased state of tune, and the fact that they were operating on, what was then, the edge of the possible. I would also say that the wartime demand had stressed the production facilities and maintenance to the point of impacting on reliability, too. An EGT is almost a neccessity in an aircraft and I would be somewhat uncomfortable without one as they can show up engine problems as they start and before they become a dangerous emergency situation. They also show good engine tuning, running condition and are cheap and easy to install. 'Hot and hard' may well sound a bit harsh but you need reasonable operating temps and efficienct combustion (ie hot and hard) to run an engine at its best. THis also happens to prevent carbon buildup, sticking rings, etc. No mixture control? Either its EFI or something is seriously wrong. Light aircraft are, like anything, quite safe when operated and maintained correctly. I could, for example, be out flying my Minicab at the moment as its a gorgeous day here in Goulburn. However, I am of the sorts not to want to fly on a tyre going bald, nor a prop that is structurally ok but also over 42 years and 900 hours old! The way I see it is that if people take risks, they accure a 'luck debt'. Like all major owings, sooner or later the debt collector comes around. In aviation, he wears a dark hooded robe and carries a scythe. CHeers - boingk

The Bob Tait series was good for me, straight forward with easy to follow diagrams that help you wrap your head around the concepts. Cheers - boingk

Definitely get fit - when I was going through the application for various agencies the physical was what got most people. I was shocked, for example, when I turned up to an AFP fitness session and saw probably 60% or more of the candidates fail! Mind you, there also weren't many outside warming up with me beforehand ;D I'd second the situps and pushups, and also the running - I did a routine similar to what sain laid out above, with the exception of timing my runs. I ended up being able to do 2 back-to-back sets of 50 situps and two back-to-back sets of 25 pushups. I was fine for situps but pushups tested me; although I passed I would recommend a minimum target of 35 consecutive in under 2 minutes. Running was 2km in under 10 minutes and I passed the required level 8 on the beep test fine. One word on beep tests, too: practice one beforehand if you can. They are not intuitive and you need to know how they work. 95% of the people at my fitness session did not know how a beep test worked and I would estimate half may not have failed if they did know. Everyone was running ahead of the beeps and having to pause at the other side, when you are supposed to run continuously and place your foot on (or over) the line and turn around again at the beep. If you look 'the beep test' up on wikipedia you should find a link to an MP3 music file so you can practice it. Cheers - boingk

Also the whole of Al Stewarts album 'Year of the Cat'. - boingk

Hell yeah on Neil Diamond... first time I heard him I was flying. Mind you, I was 'flying' on the ampuole of general anaesthetic that had just been shot into my, prior to the removal of my wisdom teeth. The surgeon then turned on his music and I was totally floored... I managed to ask who it was and do not remember much after that! Cheers - boingk

CPL will also have higher levels of knowledge which impact on stall recovery - altitude, TAS, available thrust, g-loading and aircraft weight all have an impact. I'm sure there are other factors which I do not yet know of. You are correct, however, in acknowledging that all pilots must show competant stall recovery technique prior to first solo. Most sensible thing I've heard - ask from information from those that've been there. I, for one, am only talking from the point of somone who has gone through application stage and subsequently decided to 'go it alone' and get my CPL via a flight school. Obviously anything I'll say will be somewhat biased to some extent by that. - boingk

Compulsion - I bought my first headset a few months back and its a Rugged Air RA-900. Search for them on eBay under the seller 'ruggedradios' which is the factory direct supplier. This headset comes equipped with a 3.5mm jack for iPhones, iPods and other musical devices. They play through the headset at a level thats easy to listen to, but is overridden by all but the lowest (ie right before the 'off' click) levels of intercom and radio chatter. Any normal level will override it easily and clearly I have found. I can also vouch for pilot comfort, ease of use and general overall quality and would recommend this headset to anyone. They cost around $170 shipped from the US supplier. Link is here. Cheers - boingk

This is part of the reason I mentioned 'Commercial Pilot' and not 'Recreational' or 'Private' pilots. Commercial pilots are (or should be) held to a higher standard than either rec or private pilots. There is more in depth learning and higher standards in almost every area of involvement. This is true of everything from personal grooming to stall recovery. I would not suggest launching a career as a commercial pilot before joining the RAAF, but I would seriously consider making your way towards it. If your application is successful, then so be it, and if not... then you have your career path set out for you. Cheers - boingk

Hi mate, I've been down the road you're looking at... and while I'd encourage you to work hard (and it will be hard) towards your goal, I'd also like to point out a few 'hard truths': Military aviation is highly controlled, both in terms of flying hours and sorties flown. It is rare for somone to become a military pilot before being a commercial one. Candidates are hand picked from THE BEST. What this means is that you - assuming you get past the initial testing phase - need to be performing at a 100% success rate for every flight maneuver they put you through. Their testing is done on a 'I show, you do' basis and you generally need hundreds of hours of experience to even rate as you must perform their required items 100% successfully each and every time... the first time. Although it is a healthy - and awesome! - goel to set yourself, chances are you will be better off flying commercially. At some stage you may then transfer to the military and become trained on their equipment. This is what I would do, were I to go down that road again. Personally? I'm quite happy owning my own aircraft and learning to fly commercially. For example, my local field owner has said he 'likes my flying and personality' and has offered me a job if I'm willing to do my RAA Instructor rating - I think thats not a bad first step as a commercial pilot. Cheers, and remember; dream your life... then live the dream! - boingk

Thants the way... good songs guys. I'll throw a few random ones out there: Cheers - boingk