Old Koreelah

Jabiru are said to have done extensive testing and found ram air intakes problematic. They ended up with an air intake flush with the skin, behind the engine.

Just skimmed this report, KG. Pleasantly surprised to find all measurement to be metric, even altitude!

Yes Glen, always liked the LC heads but their electric water pump needs some sort of backup. Relocating the ring gear and flywheel to the front is probably beyond mere mortals. Amazes me why Jabiru thought a single CHT sensor would do the job, when they must have known their head metal couldn’t cope with the temperatures tolerated by most cast heads. I’d love to see your ideal engine built; SA or NZ are innovative enought to do it.

Not a silly pic, but well worth posting: I’ve seen this famous image before, but not the caption, sent by my sister: Famous photograph showing test pilot George Aird ejecting from a pre-production example of the English Electric Lightning fighter in September 1962. Fortunately the pilot survived after coming down in a greenhouse full of tomatoes. He suffered multiple breaks of his limbs and cuts from the shower of glass that rained down on him after going through the roof of the greenhouse.

Understandable to pass off your maintenance work to a trusted mechanic when you get a bit long in the tooth, but do you do when he gets too old? Ours is already cutting down on major overhauls and my wife’s car needs it.

My mate lives his Nissan’s CVT transmission.

NOSE North odds South evens

Power isn’t everything; the 2CV was an excellent solution to the transport needs of it’s time, and very innovative.

Nev that amazing design was Citroen.

They deserve for trying something new, even if it was the most ugly.

Many of our little engines only do a dozen or so hours per year. I’ll be expecting a birthday telegram from the King before mine even nears 1,000 hours.

A tragic outcome, but criticism that this small fire was not posing a big risk assumes we should wait until it does. Perhaps the area was a tinderbox and the wind conditions convinced them of the urgency of putting out the fire while they could.

I believe they once shot down a plane full of Russian tourists. The Yanks don’t have a good record there either. During my recent trip home, I was pleased to see the pilot made a couple of big deviations to keep well clear of warzones.

Too true, OT. A mate bought a plane (from a bloke who had a high profile on this forum) and after carefully carting it across half the continent, found lots of faults and corrosion. He stripped it and started again, but is still years from flying it. He’s out of cash and already old.

Don’t underestimate the Iranians; during the Afghan war they took control of a high-tech US drone and landed it in Iran.

I believe Sabco stopped making these aircraft several years ago. If you can find one, it’s an import.

Beautiful, Kiwi. That image of the road snaking around the coastline of that fractured land got my trying to think up some smart comment comparing the bumps at 7,500’ with the turbulence sometimes felt by your countrymen at ground level.

Glad I’m not just starting my build...

That’s a pretty comprehensive tool kit; remember Murphy’s Law dictates that the only tool you’ll need is the one you didn’t bring. Might be worth going over your plane carefully to find which sized Allen keys and spanners you actually need. (There might be a list in the manual.) For flat tyres I left out my lightweight tyre levers, jack and spare tube. I only carry a couple of tiny little CO2 bottles and adapter, as used on motorcycles. Good, proactive maintenance might be worth more than lugging heavy tools all over the continent.

When operating noisy stuff I like to wear custom-moulded earplugs with good earmuffs over the top. Very quiet. Other times I wear my NC headphones tuned to ABC Jazz. My wife has joined the army of people who counter sleep apnea with a face mask. Small and almost silent, it stops her snoring, which means I don’t need ear muffs. It paid for itself the first year: her health improved so much she went back to work!

I’ve never got much noise reduction from foam earplugs, but custom moulded ones really help- especially with decent earmuffs over the top. Noise cancelling sure helps too, especially expensive sets. Google custom molded earplugs; $25 might buy you enough kit to make two pairs.

Good point Ross. In an emergency, so many silly people in this country call the American number (911) that our people have had to install a link so their calls get diverted to the real number, 000 or 112.

Spacey that might work for most people, but I’m 1.93m tall. After my new hip joint was fitted, I couldn’t bend my leg enough to fit a standard wheelchair (that leg also has a dodgy knee that’s survived five ops.). I bought my own and modified it. That took me days and cost money. The result was worth it and sure made a difference on my recent trip. Much of the time I used it as a walker and loaded it with my baggage. In fact, it helped me avoid a potentially crippling fall on the uneven pavers and cobblestones common to where we went.

Yesterday I was one of those returning ‘roos and my faith in our national carrier took a further hit. The CEO laid off heaps of experienced staff to get the company thru Covid then must have expected them to miraculously join up again when it was over. A little more loyalty to staff might have saved the recent sucession of stuff-ups by Qantas. Before my recent overseas trip we made phone calls enquiring how I’d go with limited mobility after a hip replacement. We were pleasantly surprised to be promised that not only was my wheelchair welcome, they’d bring me right to the plane on it, then have it ready at the other end. That never happened and I guess inexperienced new staff are the main issue. Instead, we’ve discovered how far apart passengers and their luggage can be unloaded. Somehow, wheelchairs come off the plane last. Yesterday morning we beat the rush at Sydney, but lost an hour or more just searching for the plurry chair. The CEO does not deserve any bonus.

OME is absoloutely correct about airports being given to local governments. I believe John Anderson was the minister we can blame for this short-sighted blunder. Our Aero Club bought a hangar that had been built to house a small flying school. It has bunkrooms upstairs, toilets, shower and kitchen. When council officers heard that an apprentice had camped overnight there for a few days they went ballistic; it’s not zoned residential! We bought the building with big hopes of establishing a “safe haven” for southbound pilots. Despite pointing out to the council officer the many fatalities caused by cloud and turbulence over the Liverpool Range, it took a long campaign for us to be allowed to use the bunk rooms for “emergency overnight accomodation” only.