microman

I see the VW engine has a belt reduction fitted, allowing it to have a bigger prop than would be normal for a VW - thats why the climb rate is so good. Nieuports are noted for being a bit squirrelly on the ground due to the quite small rudder, but this one appears to be very stable. Good job!

Lots!

Fair points Onetrack - yes - as EV's become more numerous there may be queues at chargers, but 95% of charging is done in your own home - its only when you venture some distance out of town (2 or 3 times a year for most) that you need a fast charger. Yes - the fuel tax issue is there in the background, but it will be a gradual process and governments will just have to find other revenue sources to compensate. They dont seem to have a problem in Norway where EV's are the fastest selling vehicles by far - all sorts of incentives are in place to facilitate this. (Free registration, free parking, use of bus lanes, no congestion charges etc etc).

Bex is right on the money re electric cars. Yes - Australia is a bit different from many other countries with the vast distances to travel (for some), but here in NZ 90% of drivers have a commute of less than 20 km. Even my Nissan Leaf with its range of 120 - 160 km is more than adequate for my needs. I charge in my garage overnight (on cheap night-rate power) - has no effect that I can discern on my monthly power bill. If you get caught out, charging stations are springing up everywhere at a very fast rate and I get a charge in 20 minutes (usually free). Running costs - almost nil - annual reg, warrant of fitness and tyres when they wear out. Thats it - even the brakes last almost forever due to the regen braking available. Its taking a while, but with the technology moving very quickly, even the dinosaur oil-burners out there will eventually come to understand that EV's are the way of the future. And yes - I would love a Tesla - acceleration that leaves virtually all other vehicles in its dust and a 500 km range - in almost complete silence. Whats not to like?

Beanie mod???? Whats that about? But what a fantastic trip!

Mark - visiting the North Island only really isn't good enough - there is the South Island as well. We would love to see you at Rangiora in Canterbury so that we can meet the guy who builds the ignition modules and supplys them at considerably less than the outrageously-priced Rotax product. Rangiora is also the centre in the South Island of Savannah builds with a very active local agent. Pity you cant have a meaningful discussion with she who must be obeyed to extend the itinerary but I guess its all booked already. Maybe next time.

Thought so - it had to be a Jodel - D11 or D150? Amazing the number of strips in the area. Thats what flying is all about!

Basically a Kolb Twinstar Mk 2 then - I am restoring one at present.

There are a couple in NZ - we looked at one briefly for a club training aircraft but settled on a Tecnam in the end. Good performance but not quite in the class of the Pipistrel Virus.

Sounds like a fantastic event Phil - I'll bet the kids wont forget it in a hurry. And I would love to see the finished product. Still hoping to get out to Otherton (your home field?) on the next trip to the old country - probably not till 2019 (I have a date with Oshkosh next year!)

We have a similar operation in NZ called YouShop - run by NZ Post - works real well. As Onetrack says, many US sellers wont ship outside the US, or have free shipping inside the US - both situations are covered by YouShop who have 2 depots in the US - so you simply instruct the seller to ship to the YouShop address. They then contact you to advise the shipping cost to NZ, you pay by credit card, and it arrives typically a week or so later.

JBM Industries in the USA - google it - I recently got 2 carb sockets from them. Cheaper than the Rotax ones and apparently better quality.

Just google "Rotax Rick" - I think you will get all the feedback you want there!

Interested to know how the whole importing thing went - was it very expensive? I have been looking at importing a plane from the UK but thought it would probably be prohibitively expensive. Presumably you used a freight forwarder to pick it up and load it into a container?

Jetboy is right on the button - Rangiora which is 20 mins north of Christchurch has a squadron of 701's. If you talk nicely to Stu Bufton he will take you into the local riverbed - its his party piece.

Philp Seales details are as follows: Home Ph: 0064-33102511, Mob: 006421747494, Email: [email protected]

You need to contact the local agent - Philip Seale, based near Christchurch at Forest Field - he is very active, having sold a large number of Savannah kits and is good to deal with. I can get you contact details if you wish.

Gotta be a Bleriot!

Looks pretty straightforward to me - so long as you get the approach right - I wish some of the strips we get to land on were as big and flat as that one!

Not sure of the precise reasons but I think the time to altitude took too long.

Interesting - in fact our local gliding club here in Canterbury has recently dispensed with its Eurofox - not up to the job apparently. They have replaced it with a Dynamic.

I think you are worrying about nothing - I fitted the later cap to my old 2000 hr Rotax without any problems and, worst case scenario, the increased pressure might show up a problem somewhere in the system that otherwise mightn't have been noticed. If you have done the hose replacement requirement as per the maintenance manual cant see that you would have a problem.

Jeez - thats impressive - 137 kts groundspeed at about 5100 - 5200rpm?