Yenn

That flying machine is way off the original design. Configuration is elongated rather than circular and it will obviously have a problem with offset thrust lines even if there is no fire.

What seems odd to me is that RAAus require the vendor to fly the plane through certain manouvers To demonstrate its airworthiness. I fail to see how flying a circuit and doing stalls demonstrates airworthiness. Nobody has answered my question.

A friend of mine is selling hiss plane and he tells me that to demonstrate airworthiness he has to take the buyer up and do some circuits, 360deg turns and stalls. He did that with no problems, now he is getting an experienced maintainer to do what I would call an annual, all so that it can be sold. The buyer couldn't do the flying and stalls because he is not cleared to fly the Foxbat. I thought the inspection by an approved person would be the equivalent of proving airworthiness. I fail to see what the present owner flying the plane does to prove airworthiness, it just seems peculiar to me. I thought if you had an RAAus pilots certificate to fly the relevent aircraft, ie nose wheel, 3 axis, etc you could fly the plane. If not how does anyone fly a single seater? Has anyone sold recently and knows what is required?

Not living in NSW, where I suppose Skippy lives. I think The Oaks is near Penrith. I think the person to contact at SAAA would be Ken Garland who is a technical councillor, which means he overlooks builders in his area. He would no doubt be able to do a W&B or know someone who would. His email is ken.garland@gmailcom

You could contact an SAAA member who has built his own pane, he would probably have done the maintenance course and have the ability to do W & B. I did it years ago but they have since brought in requirements to re do the course every so long and I haven't bothered.

All the above info is good, I would only add, why a plug lead. I have never had one fail unless it was visibly depressed. Duct tape is not good stuff, but it is a well used name for many things. I would suggest either Mile a minute tape, or Hundred MPH tape. Black,sort of fabric tape, not silver plastic.

I would imagine that any sailmaker would be able to make Thruster skins. Just google sailmakers, they are all along the coast of Australi.

Why would you consider the SAAA members to be the foe? We are also members of RAAUs is many cases and usually consider anyone who flies to be a friend. RAAus does seem to consider SAAA to be the foe, notice that they never give out informatiion of SAAA events in their RAAus magazine or on their web site.

The corrosion in aluminium is not the corrosion we think of such as with steel. It is a rapid corrosion of the surface which protects the bulk of material from further corrosion. Basicly a thin film of aluminium oxide. This interferes with electrical contact. We need to bring aliminium surfaces together rapidly after abrading the surface or using washers which cut into the surface. It is that thin film which causes the loss of connection.

There is one thing to consider with using aluminium. It corrodes easily and can result in poor electrical connections.

Wasn't it the BOM who thought up the name BOM? I certainl didn't and it is accepted on the net. Look up Bom and you get the weather bureau.

What use is repeatability if the repeat is incorrect each time. For scales to be usable they need to be correct. If they are incorrect by for example 15% they should I think still give a correct C of G, but the weight will be incorrect. If they are incorrect by different percentages at the ends of the scale, they will be incorrect on C of G as well as weight. In both cases not acceptable for safe flying.

I made my ground plane from brass shim about 15 thou, just a square souldered up at the size that would fit inside the fuse. Very light weight and works well. The antenna is 1/8" SS cut to suit the middle of the airband for length.

I have done the course to allow me to do W & B and it is not difficult but I don't think I can do it now legally because I have not renewed. Why renewal is necessary I don't know. Those who think wind doesn't affect the weighing are in for a shock when they do the job. I tried to weigh my RV4 with only one leaf of the doors open and the numbers just would not stabilize. I shut that door and perfect stability. The wind was very slight, but you can work it out for yourself using the usual theory for lift. Those who think it doesn't matter about levelling the plane just don't understand what they are trying to do. I consider CASA aree over the top requiring you to renew every year. Those who disregard the levelling will not get it right even if they do the theory every year or even monthly.

The chainsaw may be dangerous, but there is very little training given to those who buy cheap ones. Funnily we don't hear much about chainsaw accidents, maybe they don't happen. An axe can also give a pretty serious wound and there is even less instruction given. I had absolutely no instruction on using an axe, but I have never had an accident with one. I used to sing a six pound axe in England and thought the four pounders used here were sissy. Funny thing I was chopping much softer timber in England with the six pounder and i now prefer the four pounder for use with our hardwoods. The chainsaw users with SES have to be fully trained and keep up there qualifications, but they didn't hesitate to call me to do a job they couldn't handle during a cyclone. They were aware that I wouldn't be using all the safety gear and preferred tp cast a blind eye. The use of a little axe head on a long handle will give it a bit more bite, due to the increased speed, but it's real use is for chopping that needs greater accuracy.

When they brought in the new licences I suddenly found I had lost my CS Prop endorsement, but that's OK I had gained a retractable endorsement. It only took one phone call to fix.

Nothing wrong with Great planes engines. They are good for small aircraft, but I have never heard of someone converting them to use in a car.

Airmanship has gone. It is now human resources or some such silly name and not understood. As far as Airservices are concerned they don't really seem to care about making it safer, they just want to be in control. Here at Rodds Bay we used to have to talk on area frequency, Then they changed the rules and we got re named Iveragh. How do you pronounce that? We are 15 miles from Gladstone on their own frequency and their traffic goes over us at 500' or maybe less. Coming in from the North or West we are in Gladstone area and have to be on 118.8, then change to CTAF 126.7, while those coming in from the South or West are on area frequency 119.55 and will not hear the others approaching, until they change to CTAF at less than 5 miles. Good to see Jackc is with CDFG , plenty of experience there to call on.

Ah KR that takes me back. We used to do that regularly with WACs before the VNCs came in. As we also did with sea navigation charts.

If you fly where the VNC charts cover, why would you want to use a WAC?

part of the problem with Robinson fuel tanks is that owners did not comply with the requirement to modify and then had an accident.

We have slipped into discussing 3 wheel cars and comparing them to aircraft. # wheel cars can have the single wheel front or back as can aircraft, but cars are always steered with the front wheel or wheels. Aircraft are always steered with the single wheel, which can be front or back. So the comparison is irrelevant really, unless you find a car steered with its rear wheels. The normal car is stable, unless you try to reverse at high speed, when you feel as if you are going to groundloop.

An accelerator is just another thing to worry about. How about checking for revs at the start of the takeoff. I know I should see about 2700rpm at the start of the roll. If I don't see that something is causing the engine to lack power.

A castellated nut does not stop the nut departing from the bolt. It stops the nut rotating and loosening, so is effective at stopping prop to hub relative movement.

HK asked what was a fun aircraft and I haven't seen much in the way of an answer. I have flown GA and RAAus planes and currently fly a Corby Starlet. Now the Corby would be fun but is not available to learn on. I would suggest that a Lightwing could be fun and a Drifter even more so. I don't know if there are any Thrusters available for learners, but they can be fun. I must also admit that I have never flown a Drifter