Eric McCandless

Thanks everyone. There is a lot of good advice here and I'm sorry if I have caused any angst. I didn't think to ring Jabiru, as I thought that Jabiru had provided all their current data in the manuals I have downloaded from their site. I would not think Jabiru would take too kindly to answering phone calls from people when they have already published their best advice on their web site. I would assume they would get sick of that.

The Jabiru J170 POH says in the pre-flight inspection section 7.5 Wing Strut Mount Bolts.............................CHECK Security** ** - Wing strut bolts must not be tightened. Nut should just bear on washer. The strut mount bolts appear to be obscured by covers, so I can't even see them. Surely I don't need to remove the covers for each preflight inspection? Maybe I have mis-interpreted the POH.

I cannot find reference anywhere to whether the the Jabiru J170 oil level should be checked hot or cold? If one or the other, is there a procedure to compensate for checking when hot instead of cold or vice versa? e.g. oil level is 5mm higher when hot etc? Also from what I have read, it seems that the best oil level strategy is not to fill to the full mark, but to the halfway mark, otherwise the engine will tend to just spit it out. Any comments or experience with that?

Can anyone advise what maintenance is needed for the Jabiru J170 oil overflow bottle? I noticed that my overflow bottle is full. It has 10 hours since a 200 hour service. Is that normal? Should it be emptied manually, or does it empty itself in flight, or does it just stay full all the time? What is the procedure for emptying?

The oil cover sticker on my J170 says to use Aeroshell W100 in summer and 15W50 in winter. The JEM2204-10 Instruction And Maintenance Manual For Jabiru 2200 Aircraft Engine, at section 3.2 says to use Aero Oil W Multigrade 15W-50, or equivalent. Section 3.5.2 says to use W100 for temps 15°C to 35°C and W80 for -17°C to 25°C. Section 8 says “Use 2.2 litres of W100 oil for normal operation or W80 oil for cold weather operation. Shell also manufacture a multigrade oil Aeroshell 15W50 which is particularly suited for operations in cold climates.” My aircraft is located at Goulburn which gets cold in winter (0 degrees) but also hot in summer (30 degrees). Any advice on whether I should use two different oils for summer/winter, or can I use one type only (W100 or 15W50) ?

Hi GG, Thanks for the tips. My instructor says I should complete the setup (flaps & speed) on base and thus have "nothing else to do" on final to give me time to concentrate on maintaining the final approach. This seems a sensible approach (pardon the pun) for an inexperienced person. I just need to work on how to slow the aircraft down and deal with ground effect. I only have 3 + 2 circuits in it so far. I use a GPS data logger called an iBlue 747, which I bought back in 2007, so it is a little out of date now. It can record up to 64,000 data points. At a 1 second logging rate (presettable from 1 -999 secs), that is enough for about 17 hours. The rechargeable battery lasts for about 20 hours. I just switch it on and put it in my pocket. You can buy them on eBay for $50-$100. Some of the newer units now record up to 10 data points per second which is probably not needed. I find my unit to be accurate in the horizontal dimension, as well as speed and heading, but not so accurate in the vertical (height) where it seems to have some hysteresis (lags behind) for some reason. It connects to a PC via a USB cable and the included software overlays the track onto Google Earth. The software is also supposed to plot in 3D, but I have never been able to get 3D to work despite lots of fiddling.

07 July 12 - Updated current diary on Google docs

30 June 12 - Updated current diary on Google docs.

Updated diary for 23 June 12

Hmm, scary. This makes me want to look at the propeller even harder from now on.

Hi Robinsm, That was one of the reasons why I decided to post my diary (potentially embarrassing myself), so that potential students would get a sense of what was involved in the journey and what a joy it is. Also for new students so as to not get discouraged or frustrated by knowing that at least some of us are not perfect students either and don't go solo in 6-8 hours, mess up their radio calls, or get their pilot certificate in the minimum 20 hours.

Thanks Motzartmerv. Your right, the FMOST checklist I use does not specifically address whether the propeller is turning (windmilling) or not. This is a generic checklist given to me by my instructor. If the propeller is still spinning, I would go through this checklist with the spinning propeller. If the prop is stopped, then I would run through the FMOST using the starter button appropriately e.g. fuel pump on, hit starter, and work throttle back and forth, etc. The J170 POH says "6.2.2 Airstart & Limitations. In the event that the engine is stopped during flight, it may be restarted by application of fuel & ignition, provided that the propeller is still windmilling. The propeller may stop windmilling below 50 KIAS". But it then goes on the say : "3. Airspeed……REDUCE UNTIL PROPELLER STOPS TURNING,,,,,,,,, 9. Starter Button…………………………………… Depress...... 11. Repeat as necessary, ensuring propeller has stopped before each restart attempt.". So I am a bit confused. One part seems to indicate that the engine can can be restarted if the propeller is still turning, but another part says to stop the propeller first before attempting to restart. Have I misinterpreted it incorrectly, or is this just badly written? Why would anyone purposely stop the propeller for a restart and then rely on the starter motor? Surely it would be better to keep the propeller spinning for a restart attempt. Obviously if all attempts to restart fail and you want to get best glide, then stopping the propeller reduces drag. Yes I am having a whole bunch of fun and can't wait until I do some navs.

updated diary of 9 June

Thank you all for the advice. It has made it a lot clearer to me now. I also discovered another thread on this forum discussing some technical aspects which I found very enlightening. Thanks.

I am trying to determine whether my 2200B engine can be fitted with 7/16" through bolts as I am trying to minimise risk of through bolt failures. I have a factory built J170-C (Nov 2008) with engine s/n 22B-144 with 210 hours. I have read the service bulletins from Jabiru but still cannot determine which serial number range the 7/16" bolts were applicable to and whether they can be fitted to earlier engines. My engine has had AD JSB-013 with the 12 point nuts, so I assume that mine has the original 3/8" bolts (short thread) (my aircraft is not handy to be able to check). Should I consider fitting the longer 3/8" through bolts or can the 7/16" through bolts be installed on my engine? If 7/16" can be fitted, would this involve engine modifications to fit the larger bolts? Have there been any reported 7/16" through bolt failures? Any advice would be appreciated.

13 May 12 - Updated current diary on Google docs. Added ferry flight Coominya - Wyreema - Goulburn 12 & 13 May 12.

I have not flown it yet and I have not done any stall training in the Jabiru, so I don't any first hand experience with stalls. The pilot did not attempt any stalls during the ferry flight. I need to get instruction from my instructor at Goulburn and I am not due for a lesson for another 2 weeks for various reasons. I am told by the pilot Daniel who flew it that during the check flight at Coominya, the CFI John demonstrated 2 different stall characteristics. The first is with no power where it stalls level, i.e. no wing drop. The second is with some power applied where the left wing drops pretty quickly, apparently caused by the prop wash. I do recall from my familiarisation flight late last year at Coominya with John during a left hand climbing turn stall that the wing dropped very quickly (my first stall experience in an aircraft which was a little scary). This concerns me obviously and I need to investigate the stall characterisics further with my CFI. I am not sure what can be done about it. I am used to the Gazelle which is so tame in a "stall", it just mushes and loses height. Is this typical for a Jabiru?

I wish I could claim a relationship with Rex and Cromie McCandless, but I don't know of one. My brother did own a Norton featherbed many years ago.

Thanks to Daniel, my Jabiru J170-C aeroplane (toy) is now nicely tucked away in a hangar at Goulburn. We flew my J170 from Wyreema to Goulburn on Sunday 13 May, a distance of 545 nm in 7.1 hours (by the hour meter). I flew commercially to Brisbane Friday evening and was picked up by my brother-in-law and sister at the airport and stayed the night in Toowoomba. The following morning, we picked up the ferry pilot, Daniel from Wyreema just south of Toowoomba, and travelled to Coominya. After a check flight for Daniel at Coominya with John the CFI, we flew to Clifton for a club BBQ with some very friendly club members, then back to Toowoomba to fuel up ready for the flight, and then back to Daniel’s private strip at Wyreema. I stayed overnight at Daniel’s place where we finalised the flight plan. We left Daniel’s place on Sunday morning after getting a weather update and arrived late afternoon in Goulburn. We flew Wyreema, Moree, Narromine, Grenfell, Harden, Goulburn (see attached track). We had stronger head-winds than expected which added 45 mins to the flight of 7.1 hours (engine hours). We landed in Moree for fuel and Narromine for a leg stretch and to get a weather update. The aircraft flew like a dream. This was my first long distance trip in such a small plane, and I had the biggest smile. We had very strong headwinds most of the way but despite the headwinds the air was very smooth and clear mostly for the first 2/3 of the journey. It started to get cloudy for the last 1/3 of the journey. We experienced some low cloud (4,500’) in a few places. Also had to modify our track to keep clear of some rain just south-west of Goulburn. The air speed was just under 100 knots at 2,900 rpm, but heading south the groundspeed was mostly below 80 kts into a south-westerly wind. I have not yet worked out average fuel just yet but in cruise the fuel flow meter was between 13-16 lph. I am very grateful to Daniel, he is a top guy. He is very friendly and genuine. He made sure I understood what he was doing and involved me in all stages of planning and in-flight navigation. I learned a lot from him and gained valuable experience from accompanying him on the flight. Although I didn’t know Daniel prior to Saturday, I now count him as a friend and hope to go flying with him in future. He refused to take anything for his valuable time and for accommodating me at his place. The only thing Daniel wished for, was for me to help someone else in future in some way. Thank you to all the offers of assistance from others on this site. It is great to see such great aviation community support.

Updated training diary now on google docs.

Yes, I wanted to post as a single file, but this site seems to have a maximum upload size of 256 KB per file which is not much. My diary is 78 A4 pages and 8Mb in size, so I had to split the file up into individual lessons to keep under the individual file size. A bit of a pain I know. I could not find any other way to do it. If anyone knows a better way? I have another 10 lessons to post up to the current date, but was not sure how they would be received and I was not sure where I should post it or if it broke site rule etc as this was my first post (well 2nd actually if you count the ferry flight request). I also hoped it wouldn't be seen as narcissistic. I posted the diary because I thought it might help potential students to see what what a joy learning to fly is and what is involved, noting that every student has different progression rates and each school probably has different instructional techniques and pacing. I kept a diary for myself because I have a poor memory and wanted to capture my feelings and memories, as well as use it as a review tool to critique each lesson performance and to remember what I am supposed to do for future lessons. I actually do go back and read what my instructor told me to do in a previous lesson e.g check lists (as I said, I have a poor memory). However it can also be a little embarrassing exposing my failings to the world, but if it helps someone .... It seems there may be some interest in the diary, so I will post the rest later.

Yes it is Paul & Leo's "old" plane. They have a new J230.

Hi Everyone, I have been overwhelmed with offers to help. I am really surprised and appreciative. I literally received the first offer by email within 5 minutes of posting. I am currently in discussion with Daniel the first person to respond and it looks like he can do it and he is pretty local. If Daniel can't do it, I will get back with another request. Thanks.

Latest Update Flight Lesson 53 - Dual Navigation Exercise – Goulburn – Wollongong – Mittagong - Goulburn – 22 Dec 2012 - (1.7 hours – Total 68.5 hours) Last week’s navigation lesson was cancelled due to high wind and showers of rain. This week’s lesson looked more promising the evening before when I got the weather forecast from the Airservices NAIPS web site. Originally my lesson was to be at 1630, but my instructor emailed me the day before and asked if I wanted to do a 1030 slot instead. I jumped at the chance because the weather forecast was looking better in the morning than in the afternoon, when low cloud and showers were forecast for the coast and Wollongong area. My nav for this lesson was to be a dual nav ex with my instructor from Goulburn to Wollongong to Mittagong and back to Goulburn., although I fully suspected Teraya to throw in a diversion. Edited - Rev 1 - 29 Dec 12. read more at https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-4Rw0WdHM2JMlBlaEJTM05PUlk +++++++++++++ 02 May 2012 - I thought I would share my recreation aviation flight training diary.

13 May 12 - Ferry flight completed (see below), thanks. ++++++++++++++++ I am a student pilot and have bought a Jabiru J170-C to learn to fly. It is situated at Coominya, about one hour drive west of Brisbane, and I would like to get the aircraft flown down to Goulburn (flight time approx 6 hours). Aircraft 24-7021 is factory built in Nov 2008 with 200 hours TT and steam driven instruments. I will pay all expenses. Please contact me at [email protected]