blueline

Doesnt sound like the same problem. Everything was fine inside - the only problem was people trying to recieve.

up to 100 hours of the 100 hours solo needed for a 200 hour CPL can be in an RAAus aircraft (or a glider or a gyro or foreign aircraft or a garden chair tied to ballons for that matter). It's in the CAR's part 5.something . The remaining 100 hours need to be in VH rego powered aircraft. Some other requirements as well (seem to recall needing 30 hours cross country GA time - but dont trust some random person on the internet. Go read the CAR!). PS not sure about the garden chairs + balloons either. That might be up the back of the CAR's somewhere...

Yes it was a Microair. Transmission was full of static and difficult to understand . Always recieved 10/10. Seemed sensitive to low voltage (low RPM with strobes and transponder on). Was told that the combination of a composite airframe (poor grounding) and noisy electrical system was not tolerated by Microair (the radio was actually "broken"). I do hear a lot of Jabirus with bad radios. The Xcom was installed with no changes to the elecrical system or antenna and it works 10/10 where the microair did not.

After many months (years?) of trying to get the radio in my J160 transmitting properly I finally followed the advice of Jim Tatlock from Austec Avionics and had him install an XCOM radio. Transmission now getting a 10/10. Better than new. Best news is that he hasnt even sent a bill...........yet

Yes it is in a J160. Been running on Shell 15/50 oil its whole life. The last 4000 litres has been on unleaded 98 octane fuel (compressions actually improved when we changed from avgas). Everything is set up factory standard. Apparently the cam is not the latest but the heads are the fine finned variety (for the last 800 hours). Oil gets changed every 25 hours. Burns very little between changes.. It is used for training so gets a pretty hard time (usual mix of circuits, training area stuff and the odd nav). The maintenance has always been done by Ian Anderson at Ballarat. I suspect this has had a lot to do with its long life. Ian seems to know Jabiru motors very well. In summary - Nothing special!

Spent the day at Mt Hotham today. Good to see all the Rotax engines where they belong - in snow mobiles! Pity is that they still sound crap.....

Hi Motzartmerv, Yes 1800 hrs is very good. That is not the whole story though. At about 500 hours the engine needed a new crankcase (fretting issue). These were supplied without charge by Jabiru under warranty (I didnt buy the aircraft from them - It had about 80 hours on it when I bought it). So the engine actually has now 2300 hours from new and 1800 hours since the new crank case (which included new bearings and new rings). This is all the the maintenance log so if the Guiness book of records want proof they can have it! I do think I have been lucky as I have heard all the horror stories BUT I personnally have had a really good run with Jabiru products over a lot of years.

My Jabiru 2.2 motor is now at about 1800 hrs and running strong. It did require new heads at the scheduled 1000hr top overhual. During this time I have had to replace spark plugs, oil and oil filters. Running on ULP (98 octane) and well maintained in accordance with factory instructions. The one I had before that had about 1300 hours when I sold it. Same sort of experience except for two cracked heads at about 650 hours.

CASA website is advertising for "Team leader SASAO" in Brisbane. http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD::pc=PC_92940 $124-131,000 !! (no wonder RAAus cant keep ops managers!)

I am the owner of the J160 that got bent. Two things I really want to share. 1. I really respect the attitude of Prowse. You can tell a lot about a person when the chips are down. 2. The J160 is flying again. Thanks to Jabiru aircraft - parts in Ballarat within 48 hours and a big thanks to Ian Anderson for getting it back together. Even after a bad day like this I still enjoy being involved in RAAus!

Good question - what sort of $$ are we talking??

with enough tension anything will break! Must be a tough spanner

J160 very underrated. Get one that is maintained by someone who knows what they are doing! Much nicer to fly than the old LSA's (just don't expect a J160 to climb as well as the light weight LSA!) Great cabin space.

I have adjusted VSI's using the small screw on the bottom left of the gauge. This is used to set zero. Really easy one minute job.

From memory 100 is max' continuous temp (even though on the J160 and J230 the redline only starts at 115). Check that the oil level is not above about half full and that the oil catch bottle is empty. Both these seem to raise oil temp.

Cessna just the same! 2008 model cessna 172's all draw more fuel from the L/H tank - seems to vary a little but about 30 litres is not uncommon. Old 182 (with bladder tanks) seem about the same. Jabiru don't have a monopoly on this issue!

Oh dear.i_dunno Maybe instead of "No intentional spins" they could write 1. Spinning a Jabiru = Bad and 2. Spinning a Jabiru = illegal and 3. If you do end up in a spin, Jabiru are not sure that you will be able to get out of it, but if you do please let us know. We are always keen on other people doing our testing.

From memory 3,000amsl - Can't recall the details but was nothing special - I have flown a few J230's and they all go very well! And of course indicated airspeed was a lot lower than true airspeed (I had TAS from the Dynon EFIS that has an OAT). Full power is not the recommended cruise setting!

134 TAS with the throttle wide open - glad I didn't work out the fuel flow! At a more normal throttle settings I am seeing 110-115 at 2650 RPM and 120 TAS at 2850.

The light indicates when it is replying to a ground based radar - this will usually be a momentary flash. I think they have a test mode to check power and the bulb function. Check also that it is not dimmed.

And when Cessna flyers start bagging Jabiru's get them to check their flight manuals- for example the 172N performance charts stop at 42 degrees (and no guessing what the performance might be above 42 is allowed!)

I have made up a dip stick for my J160 by totally draining the tanks then adding 10 litres at a time, marking dip stick until full. Works very well but as Brentc mentioned the tanks are very flat so is only accurate on level ground - although it is not such a big problem. For example if the aircraft is level with 25L a side, it may show 0 on one side and 50L on the other when on a slope. Because I made the dipstick, and know how it works I can confidently fly with the gauges touching the red. Did not feel comfortable doing this without the dipstick. Does anyone know why Jabiru don't supply one?