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Vev

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Posts posted by Vev

    Tyabb Airshow

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    Thx Neil,

     

    Look fwd to seeing your photos.

     

    We have 3 Ercoupes at Tyabb (75% of the Aust fleet), all of our are 1946 415C models ... we didn't get to fly them yesterday as the cross wind was over our show display limit, albeit the limit is much lower than normal ops.

     

    DJP ... love the old flick that Hans posted.

     

    Cheers

     

    Vev

     

     

    What TBO times are people getting on the 3300?

    in Jabiru

    Posted

    Good advice Nev re doing a daily pull through as this really does tell you a lot about condition of the top end. One of the things I have learnt is to fly all Jab engines hard ... this keeps them cool and will give them the best chance of a long life top end.

     

    Keep pumping that fuel through and they will remain fat dumb and happy little engines.

     

    Cheers

     

    Jack

     

     

    • Like 1

    Import aircraft from the US

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi Mark,

     

    Yes I did import and it wasn't all that hard to do, save a couple of small dramas with the shipping documents.

     

    So long as the ac was registered (mine was FAA) and you get the appropriate documentation from the authorities to say it is unregistered, it's all very easy to transfer over to RAA.

     

    The costs were: Inspection, transport (ferry flt), disassembly and packing, container, shipping and insurance, customs clearance and GST ... plus any transport costs back to your airfield and reassembly. I did the reassembly myself but had it check by a LAME and did a full inspection check after the event ( I think the inspection process is now dropped by RAA) but I personally think another set of eyes is worth every cent. The total costs from USA to Aus was about $8k +gst.

     

    I did a direct ship from the West Coast USA, rather than via Singapore (Cheaper), which saved 15 days of sea time but cost $1200 more. I had the engine pickled with oil and crystal absorption spark plugs fitted as well same in the exhaust.

     

    I would recommend that you go and look at the ac and take a good LAME with you to inspect ... I did a lot of prep and made sure I had a comprehensive check list of things to look at. Make sure you weight the ac, mine was spot on, but I have heard of huge dramas with over weight ac from Europe ... don't ever believe the documentation, check everything to make sure. Make sure all modifications are recorded and that all STC and FAA 337 are available ... cross check the logs and docs to make sure everything is correct and accounted for.

     

    Good luck.

     

    Cheers

     

    Vev

     

     

    Rotax Piston Engines

    in Engines and Props

    Posted

    The urgency on this is quite tight being 4 hrs or 30 days of the lesser ... it feels like there is potential for a significant cost impost to owners as well as lost revenue to schools, I do hope Rotax will address this.

     

    Cheers

     

    Vev

     

     

    Why is my oil temp so hot?

    in Engines and Props

    Posted

    Personally I like to see engine lube sump temps between 80 - 100 c

     

    Engine lubes will hang together in terms of the chemistry out to 160- 180 deg c depending on the base stock oil used, however anything over 110 deg (sump temp) usually suggest the lube is being exposed to temp spikes (ie in the rocker chest) ... this will cause a potential for cracking the base oil and causing oxidisation issues.

     

    Equally, very cool oil is not idea either, as it can hold water and not activate the additive package in the lube to give proper performance or protection.

     

    It's a bit like the story of the 3 bears ... not too hot, not too cold but just right!

     

    Cheers

     

    Vev

     

     

    • Like 1

    L1 / L2 Maintenance of RAA Aircraft

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    I personally prefer education to regulation. If you can educate the masses, there tends to be little need to regulate.I believe guys like Wayne Mathews who runs these great maintenance courses at Gunnedah are the key to education of the masses. They multiply what Steve Bell is able to do and if Steve can co-ordinate these sessions through the RA Aus office and work with them I believe we will go a long way down the productive road.

    Spot on, you have said this much better and captured my intent ... Agree 100%.

     

    Cheers

     

    Vev

     

     

    L1 / L2 Maintenance of RAA Aircraft

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi Turbs,

     

    Not sure if we are in disagreement about the need for training to improve safety around maintenance ... my argument is about the need to improve accessibility to training.

     

    Never the less, I still say that very few ac fall out of the sky because of mechanical failures from bad maintenance, it mostly has to do with other factors... therefore I don't think the RAA needs to apply brakes or restriction to hand out an L1 but improve training.

     

    Btw ... not sure I know about the incident at Tyabb you mention, are you sure it was a Subaru and not a Jabiru engined ac? .. I recall Jab powered ac incident like that???

     

    Cheers

     

    Vev

     

     

    L1 / L2 Maintenance of RAA Aircraft

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    I'm all for improving skills and making flying safer ... however I think we need to look at the stats and ask ourselves how many ac are falling out of the sky because of bad or improper maintenance? I suggest not many are and we need to be careful we don't just add another layer of complexity and costs in an area that doesn't need more restrictions or requirements.

     

    Alternatively, I think, one of the key issues we need to address, more appropriately, is accessibility to maintenance training ... whilst Steve Bell runs his courses they are infrequent and not always geographically user friendly.

     

    May be RAA should consider contracting out the process (user pays) and increase the frequency and velocity of the programmes to as many as possible... I'm sure if this was reasonably priced and focused on the right areas it would be well received.

     

    Cheers

     

    Vev

     

     

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