microman

Hi Mark - welcome aboard - I had a D18 (see left) - what engine do you have in yours? It seems to me that no two D18's are the same - every engine possible, some with flaps, some without, some with sliding canopy, some hinged at the sides or front. However they all have some things in common - a great glide, marvellous vision due to the nose-down attitude, and good performance cross-country.

Ticked another one off the bucket list last week when I flew with another club member in his Alpi Pioneer 200 - we took off from Rangiora and headed straight for Mount Cook - reached it in about an hour, climbing steadily all the way, and then did a circuit around the top - its 12,300 ft and we were at 13,125 - fantastic views with snow in all directions. Plenty of landing areas if necessary (glaciers etc) but not sure how you would ever get the plane out again! We then landed at Okarito Lagoon on the West Coast (400m grass strip - bent like a banana!) , had a cup of coffee, then flew home through the Whitcombe Pass. 3.5 hours flight in total, 58 litres of fuel used. Fantastic flight and the Alpi handled it with ease. Strangely enough, I don't often see any mention of Alpi's in Oz - did they not take off there?!!!! They are a terrific x-country machine and can handle short grass strips too - not many aircraft have both capabilities.

Flash looking little Scout - bit of history there! We had 50 odd Scouts here in NZ but it years since I last saw one fly. They were pretty marginal on the single-banger Robin (18hp on a good day) but re-engined witha KFM or such they went quite well. The one in your photo must be one of the very last ones produced.

As I recall the T83 had a Robin 440 engine, whereas the T85 had a smaller wing and the Rotax 503 - hard to tell from the picture which one yours is, but I suspect its a T85 because of the fuel tank which is borrowed from the Gemini.

Fabulous Nick - my first aircraft was a T83 - with a Robin 440 engine - took me everywhere - and I learnt a lot flying it. There are still a few flying in NZ but like most early aircraft have generally been superseded by later stuff. Those were the days.

Thanks for that Kasper. Sounds like yours is even earlier than mine - funnily enough I had also considered the F23 - its horizontally opposed and aircooled so ideal for the Sapphire and certainly light enough - only problem is I dont know where I might source one - none came to NZ as far as I know. Anyone out there got one? The Kawasaki is supposed to be 38hp or 42 with twin carbs so maybe it will do the job. It also has belt drive and electric start. One other mod I must do is fit a trim system - I gather most of them had a bungee system, but I thought a servo trim tab would be the best - adjustable from the cockpit obviously. I also think brakes would be good, but would need to change the wheels to accommodate drums/disks.

Just thought I would resurrect the Sapphire thread again as I have just managed to buy back a very early 95.10 Sapphire (the one with the short fat wings) that I owned many years ago. I note Kaspar has a 95.10 Sapphire - same model? Cant make up my mind yet what motor to install - it started life with a Rotax 377, but I installed a 503 on it and it performed very well - though perhaps caused a bit of a rearward C of G? I have also acquired a Kawasaki 440 but while it is nice and light I'm not sure if it will do the job performance-wise. Any thoughts from present/past Sapphire jockeys? Any other motors around light enough and powerful enough?

Dazza is right - the Campbell Aero helmets ( made locally here in Canterbury, New Zealand) are quite famous - sold to warbird jockeys and open cockpit pilots all round the world - but they cost - around US$2000 last I heard.

Phil - your post struck a chord - our club has 180 members - average age 56! Every year we talk about how can we get young people into flying but it just doesn't happen - as you say they are too busy with their hot cars and other hobbies. We have just taken the local ATC Squadron under our wing (like you guys only very limited Govt funding) - providing some free flying in the club aircraft, a scholarship for a chosen pupil to go right through to solo, inviting them to our social and flying events, and anything else we can think of - at least we will be targeting aviation-minded kids. We would have crawled over barbed wire to go flying when we were young but times have clearly changed.

Ah Phil - I just love your wit - the ability of some of you Poms to laugh at yourselves is priceless - mind you I guess you don't have much choice..... I particularly enjoy your reference to the flying skips - can't wait to tell all the 701 and Savannah jockeys at the field - the best I had come up with previously was the "ugly duckling". We have a growing band of 701's in particular - they fit them with huge tyres and specialise in landing on mountaintops and in riverbeds. Some of the members of this forum who tut tut at any mention of flying over tiger country would be horrified at the places they go, but thats what they are designed for!

Whoops - too late - I guess my flight over the Southern Alps last week would be regarded by turboplanner and Doug as totally irresponsible - since I would have needed to get to 12,000 ft in order to glide to a safe landing if the engine had stopped and I only managed 7500 - I suppose I had better stick to flying around the Canterbury Plains in future. In fact, if I dont fly at all then I really will be completely safe. Rather boring though!

You can always rely on FT to come up with the nuttiest suggestions - make a ballistic parachute mandatory? That has to be the dumbest idea I have heard in a long time - still I suppose on a forum like this you are going to get the full spectrum of craziness. The day that happens is the day I give up flying. Just maintain your aircraft properly, make sure you have a proven reliable engine and go for it.

In many parts of NZ, if you never fly over country you couldn't land on, then you would never be able to fly at all. In the end you just have to trust your engine and only twice in 30 years has a Rotax stopped on me - once when a balance tube between the carbs let go, and once when a drive belt disintegrated (both my fault, not the engines). Never flown behind anything else, and after reading some of the posts on this forum relating to other engines, and the seemingly quite regular instances of major work required, I aint about to change!

Absolutely right Yenn - I flew a 2-seat Thruster for years and always three pointed it - in fact if I tried to wheel it on I invariably bounced. That said, a bit of crosswind could make life interesting if it hit you just as you were stalling it on!

Thanks for that aj_richo - I have since graduated to an Alpi Pioneer 200 for extended cross-countries (just flew across the Southern Alps to Hokitika, up the West Coast to Karamea, across to Motueka, and back to Rangiora - 5 hrs in all, using 73 liters of fuel, averaging around 95 kts). However I still yearn for the old days (I started in 1985) and my old Thruster. I also owned a Phantom single-seater and plan to get one or the other just to get back to open-air flying around the patch. Your machine looks ideal for that.

Hey aj-richo - love the look of the aircraft you built - looks a lot like my first aircraft (a single-seat Thruster) - only better - what sort of performance did you get? Looks like a Rotax 503 up front?

Looks like a Resurgam to me - as I recall the designer (Gordon Bedson?) was killed testing the Mk3 version.

I have a slightly similar problem with my Rotax tacho (the one with the coloured bands) - the needle is steady, but it wont read over 5000 rpm - even at full throttle which I checked with a go-kart digital tacho is around 5500 rpm. Would Scott's fix with a resistor cure this problem too? Graeme

There are a number of D9's in NZ and they are well-regarded. This one looks to be immaculate and obviously has a good history. There is no reason if it has always been hangared and protected from moisture why it should not last for ever. At $8000 its a steal. Would buy it myself in a heartbeat if it was in NZ!

As someone who has built both the Skyranger and the Xair I can say that both went together easily ( and I have very limited skills) - possibly the Xair has a small edge. My Skyranger had the 92hp Simonini 2-stroke engine and while it had lots of power, it was also noisy and vibrated a lot. This made cross-countries a bit of an endurance test. Would have been much better with a 912. Climb rate however was out of this world - with a 72 inch Thompson prop it climbed at 1700 ft/min. The empty weight of 230kg helped. The Xair kit had a better quality of finish (all tubing powdercoated), whereas the Skyranger kit had non-aircraft hardware - some of which had evidence of surface corrosion a couple of years later. Both flew hands off after appropriate trims were fitted. In summary both are excellent value.

The growth area for aviation in NZ is definitely microlights - lots of GA pilots fed up with the cost of maintaining a GA aircraft and the stringent (and expensive) medical requirements are migrating over. We are fortunate here that CAA's only involvement in microlights is the initial inspection and annual registration - everything else - licensing, instruction (done through clubs, not flying schools), mods etc, is controlled by RAANZ (Recreational Aircraft Association of NZ). We are also very fortunate that the definition of a microlight is extremely generous - MTOW under 600 kg and stall under 45 kts and it is a microlight. Our club has over 170 members, two club aircraft (P92 Tecnam and Rans S6) two hangars and a settled base at Rangiora airfield. Because of our mountainous terrain, one major growth area is in aircraft such as the Zenith 701 and the Savannah - several of our members have imported these aircraft from the USA and they delight in landing on mountain strips and in riverbeds (much to our disgust - we have to stick to decent-size paddocks and actual airstrips). However even we are not immune to increasing bureaucracy and costs - Rangiora is now an MBZ with landing fees ($10 a day or you can pay a lump sum for the year).

Just noticed the posts re the D918 - you really have made the aircraft fit your requirements. You may remember meeting me in NZ at Taeri a couple of years ago. For the sake of jeffd and any others in Oz who may be c0nsidering the D18, mine is fitted with a Rotax 912S - it cruises at 100kts @5000 rpm, and climbs at 1000 ft/min fully loaded. The D18 design is fantastic - problem is the underperforming VW engines most of them have. With the Rotax (or even a Jab) they really get up and go and they fit within the NZ microlight category so no problems with RA-Aus. Mine is 302kg empty with an MTOW of 530 kg.

Herewith - not very clear unfortunately - cheap chinese cellphone camera!

Just had to add my 2 cents worth about the Supercat - I purchased a semi-derelict one about a year ago, (for $2500 - who says aircraft cost lots), found there was nothing structurally wrong with it, gave it a Dulux overhaul, replaced a few bolts etc, and flew it today for the first time. After reading the posts on this forum I must admit to some trepidation but found it to be a pussycat. I had flown plenty of pitch-sensitive machines and found it no different. It was a bit difficult to keep straight - tended to yaw a bit, but otherwise fine. I wouldn't fly it in anything much over 10 knots of wind but as a paddock-hopper its great - gets off in under 50 meters, and lands in not much more - without brakes. Mine is open cockpit so the leather helmet and goggles got dragged out of storage and I landed feeling exhilarated ( and slightly relieved). This is what microlights (ultralights?) are (were) all about.

Phil - your comments regarding the Sportcruiser are very interesting - there are several in New Zealand and the owners rave about them, especially their load-carrying ability and short strip performance? (props may be a factor here) but I guess it all depends on what you are comparing them with. From my experience locally the Tecnam and Alpi (both Italian designs) seem to be two of the best around in terms of STOL capability and performance in rough air. We have a lot of wind where I come from and heat thermals in the summer so wing loading is a big factor. My old Skyranger was a great strip aircraft, but in rough air you had to hang on to anything available. Would be interested to hear of others experiences with some of these European imports - they all look a million $, but when you delve into it a bit more its sometimes a different story. I should state a bias here - I have an Alpi 200 and couldn't be happier with it.