Keenaviator

I think you're confusing a belt driven alternator for a prop flange.

Might have to check your observation. Don't you notice the turret sitting above the cabin? A difference I noticed is that the turret is now a single faired unit whereas before it was standing on four faired tubes. Also, what appears to be a spinner is probably a spinner moulded into the now front of the cowling probably to mimick the shape of a standard Jabiru cowling for cooling purposes. Looking very nice Mike, Regards, Laurie

Nice Javelin David :) Regards, Laurie

Jabiru J120, around $60,000. Payload around 240kg.

All the best Mike. I know you are an excellent rebuilder having seen you and your son at work on Fr Johns J430 at Penong Station. Regards Laurie.

There is a track along the trailing edge where the aileron cable runs. I used some yellow tongue from chipboard flooring to install my lighting cable - wings off.

Have you got the new prop yet Steve? When speaking with you at Thurgoona you indicated it is under propped. I believe that can lead to low cylinder pressures which is not good for bedding in rings. Cheers, Laurie.

Gonna put one in your Drifter FT?

Either that or he didn't have a vario or vsi and the best he had to see whether he was climbing or not, ie in the thermal, was to often give the altimeter a tap to see which way it was going. I suspect he would have no need for an altimeter to work out whether or not he was going to make it to his landing area.

Funny, some time ago I mentioned something like this with my UL450 Jabbie which has a claimed 17:1 glide and relatively low sink rate. I was pretty much pounced on and firmly chastised! Luckily I have a couple of CFI mates who are also into gliding ;) Laurie

Sounds like you might have needed more practice! My inland flights average well over an hour and up to 6+. The longst XC so far is 145 km and up to 8500' linking many thermals together. Flying XC without power is the challenge. Boating around on the coast in nice smooth air is nice too.

Once you get into free flying paragliding you won't be bothered with a motor, electric or otherwise.

He probably stalled it by letting out the clutch too quickly!

Also, regarding weight - after doing the tail wheel conversion, removing substantial weight and theoretically going through a weight loss program, I had a new weight and balance done. Guess what? It came out substantially heavier than the previous published weight. The only answer we could come up with was that it's previous weight did not include a lot of heavy instrumentation and a few layers of paint. Cheers, Laurie

Boink, you asked how did the Starlet go? Well it went like a cut cat with the new Jab engine and Patroney prop. Easily exceeded VNE straight and level and still accelerating strongly. Climbed at around 1500 fpm and had nice light and balanced controls. The downside is size. After getting the Starlet I got into paragliding and there was no way of carrying my paragliding setup. In the last year of ownership I only dd 16 hours in it. A mate was very keen to have it so selling it was very easy. Regarding Cessna 120/140s, these are very old aircraft. I don't think they were ever made to last because after the Second World War Cessna churned out thousands of them promoting them to be as common (thus disposable) as cars. There was no internal corrosion proofing and chasing corrosion is a never ending task - this I know well because thats what i had to do with my 1961 150.

The Starlet depicted in my avatar is mine after completion - this photo taken leaving Temora a couple of years ago. I sold it in November 2011 and have a new project, a Jabiru UL450.

I think you might be thinking of the Reims Cessna 150 which had a 130 hp Lycoming engine. In 1997 I bought a Cessna 150A which was made in 1961. I later overhauled it and did a Texas Tailwheel conversion to it. This model has the same fastback fuselage as the 120/140 series. All 120, 140 and 150's had Continentals, apart from the Reims which was built in France. I waited in hope for many years for the proposed 750 kg MTOW in RAAus but it didn't happen. So I sold the 150 and got myself a Corby Starlet project allowing me the freedoms and advantages of the RAAus.

Lycoming 235 as an option on a Cessna 140, I don't think so. They were fitted to the Cessna 152 series.

A paramotor apparently.

Yes, today.

GA8 made by Gippy Aero.

I was led to believe by Mike at the time that he had a fair bit to do with the writing of the training manual.... Anyway I'm sure it was a team effort and we (trike pilots) should be thankful for the work and dedication by all those involved in getting approval for the process. Cheers, Laurie.

Very sad news. My condolences to Wayne's family and friends. Regards, Laurie