nong

I have been thinking......

It might be worth having a word with Microair to enquire if they could add the missing frequency range to your unit, by way of update.

Fred

I live and fly out of Albury . My piont is the radio does not receive down to 115.6 so I am unable to obtain ATIS .

I have no idea why manufacturers of VHF transceivers often don't design them to operate down to 108.00Mhz.

Microair responded to this problem during 2007. This was the year they fitted the larger control knobs and extended the frequency range.

Bad luck old chap.

Fred

Sue has a point re. the public address system being misused.

I was there on Sunday morning so as to attend the instructors forum.

Upon walking onto the apron I was assaulted by christian religious style music.

This stopped me in my tracks.

If I had wanted to hear this type of insidious noise I would have been in a church, not on an aerodrome.

Aerodromes are for aircraft engine noise!

I was so affronted, I decided to leave.

If I hadn't, by chance, happened upon someone heading for the forum, I would have been out of there.

The nature of work is changing - both my husband and I work for companies that no longer recognise public holidays. Easter is a normal work day, we only get it if it falls on our rostered days off. The impact of this on our community is that our town can no longer muster enough people available on weekends, or weekly to field a footy team, or a volunteer fire brigade and attendance at events is down. This has impacted on us and our Fly-in attendance. In previous years we were able to go to Natfly, the only decision was if we wanted to this year. Now we can't. The stars aligned in 2010 and won't again until 2016. So that may partly explain the drop in attendance (well, two of us ......) 

 

Husband suggests that every year is too often - perhaps every second year.

 

He prefers endlessly walking the flight line and exhibitors, constantly talking, looking and learning (and spending)

 

I prefer the seminars, but also like the walking

 

His pet hate is constant PA chatter drowning out the sound of iconic engines - cut the airshow banter to introductions only

 

Loved Narromine's close-in friendly atmosphere (have been to Temora, but not for a Natfly - so can't compare)

 

Move the major days to Sat/Sun leaving Fri & Mon for travel. I remember driving all day Friday to find it winding down Sat afternoon.

 

Loved SAAA Ausfly 2013 and planning to attend 2014. Appreciated RAAus being there too.

 

 

 

Sue

 

Hi,I'm considering a trip to Urana, NSW.

 

Has anyone flown in there lately? Any advice on the condition of the strip, etc.? Is there a windsock?

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

I walked on the strip two weeks ago. I (we actually) assessed it as easily suitable for just about any light aircraft. The local pilot and care taker is Ralph Emery, but I can't see his number in the white pages. For many years Ralph operated a Victa from the strip and currently operates a trike from there. We did not walk the length, but no cat heads/thorns were seen. The surface looked good and was not overgrown, although it has rained since. The strip is flat, no slope, and Google Earth should give the length. The gate is locked to vehicle access. A sign says "TRUCKS ARE NOT TO BE DRIVEN ON AIRSTRIP". Very sensible. There are no facilities except one basic hangar. Unless you can speak to Ralph, the Shire council might be able to provide info. All in all, it looks good!

Fred

After prolonged tooing and froing, we decided to buy a jab160.....sourced a beauty, it was a 160C, but now down the track some 7 mths and loving the actual machine, I,m now getting a tad peed off.Any change/add on....whatever, no matter how minor......you hit a brick wall, sorry Russ, you can not do it. Example.....the current elec flap switch is located in an awkward place.....in my view, I wanted to install a 2nd switch top LH area of the dash.....just to the right of the throttle rod, plenty of room there, that would allow my right hand to stay holding the joy stick ( love the term joy ) whilst left hand easily manipulated throttle and the flap switch.........once again Bundy says sorry mate you can,t do.

Just this week I decided to fit a auto pilot, rang Bundy, no probs Russ, we fit them easy as.....bewdy I will drop in get it done......then get a oooops, sorry mate can,t do, your machine is type certified. To do it you will have to get a 35 type certifier to sign it off.......and that,s going to cost you heaps.

 

So my love affair is bit by bit getting chilly.......Grrrrrrrrr

There are a lot of Pawnee glider tug drivers who would nod their heads in agreement with the claim that shock cooling causes cylinder cracking.GCV (I think it is a still the largest gliding club in Australia) has a Pawnee tug fitted with a Chev engine just because they got sick of rebuilding the 0-235. It sounds great and is giving very good service.

 

The Pawnees came out in 2 models, the PA25 (above) and the later PA26 which had a 260hp Lycoming at first and eventually a 285hp Continental (horrendously expensive to rebuild).

 

Kaz

The first Pawnee was the PA 25 150 (150 hp).

Next was the PA 25 235, with an 0-540 of 235 horsepower.

Then they added the PA 25 260, with a constant speed prop.

The PA 36 Pawnee Brave is a totally different design.

It was at first supplied with the Continental 'Tiara' engine, soon replaced with the IO-540. This is the 300 Brave.

Soon aftermarket firms were fitting the IO-720, so the factory followed. These are 375 or 400 Braves.

Similar situation here - 100's of hours in tail wheel aircraft including multi engine (DC3).Guess I will have to find a J3 or Light wing somewhere to get the TW added to my certificate.

Cheers

Fred

Rotax recommend motorcycle oils as a general idea, because these engines have similar lubrication requirements to motorcycles. To be precise, motorcycle engine oils must also lubricate the primary and secondary reduction gear sets.

Downunder's comment about not using a full synthetic with avgas is confirmed in technical papers released by Shell.

George Welch, in the P-86, beat Yeager through the sound barrier.

I am amused by the way some posters here have a risk aversion/fear of CASA or of being sued, that is, I reckon, totally paranoid.

Personally, I would happily do without the constant carping that any of us might be sued (gosh, gee) or be attacked by CASA.

I don't need any of the offenders on this forum to do my worrying for me.

Fighting CASA or RAAus, or engaging in antics at a court of law are occupational hazards. This is something best accepted at the outset. The poo can descend on any of us. Meanwhile, best get on with it ....with a fearless heart.

Oh, by the way........

Each punter embarking on a TIF is a member of RAAus. Yes, I said "is a member".

Does that jolt anyones position?

I thought the Aerovee in the Waiex I flew was not close to the claimed 80 hp. It pulled and climbed consistent with about 60 - 64 hp. I guess even that much output is pretty good for a vee dub. This airframe needs a Jab donk and some way to escape in a roll-over...

I just spoke to Daniel. He has a Luscombe under repair/overhaul. It is not currently for sale as he intends to bring to airworthiness, with Maintenance Release, before considering offering it to the market.

Riley, if you want Daniel's number, text me on 0407 252505. Daniel has ok'ed me passing it to you.

Fred

Regional airports may have airline access...but it is meaningless unless there is some competition to keep the prices down...Rex etc doesn't count as viable airline transport.I am guessing Mackay is too far north BUT.. it has good access with completion from major airline nation wide...

This property would be perfect and already has an airstrip...and perfect flying weather...buy it outright for $1 million and make an income leasing the farm...

 

http://m.domain.com.au/listing/2010812300

I'm enjoying learning a lot from this forum. There's so much to learn and I've found this to be one of the best resources for the new rec pilot.As someone with not much of an idea, I'd be interested to hear what you guys think of this new engine and it's applicability to aviation. How have they managed to produce so much power from such a small engine? Is the technology applicable to aviation? what are the technical hurdles etc etc. I'm looking to buy a jab 230 after my training as I rekon the pros of the airframe and cost outweigh the question marks over the engine....but it would be good to have some better engine options.

 

http://www.gizmag.com/nissan-zeod-rc-engine/30611/

 

As a related side note, as things are at the moment, I'd be tempted to go for a 19 rego and stick the rotec liquid cooled heads on the 3300 engine. It seems that many of the problems with the jab engine stem from overheating and that if you're ok with the 19 rego, it's a bit of a no brainer. Am I on the right track??

 

Nick

Miss out on the police force when you were a young bloke, by any chance ?

The parts count and number of joints in Drifters and Thrusters make them uneconomic.

As already pointed out, they cost a lot to build. As the various joints "work" in service these airframes become "loose". This can only be remedied with man/hours.

I love two-strokes but really, who wants to burn eighteen litres per hour to travel fifty miles?

Lets acknowledge that Rod Stiff has already provided the champion of economy aircraft. The J120 is surely a monster bargain in the "bang for the buck" stakes.

This thread has come up with no concept close to what Jabiru has achieved.

Jabiru airframes are an example of the previously mentioned "design for less maintenance"concept.

Great to see RAAus bringing in idiot regulations virtually identical to regulations that a predecessor of CASA abolished as unworkable and of no value, some decades back.

This is what happens when you turn over staff rapidly and there is no corporate knowledge in an organisation....no staff with a detailed history of their core subject matter.

Sorry old timer but the world is passing you by.Take a look at the new fatigue regulations in the truck industry and the penalties, and the chain of responsibility - the employer and the customer can now be sent to prison if a serious event occurs after they insisted to the driver that he had to "just press on to get the job done."

There is no place for that attitude; take a look at the type of aircraft which use the airspace he crashed through.

Ha ha. What a crack up! Woolworths Ltd (say, as the customer, purely for example) "can now be sent to prison" I'd like to see that.....the jailing of a company.

Some of you blokes must live in a perfect world. Don't your wives ever scream at you, don't things break down or jobs get screwed up?

The reality is that sometimes a person just has to press on to get the job done.

Purely recreational flights are easy to cancel. When an aircraft is being used for a job of work, the decision not to fly, is often not nearly so easy to make. The factors must be weighed up.

Drowsiness can overcome anyone, if the flight is of some duration. This bloke was out of luck.

Sadly, he didn't have the luxury of a co-pilot. We all know that airline pilots would never fall asleep. Yeah, sure...

Studying "human factors" doesn't stop any of us from being human. HF is merely a device designed for the advancement of it's original advocates.

We are seeing the same thing now with "safety systems" or whatever the monstrosity is called.

Wankers..... How long before McCormick goes? Not long, I hope.

I have a high-time (1500-odd hours) 160. Recently we have run into a problem at >100 KIAs which we think is (incipient?) aileron flutter. Rattle clatter, vibration in stick and wing shake. A bit on the scary side. We found that the aileron hinges were pretty sloppy, so we tightened them up with fatter pins which dealt to most of the hinge slop. However, a subsequent test flight showed the problem was no better (arguably a bit worse), so we looked at the aileron cables. These also seem to be a bit on the sloppy side and will be replaced.Has anyone run into this sort of thing?

 

I have since heard that cables are supposed to be replaced at 1000 hours ..... ?

In conversation with Jabiru, I proposed fitting triangular support wedges beside each aileron hinge. The reply was, "we build them that way now and we will send you some wedges free of charge".

Pages 168 to 172 of the J160 Constructors Manual will fully explain what I am referring to.

Cheers Fred

Terrible, but if John's report above is correct then it sounds like it was totally avoidable (I don't recall seeing too many 500 foot trees in Australia), what is anyone doing after a missed approach (or at any time for that matter) turning at a level low enough to clip a tree, is the training that people are receiving that bad or is it just a total neglect for the rules.I know plenty of people will be thinking what a heartless .......... I am, but I'm sick of reading about avoidable accidents.

 

I hope John's report is incorrect and it was just some terrible accident.

how hard is it to follow an installation manualrotax installation manual for 912 aircraft engine states that return line to tank is required page 14 -3 date mod 1998 09 01

does your plane have this

 

if you don't is your plane legal

 

weight and balance you have your aircraft repaired or a new gadget put in do you have to do a new weight and balance

 

storch s manual maintenance page 17 30 10 07 every variation needs a new weight and balance

 

as a pilot can you do a weight and balance on a 24 reg aircraft neil

I am sure that the rego issue from CASA perspective is mostly about making the RAA act like grown ups and learning how to enforce rules and maintain standards. Like you would expect them to be. Its unfortunate that no one has shown Methlusa/Don the problems with his plane prior to visiting the office but its what you expect from the RAA, blaming the CASA for the lack of direction from the RAA only shifts blame from the RAA.