Old Koreelah

On 19/10/2023 at 9:22 PM, FlyBoy1960 said:

Details released Pilot.  Mervyn Mudge

Just heard that he was a RAAF mate of my brother. His old squadron mates have produced a profile of his fascinating aviation career.

I’ve asked permission to post it here.

Whoopie! I flew! 
This morning I flew my little plane for the first time in 14 months (since I fell on concrete and broke my hip).

Over the last year I’ve done some overdue maintenance and made a few improvements. This morning the weather was ideal- no wind, clear sky. I had the airport and sky almost all to myself.

I still remembered how to do it and everthing worked well, although I thought I heard the engine stumble a bit on climb out. I used my newly-installed reostat to adjust the water injector back from 12 lph to about 5 and she sounded sweeter. 
 

Although the sky was cloudless, above 2000’ there was a layer of dirty haze, presumably from fires further west. That sure cut visibility until I got above it near 4000’.

OzRunways proved useful when I heard a garbled 10-mile incoming call and was able to read his Rego from my screen. As he was on a conflicting course, I called him up and he dropped below me as I climbed. As he passed within two NM I turned to get a better look. Despite having 20-20 vision, I never saw him, even though he’s white and was below me with the sun behind. 
 

I wish every plane showed up on my screen like that.

Hitting that squigly line icon brings up any plans you have previously created. They are saved automatically.

2 hours ago, flying dog said:

I'm just stuck with how to save the flightplans so I can make a "library" of them to use when I need.

Can’t help you with that one, FD. All my plans are listed when I hit the Plans icon in the bottom RH corner of the screen.

How to make a library of them? Maybe contact OzRunways- they are very receptive to suggestions and feedback.

For infrequent flyers, it might be useful to use OzRunways while passenger (in a car or plane).

That’s an opportunity to try out a few of its features and practise using it in a safe environment.

On 11/10/2023 at 11:08 PM, BrendAn said:

A tough little aircraft that helped save Australia.

My Mum was an aircraft spotter during the war and I have her diary. After weeks of terrible news- the sinking of two British capital ships, the fall of Singapore and the rapid advance of the enemy towards Australia- she was thrilled to report 52 Kittyhawks flying north. It must have been a stirring sight! They had been shipped to Melbourne, rapidly assembled, then flown north by inexperienced pilots to face the Japanese in New Guinea. Several never made it, getting lost or crashing on the way.

Some of those that made it were used in the defence of Milne Bay (said to be the first land victory by the Allies against the Japanese). It’s reported that the enemy was so close to taking the airstrip that pilots didn’t have time to retract their wheels before making their straffing runs. 

We need a thread just on hangar doors, which probably cause more injuries to  pilots than air crashes.

Our club didn’t have the real estate to fit sliding doors, so went with vertical bifold. They are pretty easy to build but very wind sensitive; I’ve been thrown several metres by one. Most of the time it should be less of a problem than commercial operations- our toys mostly come out to play in good weather.
 

Recently a roller bolt broke, which had me three metres up a ladder -a year after a fall onto concrete broke my hip.

I always liked horizontally folding doors, but maybe they’d be safer if they were flat (recessed into the ground) when open. The upper section could be designed for planes to roll across it.

We have become dangerously dependent on digital technology controlled by foreign interests.

Elon Musk switched off his satellite system to stop it being used by Ukraine and America can control who uses GPS.

Before my next long trip, I plan to brush up my wizz-wheel and compass skills.

A similar, but unrelated acronym VKG was traditionally used to signify Police HQ radio. 
We were told it originally meant Voice of King George.

There is one very prominant anomaly you blokes should definitely steer clear of while flying:

This twin has been flying back and forth at 3500’ over the district NW of Casino, NSW. It’s track on FR24 showed a precise survey pattern: screen shot below.

Locals tell me it’s using thermal imaging to locate and count populations of feral deer, pigs, etc. 

Can’t answer your question Marty, but a similar thing happened to me a few years ago.

I tracked what was identified as a B-737 flying low up the Hunter Valley. I was a bit concerned when this Boeing disappeared from view over farming country south of Tamworth.

Seems rego numbers are often transferred to other aircraft, but FR24 may not keep up.

Some of us who fly slow old bug smashers get very excited by ground speeds  in three digits.

3 hours ago, Marty_d said:

No.  Those who contributed bear no responsibility for the disaster.  You weren't involved in the engineering, the planning, the test schedule or the flying.  If you have no input whatsoever into the decisions that led to the crash, then you can't have responsibility.

Thanks Nev. I was proud to have my name engraved on it (along with mobs of other donors) but not so now.

The Bugatti 100P was a beautiful design, but one lesson taught by that tragedy is to value simplicity.

9 hours ago, pmccarthy said:

We were encouraged to crowd fund that project through a post on this site. I tried to do so but the technology beat me. Now am glad I didn’t contribute to the disaster.

I did and have to wear the result.

Glen that’s very similar to my practice, but to remember which tank, I use:

RH (Right Wing Conservative) tank for AvGas and LH (Left Wing anti-Lead pollution Greenie) tank for Shell 98.

Quote

 

That record is reason enough for Australian governments to encourage rec flying; not cripple the sport with regulations.

After the bitter taste of Nazi occupation, France actively supported flying clubs. One result was thousands of French people learning to fly in homebuilt Jodels.

Tank vents are a whole other topic; locating them in a low pressure area is important. One European plastic fantastic has a tiny pinhole at rear of wing.

An hour ago I was down the paddock cutting firewood. Instead of ordinary earmuffs, I like to use a noise-cancelling pair streaming whatever music exites me at the moment. Right in the middle of the drum solo in Innardadavita this young stud was interrupted by a commercial break, specifically targeted at men in my age group: an ad for incontinence underpants.

20 minutes ago, KRviator said:

…Our back yard is at the end of the local runway, such that if someone undershoots, or fails to get airborne the other way, the kids are gonna get a new cubby house. We've been mowing, doing earthworks and just flogging around on motorbikes with planes upto and including Falcon 8's and Herc's passing 100' over our heads and don't feel unsafe in the slightest.

Would your name be Darryl?

The Castle (1997 Australian film) - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

5 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

OK - I now have a low hrs (50) cube boost pump,  surplus to requirement, works fine just a bit low on delivery for mys system,  see above for estimated performance - intersted?

Thanks Skip, but I’ll stick with what’s working fine. 

This is topical. This morning I tested my old Facet boost pump. The flow is spluttery, but it’s delivering 45 litres of fuel per hour- twice my maximum burn rate.

16 hours ago, IBob said:

Which brings us to the question of what train drivers do…

No facilities for them.

My neighbour drives our passenger train. Twice now, as I stepped off at my destination, he has rushed past me, heading for the station dunnies.

Interesting that they used stainless steel. It survives heat and corrosion better than aluminium and can be rolled thin enough for aircraft. That Crazy Martian builds his spacecraft from it.

 The Soviets used SS in their Mig 25 so it’s skin could survive the speeds required to catch up with America’s SR-71. (That’s fascinating because the Americans bought the raw material for it’s titanium from the USSR, and later the Soviets built a couple of subs from titanium.

There are several disadvantages. If you are permitted to fit a BRS to your Savannah, it will add about 15-20kg. That reduces your load-carrying capacity, which might be critical.
It’s very hard to get a BRS transported to you; probably no airline wants to carry the rocket motor. After you spend lots of time and money on installation, it will regular maintenance: parachute repacked every 6 years, new rocket motor after 12 years.