boleropilot

yeah if you listen to the video you can hear the impact of his aircraft and the tow cable - really nasty accident, all three pilots were lucky to walk away from that

when I practice engine failure drills (about every third flight or so) I try to do it by just pulling the throttle as soon as the idea goes through my head, not when I think "this is a nice place for an engine failure drill"

on the way down I say the call out loud "mayday mayday Drifter 0455 engine failure six miles North of Boonah"...just gotta remember to keep my thumb off the transmit button !!!

the only thing I do that makes it a little less realistic is that I choose a paddock away from houses and animals, then I go down to around 20 feet or so to make sure my approach is spot on

one other thing I do is to blip the throttle a few times to avoid shock cooling - no point in turning the practice engine failure drill into a real one !!!!!

gotta admit I haven't done many at take-off, and that's where a lot of them happen - I'll sort that out when I get 0455 back in the air - not long now, just a few minor tasks to do

BP

mayday mayday I have to pull my parachute - well that's gotta help anybody looking for him....NOT

can't believe nobody gave this reply:

the disks do have energy - and stop calling me Shirley...

BP

Wow, good work in getting a brilliant result from a Murphy's Moment - a couple of questions:

1. if you had not been restricted on altitude by the G step-down, would it have made any difference?

2. if it was obvious you were not going to make the clearing, what were your options?

sorry about the second question but I'm sure you would have thought about that since 'the incident' anyway - probably during it....

PS pity about that damn clearing being a bog - if it was dry you were home and hosed m8..

BP

speaking of helium - I was wondering about the 'problem' I have with 'weight' in the cockpit of the Drifter - could I install a helium tank under the seat?

what about a pair of canards set to a slight positive angle of attack, so the nose of the aircraft would always have some lift generated to counter the 'weight'

anybody got any other ideas? oh yeah, now some skinny vegan is going to tell me to reduce the amount of movements of my hand to my gob....bastard!

well the news is not good but it's not all bad - due to a combination of factors it looks like I am not going to be able to make the planned departure date of 24th May 2018

it may only be a few weeks after that I can get away so maybe (with tailwinds) I can catch up somewhere along the way - depends how much time you spend at nice places I guess (or weather)

as I have always said, the navigation and accommodation planning has to be done by individual pilots/crew so one less Drifter driver should not throw much of a spanner in the works

as far as the original date at Boonah is concerned, I am only too happy to get involved in sorting out parking for aircraft and advice on places to stay in/around Boonah

if anyone wants to arrive in Boonah a little earlier just let me know and I will help where I can, including transport

once the trip starts please regard me as a contact with internet and therefore access to all the guys/gals who have given advice on where to go and how to get there

should be useful for someone to ring me for information about any problem that needs some sorting by a bloke with a computer...

so sorry about the hiccup but doesn't look like I can avoid it - I'll keep in touch, I sincerely hope you will too...

regards

Dave Tonks

hey thanks for all the input guys, much appreciated...just got the tank back from the fabricator with the fuel gauge sender fitted - looks brilliant, but I shooda got a firm quote = ouch says my wallet (dumbo, says me missus)

basically I'm leaning toward the more benign options like vinegar, citrus oil cleaners, etc. hey Hughesy, what's the deal with vinegar?

one other thing I saw on a forum is stuff called 'denatured alcohol' - which apparently is methylated spirits - surely that has to be on the list?

cheers,

BP

that'll buff out...

to all you 10 year old GA pilots out there - have you seen the latest Sunny Swift cartoon? This week she tells you not to take off without having a good healthy breakfast - that would be just silly !!!

so you're telling me that if I run out of fuel the Drifter might also "struggle to maintain altitude"?

people keep telling me how dangerous this ultralighting stuff is but honestly, I had no idea...

I'm scared now, really scared - no doubt a ballistic parachute will be at the top of my list for pressies at Christmas..

BP

I nearly got skittled in Cambodia because I was stupid enough (a policeman's description of me) when I stepped out onto a pedestrian crossing when traffic was approaching

When I managed to get to the other side (only just - about 3 of them tried to get me - I think one actually changed lanes to have a better chance) I saw a police car approaching

I flagged him down and asked "what the duck are these white lines and signs for" and he replied that the road is for cars and if I was going to be stupid HE would run me over

gotta love Cambodia, lovely place to visit, but - sorry, no it's not...interesting, but damn scary - they don't need pedestrian bridges, you could walk across any creek or river on the floating garbage...

as for the airport at Siem Reap - my God what a goatrope - slovenly dressed 'customs officials" taking all the passports to check them - 100 people waiting to get them back - one officer holding up passports at the photo page and calling out "who this"

when the passport owner (at the back of the crowd) calls out ME, the 'officer' flicks the passport at him over the head of the crowd - he picks it up, calls out "John Brown' and some bloke in the middle of the scrum says "that's me"

I kid you not - when there's no oil left this mob will just go back to little carts behind buffalos - and they will get by just fine, thank you.....

who wooda thunk that a bunch of people sitting around a table could make (so many) decisions that negatively affect the members of their organisation? sounds like guvment to me....

well, they know what's best for us....don't they? I just had a thought - if I changed my Drifter to a 19- would I still have to pay the $550 MARAP fee to use the Bolly prop?

further to the above post (I have made this comment on another thread here) I have been in contact with Dave Frederick of Aerofibre Industries (Kingaroy) who has some history with Brolga props

I am going to post him my Brolga and he is going to check it over, it if it is still serviceable he will recondition it for me - I love it when a plan comes together...

BP

yeah DA that's an option I should look into - at this stage of 0455s life I don't think 25 Certified rego is really feasible - not sure what's involved in the process...

btw the guy I spoke to at RAAus wasn't all that happy with the comments from Bolly. I did manage to find a prop expert willing to check out/refurb the Brolga for me - it goes in the post tomorrow

BP

if I had unlimited cash I would - the cost of the Bolly + the MARAP is just too much - my income is ZERO so every dollar I spend is a dollar gone and not replaced...

G'day All,

In the process of doing a refurb of 25-0455 I decided to retire the old Brolga 4 blade prop and get one of those new fangled props from Bolly - the Optima Series 3 60" 3 blade, a bargain at $1,635 + $40 freight...

When ringing Bolly for an invoice, I was told that if I fitted that prop without first buying my specific MARAP certificate for the prop that any CASA or RAAus official asking me for MY copy of the certificate would immediately ground the aircraft if I could not produce it.

Next step was to talk to RAAus about getting a copy of the certificate for 0455 - apparently MY copy of the certificate will cost $550, and the reason for that little fee is basically "user pays" - RAAus has spent $25,000 on the MARAP process for that prop for 582 Drifters, that money must be recovered, so pay up or no new prop...and Brolga don't make props any more - do they?

I have posted elsewhere on this forum but basically I need to get in contact with either a business or individual who is willing to do a basic check and refurb of my Brolga 4 blade.

BP

hey pylon, funny you should mention the MARAP process - it has (kinda) been sorted it out but apparently "because RAAus has spent $25 thousand dollars on the process, that expenditure is now being passed on to members (such as myself) who want to change to a Bolly prop"

In my case, I WAS willing to part with $1,635 + $40 freight for a Bolly Optima Series 3 60" 3 blade, the prop that has MARAP approval. Only tiny little problem is that Peter Tapp (Bolly) just told me that if I fit that propellor without getting the MARAP certificate from RAAus then the aircraft (certified - 25 rego) would be immediately grounded by anyone from CASA or RAAus who asked me for the certificate and I couldn't provide it - easy to fix, MY copy of the certificate will only cost me $550....

WTF is going on here - if I didn't know better I would think that someone is trying to price my little dinosoar out of the sky...I can understand the user pays principle but $550 - fkn hell.........

Bottom line is I'm not going to spend two thousand dollars on a fifteen thousand dollar aircraft - can anyone please put me in contact with someone who can provide a basic refurbishment of my Brolga 4 blade prop (please don't say Bolly....)

BP

hey Farri, the aircraft has done 3,500 hours - twood not surprise me if the pumps have not been looked at - nothing in the records, btw

the prop has done the same and is a bit worse for wear, somebody suggested I go for a 3 blade Bolly (heard some good stuff about these behind a 582 on a Drifter) but they haven't answered my email...

I was under the impression Bolly had arranged 'certification' for the 3 blade on a Drifter but I haven't seen any proof of that

BP

No smart arsery intended

no m8 you got me wrong there, it was a joke about someone else's comment, not yours -that's the problem with the written word, it's so easy to get it out of context

the problem with the 'china' syndrome is that they don't really have any scruples about ripping off anyone else's property - they've been doing it for decades and there's no comeback, even if it's proven

the other problem is a lot of factories making goods sell to other buyers, so you end up with identical goods for sale - one in a package that reads Mikuni, one with no writing on the package, but it's the same part from the same factory

I found out (while buying Jaguar parts from UK Motors in Brisbane) that Jaguar washers cost $1 and the exact same part (even the number was very similar) for a Land Rover was 10 cents

the guy behind the counter twigged that the Jaguar part I needed (out of stock) was the same part from a Land Rover, so he hunted that for me...he wasn't surprised by the cost difference, btw

BP

glad I live on top of a hill...

last one - just to give you an idea of what's out there:

G-model 5.8G 300CH 2.4G WIFI Dual Antenna Video FPV Receiver for iOS & Android Smartphones Camera

and please don't ask me how I came across this website.......

check this out:

Eachine R051 150CH 5.8G FPV AV Receiver Built in Bat For iPhone Android IOS Smartphone Mobile Tablet

BP

this is the kind of miniature stuff I am talking about, commonly used with FPV (first person viewing) on drones etc:

Caddx Turbo S1 1/3 CCD 600TVL IR Blocked FPV Camera Yellow/Green NTSC/PAL DC 5V-40V Wide Voltage

of course you could use any kind of security camera for a more 'professional' install but these little beasties do a good job and it shouldn't be too difficult to work out a link to the tablet you're using for OzRunways....

BP

my rain gauge overflowed at 150mm sometime overnight and the probability of rain for the next 3 days is 90, 80 and 70%

maybe I should trade my Drifter in on a SeaDoo.....or get some floats......or maybe one of those 5 metre driveshafts with a boat prop, just bolt it straight to the Rotax gearbox - what could possibly go wrong ?

hey M61, did you know MikuniOz sell their wares through eBay?

ah, every smart ass is a critic, hey m8.....

cheers big ears