Gentreau

Metalman, isn't your engine fund figure on the high side ?

$24,000 seem a lot to pay for an engine overhaul, unless you intend to replce it with a new one.

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Well Turboplanner thinks I'm "optomistic" ......

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PS I hope you're going to offer something for those of us limited to 100HP.....

Gentreau. There's never been an engine more suited to aircooling than a radial. Can you name me a liquid cooled radial? Aircooling is simple and appropriate for aircraft, specially tractor installations and was much more reliable in war situations than liquid cooled engines. Nev

Since the local farmers don't often shoot at me when I go flying, I reckon that the advantages of liquid cooling vastly outweigh any risks.

Those engines look and sound good and are probably appropriate for certain installations such as replicas, but not for me.

Very pretty and sound nice, but, they're air-cooled. IMHO a major disadvantage.

As a wise man once said:

"If it flies, floats or f**ks, it's cheaper to rent than buy"

........It should also have a small width (narrow cowl) and is direct drive and low revving isn't it.?Nev

Yes it's direct drive, max revs 3300.

The only limiting factor at the moment is the smaller range of compatible props for direct drive, but that will improve with time.

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.......The newer complex engines will be rectified by "remove and ship to service agent". for adjustments and repair, if we don't watch it. Nev

The Achilles heel of all FI engines, the fuel pumps.

Which is more likely to occur, failure of two independant fuel pumps or carb icing ?

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I think I know the answer, but would rather be sure so I will ask these questions of the owner of the Sherwood Ranger when I see him at the weekend.

I'll get back to you.....

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I must say that having spoken to the guy from the company, they certainly seem to be very serious about 'doing it right'.

Another example he gave me is that the ECU is fully programmable (I watched him setup the idle on the Sherwood Ranger using his PC plugged into the ECU) and you get the software with the engine to allow you to log data and monitor conditions.

If later you have a problem and you contact their telephone support service, and they determine that it requires modifying the ECU, they will give you an access code which is valid for 24hrs only to allow you to make the necessary changes, following their guidance.

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So, even though the existing engine was fine, for no other reason than they wanted to, they gave him a new engine?

See their Installations page here: http://www.d-motor.eu/nl/installations-5.htm

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You can't insure against everything. Life insurance, surely a misnomer. Nev

Insurance covers a potential risk, assurance covers a certain event.

Be very careful what wood is used for the pckaging. Most countries require it to meet ISPM15 standards. If the wrong wood is used, the importer may be fined and the goods may be confiscated with the packaging which will be destroyed.

You can read more about it here: http://www.ispm15.com/

One thing that is sure about D-Motor is the excellent level of service they give.

A guy at our club bought one of the early 4 cylinder engines, which produced 80hp. It ran beautifully and he really liked it.

It started first time every time using an 800g battery and he had about 50 hours trouble free flying with it.

However, that orignal design has now been superseded by the improved LF26.

Two days ago a guy from D-Motor drove down from Belgium (8 hours) with a replacement engine which he helped our guy install as a replacement on his Sherwood Ranger. The engine tests were completed yesterday and he now has the new version (93hp).

What did that cost our guy; nada, nothing, not a cent !

Hi all, I was at the French inter-regional championships for paramotors last weekend.

We had a good turnout, as it was the only official event before the nationals, including 3 national champions and an ex European champion.

I only managed to grab a few bits of video as I was actually there as a steward and judge.

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We have a company close to home who are offering LiFePo batteries.

I wonder how they compare in performance and price to those available in Oz ... ?

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http://randkar.free.fr/fr/prbattdem.htm&act=url

P.S. 1 Euro = 1.26 AUD today

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At the risk of thread drift, I just have to share this... My PLB is (and has been for the last 3 months) in being serviced under warranty. Kannad won't replace it (2nd time it's died in the 2 years I've owned it - useless junk) and they insist on it being serviced by the approved centre instead. Problem is, they need a new battery for it, and - get this - the battery cannot be sent to Oz from France by air because it is classified as dangerous goods! This is the same battery that powers the PLB that I'm required by law to carry when I fly! Talking about it with a LAME I know, he told me that they have the same problem with some aircraft radios - they can't send them by air, but they can install them in aircraft. 'Tis a wonderful world we live in.

Same problem, you can take the jacket, but not the bottle of compressed air !

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It's also pertinent to ask why he was flying that sector when he had been reporting "significant sleep disturbances" for 4 days prior to the incident.

What pressures did he experience that made him operate the flight rather than take a break ?

Maybe his manager should have been the one to tell him to go home and catch up on his sleep ?

Yes but we, the Europeans, are happy with that weight class, because it comes with a lot of freedoms, especially in France. We have light regulations, owner maintenance, no annual paperwork and freedom to land anywhere with the landowners permission. There are plenty of machines available here with empty weights around 250-270kg which means you can fly solo with full fuel and some baggage, or two-up with some fuel reduction. The weight limit only really becomes an issue for the high performance machines, and some of them are starting to lose weight. Flight Design just announced a new version of the CTSW which comes in at 266kg empty, giving 206kg payload.

In Ian's first link he mentions a 544 & 600kG version but the website mentions a 472Kg gross weight. Thats an off weight, does anyone have any insight into the stats on the type and whether a 600Kg version is available?

Even if the engines are the same size, I would guess that the cowling could be tighter as there's no requirement for air ducting.

Phil the latest ASB on Rotax-owner.com is this one:

http://legacy.rotax-owner.com/si_tb_info/alertbulletins/asb-912-062-ul.pdf

While the fault is with the cylinder heads, the mandatory inspection is of the spark plugs.

Is this the one that requires a sparkplug inspection for oil ingress ?

Is that related to this http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/11/hacking_aircraft_with_android_handset/

If it is, then it's already been denied here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/13/faa_debunks_android_hijack_claim/

You have to have a declared MTOW for an aircraft, otherwise at what weight would you test it's structural integrity, stalling speed, manoeuvering speed etc etc ??

If an aircraft has a MTOW of 540kg, that's because it has been tested at that mass, go beyond it and you do not know how it will behave.

To answer the original question, if you buy an aircraft with a MTOW of 540kg, it doesn't matter what you register it as, it still is limited to 540kg.

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