Bluey

Not a Jab in site here. We're talking trikes and Rotax 912. Bluey.

All examples of fuel related engine troubles I've heard of have always been experienced by people not prefiltering their fuel before putting it in the tank. Mr funnel does a great a job and is a must if you operate away from major centres. I once spent some time out west and even with Mr funnel I noticed a noticeable change in the colour of the fuel filter even after only 8 hours of flying. Bluey.

Just had a report from a friend who recently had a similar experience with his engine at 670hrs.

Springs can fail without warning even at low hours. The good thing is the ones I've lost have happened on the ground with the trike in the hangar. The airborne exhaust must not be disassembled unless you have the short tube with the extra ball joint. They will crack if you work on them and then reassemble them.

I had similar symptoms.

Has anyone heard of any in flight failures?

Are they still as big a problem today as they were in the past? I know quite a few operators with significant hours on their machines who haven't had any issues and are still on original sockets. Bluey

Ok, thanks Alf. Bluey.

Thanks Alf, any idea how quickly the cracks progress once they start? I know that once they reach a critical size as I think I was getting close today, it will just let go suddenly? Quite scary when I think about it. But you're right, I will be checking them religiously from now on. Also, any idea if there is a time before replacement. My understanding is that they are a five year item. Having said that though, I do lots of hours. Bluey.

Attached is an image of the socket after we destroyed it by lifting the carby.

I discovered just how important it is to very carefully check the Carby sockets before flight today. A crack had developed in one of the sockets and quickly developed into a larger crack. Not sure how long the crack has existed for. I noticed a slight roughness in the engine which I assumed was some icing. Given the low air temps today it seemed plausible. Also, a discoloured appearance to the top of the cylinder around the plugs was another clue. This was probably caused by fuel leaking out of the socket mixing with dirt and lubricant sprayed on the nuts and bolts after each flight. This made it harder to pick up what was really going on. The scariest part is that a friend picked this up as they had seen the same before and recognised the signs. It didn't take much effort to fold the Carby upwards to completely destroy the socket. An inflight failure was not far away! Apparently, it's normal for the cracking to start at the bottom making it much harder to detect a crack beginning to develop. The trike is nearly 4 years old and has 679 hrs. An inflight failure would have resulted in severe vibration leading to a forced engine shutdown and emergency landing. Failure to shut the engine down could result in the engine breaking clear of the trike. Happy flying. Bluey

The 6 grand is the approximate cost of modifying the SST to turn it into an arrow. The cost of a new mast if you need one is less than $1000. I don't know the exact cost as I didn't need one as mine was an SST that was modified. I paid $5500 for the mod and about $400 to get the wing to and from airborne.

Both wings are nice to fly but the arrow is my pick. It is definitely lighter in roll and holds the nose up nicely in a turn. The arrow is probably more fuel efficient than the streak 3. It also lands nicely because it has a tendency to hold the nose up better. You can land it quite slowly and possibly use smaller fields. Due to the lighter roll feel, you don't need to come in as fast to cut through the turbulence like you do in the streak. This should enhance its short field capabilities. Avoid getting a second hand SST unless you plan to convert it for around 6 grand.

Put my arrow on the front hole today. Gained about 5kts in airspeed but main advantage is its lighter in pitch (especially) and roll. Now trimming around 61kt. Not as much of a gain as I obtained with the streak 3. Overall handling is still good.

I spoke to Rob and Anne (Peter's wife) and both don't like the handling changes that occur when you move the COG. Rob was very honest and upfront as usual. I have in the past moved the streak3 one hole forward and while it flew faster as expected it did handle a little differently. The bar sat closer to my chest and needed more forward pressure during landing and in a turn to coordinate the turn properly. Using the trimmer to slow it down made it handle almost as well as before the COG change. I'm hoping the arrow will be the same. The speed change should be around +8kts.

Talking to airborne is fine but I'd like unbiased info. While I have no reason not to trust airborne, they do have a reputation to protect. For example, they never talked the SST down while it was being sold...

Thanks, talking to Peter is a good idea. I know he has more than one arrow.

Does anyone have an arrow wing that they have moved the hang point to the front holes? I'm curious to hear about the experiences others have had with them? Bluey

Thank you so much for posting this. I'm sure I speak for everyone on here when I say that we are so glad to hear that your ok and that the pilot will make a good if not slow recovery. The loss of control would have been caused by a range of bent components from the base tube to the mast and even a keel tube to mention just a few. The original impact would have sent shock waves through the entire airframe resulting in the control difficulties the pilot described. I have heard of at least one other instance of a jammed throttle being caused by a very heavy nose wheel first impact such as the one you described. In that example the pilot described similar control issues. In that case, the pilot was able to land safely after climbing to a few thousand feet above the airfield before cutting the ignition switches. All the best to the both of you. Bluey.

They're at Parkes having too much fun :-)

I've just spoken to one of the participants and they hadn't heard the version regarding a steep turn. He also stated that no one was really talking about it anyway as they are all just focusing on the great flying their enjoying. Lucky bastards! Either way, this one should be pretty straight forward to resolve provided someone relays what the people involved say actually happened.

Are we clear on the version of events? I've only heard my version relayed by others on the fly away.

What ignition has said makes sense in regards to air law in the proper use of a radio. However, when a pilot asks you to acknowledge a transmission and state whether they have you sighted or not then the proper procedure is to look for the traffic and respond yay or nay. To not respond invites unnecessary anxiety. I felt increasingly threatened by that individual because his behaviour was erratic. His airspeed was about three times mine. When he performed a sharp right hand turn above me he was unsighted as he was above my wing. My radio call telling him not to descend was made as a desperate attempt of staving off a collision with an aircraft I could no longer see. If he had let me know I had been sighted in the first place there wouldn't have been any issue at all. No reports were ever made as no identification could be made. While apologies are not necessary, they do diffuse situations very quickly and certainly don't hurt anyone. It's just a little courtesy. For instance, in the case of the first incident, the pilot of that aircraft should have at least let me know whether he had seen me while we were both on final. While it may not change anything now, at least it would have been reassuring to know someone was in control. His failure to communicate was just a butt covering excercise as far as I'm concerned.

I'm glad you take it all very seriously Motza and given the fact that we have met and spoken on a number of occasions I know you actually mean it. Lately, however I have had the unfortunate displeasure of coming across a few from both the ultralight community as well as the GA community who I don't think take it all very seriously. Maybe it's just because they saw that it was a little trike sharing the circuit with them I don't know?? but here are a few examples of incidents I've had happen to me in the last month. Incident one: I've come in on final and landed, luckily on the grass as I usually do only to find as I've looked over my shoulder a Cesna doing a low pass at 100 feet. No radio calls whatsoever and then slowly climb out and head crosswind out to the coast. I know that I've missed seeing them as I've turned final (not hard to do when they come in low against a background of houses on runway 16 at Ywol) but this bloke then proceeded to ignore all radio calls I made to him for clarification. Incident two: on my way back from a flight up north I encountered a pilot out of Wedderburn doing aerobatics in the circuit area next to the airfield. I made all the radio calls on approach and over the airfield at 3000 feet. I watched two aircraft taxi and take off below me both RV4. I spoke to the first pilot informing him of my presence above the airfield as I tracked towards the coast. All good - no problem. The second took off and did a wing over before departing downwind a few miles to the south to do aerobatics over Appin road. I radioed him letting him know I was heading his way with no response. Another radio call asking for a response went unanswered. The whole time I'm watching this bloke do loops and sharp turns that extended from about 2000 up to 3500 feet. A third radio call again unanswered. This time the pilot turns head on, same level and approaches at speed. Within one mile he climbs and proceeds to orbit me about 500 feet above my level.The whole time I'm thinking "what the f**k is this idiot doing? Not knowing what this clown was up to, I yell out "don't descend"! He finally responds by stating he would continue aerobatics 5 miles west of Wedderburn. I had to fight every natural urges not to give this guy an earful! Third incident: on short final after making all the required calls I get someone enter the runway and backtrack right in front of me. They proceed to expedite themselves outside the gables. No dramas so I do a go around. At no time do they offer an apology of any kind - we all make mistakes right? How hard is it to acknowledge it? I end up in the pattern as other aircraft have now joined the circuit. This bloke now decides to take off in front of another aircraft as they are on short final. Doesn't ask the guy on final if that's ok, he just goes? Separation no more than 20 seconds. Sorry for the rant, I'm just a bit peeved right now at all the sh*t I've come across lately. Bluey.

As a trike pilot myself, I have to agree with the sentiments above. A trike especially the higher performance trikes available today will generate significant amounts of disturbed air including wake turbulence behind them. It may not persist for as long due to the lower all up weight and lower wing loading of trikes. However, the trike that landed ahead of the trike that crashed was a high performance unit with a 12.5 square metre wing. I once had a trike following me nearly 1km behind that strayed into my wake and was thrown violently around because of it. I once had the same happen to me and I nearly lost control. Make no mistake, an ultralight under the same conditions would also be seriously affected too. Far too many three axis pilots do not take trikes seriously enough! Bluey.