apm

Bugger using an iron, Way too fiddly. electric heat gun is quick and easy, as recommended to me by Howie at Lightwing and my local LAME. just remember to take the nozzle off the end if its removable. and depending on your aircraft structure watch out for over tightening the fabric as it can deform light frames, but this is easy to control with the heat gun. Just glue a test bit of fabric to something like an old tennis racquet etc. then shrink it until you go too far, its amazing how much heat it takes. good for testing finishing sealers, paint etc also. MEK is brilliant stuff, wish I knew about it years ago, 20l was about $100 in WA from Blackwoods. Andrew

Gary, I'd go for higher performance single seat self launch, even better if I could build it myself.

CASA is in effect doing this in their audits of RAAus.

Regrettably I cannot make it this year, but my Prop should be there on the GT stand before being delivered. If anyone would like to fly behind it, just post on here a picture of yourself with my prop, once this project becomes an aircraft proper I'll find you. Andrew

my Lightwing Speed is powered by a mazda 13b Renesis Rotary, makes noise but not flight ready yet. a great engine for aircraft use but you need to be dedicated to firewall forward development, the engine itself is extremely reliable, its the bits and pieces that make it into an airworthy powerplant that usually suffer if not designed correctly. basically if your more into flying than experimenting, fly a lycosaurus! got a 20b also, just got to find a airframe that will hack the pace.

Ian, I think you should follow your dream, change and progress is good, otherwise we'd all still be looking up at the sky wondering how the birds do it. there are many talented and knowledgeable individuals,suppliers,manufacturers etc out there that have little or no web presence so are hard to find via google, providing them with a platform is a great idea, but I think you will need help to sell the concept. Andrew

Hi Mark Our son started flying while still in the womb, he's 11 now with no detrimental side effects. Andrew

It's display should be part of the terminal, a constant reminder to everyone passing by of our aviation heritage. Andrew

probably, it was late. correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the discussion paper was more aimed at the merit of ADS-B. I thought the idea of flying VFR is to see and be seen, ADS-b assists in this so I have no objection to it in principal. I do object to losing access to airspace. On the cost and size of the current equipment, I agree totally. but I see that as a separate discussion, I believe that IF ADS-B is implemented as described in the paper, CASA would be hard pressed to force that equipment onto us without a fairly major revolt. I may be naive and I'm no EE, but I cannot see why a mobile phone size and cost device couldn't be developed over the next few years for VFR aircraft. would be accurate enough for conflicting traffic to get a fast visual fix. well that's my $0.02 worth, I hope everyone reading this thread has responded to the paper. Andrew

Bill, you may be correct today but I don't think your correct to assume the same of the future. I'm a farmer, won't be that long before we're using small UAV's for detailed crop imagery. unanimous, ie:no human intervention, means these aircraft wont see and avoid you if you don't broadcast your position, no problem for us, we'll just get the airspace over the farm declared a danger area. enter at your own risk! Next time your flying over arable farmland just take note of how many crops are planted,sprayed & harvested in perfectly straight lines, we do it for one reason only, efficiency. 10 years ago this was nearly unheard of, today its nearly impossible to purchase farm equipment that's not setup for precision agriculture, my point is farmers are very quick to embrace technology as it becomes available, use of UAV's are the next logical step in precision farming. All those farms are likely to become your safety problem or restricted airspace, take your pick! Andrew

Here's an idea, RA is self administered right? how about RAAus mandate fitment of FLARM to all aircraft on the RAAus register, it seems quite affordable and that way your being proactive towards something made for recreational pilots. Politicaly harder for CASA to wield its big stick on ADS-b in Class g as you would already have a adequate and solution in place. then you put the onus back onto the RPT aircraft operating into non-controlled aerodromes to integrate an inexpensive unit to "see" us.

Not really what I meant, this is a long term plan to fully implement, we don't last forever, you get the gist. younger pilots starting out accept the conditions as normal as they don't know any difference. Yes. those of us with plenty of flying years left, have to make a decision by about 2020-2025 as to whether we wish to fly near RPT. My personal opinion is that its best to accept the changes, then get on with trying to minimize the cost by encouraging the production of transponders more in line with what is deemed affordable, or argue to use the quoted "savings" made by airservices in implementing ADS-B to equip the current fleet. Please don't decide to fly illegally, you are likely to be rewarded with a 2 year holiday and lose the privilege of your license forever. Moral principles are a bit hard to argue when your opponent claims safety as the reason for change. Andrew

This is why recreational pilots should contact their representitive so that it it ensured RAA-Aus put a submission in on this white paper this month, demanding as airspace users to be part of the decision process on setting the "risk based threshold" for non-controlled aerodromes. Also be very courteous towards RPT drivers and professional with your flying when in their company, reality is they do have more influence with the regulator and will use this "risk based threshold" to have you excluded from your favorite destinations if they perceive there is a chance of an incident by you not having a transponder. Andrew

That's not quite they way I read it. So aircraft registered before 2014 are exempt. BUT you MAY have to be prepared to move to a quieter location if you can't justify the transponder and don't need to fly close to RPT, the question to ask regarding the following statement is, What level of traffic is the threshold? Governments are quite good at this sort of plan. Dissenters are taken care of by natural attrition, the rest of us just accept it, and get on with life. Andrew

I'd doubt RAA has enough political clout to be able to get special dispensation, it would be a bit like me arguing that I should be able to drive my old bullcatcher to the pub, just because Merc M class and Range Rover sports rarely visit this neighbourhood. I reckon your better off arguing to be able to use un-certified transponders embedded with your aircraft rego, with today's technology I'd bet they could be made just as accurate and affordable. Surely you agree you'd like me to have every chance of knowing your position before barreling through your personal airspace! Personally I'd like all aircraft to have ADS-B in, that way I reckon anyone flying close should be able to get me visual easier. Andrew

none at the moment, but I'm guessing it will be available by the time I get around to equip the panel, I thought that Trigg Avionics are releasing a compatible unit.

Shoot me down if you must, but I'd like to give another veiwpoint, I'm currently building a plane that will be VH reg and planning to equip with ADS-B in-out. reasoning is that I do not wish to limit my destinations and I really like the idea of having my efis alert me of potential conflicts. My experience is that radio position reporting is quite commonly in-accurate and/or poorly transmitted/received, it also clogs frequency's. Many years ago in a C172 I ended up on a reciprocal heading at circuit height with a RPT that changed his intentions and decided to overfly the airport to check the windsock at an uncontrolled regional airport, I'm still not sure if I missed his radio call or if he actually made it. anyway he wasn't where I expected him to be and he started to fill the windscreen real fast. something I care not to repeat. I think you guys need to really embrace technology as it develops, with more units sold prices come down, and you never know, by being seen you may even be able to negotiate for the use of more airspace rather than be pushed out and restricted to the nether regions. Andrew