boleropilot

BMs Savannah was at Avalon when the supercell went through there a few years ago - his tiedown pegs held (sorry, don't know what system he was using) but the tiedown points built into his wings failed his aircraft was significantly damaged and has been rebuilt with tiedown points built into the wings that I have been told will NOT fail...ever...... BP

I'm just saying they're different, 'tis all - we're talking about a "Foxbat" here but are we talking about a 22 or a 32? and yes, I was taught that when I learnt to fly a Drifter...

Just a short note, I probably could have checked online for the details of the aircraft but I'm a lazy bugger: I was under the impression the Foxbat is the A22 and the Vixxen is the A32 - apparently they are very different to fly, the A32 being more aerodynamic than the A22... My 'source' told me the A32 is a little 'tricky' to slow down after turning Base, needs to be managed very differently than the draggier A22 Am I right ? As for the A32, imho it would put a woody on a jellyfish - having said that, I'd be happy to have an A22 in my hangar instead... BP

I have lost count of the number of times I've seen a car coming towards me, not staying centered in their lane, then you see the car zip on by - with the driver LOOKING DOWN... there's only one reason why these morons are looking down and that is because they are texting or dialling or doing something else with their damn mobile phone I have enjoyed the sports of skydiving and paragliding, and now my "dangerous" ultralight - and I always tell people the most dangerous factor in any of those pursuits is driving to the take-off point (and home again) BP

and yes, I will be arrested, but it will be worth it.........

how about that engine cover coming off that aircraft - every single person on that side of the aircraft had their phone out taking pictures and videos - man that's so typical. one of these days when I'm in a restaurant and someone takes a call from Obama and says (in a loud voice) "yes, I am having the lobster" I am going to get up, take it out of his/her hand, chuck the damn thing out the door and say "YOU WANNA TALK TO OBAMA, DO IT OUTSIDE"!!!!!!!!!!! I'M JUST SAYIN'..........

I wonder how long ago that motor had some maintenance carried out on it - got all those cowl clips done up? yeah - I think bojo did it...or was it dingbat? ah whatever, all good.... BP

Channel 9 News Report: Plane engine falls apart mid-flight from San Francisco to Honolulu: In a terrifying equipment malfunction, the outer shell of the engine on United Airlines UA1175 fell off and left the inner workings exposed to the elements - wait for it - while thousands of kilomtres (sic) in the air Hell, they couldn't even spell 'kilometres' correctly... and this too: It is not known how the engine fell apart, with authorities expected to investigate the plane. My God......."OK plane, you're under investigation - why did you shed that engine cover - hmmm?" BP

thanks m8 - you wouldn't want to be chased by the storm we got here yesterday - you wouldn't have outrun that sucker - the rain was horizontal and we got 40mm in about 10 minutes then we sat out on the (north facing) verandah and watched the lightning show for about an hour re. fuel - if I plan on 60 litres usable I can expect 4 hours (in good conditions) = 220nm = about as far as I would want to go in one day anyway - most of the time I will be doing around 3/4 of that... BP hey Cherk - thanks m8 - will make sure it's LiFe - and I will check on the charging circuits too (thanks M61)

hey K1W1, do you know the quantities of the two tanks ? also, what is your setup for connecting the two tanks - I can't see me flying more than 2 or 3 hours on the trip to Cooktown...gonna put 2 x 10s of fuel on the back seat I was kinda fooling with the idea of a tap at the cockpit for choosing UP, DOWN, BOTH or OFF....a bit overkill, methinks as far as the pickup point for the lower tank is concerned, the guys in the old Drifter factory have a lot of experience with fuel tanks so it wouldn't be hard to change it on the subject of making changes, I (foolishly) bought a wonderful new battery for 0455 without checking the weight - it's 5.2 kg - now I am looking at similar output Lithium Polymer units that weigh less than 1 kg !!! anybody used a Lithium battery? I know they have (had) a bad reputation in RC modelling, where (if mishandled) were prone to flying off across the workshop - on fire !!! BP

well I spoke to a antenna guru at Telco and he said that the only problem was that the antenna would not work over 10,000 feet or through cloud... I told him that neither of those factors would be a problem for a Drifter ! btw they also have a GPS equipped antenna but I got the impression that would need to be TOP mounted to access satellites...makes sense to me - the 'phone' version is intended for ground vehicles (like light rail) so it would work quite well when mounted on the roof of one of those at ground level - interesting to hear they work quite well mounted on the bottom of RFDS aircraft - gain is apparently maximised by a one square metre (minimum) ground plane but I can't see why a mounting on the bottom of the metal airframe of a Drifter would not work quite well BP

yeah, great for young fellas with good eyesight...my poor old eyes always had a problem reading that little mirror on my left wheel cover - maybe I just should upgrade to a bigger mirror... bp

here ya's go - should have included this in the above post - cheers big ears

Telco Antennas sell a little gadget called the RFI TLA4100 - it is a sharkfin mobile cellular band antenna that they have fitted to the underside of RFDS aircraft with some success I'm thinking of getting one for the Drifter and hooking it up to a Netgear Nighthawk M1 modem/router...wotcha think ????? oh yeah, only $189 AUD - bargain !!! and if you're interested in a tiny Wi-Fi pod that is self powered and includes AHRS, A of A, ADS-B IN, GPS, and Data Recording, take a peek at a Levil Aviation product called The BOM....unbelievable (I'm in the process of writing an article on it for Sport Pilot magazine - hey, did you like my article on the Lisa Akoya - it was on the cover of the latest edition of SP) BP and stop calling me Inspector Gadget !!!!!

according to the website, the humanity star will be overhead Boonah (S E Qld) at 7.30pm on 4th March 2018 - I've got alarms set to make sure I don't forget...

hey Frank - the engine is a blue head 582-99, 300 hours from new at a training school then refurbished/checked over by Richard Eacott - strangely, one of the pistons was slightly flatted on top, so he replaced both with a 'good pair' he had... I would have to look up the capacity of the lower tank, 20 litres I think - tiny problem is the outlet to the pump being at the back - so if you're low on fuel, and you do a steep approach.....oops again! as per figures I have been given before (I never tested mine) the consumption figure is 15 litres/hour, but that takes into account taxi and climbout - in cruise it should be about 12 ? BP

is miniscule...

I understand where you are coming from with the comment it is not a guarantee - too many things can go wrong, both mechanically and human wise I did say that, didn't I? Thought so...the bottom line for me is that as far as I am concerned, if you don't carry a radio (and use it correctly) you are putting yourself and others in harms way - simple as that you have a choice, be as safe and prepared as you possibly can and hope for the best - I can see that if everyone does that we can still run into each other - all I'm saying is "let's be as safe as we can" as for the strobe, it's the CPS one and I am looking forward to getting some video of it from others on the ground - in the hangar (not a good test, obviously) it is blinding the 'landing light' is a high powered 6x LED unit used on government security vehicles - naturally it only works from head on but as the aircraft proceeds through a turn it should show up as a bright light that appears then disappears... the total wattage from both of these lights are miniscule BP

yeah, my dad used to take a Bex when he needed a 'lift' - as the old saying goes "he needs to take a powder and lie down" - don't really have much of an idea what was in them... what I live as? not sure about the question...I live at Woolooman, just south of YAMB, up high on a hill, in an old Queenslander (house on 34 acres) I am restoring, along with two Renaults (10 and 16) I have been retired for a few years now and wifey of 47 years this year is retiring in December '18 and if this damn horrible heat continues, we might just run away to Tasmania for our later years BP

I understand where you are coming from with the comment it is not a guarantee - too many things can go wrong, both mechanically and human wise the 'aid' bit? not so sure about that - an aid in one respect but imho one that is essential to the safety of people in flying machines I say this because I have had two close calls in the circuit and both of them involved aircraft without radios so there I am, making my inbound calls, my circuit calls, looking around, scanning, turning onto final, setting up to land - and there it is, some dill swanning around without a care in the world doesn't know I'm there (because he can't hear my radio calls) and I didn't see him because he didn't make any, and I DID look and look and look and I still missed him and all he had to do to avoid that is to carry a little battery powered handheld and use the fkn thing.....both of us could have been in wreckage on the ground because he didn't this in an environment where on a nice sunny day there is likely to be a wonderful combination of gliders+tug, warbirds and ultralights in the same little bit of sky at the same time as far as I'm concerned it is criminal negligence and if you slip the surly bonds without that little 'aid' you are putting your life (and, more importantly, mine) at risk here endeth the rant BP

not far from where I lived as a boy my mother had a friend who lived on Rode Road, Wavell Heights their house was a typical old Queenslander but it had a funny design in that the dunny was at the end of a long hallway with a set of stairs going down to the yard at the end the lady concerned had just started rushing up the stairs to get in out of the rain (and lightning) - the door had been opened for her - luckily nobody was in the hallway she had just started up the stairs when there was a huge bang and what looked like "a ball of lightning" came out the doorway and knocked her over as it went over her head and screamed up into the sky it had come in through the dunny window, smashing the glass and setting the curtains on fire - there were minor scorch marks on the hallway walls imagine what would have happened if she had been a bit quicker and was at the top of the stairs or in the hallway...... mum said she needed TWO Bex to settle her down...

hmm - good points onetrack, thanks for your input - anybody else reading this, listen to onetrack, not me regards BP

hey Gregory, forgot to mention these seatbelts - I got one for 0455 to check it out and will buy another for the back seat 4 Point Bolt-On CAMLOCK Racing Bucket Seat Belt Safety Harness (Single) Red | eBay btw, the seller says "this is not a genuine Sparco item - the Sparco label is just for cosmetic purposes" = wtf ??? anyway the belt is beautifully made and the rotating buckle works spot on - much safer than the standard press button type cheers

hey Gregory, while you have the red beasty apart you might want to consider a fuel gauge for the bottom tank - with 0455 the top tank drains into the bottom one with the fuel gauge fitted to the bottom tank the gauge won't move until the top tank is empty, then the needle will show fuel remaining I found a brilliant gauge (complete assembly, fully adjustable for different tank sizes) on eBay for $25 AUD delivered (2 inch gauge) - check the "Drifter" forum for pic the only fly in the ointment is the shape of the top of the lower tank - I'm having an alloy plate made up to fit the sender cheers Dave

Hey Kiwi - you callin' me FAT ?????