Bubbleboy

Hi Maj...beautiful example you have there! I started my Watchmaking Apprenticeship when I was 15 and became a Funeral Director / Embalmer at age 21. Im now 41 and a Licensed Pool Technician and Correctional Officer! Its been a few years since I have been in the industry. The year I started my apprenticeship in NZ, I was the only Apprentice Watchmaker in the country! Its a dying trade although has enjoyed a revival over the past decade with people finally starting to appreciate a mechanical watch / clock. I like unique pieces and aircraft clocks and Russian watches appeal to me for some reason. I would have to go back through my Horological books to check on the history of Mr Breguet. I think I appreciate them more now as I have aged than when I was a snotty nosed apprentice...lol Scotty

Hi Mal...im a Watchmaker by trade and they are good prices! Thanks for posting that! I still have my Citizen "Blue Angels" pilot watch I paid around $700 for and have now had for approx 15 years and still going strong! Scotty

Well I know Hunter to some degree and he certainly came across to me as a person with his head screwed on! Despite this, its pleasing to hear we now have a stable base to try and rebuild this debacle we have and move on. A bit more new blood at the top as well wouldnt hurt. Looking forward to the next 12 months of RAA.. Scotty

OK...leave it as it is! Settled! Thanks guys

Hiya Wayne.....well the manual says make a skid from a Ford Model T front leaf spring! Arthur Johnson in Queensland is flying his with the same spring and says its fine. Mike Cuy in the USA said his would flex too much while taxying and added another spring and broke one. The 1929 manual could be a tad outdated...lol Actually looking at pics of both Piets, Mike drilled another hole and mounted it with two bolts where as Arthur had one bolt and a saddle setup which may offer more sideways support? Scotty

Yes but the original had a skid which was a T leaf spring. Andrews had a home made assembly if I recall. His was castoring which made taxying a little exciting!

Geez Mark...im torn to be honest! After hearing about one breaking I feel I should but there are plenty flying with a single spring. The Piet is tail heavy anyway so dont want to add further weight if not needed...jury is out! Scotty

Bloody fantastic! That restores some faith back in to the RAA. Wayne is the best guy for this job. Yes I know him personally and have flown with him and am not being bias. There is not much this fellow doesnt know about aircraft engineering! Well done Wayne! Scotty

Yikes!

In the late 1990's when I started GA training it was $95 hour for a PA38 Tomahawk and $145 hour for PA28 Archer. I have had an 8 year hiatus from flying due to having a family etc and just started flying again a few weeks ago in Tamworth and RAA in a Sportstar is $210 an hour. Scotty

Hi Mark...im a step ahead of ya...lol! I made the cut outs higher and wider than the plans. This is a common suggestion from fellow Piet builders Scotty

Yes in the article on it they said they wernt sure if the same size bearings were available so not sure if its an exact replica or if they have tweeked it a little given what they know now. Great either way! Scotty

Lyle...do you think they were unreliable due to the design or due to the manufacturing technology back then. See the radial replica the mob in NZ are making? looks fantastic! Scotty

Milestone tonight!...Removed the fuselage from the build table and turned it up the right way! Tried on the tail sections and even gave it its first taste of daylight! Now time to fit it out! Scotty

No problem guys! Andrews really pulling something out of the bag here and deserves as much support as we can muster. After I finish and fly my Pietenpol, I want to build a WW1 replica. Looking at a Fokker DVIII or a Nieuport 17. Check out these links too: http://www.fokker-team.de/ http://www.collectors-edition.de/f-t-s_zeichnungen_FokkerDVIII_english.htm Scotty

I cant see anywhere else on this site where this has been mentioned so thought I should put the word out. Andrew Carter has started The Australian Vintage Aviation Society. Andrews idea is to recreate a group for Australian builders of replica WW1 and early aviation aircraft and to have flying aircraft for the centenary of the end of WW1. Andrew has imported a replica Fokker Triplane from the USA and is having original engines built in New Zealand for these aircraft. Andrew has also just negotiated a deal to import 3 partially built Fokker aircraft from Germany which will be finished here. If your interested, have a look at www.tavas.com.au and there is also a Facebook page. Scotty

Hi Phil...looking good mate! Keep going with it. Your doing the same as I did. Build the smaller bits first then when the fuselage is built, it goes together pretty quickly. About to take my fuselage off the build table! Scotty

Hi Mark....I have been to the last 3 at Temora. By far the best was the first one! I drove away thinking this was fantastic. I am a builder and the technical talks from the engineers at the museum were fantastic to put it simply. There was a hanger where an aircraft was assembled over the weekend. They showed movies on the end of the Aero club hanger at night, attendance was great and I purchased a great deal of material for my project from suppliers there. The atmosphere was vibrant and facilities great. What happened the last 2 years I have no idea but it went down hill to be polite about it. Last year was a complete waste of my time and money going as far as Im concerned and why I wont be there this year. It should have been an embarresment to the RAA exec's! Still havent heard anything from Mr Runciman as to why attendance was so poor. He promised an investigation... It worries me that with all the problems of late, who is steering the NATFLY ship? I hope for the associations sake it does a 180 degree about turn as I enjoyed the earlier event and would like to go again if it was worth while. Scotty

Here is the Funeral Director coming out in me again. Some good points above and any financial assistance would be appreciated at that time but the other option is to take out a Pre paid funeral plan! You can pay in to these the same as paying a little extra to the insurance company. At least your funeral expenses would be covered which is a big chunk! I have dealt with many families at tragic times like this and funeral expenses are a big stressor. Scotty

Maj...as your aware it can be years before the Coroner finishes their findings and releases a report. I accessed them straight off their website. I assumed it was a public site. Scotty

Maj...I was an Undertaker for 14 years and out of curiosity at times, would go through the Coroners reports on some of my customers. I have been out of it now for 8 years and havent looked in some time but there was a lot of information out there. I realise that doesnt answer all our questions as there is only a Coroners report when there was a death involved. Scotty

Its been a productive month! Building the fuselage and even had a trial fit of the tail wheel today! Scotty

Looks great Phil....I dont want to hijack your thread! I think I have a thread going on here to somewhere! I did some more fuselage floor cross braces today and cut out the 6mm ply floor. Will glue that on next I think. Did a trial fit of the tail wheel too! Scotty

Seems some folk are frantically trying to get their house keeping in order before the impending meeting? Scotty

Camping at the field is very good. Good facilities and some powered sites but they usually go pretty quickly. I camp there in unpowered. Shuttles running regularly. Not sure of times but often enough. Have reasonable food options there if you dont want to go in to town. The RSL does a reasonable feed in town. Rest of the eateries I have found to be pretty average. Wont be going this year after last years debacle. Hope the Raa get there act together and give the organisers the support they need as a lot of effort goes in to organising it with minimal support from Raa. Scotty