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ozzietriker

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Posts posted by ozzietriker

    Rotax E type Gearbox 'chattering noise'

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    Ozzie, stuff a piece of steel into a meter or so of garden or fuel hose, put to your ear and start touching the steel around the engine finding exactly where the noise is coming from.Very dangerous of course, don't concentrate so much that you and the prop connect and that's why the hose rather than a screwdriver, so you can keep some distance.

    Thanks for the tip, noise is definitely coming from the gearbox as it was previously fitted to my older grey top with the same symptoms.

     

     

    Rotax E type Gearbox 'chattering noise'

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    Dear All,

     

    I have a Rotax E type gearbox fitted to my 582cc engine. I notice that at certain RPM's I can hear (what I can describe as a) "gear chattering" noise, very prodominant at 3500RPM but less and intermittent at other RPM's, it has been doing this for quite sometime now. I have also fully stripped the gearbox to visually inspect each part with no obvious signs of wear/damage and checked end float & run out to be good.

     

    I'm interested to hear whether if you have/had a similar experience and if this is normal or anything to be concerned about?

     

    Thanks in advance

     

    Dennis

     

     

    mounting of the AIRKIT antenna on trikes

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    I would not mount the antenna like the one in the spat. The radiation pattern on a 1/2wave dipole is like a donut put down over the top antenna element with the antenna in the donut hole...... most appropriate when the antenna is mounted as all the other photos but useless when mounted as per the spat. horizontally. Any aircraft in front and behind will be in a Tx/Rx dead spot. Generally the ones you have to worry about are those in front and behind you....Details on raditation pattern here about 1/4 way down the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipole_antenna

     

    However if you drilled a hole towards the rear of the spat and had the short rubber end inside the spat (not bent!) and the long flexible end straight up on top of the spat it will likely work.....but too much hard work for me when you can do the same thing off the front trike pod and that way the coax run needs to only be relatively short (Good thing!) and doesnt need any inline connectors (an even better thing!!) .

     

    No matter where you put it remember that 1/4w antenna (The top long metal one) have an unerring ability to poke you in the eye on a regular basis! try really hard to put a rubber protective cap over the sharp end, preferably some bright fluoro colour as well......

     

    If mounting on the pod remember that there are some drawbacks (cause lifes never so straight forward) the closer to the antenna you are the more raditation from it you will absorb. Power denisty reduces as a squared function as you move away so a doubling of the distance will be significantly less than 1/2 the power. Also humans arent the only thing to absorb RF energy, any wire will do that (good braid/foil shielding) will lessen the affect (actually thats not quite true, the braiding will still absorb, but the center cores wont and its the center wires signal that can be adversley affected) , and quite a few headsets/intercoms dont cope well with RF induction into their wiring, hence why a lot of trikers mount the antenna up on the keel post away from the intercom and other wiring/instrumentation.....

     

    It worked without issue on my trike on the pod, but I have heard and seen others for whom it didnt work so well......On my trike Aerial pursuits provided the intercoms/headsets and the radio was a microair M760...

     

    Andy

    Hi Andy and thanks for your input!

     

    Yes I sure can relate with what you've mentioned as some of those antenna placements were past experiences of mine. As you said antenna placement on a trike is definitely not easy like a conventional aircraft, I like the look of the rear keel mounts that Zibi and Scott posted and think that's where i'll mount mine. Mobile One recommended not to mount the AIRKIT antenna on the king post as it will cause the antenna to act like an untuned di-pole but at least 12 inches away from it.

     

    Regards,

     

    Dennis

     

     

    mounting of the AIRKIT antenna on trikes

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    [ATTACH=full]21168[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]21167[/ATTACH] Oz:Here's a pic of an antenna mount I made for my trike. Essentiallt it's just a plug of nylon with a piece of angle bolted to it. The bolts are threadded into a solid rod running transversely through the nylon. I made the nylon fit into the keel tube with another hole vertically to take the pin that normally secures the keel extension tube. I found that I needed a the angle to tilt down at the back a little to make the bottom of the antenna tilt away from the prop when the wing was fully in the up position.

     

    [ATTACH=full]21167[/ATTACH]

    Thankyou Scott!

     

    Great pictures, this looks like an excellent way of securing your antenna, a pro job too :)

     

    Regards,

     

    Dennis

     

     

    mounting of the AIRKIT antenna on trikes

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    I'm not sure if it was exactly the same antenna, but I've seen them mounted in couple different places on the trike:- on the keel with a purpose made strap, I think Airborne even had them in stock for a while

     

    - on the side of the pod, but that was later moved to the keel mount

     

    - on a bracket attached where the rear bottom suspension strut attaches to the trike.

    Hi Zibi and thanks for your post, would you mind taking a close up pic of the bracket holding your antenna on the kingpost for me please. I'm curious how your bracket looks like and how it secured.

     

    Thanks greatly :)

     

    Dennis

     

     

    mounting of the AIRKIT antenna on trikes

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    Hi Oz.My plane is obviously not a trike,but the Airkit antenna I fitted made an amazing improvement to my transmissions. I read of someone mounting it in their spat on a trike,and have attached a few pics for you. Note they used a plug at the spat to make it easier when de-rigging. (Pics come from http://forums.bmaa.org/default.aspx?f=15&m=50114&p=5).

    Just for completeness, I show where I mounted mine. I bought my airkit pretuned to 127.0

     

    Cheers

     

    Gerry

     

    [ATTACH=full]21150[/ATTACH]

     

    [ATTACH=full]21151[/ATTACH]

     

    [ATTACH=full]21152[/ATTACH]

     

    [ATTACH=full]21153[/ATTACH]

    Thanks Gerry for the info, that looks interesting!

     

    cheers

     

    Dennis :)

     

     

    Where is the best state in Aust for flying Trikes?

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    Jeez seven postings in 15 years is a lot. I was a airframe fitter/aircraft tech that had only one posting after training for nearly nine years. Gotta love the idea of techo's getting posted to a weapons system. I was lucky that I was a techo on F111's and they were only based at Amberley. Bad luck for the trash haul techos on Hercs. They were stuck in Richmond.PS- Im sure that some peeps liked being posted at Richmond.Just never talked to anybody that did.

    Gday Dazza, yeah that airforce is long gone and AMB was once a great place for location stability. On the other hand i've taken the opportunity to move around along with my trike. Gone is the old weapon streaming system for techos and many old platforms like the F111, B707, Caribou etc.. where techos could once stay there almost forever. Gone is the need to take a 2 year non WS posting like GSI/MSI to go to another WS and there's more flexibility in the posting system for techos to move between different aircraft platforms. Nowadays you can expect a posting to last 3-4 years within a squadron even in Richmond where it was a Hotel California ;)

     

     

    • Informative 1

    Where is the best state in Aust for flying Trikes?

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    After 15 years of Air Force life, 7 postings and living in every capital city in each state. I would say that in my experience, Western Australia has by far the most beautiful landscapes I have ever witnessed from the air whether if it's on the coast or inland, my favourite places in particular are Exmouth (NW Cape), Shark Bay and Bunbury, love the sunset flights here also along the beach. One down side is WA is almost unflyable in a weightshift during the summer months as it's too brutally windy, but if you have a gyrocopter then you're set!

     

    By the way i'm not from WA gents so no bias there ;)

     

     

    mounting of the AIRKIT antenna on trikes

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    Hi all,

     

    Does anyone have an AIRKIT antenna made by Mobile One (picture in attachment) fitted to their trike? if so, can you:

     

    1. please let me know where you have mounted it; and

     

    2. how it is affixed? - what type of mounting system did you make?

     

    any pictures will be appreciated, please PM me for email address.

     

    This antenna type cannot be mounted on the king post as it will cause the antenna to behave as an untuned di-pole and significantly reduce it's operating range.

     

    The AIRKIT antenna is a completely ground independent antenna (doesn't need a ground plane i.e wing or flat suface to launch the RF waves) so i'm interested where you've mounted yours.

     

    Thanks in advance :)

     

    849060555_airkitantenna.gif.418ed3c1787a5b33946249f8473f499d.gif

     

     

    How to bleed cooling system on a 582 blue head?

    in Engines and Props

    Posted

    From memory there are two brass nipple one either end of the head. from these runs a small rubber line up into the radiator upper connector hose. This is a steam release should any become entrepped in the head (where you don't want steam !) your line should be connected to the one which is highest, and the other blanked off....................Maj...024_cool.gif.7a88a3168ebd868f5549631161e2b369.gif

    Thanks Maj & much appreciated! :)

     

    cheers,

     

    Dennis

     

     

    How to bleed cooling system on a 582 blue head?

    in Engines and Props

    Posted

    Assuming your engine is plugs up.....At the top where the small pipe connects both sides of the radiators, there should be a 't' piece with connection pipe to the fitting on top of the engine head. Make this pipe clear plastic so you can see the coolant level. Measure the coolant used to fill the cooling system - depending on your radiator size you should need about 1.5 litres. Then run your engine to operating temperature watching the coolant level via the clear pipe. Top up as required. I must say that I have had no problems with filling my coolant system, or with air remaining in the system to any extent worth mentioning.

     

    One word of warning... When I replaced my 582 grey head with the blue head, I did not replace the radiators with the bigger versions needed for the blue head. I had heating problems until I increased the radiator cooling capacity.

     

    Hope this helps.

     

    Pud

    Hi Pud and thanks for the great tip! I will try this :)

     

    Cheers,

     

    Dennis

     

     

    How to bleed cooling system on a 582 blue head?

    in Engines and Props

    Posted

    Hi Everyone,

     

    I've just replaced my old grey top 582 engine with a new blue top. The cooling system on the blue top is very different to that of the blue top (i'm running the dual radiator set-up . Does anyone have any tips/tricks on how to ensure all the air pockets are gone. I have squeezed all the hoses repeatedly and it feels like air is still in the system although when I crack the bleed grub screw a steady steam of coolant runs out ok.

     

    Any ideas would be appreciated :)

     

     

    How to load/unload a microlight wing onto your roof racks without the pain

    in Trikes and Microlight Aircraft Usergroup

    Posted

    Hi Dennis, there are a couple of pics here : http://www.trikepilot.com/members/profile/10/pictures/8422/2#/members/profile/10/pictures/8422/2They show a see saw type roof rack.

    Also there are a couple of different ways shown here: http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/trailers-for-trikes.9273/

     

    Regards Bill

    Thanks Bill, this looks a bit easier on my back :) i'll give it a try

    cheers

     

    Dennis

     

     

    radio problems

    in Instruments, Radios and Electronics

    Posted

    thankyou gents for your thoughts & advice, you've given me some good leads for now :)

     

    Ausgee: I forgot to mention before champ that I have tested the radio as a stand alone handheld and reception volume is perfect. Unfortunately we have no other connectors/adapters as it was bought with the trike 2nd had and the previous owner knows nothing. The Radio is interfaced via a patch lead to the intercom "Raptor Box" (made by Aerial Persuits) the headset connections are RJ12. I'll be also trying to reposition the intercom, filtering techniques and perhaps to run it from a stand alone battery as a trial.

     

    thanks again guys!

     

     

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