WestCoast

I bought two of these (each holds 20L) and they work really well. They are made in China but the quality is good and price reasonable. Supplier is "Liquid Containment' who I think are located in Melbourne. Try calling Paul at this number 0405 138664.

Thanks for the 'heads up' Bob......my wife and I were out walking yesterday morning and saw him flying south over the Perth beaches at about 500 ft. We wondered who it was and now we know! Regards, Dave

I understand this was the Skycatcher prototype being flown by a Cessna test pilot.....details are still sketchy but more info here: Skycatcher Prototype Crashes

At YPJT we pay $638 per month. The hangar is large enough to accommodate two light aircraft. (singles)

Sounds like a case of too many bureaucrats with too little to do thumb_down Does this only happen at YSCB or have people been having problems elsewhere?

Does anyone know if Bert Floods have run a course like this in the past? I would be prepared to fly to Melbourne in order to attend.......sure is closer than Florida. Here is the schedule for Sebring. Flight Design & Rotax Maintenance Training The dates for this year’s Repair & MX class in Sebring, FL are as follows: October 6-9: CTsw and CTLS Aircraft MX. Cost is US$600 October 10-11: Rotax engine Service. Cost is US$450 October 13-14: Rotax engine maintenance. Cost is US$450 October 15-17: FD Composite repair training. Cost is US$600 Frank from Germany, and Dean will be instructing. I will assist again where I need to with electrical systems. This is coming up soon, and we have a max of 12 spaces. If anyone would like to attend, please let us know ASAP. We also have discounted rates availiable with the hotel on the field. Call 863-655-5100 for details, or to book a space, ask for Dean or John.

Spectacular forced landing in Perth suburb Wattleup Article from: PerthNow Nick Taylor, police reporter August 27, 2008 02:30pm A PLANE flew under power lines and narrowly missed homes before smashing a wing as it crashed in suburban Perth with two people on board, a witness says. A man said tonight he watched the light aircraft crash outside his home in the southern suburb of Wattleup, after its single engine died as it departed nearby Jandakot airport. The plane's pilot and a passenger walked away from the spectacular crash about 4pm at the junction of Mortimer Road and Power Avenue. Furniture maker Mark Wright said he saw the plane coming down outside his home as he left his workshop at the front of his property. Mr Wright said there had been no noise from the plane, indicating engine failure, and the duo had had a narrow escape. "How it got down is beyond me. There was a fair bit of skill involved,'' Mr Wright said. "I was standing out the front of my house and the plane came under the power lines. "It missed a big tree, skidded in front of my house for about 50 metres and hit a couple of grass trees that ripped the wing off. "Hitting the grass trees stopped it and I sprinted off down the street. By the time I got there the pilot and passenger had jumped out. "There was a fair bit of fuel spilling out so we cleared the area.'' Mr Wright said the engine spluttered as the plane hit the ground. "It sounded like the pilot was trying to start it again,'' he said. "How he missed the big tree was amazing.'' The 20-year-old pilot was reported tonight saying he had gained only about 1000ft of altitude when the plane's engine stopped. "You can be in the air, you can worry, you can stress, but that's not going to help the situation," he told Seven News. He opted to land the plane on a nearby road, avoiding houses when bringing it down to save himself and his passenger, reportedly a student pilot. An ambulance officer said that after a bumpy landing the two on board had walked away unhurt. A wing had been ripped off the plane when it hit a tree, the officer said. Police said the incident just after 4pm was a forced landing. Fuel had spilled onto the road and firefighters, ambulance officers and police were at the scene. Wattleup is about 5km from Jandakot Airport, one of Australia's biggest training airports.

Sebring Aviation in Florida conduct regular Rotax maintenance training courses each year and I am wondering if anything similar is available or planned for Australia? I contacted Bert Floods quite a long time ago regarding this but nothing has ever eventuated. Is anyone else out there interested in this type of course? Dave

Motza....not sure quite what you mean when you say that fuelling from 44g (200L) drums is not permitted in GA? Perhaps I misunderstood the question. There are places I fly to in WA that Avgas is only available in drums, although you have to buy the whole 200L. Check this CASA article out. http://casa.gov.au/fsa/2003/mar/32-34.pdf Regards Dave

I have finally tracked down a suitable grease nozzle to service the control rod end bearings on the CT. It is an Alemite product and I am attaching a photo with all the details. The nozzle pictured has a 1/8 BSP Female thread which fits most common grease guns. (I have a McNaught). I got totally ripped off as I had to buy it from Toolmart as the Alemite wholesaler would not sell it directly to me. It is a US$6.78 item however I got charged AUD$35.20 (incl. GST) which included $14.50 for freight (it had to come from 2 suburbs away to my local Toolmart shop!!) http://www.alemite-lubrequip.com.au/....aspx?tabid=60 Regards Dave

Having to remove the wheel when away from home base in the event of a puncture can be a problem if you don't have the right tools. Undoing the securing bolt (KA4020503) can be a hassle although I have released it using a shifter, however you can potentially damage the bolt head so I have had a special socket made up for the purpose. It's not expensive to fabricate as the barrel is made out of an old trailer jockey wheel and there is not a lot of welding to do. The drive size can be made to suit whatever you have in your toolkit.

OK...thanks JG.

JG....Thanks for the excellent pictures and captions of your journey. Can you advise whether the Milparinka pub had premium unleaded fuel available? Thanks Dave

Go for it Paul....you won't look back. :thumb_up: We did it in 1989 and lived in the 'sandpit' until I retired. It was a great experience for the whole family as our children were still school age at the time and was a convenient place to be based as it is so close to Europe........and the lifestyle itself is certainly no hardship. It was a pleasure flying in and out of the Gulf airports as the accents from ATC were predominantly "Aussie"......just felt like home really except the runways were mostly 14000 to 15000 ft long and light aircraft were a rarity, however if you are going to be based at OMDB, I believe nowadays that light aircraft are available for hire from the DXB Flying Club. Good luck & regards, Dave

I agree...great pics. and obviously very good facilities at Temora. Looks like the country around there could do with some more rain though as it appears very dry for this time of year.

An interesting article appeared in the May edition of EAA Sport Pilot magazine ( see here http://sportpilot.org/magazine/feature/2008%20-%2005%20May%20-%20The%20Redesigned%20Flight%20Design%20CTLS.pdf ) with a detailed comparison between the CTSW & CTLS. (Note however that the -6 Flaps position applies to US delivered CTs only as the FAA require that Light Sports aircraft be limited to 120 Kts as mentioned by Wags.) The first CTLS arrived in WA last weekend and is currently in the process of reassembly. There are some very nice new features as outlined in the above article.

Don't hold your breath if you are expecting to buy this oil anytime soon. I have just phoned Shell on a Perth number only to find I was talking to someone in Melbourne. The person on the switchboard told me that they no longer had any personnel in Perth but put me through to someone they thought could help me and I then found myself talking to a Shell call centre in Manilla.......who started telling me where I could buy Shell products in my region.....when she mentioned Cocos Island I gave up! The large oil companies have become user unfriendly 'behemoths' and I guess I was foolish to expect anything else.......or maybe I am just becoming old and cranky :confused: I note it is readily available in the USA at US$54.95 for 12 Qt bottles however of course that is impractical for us here in Australia. Dave PS Have just been advised the following:- The new Aeroshell Oil Sports Plus 4 is available in Australia in cartons of 12 x 1lt. If you have an account with Shell it can be ordered through our customer service centre on 131618 under the product code 300010460.

I see Rotax have issued a S.I. making mention of this oil (http://www.rotax-owner.com/SI_TB_Info/ServiceInfo/SI-912-016R1.pdf ) I guess it may take a while for Shell outlets to get stocks of this oil. I hope it is available in larger than 1L bottles.

I contacted Shell at YPJT today but they know nothing about this oil. I then rang Shell in Melbourne and drew a blank there as well........never heard of it!! Ian....can you tell us where you sourced this information on AeroShell Sport Plus 4 so I can make some further enquiries. Was it from an Australian source or from overseas? Thanks Dave

Good news Ian.....hopefully Shell outlets at airports will stock it. Will give the agents at YPJT a call to see if they have it yet. Regards Dave

Not sure about that Chris.......I guess it will be up to the individual, however as the basic weight of the CTLS is slightly more than the CTsw (BRS is standard equipment), I expect most owners will want to take advantage of the 600 kg MTOW. Regards Dave

Chris.....If you have a look at the U.S. website, it will give you a rough idea what the price of the CTLS will be. http://www.flightdesignusa.com/pricingls.asp (I have added some more photos to my original post) Alternatively give the guys at Sports Aircraft (Australia) a call. http://web.mac.com/sseipel61/SAA/About_Us.html The first CTLS is due to arrive in Perth early next month (April) prior to delivery to Victoria. Regards Dave

Just to advise that FD has issued a Tech Advice (TA15 Rev 1) affecting CT aircraft fitted with the Neuform In-Flight Variable Pitch props. (see propeller section). Owners that are affected should already have been notified, however as a precaution I am posting here.

Anyone operating a Neuform In-Flight Variable pitch propeller should aquaint themselves with Service Bulletin NEUFORM TM-08-01. (issued 22/2/2008) Apart from the exempted serial numbers listed in the SB, all affected propellers will need to be retrofitted with shear pins and fitted with bolts with roll formed threads. Flight Design in their Tech Advice 15 (Rev 1) has indicated that compliance is 'prior to your next flight', so the matter is urgent. Should you have a problem locating the SB, contact me and I will forward it to you. Dave

It is my understanding that the Whacker P12 spark plug paste specified by Rotax is a combination of heat sink & anti-seize paste. Having listened to the "resident Rotax guru" on the Podcast link provided by Ozzie, I believe the paste available in the RotaxParts.net catalogue ( http://www.rotaxparts.net/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=245 ) is also a combination heatsink/anti-seize paste, but at a far more reasonable price. I tend to agree with Nev that the electronic heat sink paste alone may not be satisfactory for spark plug applications. Dave