Bluey

Thanks, I'll do that. I've spoken to Wal and he is pretty sure it is the sender unit on the way out. Hope he is right. Bluey

Did your problems include a warning on cold start up? I'm thinking that a lazy sender unit could cause this?

Hi all; I have noticed a low engine oil pressure at start up that lasts 10 to 15 seconds when the engine is cold started if it has not been flown for a week or more. Once pressure starts to rise, it rises rapidly to normal levels around 5 bar at low oil temps. Also, in flight, it normally hovers at between 2.8 and 3.6 bar during cruise. It seems to spend more time at the higher end than the lower end. However, yesterday it momentarily gave me a low oil pressure warning light for a few seconds during flight before quickly recovering to above 3 bar. So not sure if it was real or not? The low pressure at start up doesn't occur if I fly on consecutive days or even a few days apart. Once the engine is warmed, no low pressure on start is noticed. However I usually start my engine then turn on my instrument panel. There is a 5 to 10 second initiallisation process before the instrument readings are displayed. The engine is in an airborne microlight. Flew today with pressures very stabe for first 90 minutes of flight before slowly reducing to around 2.8 where it stayed mostly stable. It did momentarily dip to 2.5 for a short period before climbing back to about 3. No inflight warnings today. Any comments would be appreciated. Bluey

Thanks for all your help everyone, I think the biggest issue may be the low pressure at start up. I'm going to run some tests to see how long it really lasts to see if it really is a real reading. At this stage, I suspect that it might be but need to try starting the engine with the instrument panel on to see how long it really takes for pressures to come up (something I never do in case of voltage spikes that destroy the electronics). I'll keep you all posted. Bluey

oil change was done 37hrs ago. Will run some tests with the skydat on before start up to see how long oil pressures take to reach normal levels. I will also try hand cranking the prop more to see if this changes anything. I recently turned the engine off in flight and then back on again with skydat on and a warning light flashed for a few seconds when the engine roared back to life. I wonder what the delay is between real oil pressure and the skydat registering it on the display? Bluey.

I forgot to mention that the pressure variations in flight are usually very slow. But the low pressure warnings I often get at start up usually go from zero to above 4 in only a couple of seconds once its starts to go up. It could be at zero for around 10 seconds or more on start up though because my start up procedure is to start the engine with the skydat off then turn it on immediately once engine is started. I am using the shell VSX 4 oil. I have heard from Bert Floods that aeroshell plus 4 has had pressure issues in the past but am not aware of any details of these issues. Bluey

Yep, I will be calling Bert Floods tomorrow and organising a replacement sender unit. Flew this morning and as expected there was no low pressure warning at start up since I flew yesterday. Start up pressure is around 5. For the first 90 minutes of flying, oil pressure was very stable at around 3.7 which is what I've seen on other 912's. However, for the last 1 hour of flying it started to vary again. Got as low as 2.5 for a brief moment before settling at around 3.1. I monitored temps carefully and they remained very steady while the oil pressure varied. Has anyone heard of an oil pump failure on a 912 before as the few people in the know I have spoken to say they cannot ever recall such a failure? Bluey.

Lets say for the sake of argument that it is the oil pump. Would this lead to a zero oil pressure reading if it suddenly failed during flight? It doesn't seem logical to me that a failed pump would cause a zero pressure. Wouldn't a failed pump lead to a non zero pressure especially if there is no loss in oil and then a climbing oil temperature as cooling would no longer be effective due to a lack of oil circulation? Bluey

yep, great video. I heard a story a while back of someone who landed on a beach like the two in the video. They had the tundra version. They landed fine in soft sand too but crashed on take off as they misjudged the amount of space needed to get an SST wing airborne again from soft sand. They ran out of sand and came off a small sand dune and landed in the surf. Nearly drowned the back seater. Nearly wrote off a brand new outback 912.

Yes, the engines other vitals are all normal and not at all variable like the oil pressure readings are.

Hi all: Just did some flying this morning and noticed at one point during the flight that my oil pressure dropped to zero for a few seconds. This was noticed when the warning light suddenly came on. The oil pressure restored itself in a matter of seconds but I was of course concerned and started looking around for a possible forced landing. This never eventuated and a safe landing at YWOL followed soon after. I must add that my oil pressures have been a bit variable lately usually between 2.8 and 3.6 (in cruise) which I thought a little unusual. Also, at start up, I have been seeing zero oil pressure reading for a number of seconds when the skydat is first switched on and the engine is cold. typically after a week or so of no flying. I have spoken to a few people about this and they say that it is most likely the oil pressure sender unit as these are commonly failing. The engine now has 430hours and I have already had two unrelated failed EGt probes. Anyone have any experiences similar to this? Regards: Bluey

Hi all: I recently replaced a failed egt probe on my rotax 912 (about 300 hrs). Now at 400 hrs the other egt probe has also failed. Has anyone out there had similar experiences? regards Bluey

Yeah they are HGFA. So if you are after RAAUS then you better look elsewhere. From my understanding Peter Wilson at Tumut may in fact be both. Or Len Birger up at Sommersby if you feel like doing a bit more travelling. I can recomend Len since Sommersby is a place that will teach you more advanced skills. Bluey.

Don't forget the Sydney microlight centre at Albion park. You have up to three instructors to choose from there.

Hi: Just wondering if there is a protocol for visiting millitary airfields like Nowra or Richmond on weekends when they are deactivated and the airspace is class G. I have heard from my old instructor that the airfields like to know in advance if you plan to visit. Does anyone know if this is true as I would love to land at Nowra and Richmond in the near future without going to all the trouble of getting prior permission first. Not sure if this makes any difference but I'd be visiting in a trike. Bluey

Hi all: Was flying back from Merrimbula today and heard on the area frequency that Canberra airport was closed due to a dissabled aircraft on the runway. This was at around 1:00pm. Has anyone heard anything about it? Bluey

From my experience, Crookwell is much less likely to be cloudy than Goulburn. I can usually see Goulburn from the air near Crookwell and I usually am glad I chose to go the Crookwell route instead. If Goulburn is your preferred route then the strip at Marulin will often be a landing spot until the cloud clears at Goulburn. Bluey.

Hi, While the conditions at Crookwell were deteriorating, west of Crookwell was still in good conditions. When I left Cootamundra the weather was very good for flying. It was only to the east of Crookwell that all the weather was found. Orange and Bathurst were still in reasonable weather too. If at any time the conditions ahead deteriorated to a point I considered dangerous, I would have outlanded in one of the many large paddocks below me and tied the trike down, set up a tent and waited it out for a few days if needed. My call to ATC was initially as a precaution only. I became concerned when I was told I may have overshot my destination. This of course proved false as I had incorrectly identified a major landmark. The lesson for me here is: Ask for help as soon as you think you need it and go back to your starting point as soon as you feel unsure of your destination and the weather ahead rather than diverting to a new location you aren't 100% sure of. Oh, and make sure you carry a decent GPS as well as maps. Bluey.

Hi; Sorry, my mistake, not NE of Bowral but NW of it. The weather was over the ranges to the East. I tracked Nw of the Weather to leave it behind me. From the air the NW was still quite good relativley clear air with the start of a cloud build up. So I headed in the general direction of much better weather. The outlanding was done just clear of the ranges near a house in a smooth paddock. Crookwell had fog over the landing strip at the time I flew over and was near the edge of building cloud. I thought that it probably would have been below cloud if I had gone back that way. When I finally aborted my attempt to YWOL I was much closer to Bathurst and Orange than Cootamundra which could also have been an option. Mittagong was definitely below cloud. Bluey

Hi Glen; I don't think we met, I flew into cootamundra from Wollongong on Monday and departed Tuesday. Bluey

Hi Everyone; Well the trike and car are now finally back home. The experience is definitely one I have learnt a great deal from. For one, ask for help as soon as you think you need it and the area frequency is the one we all need to be monitoring at all times when away from any ctaf. In my case, the initial call was one out of precaution. It turned into an emergency once I incorrectly identified a land mark. It was just lucky for me that I was on the correct course in the first place that I got to my destination at all. I figured that if I had been off course more than a few miles then I could have flown past both the airport and Orange without ever seeing them in the poor visibility conditions. Up till that flight I had done it all without an aviation grade GPS. That is going to change as a garmin 296 is now on my shopping list. When Melbourne centre asked me to turn on my plb (gps equiped) they were thinking the worst. It didn't occur to me at the time as I assumed that it was their way of finding me. I don't think that most aviators are aware of what trikes can do as far as outlanding is concerned. Having said that, I must make it clear that I think, that outlanding, even in a trike, especially under duress is the most dangerous thing any pilot can do. It's for this reason that I rarely do it and only did it during my experience out of complete nescessity to establish my location more accurately. While a gps would have avoided this mid air drama, all pilots must practice their map reading skills and ensure they carry the necessary maps for any journey at all times just in case the gps packs it in. In my case, flying trikes gives you options three axis aircraft do not have. At any time in my adventure, I could have chosen any of a number of outlanding options. This fact kept me from falling to pieces and concentrating on the task at hand. At the time the call to turn on my plb came I was surveying a nice large paddock next to a service road and within 1/2 a mile of the town (Blayney). I would have landed (safely I hope) and walked over to the road and hailed someone and asked them where I was. Gone to my map and plotted a new course for the airport. Having the advantage of hindsight, I could have just kept going for another 15 miles and found the airport on my nose. The fact is, I wasn't sure at the time that I had gotten it right. After all, I had spent nearly 5 hours in the air with just one break, changed course three times and spent most of the flight in a significant head wind. Fatigue from the considerable turbulence was building and this was making thinking clearly a challenge. Bottom line, would I do it all the same way again? Well apart from choosing a bigger paddock than the one I outlanded in then yes yes yes!!! I would ask for help again if ever faced with any kind of uncertainty on any future flight. Having said all that, the next time the forecast says that conditions will be fine in the morning with late rain predicted I will just stay at my location and do some fun local flying for the day. Wait out the rain and fly home a few days later when the forecast calls for a fine day. Another important fact that I had going for me is that although I only needed around half a tank of fuel for a safe return flight, I made sure that I filled the tank to the very top just in case I had to divert. So at no time did I assume that it would be an uneventful flight. The point is: Cross country flight takes you out of your comfort zone and you need to plan for the unexpected. Having plenty of fuel gives you the chance to exercise your options. I hope my experience and analysis of it has been useful to others. Regards: Bluey.

How's this for a story This happened to me this week. I'm a moderately experienced pilot who flies around 300 hours a year. I recently flew my trike to Cootamundra from Albion park. This was to be an overnight adventure. My first in fact. Although far from my first cross country flight as I do these quite often and have more experience flying cross country than many much higher hour pilots than myself. Anyway the flight out was a piece of cake. After meeting up with a group of other trike pilots, a great time was had by all. Anyway, the return flight was to attempted at first light the next day in good conditions up to my scheduled stop at Crookwell. After arriving at crookwell, light fog was encountered and a decision was made to continue on to investigate the conditions ahead. As I approached the coast, it was clear that the cloud base was thickening and a descent into albion park was going to be difficult if not impossible. A radio call to Melbourne centre confirmed the extent of the cloud cover over albion park. At this point I hadn't decided to abandon my flight to YWOL. I could see that conditions were considerably better to the NE so I began tracking in that direction. After about 15 minutes, I encountered some large holes in the cloud and decided to decend below the cloud base to have a look and try to determine my exact where abouts. What I found was a sight I never want to encounter ever again. Low cloud and hilly tiger country. I now believe I was somewhere NE of Bowral. There was no way I was going to continue below cloud so I climbed up through the hole and decided that YWOL was not going to happen. I decided to first track NW (300) to clear the tiger country and head in the general direction of Bathurst. Going back to Cootamundra was now not a good idea as it would have been around 90nm away and Bathurst no more than 60nm. The weather Bathurst way looked satisfactory although I could not be too sure as visibility was poor. A call to melbourne centre confirmed no cloud at bathurst at that time. Now clear of tiger an outlanding was called for to establish my exact where abouts and to calculate the correct track and heading to Bathurst. On doing this, I established that I was between 50 and 55 miles exactly south of Bathurst. Based on my ground speed, it would be about 1.2hrs in the head wind. About 30 minutes into the flight it was becoming clear that conditions were rapidly deteriorating to the east. After a few quick calculations, I decided to change course for Orange. This was a place I had been to before and had friends and a hangar to store the trike in. By my reckoning I needed a track of 330 to get to Orange from where I thought I was. Now picture this: lots of turbulence from forming cloud, a head wind of close to 20kts and reducing visibility. Another 30 minutes passes and I'm starting to worry about fuel. I calculated that I would be fine provided I was right about the track I was following and given that the distance to Orange was not more than 100nm which I was sure it wasn't. The reducing visibiltiy made it hard to spot land marks like Mt Canobilis (hard to imagine given its size). What I did spot was Mt Macquarie (I believe). Unfortunately due to stress I believed this was the former. I made a quick decision to call on Melbourne centre to ask for assistance. I asked them to confirm my approximate distance and track to Orange aerodrome. They asked me where I was and I stated that I could see Mt Canobilis to my left at about 10 oclock. Their reply was that I should be just about at Orange. I thought thats great but where's the airport? I knew from my one previous flight to orange that it was about 10km SE of orange. Anyway, 10 minutes later I began to see a large town at my 12 oclock. After much communication with Melbourne centre I decided it must have been Orange and therefore must have missed the airport. Now stress levels were rising. On reaching the town I orbited and requested a track to the airport. 165 was the reply and off I went. 5 minutes later and 10miles out of town no airport. More stress!!! Track back to the town. On the way back I informed melbourne centre that I would be outlanding. I had identified a number of large paddocks that might be suitable. about this time came all the questions, how many onboard? how much fuel remaining (second time)? do you have a transponder? do you have an emergency beacon? what is your mobile phone number? I couldn't remember the number (truth is I often forget it even when I'm not flying). The rex pilot out of Orange who was helping out due to communication difficulties with melbourne centre asked if I had landed yet. My reply was: "no, I am surveying the fields for suitability for landing". The understanding was that I would report back after touching down. At this point, Rex informed me that Melbourne centre wanted me to switch on my beacon! I looked at my PLB that was dangling around my neck and thought: I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS! Just then I heard a chopper call at orange and thought heres an opening. I politely and as calmly as I could asked the pilot if they would do me a big favour by flying out to orange so I could follow them back to the strip. They agreed and away they went. 5 minutes passed and nothing appeared. It was at this point that I realised that I wasn't at orange. I informed the chopper and Melbourne centre that I was going to resume my original track of 330. Regular communication continued until the airstrip appeared on my nose about 15minutes later. I landed at Orange on runway 04 into a northerly of about 15kts with police a few minutes away to ask me questions and file a report. It turns out that the attempt to outland caused a great deal of anxiety in the minds of melbourne centre and an emergency was declared. Make no mistake, I was stressed, but I feel I still had enough control to make reasonable decisions. To make matters worse, a news crew also showed up as they were monitoring the developing situation too but left when I gave them a brief explanation and refused to stand in front of a camera. That flight is one that I want to forget. Having said that, I think I learnt a great deal from it. Thankfully it ended well and hopefully the restless nights will end soon. The trike spent two nights in the trike hangar at Orange, I caught a connecting flight out the same day (another good reason for diverting to orange) and drove back this morning to fly the trike back to YWOL. An uneventful flight! Tomorrow I am getting a flight into Orange to pick up the car. Bluey.

Hi All: Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. After a flight in which I ended up in a bit of rain and then leaving the trikw in the rain for a little while until it cleared, my left EGT reading dropped out and is still out several weeks later. It now reads 000. I am yet to confirm that it is the sender rather than the sensor but will test this soon. The other EGT is fine and all else is fine too. Have ended up in light rain a few other times without any problems. Bluey.

Hi all: Just wondering, how many hours are people getting out of their 912's? Do most people reach tbo's and then overhaul them or do they just keep running them? Bluey

Thanks Maj. Up till yesterday it was using VX 4 I think it was. Now it is using the certified aircraft oil from Shell (Can't for the life of me remember what it is called exactly). Anyway, I can't be sure if the leak is new or whether it has been there for a while as I didn't spot it. I've only had the trike for a few months and so I am still becoming properly acquainted with it. Anyway thanks for the advice. I will check the torques before I fly it again. Regards: Bluey