Steve L

He may have landed on the airstrip and taxied to the bowser which is possible at Dunmarra, I would probably do that myself. Here we go speculating again, hopefully it will come out in the wash.

There prolly wasnt a fuel bouser on the airstrip

well lets hope Tomo is

hi Stefan, yes I know an aircraft welder that lives close by, luckily the tail is not covered yet. I would be interested in seeing a picture or two. Would it change the handling much? I'm guessing relieving control input pressure and maybe more authority.

check out "big rocks and long props" most wont fit onto LSA though. There are many stol planes available, Zenith, Savannah, Kitfox (which was the original design by Dan Denney) Hornet, Bushbaby, Bushcaddy, CubCrafters, Foxbat the list goes on, it depends what you want to do with it and how much you want to spend. Remember what you gain at one end of the envelope you generally loose at the other.

Bushbabys are STOL.

hi pilot and welcome, have you looked at the Bushbaby Explorer, nice bush plane, I'm building one now. hey Capt. I'm from Adelaide and aye doesn't drive me crazy maybe cos I use it a lot aye,

I guess more Warbirds (ex military) aircraft may become available soon with CASA's new regulations which come into effect late June this year, CASA is revoking rego's and were being forced to join AWAL

completed the first wing today, lacing and tapes still to go, took about 9.5 hours hopefully I should do the second wing a lot quicker. theres nothing to covering anyone could do it,

hi Stefan, I have Grove 5016 aluminium bolt on stubs and brakes already so not a problem. I would like to fit the ALG mounts to the fuselage (if they are available separately) before I start covering it, which shouldn't be too long. Covered the first wing today and couldn't believe how easy it is. Will have the other wing done tomorrow then stitching and tapes. Few days and I'll post some pictures.

Saw a docco on this years ago and they claimed these Women only had a few hours with the flight manual to get familiar with the aircraft and no other formal training on type, no matter how large the aircraft was. Absolutely amazing.

Hi Stefan, yes I'm still building. Due to commitments it has been quite a few months since I even looked at the Explorer let alone worked on it. Actually, last week I dusted the dust off so to speak (its been kept well covered) and gathered my thoughts as to where I am up to. Your message has come at a timely time. I see you have a very active Facebook site now where I noticed you are fitting Berringer Alaskan Gear to a Safari. would it adapt to my or any Explorer. It sure looks great and probably works better than bungees, that's how I would like my plane to look. I have included a couple of pics so you know which gear I'm referring too. Mmmmm now why did it do that, I'm not gunna try to fix it.:faint:haha! Steve

Welcome Bruce, this is an an interesting site.

I was based at Arawa near Loloho Bougainville, done the first 2 years there as an apprentice diesel mechanic

Hi OP, welcome. I was in PNG 68-69, not as a pilot though

Hope they throw the book at him, obviously all premeditated

Hi Xavier, The panel looks impressive and I'm sure your saving weight, but don't rely on the iPads alone. Here's what happened to me while flying from Gawler to Temora for the Warbirds Downunder Airshow late November last year. Myself and the co pilot had 3 iPads between us ( iPad Air on the panel and each our personal full size iPads ). Abeam Hay approaching Griffith with surface temps around 45 deg all iPads overheated and shut down. Obviously noticed the panel mount first so we both reached for our tucked away ones, both turned on and within minutes crashed. Stupidly I didn't record cabin temp. which would have given me a reference. One did return to life for a short spell after holding it over the fresh air vent. Fortunately I ALWAYS fly manually no matter how short the leg is unless I can see my landing point at departure. What I'm saying here mate is have backup. Good luck with your mod. Steve

Excellent Tim, as usual your stuff is very entertaining. Steve

I'm still plugin away Stefan, its taking a lot longer than I expected due to my work increasing over the last few months, I'm leaving for Rockhampton QLD now which will take about 2-3 weeks. The Bushbaby is ready to cover so I will be getting into that soon. Took the seat to the upholsterers yesterday, hes also going to print the logo on the backrest but cant start it till Christmas, so thats cool. Thanks for the gear you sent me recently especially the shirts they look the part, did the guys send you a picture of me wearing them ( they took heaps ). Hope your Oshkosh trip went well with your new USA dealer and hows any aussie dealers going. Steve

hi Stefan, I have been away for a month and half, so not a lot buggarit, The wings are ready for covering and the fuselage has a little bit more work on the baggage compartment before that's ready. I plan to do all the covering at once. I have only just got home so pictures wont be far away

hi Deb, could you post some pictures of the leaks, that might help someone asses how bad it is or where its coming from. Steve

Another update, The wing tips are on and the last job on the wings before covering is the pitot tubes, they are now all fitted and tested.

Sad times indeed Tim, I'll be the same when the Bulldog finally goes. Not planned as yet but I'll see how the Explorer turns out, nothing but awesome I reckon. I remember when I picked up the Bulldog the previous owner couldn't hang around when the container doors were closed and sealed. I feel one gets more attached to an airplane than a car. On a brighter note, 4 - 500 mtr for your new airstrip is cool but couldn't you make it 600 haha! Only joking. New hanga and airstrip! you have some work ahead of you. Maybe some flyins and working bee's would help. Steve

Russ, years ago when I was an apprentice with Mack Trucks ( not actually Macks but a large dealer) I got the job of rebuilding our workshop EH ute engine, cant think what model red motor it was. Dont know where I got the idea from but it was probably one of the older mechanics, it was to slowly pour rice down the carby throat while keeping it running. Engine was clapped anyway so not much to loose. Next day after removing the muffler and armed with a small bag of rice I went about to decoke the engine. By this time near everyone around was looking on. Needed near full revs to keep it running and it made noises that I never heard before, backfired and left burnt rice all over the workshop floor. Guess who had to clean it up haha! Well it decoked the engine beautifully and showed no signs of mechanical damage, dont think the high compression engines today will handle that. On another note back then we used to feed bon ami into the inlet on diesel engines to reduce oil consumption, mainly on the V8 Macks, from memory they needed it at about 60,000 miles. Never on customers engines tho, my Dad had two V8s. I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT ON ANY AIRCRAFT ENGINE OR ANY OTHER MODERN ENGINE. Steve

call Bert Flood (03) 9735 5655 cheers