KRviator

Indeed there are, but I don't want to go backwards in performance. The RV gets along at 143-145KTAS at 2400RPM at 55%, a 182Q will just do the same at 75%...maybe...and the climb rate isn't anything to write home about. I had given the 182 much thought when it looked like I'd be staying at Somersby, with the short strip there, but we're in the process of buying a new house that backs onto Scone airport, so the STOL requirement isn't as important as it was previously. If I could get CAsA to give me a CASR 42ZC authorisation to maintain it myself, on the basis of building and maintaining my RV-9, then that would almost tip the scales in its' favour, but the chance of that is remote. A major benefit to the 182 though, is Dynon is expecting their EFIS to include autopilot approvals next year. The Comanche won't even rate a mention for that for years to come, if it ever does. This was another thing that swung me away from the Cardinal too. Garmin is planning Comanche approval for their G3X-based autopilots "in the next 12 months" and while I have the idea of supporting Big G, an EFIS + AP is going in whatever I get, sooner rather than later...

A Comanche 400 would be a blast, but it's too much airplane for me unfortunately, TurbAero.

IIRC, the LSE ignition uses magnets in the flywheel - same as the SDSEFI - as a timing reference. The pickup for those magnets sounds like it conflicts with the slip ring brush mounting for the Airmaster prop, and the prop slip rings in turn blocking the magnets from being detected by their sensor. Steveron you could try asking on Vans forum, but the Air Master prop is pretty slim pickings on the big Lycomings AIUI.

Not that much to do. Send the form off to CAsA (61-1RTX), pay your 4 bits, and wait. Once that is done, you'll need a GA flight review to 'activate' your RPL. CAsA will issue it on the basis of your RPC, but you can't use it as you won't have done an AFR within the previous 2 years.. Hopefully the school at which you did your RPC has GA aircraft available, or you might find whatever school you pick for your flight review wanting to 'train' you in GA aircraft handling. I avoided that by pointing out that yes, I did have the RPC, but it wasn't a bare-bones issue, I had been flying RAAus for many years beforehand and had an RV-9 that I flew but if you don't have that, you might need to bite the bullet and do a few hours in a C150 or something.

Thanks for that! I've put in to join. I have indeed considered the A36. Gympie had one for sale recently fairly cheap ($125K IIRC) and there's a couple others listed recently but much higher $$, but I don't really need 6 seats, though the old adage "if you need 4 buy a 6 seater" typically applies. If I can get by with 4 in the Comanche it seems prudent to do so. That being said, the sheer volume of A36's produced means parts availability will never be the issue it may become for the Comanche.

Is that due to your height? I'm 6'5 but fairly slim. I have had a good look through the ICS and ComancheFlyer sites, yep. They're a wonderful trove of info, but will always be biased by the very fact they're made up of Comanche owners! In some ways people with no affiliation can provide better insight than the type clubs. Is that for sale in a closed group? Can't find it in my FB search, is there a chance you could post a link please?

In my ongoing quest for a 4-seater that will at least keep up with my RV-9, I keep coming back to the Piper Comanche... I've looked at the Cardinal and it has several, well, issues that concern me, being the funky Cessna gear, SIDS and the major one, the spar carry-through structure, which if it fails the NDI, basically writes off the aircraft as replacements are essentially, unavailable. If you have an old Cardinal in your barn and the carry through spar tests good, it is almost worth its' weight in gold... I've thought long and hard about the Bonanza series, but again, they aren't perfect. There's a nice-ish N35 Bonanza for sale down Victoria way but I'm wary of the V-tails, not because of tail itself, but because of the balancing issue I've heard about. I got the W&B data sent up to see if it would work, but with 4 x 80Kg people & only a few KG of bags, you're outside the aft CG limit at ZFW - and as your CG moves aft as fuel is consumed, that's not ideal in any way. So that rules that out. I've emailed another broker - Ian Baillie Aircraft - about a long-advertised S35 and been ignored twice (great service if you're into selling things, ignoring a potential customer, but meh 😖) I had heard many a good thing about the -250 and -260 Comanches, but they don't seem to pop up for sale very often. I did see a -260B advertised briefly a couple months ago, spoke to the broker at the time and the seller pulled it from sale. It's now re-advertised (and from memory $10K higher than originally) and after a few emails back and forth with the broker who didn't seem to twig I needed the weight and balance data, not just BEW & MTOW we got there in the end and it checks out good, with a claimed 1250Lb payload & 90 gallons of fuel, or 710lbs in the cabin with full tanks. The seller brought it for $92.5 a year ago and has it listed at $105K and all he has done in that time, from what I can see, is install a GTX-327 and GNC300XL, both of which would need to come out anyway as they aren't suitable for ADS-B, so I'm yet to be convinced the asking price is reasonable. It also desperately needs a new panel - though this is based on my flying behind an EFIS for the last several years and not wanting to downgrade to a horrendously-installed 6-pack... After many an hour on Google, the following seem to be the cautionary issues about the Comanche singles: The landing gear Bungees especially, but also the bungee rollers. A very quick & cheap item to replace at each 100 hourly (bungees, not rollers) , but not always done The landing gear has an obscure 1000-hr AD requirement that is often overlooked. The landing gear 'conduits' have often never been replaced and are expensive when they need to be. The stabilator horn has a recurring AD unless replaced by an Australian-designed version The Laminar-flow wing needs very precise speed control on landing if you are to achieve anything resembling book figures. And it is a 60-year-old design with little parts support from Piper, though aftermarket suppliers have stepped up to bridge the gap. Visibility isn't as good as say a Bonanza, or particularly a 2 seat RV From what I can find, both the -250's and -260's will haul 1100-1300lbs at 150-165KTAS burning around 15GPH to do so, dependant on altitude. Tip tanks are available as are a few other speed mods and they are reported to be quite a comfortable touring aircraft, though the aforementioned visibility is off-putting to some. So, my questions to the knowledge bank here is: "What else is there to know about the Comanche?" and "What don't you like about the Comanche singles?"

FWIW, I pay $300/Month at Somersby NSW and that includes usage rights. I did pay $135/month at Cessnock for 6 months or so but that was a gentleman's agreement just to cover the (then plane-less) lease-holders costs until he sold that spot.

Almost exactly the same as the Canadian RV-7 accident in 2010. Proof some people do not want to learn.

True that. We (His wife and I) transshipped a pilot mates ashes from the crematoriums container to my home-built "pod" for dispersal and I can see how you could achieve an unintended sand-blasting of your horizontal stab. Don't try bolting something like this on the club's 172, but in an aircraft you've built, or have authority to modify, then something like this pod can work well.

A Seppo asking for directions in London. Pom: Take the lift to the 3rd floor. Yank: You mean the Elevator. Pom: No no, it's a lift. Yank: No, it's an ELEVATOR. Pom: I beg to differ, it is called a lift. Yank: It is an ELEVATOR. I should know, it was invented in America. Pom: Perhaps, but the language was invented here....

Given the choice between a J120 and a J230, for the minor increase in running costs, I would go the -230 any day of the week. It offers much more flexibility and those minor additional costs (plugs etc) over the 4 cylinder engine are quickly recouped if you need to hire a club plane at some exorbitant rate for that extra 20% flying you'll be doing. I built an RV-9 when the KRviatrix told me to build a -10 (before kids...). I wish I'd listened to her! Though the -9 suits 90% of the flying I currently do, I can't do the other 10% such as taking the family up together instead of 1 by 1 and I flat out refuse to hire a clapped out C172 that can barely outclimb an anaemic octogenarian.

Yep totally agree! They'll even send you our an SMS reminder when your registration is due for renewal. You can upload photos of what you'll be using the PLB in so they know what they're looking for as well as allowing you to add specific trips (If you're crossing the Simpson in your 'cruiser for eg) and ISTR they also include a battery-due reminder! The ease of use and benefits from registering make it a no-brainer!

One thing a lot of people do not realise with PLB's - they must be registered with AMSA in order to qualify as a fixed-ELT replacement. Reference is CAR252A

Be careful! Putting a voltmeter on any battery may show full voltage, but what matters is the voltage with the applicable load on the battery. Good voltage doesn't mean anything by itself!

After RAAus' backflip on landing fees, you won't catch me voting for anyone that was in the administration of RAAus at that time. Guilt by association and all that. They said they wouldn't do it, then they did. I believe a mans word is his bond and they violated that.

Be interesting to see if I get one.... I had a Rail Safety Medical completed not long after my Basic Class 2 that is valid for several more years!

Some good comments, thanks's all. I had done quite a bit of background research on both the Cardinal and the Comanche but what threw me, and prompted this thread, was the the photo of EJB were the RPM v Prop control didn't seem to correspond. On a closer look @facthunter is right, the prop is pulled back slightly and that'd explain the lower tach. Couldn't get my head around why everything forward didn't equal 2700RPM! I had a bit of a look over the performance specs for the C180 after seeing a couple listed for sale, but I am not wanting to go backwards in performance from the RV-9. A cruise speed of 140KTAS at 8,500' is pretty much a set-in-stone prerequisite and while I might consider a Grumman Tiger if I could get CASA CAR42ZC authorisation to maintain it myself, that'd be the lower limit in terms of performance. There's a couple of really good videos of the 177RG done by a US pilot for those that haven't seen them. The only downside with the Cardinal at present is the carry-through spar issue. From what I have been able to find, Cessna don't appear too anxious to produce anymore of them, so if your carry-through spar fails the inspection, you're screwed.

Not a good look though, we all know what it means, and can have a laugh about it, but someone who knows nothing about flying? "I fly in a rag-and-chew airplane", their first thought would be "WTF?!? No thanks, I'll stick to me tinny!" When dealing with reporters, or the general public, brevity and aviation-specific jargon is probably best avoided for this reason.

A couple minutes with Google (well, the CAsA register anyway) shows he owns a Tri-Pacer. Completely legit, VH-EMW.

Of course, they only really help if you respond to a radio call directed at you. Some muppet was flying about in VH-DDS last week (ADS-B visible to Center), transmitting ZK-MVP on OzRunways (Visible to me) and blithely ignored both my calls (on Area & 126.7), and BN Center's calls trying to deconflict with him for the descent - tried both callsigns and we were both ignored. Turns out ZK-MVP is an ATR-72....

But, Flightrite that's not the point. A 30 YEAR OLD DIED FROM COVID-19! HE WAS 30! SO ALL YOUNG PEOPLE ARE AT RISK, DON'T YOU SEE! Alright, pisstake's over. Here's a source backing up Flightrite's statement, you'll need to scroll down to 1.38pm... "There were some co-morbidities...." some, hey? So more than one? Two maybe? Even perhaps three?

FF is showing 10GPH, about what I'd expect for an IO-360 at that altitude, lines up fairly well with the POH. Could've sworn the prop was fully in but it does look slightly out from the panel, but would that small travel account for 450RPM lower than normal? Or do they just have a really small amount of travel for the prop control?

So I've been eyeing off a 4-seater for the last year or two and it's probably going to be a factory-built aircraft as I'm prohibited from building an RV-10... VH-EJB, a Cardinal RG, was up for sale earlier this year, was removed and has now popped up again, with a few decent photos, one of which is produced below, but it's got me wondering about the engine/prop on it... Look at the power levers: Full throttle, Full RPM, Mixture leaned slightly, and getting along S&L at 8,500'......But look at the tacho's - both are indicating ~2240RPM. Now the IO-360 should be spinning at 2,700RPM under those conditions, shouldn't it? So what am I missing?

So here is another perfect example of the fear-mongering of the politicians. A 30 YEAR OLD VICTORIAN HAS DIED! But I won't tell you if he had bronchial pneumonia, silicosis or anything that would have contributed to his death should he catch Covid, that's up to his family to release - it's secret squirrel stuff. Oh, and by the way, his family don't have access to a daily press conference, a dedicated media unit or an official Victorian Government Facebook account to get that info out there anyway...But A 30 YEAR OLD VICTORIAN HAS DIED! Phuck me.