Kenny

Hi I seem to recall a post in the savannah section of someone having moved the pedals forward in their Savvy however I cant seem to find it. Being a little long in the leg I would much apreciate some xtra leg room can anyone sugest something. I have had a bit of a look at it and it seems if the pedals can be moved forward the toe brakes would hit the firewall (perhaps a hand brake could be used) I look forward to some ideas Cheers Ken

I don't know if this has been discussed before, however, whilst doing the two hundred hourly on my 912s Savannah which is fitted with a four blade Brolga prop and Cummins spinner I noticed several cracks on the spinner, one about 20m long and the other about 10m long. It has always been kept tight with absolutly no movement and is one thing I keep an eye on to make sujre it is tight, however I haven't particularly been looking for cracks during my walk round.At first I thought the cracks were only scratches until further inspection. What adds a bit of urgency to this matter is that I know of two other incidents with the same brand of spinner one of them at the same strip that I fly out of . his spinner was also on a Brolga prop fitted to a Lightwing powered with a Rotax 582. The pilot removed the spinner to see if it was repairable and then flew the plane with the spiggot still attached (this is an alumineum rod aprox 15mm thick and about 160mm long) after landing he noticed that the spiggot was missing and there was a big chip out of his prop. The other incident I know of also involved a Savannah which was a much more serious event where the spinner came off in flight breaking one of the prop blades , the plane was just flyable with only a touch of power and had to make an emergancy landing befor the engine tore away from its mounts I would encourage those with spinners fitted to check them regually for cracks also I will not be fitting another to my Savannah and will have to put up with it looking even more agricultural.

Hi Dunlop some of us here at Kilcoy would be interested could you give me your phone number or ring me on 0754988228 to confirm date and time ect. Cheers Ken

Hi Guys I have just come across this thread as regards KI . I arived in Adelaide last night by car and planeless if there is a spare seat going to KI I would be most interested. I fly a Savannah out of Kilcoy in Queensland . Cheers Ken

Sounds good Im in Kenny

Silent Grove Hi Tangocharlie Please find attached details Silent Grove Station, NSW Unlicenced - standard inclusion S 29 58.11 E 151 38.086 4565 feet 18-36, 700 M, Unsealed - grass John & Dorothy Every "Silent Grove Farmstay B&B" 698 Maybole Rd BEN LOMOND NSW 2365 Ph/Fax: 02-67332117 www.silentgrovefarmstay-bandb.com.au Email: [email protected] Cheers Ken

Hi Guys Last weekend 11 of us went to a a place called Silent Grove for a fly-in. It is about 20 miles south of Glen Innis and what a nice place it was. It is a working sheep station and is owned and run by John and Dorothy Every who run it as a B & B they have several rooms at the house plus a 3 bedroom cottage ( rates are quite reasonable) also those of us who like to do things on the cheap were able to bunk down in the wool shed as four of us did however it was pretty cold as john (Jolapino's) wet towel was stiff as a board when we got up in the morning. Their strip is 700 metres long and quite smooth and it is 4900 feet above sea level. I left Kilcoy at 10-30 AM a half hour late due to a heavy fog and met up with Jalapino at Warwick where we continued on to Silent Grove together, The scenery to say the least was spectacular, we arived at about 1-30 PM and were met by John Every at the strip who ferried us up to the wool shed with our gear. After setteling in we went up to the homestead to meet Dorothy who is the organizer of the stayover ect. She invited Jalopino and myself to have tea with them , a lovely home cooked meal. On waking the next morning there was about a twenty knot wind blowing and the dams had a ring of ice around their edges, my fingers became quite sore with the cold after refueling my Savannah , fortunatly the wind died down around 9-30 AM and we were able to join a couple of other flyers at Jay Warne's farm about 25 miles North for the biggest bacon and egg breakfast I have ever seen. Five of us Jay includeed then made history by being the first ever planes to land at a new airstrip for a restarunt on the Seven river ( it was the most marginal strip I have ever landed on but they are still working on it ) . The restaurant was fantastic pearched about a hundred feet above a gorge and built out of recicled materials, it has to be seen to do it justice, From there we flew into Glen Innis and landed at a private strip just behind a caravan park with a service station where we were told we could get fuel However the manager of the park came running out to tell us we were trespassing and pi#$$ed us off he refused to searve us because as we found out later it seems he blames the owner of the strip where we landed for the council refusing to give him a 60 klm an hour zone outside of his caravan park however Frank the owner of the strip drove us into town to get fuel problem solved. Back at Silent Grove we met up with the rest of flyers and had the loveliest three course meal with the owners that night followed by bacon and eggs for breakfast the next morning. The return flight was absolutly beautiful with not the slightest breaze blowing all the way home , I got back about 12-30 Am after a rest stop at Stanthorpe. I can thoroughly recomend Silent Grove for a fly-in The owners will treat you like family and make you welcome. The scenery is fantastic , 25 degrees is considered a scorcher in the middle of summer. We will definatly be back. Cheers Ken

Hi Mark John is right I learnt in a Technam Echo at Caboolture and purchased a second hand Savannah before I finished my training, there's not a lot of difference with the flying other than the Echo is a little faster and sliperyier . You will find that the Echo needs lots of right rudder on takeoff wheras the Savannah need hardly any , I think that is the only big difference , also the Technam has lots of legroom and the Savannah dosen't . I did find an instructor who was prepared to do Navs in my own plane. Cheers Ken

Hi my first big Fly in ( Inglewood) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I arrived about midday in company with two other fliers from Kilcoy we had five planes there altogether 2 Zenneth 701s 2 Savannahs and a 150 Cessna. We slept under the wings on the strip. Saturday night found us all at the Bowling club, a leisurely 2 klm walk from the strip , the club was a little overwhelmed with all the people there hence the food took quite a while to arrive but it was most enjoyable. Another quiet walk back to the strip and had a few drinks with the Guys and Gals talking the usual bull@#%$. The Lions Club put on a lovely dinner and drinks on Sunday night in the park near the Bowling club, they have a really interesting way of doing things, after feeding you they pass the hat around for a donation and you put in what you think it is worth and as the money goes to good causes everyone is pretty generous with their donations, another quiet walk (more like a wobble) back to the strip and bed for an early night. There is a food van at the strip serving food all day long and once again all of the profits are used in the town for thing like lights on the emergency heliport and other worthy causes such as helping the elderly modify their homes to make life a little easier around the house. We were among the last to leave on Monday morning and whilst talking to the organizers over a cuppa, George, the main man told us of some changes coming up for next year. As some of the land has been sold for industry. As he is a publican he hopes to get a liquor license and have a bar at the strip for next year also the council has come to the party and will open up some more land at the 23 runway end of the strip, George owns a large property bordering the dam and has said he will put in a strip so we can fly there and spend some time near the water (I have attached a couple of pictures of the dam). Rather than us walking or driving into town for the Lions club dinner night it will be held right at the strip and he intends putting up a large screen and showing photos of the previous years fly in (he took photos of every plane at the fly in this year) George said the whole town is behind the fly in and they enjoy having us there. I have posted some pictures I hope they turn out OK firstly a couple of the dam The strip and town. And some taken from 7000 ft (my first time above the clouds) I was stoked. Lastly my Savannah at home Ken

I'm not quite sure what news line you are referring to, I am referring to a pilot who has the option of ejecting out of his broken plane and floating gently down to earth but instead waits sometimes to long and steers his plane away from people before trying to eject ( it has happened more than once).

My idea of a hero is a pilot who steers his broken plane away from a populated area at great risk to his or her self before trying to eject or sometimes even going down with the plane.

Nice one See you at Narromine Ken

Welcome Rex Glad to have you in the ranks, I too learnt with Proski in Technam 3979 mostly with Zane and some with Rob (I think that's his name ) a nice man. What are your plans from here ? to buy a plane, hire or build etc. I am now based at Kilcoy also a very nice place to fly out of . You have your navs to look forward to now I guess Look forward to your future posts Cheers Ken

Hi Mark Got together a few pics. Some of the guys from Kilcoy went to Boonah for one of the RAA maintenance work shops. My plane is the one on the left hand side, we camped there over night and flew back on the Sunday morning via the Senic Rim and Cunninghams gap. The other pics are of my left hand wing complete with tassells and a device to measure the angle of attack, over Summerset dam, I will post the results and let you know what is going on once testing is finished. Cheers Ken

Hi BLA I too was at Boonah and likewise enjoyed it. Our crew from Kilcoy flew in and camped over for the night and enjoyed a few drinks with the Boonah Guys and talked the usual flying B.S. late into the night and flew back to Kilcoy via the Scenic Rim the next morning. I wish I could place a face to your name. Just a by the by it was Brian Melbourne with the Savannah who did most of the lecturing . Regards Ken

VGs Neil I have used the feathers VGs supplied by John Gilpin and was shown how to attach them by JG we used a cardboard template and a string line. There is a set measurement from the leading edge of the wing of which I can't remember. The template shows the angles that the VGs are set at and also the spacing, The VGs are self adhesive. John has a web site StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft which will show all of the reasearch etc. and his contact details you will find it a good read. Cheers Ken PS Neil I have just had another look at John's Web site and all of the instructions are there. How to measure and make up a template etc.

VGs Mark. I am hangared next to John G and he is forever taping pieces of wool to the flying surfaces of his Savannah. His latest testing involves an inclinometer and static air speed indicator to measure exact angles of attack during stalls at differing air speeds and with the woolen tassels he can record just where and when the boundry layer starts to seperate.He is also measuring rates of climb best glide speeds etc. I have attached a photo of my plane during fitting of Vgs fo Ozzie to look at

Mark I agree with your post 100% especially the last sentence, as you know I have removed the slats from my Savannah and fitted VGs I find the plane much more docile and safer to fly especially landing. I have practiced stalls repeatedly with both stages of flap and clean wing , landing with both stages of flap and clean wing and taking off with first stage of flap and clean wing and have never experienced any wing drop other than a very slight drop during a practice stall in quite turbulent air. The the plane just wants to mush. I have had the plane at very high angle of atack , hardly any forward speed and mushing at about 500 ft pm basicly the plane was still flying and controlable. I will add here that I have purchased a VG kit having been told that they may be hard to get in the future and if ever I want to sell my Savannah I can sell it as a genuine VG , if it was'nt for that reason I would be more than happy to continue flying with slats removed and VGs fitted Ken

Great pictures mark I haven't got any in flight pics of my Savy yet hopefully one day. You're right there's never much going on in the Savy forum perhaps the Savannah owners are a little more laid back than other pilots. I haven't been involved in any trips away as yet so haven't found a lot of interesting thing to write about and I'm still taking every opportunity to improve my flying skills locally. I will be going to the Clifton flyin in March (my 1st one) and then Narromine at Easter . Cheers Ken

Some Math +Logic: Here is a little something someone sent me that is indisputable mathematical logic. (It also made me Laugh Out Loud.) Remember, this is a strictly mathematical viewpoint. It goes like this: What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life? Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions: If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26. Then: H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98% and K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5= 96% But, A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100% And, B-U-L-L-$-@-%-# 2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103% AND, look how far ass kissing will take you. A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G 1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118% So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while Hardwork and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, its the Bull$%@# and Ass kissing that will put you over the top.

Hi I don't know whether I'm preaching to the converted but I have just come across some free mapping software called shonky Maps and thought to pass it on to the forum. It works with Garmim mapsource and will enhance the very bland map that comes with the Garmin ( for a PC) 196/296 etc. I have downloaded the software and run myMaps and am very impressed with the detail now available to me ie topographical details, towns, powerlines, etc etc . The maps can also be transfered to your Garmin device if it has the memory. Hope this helps someone Regards Ken

drifting right Thanks for the advice guys yes I do have to keep correcting my course I hadn't thought of the fact that each incursion to the right and subsequent correction back to the correct track would inevitably add up to being several miles off course at a certain time on my nav . I did have to rely heavily on the 1 in 60 rule to stay on track over all . Now I have my cross country I can concentrate more on my flying skills to eventually correct the problem I will work out if a trim tab may be the answer or prove if my right foot is heavier than my left Thanks Ken

Drifting to the right Hi Adrian Funny you should ask if anyone else has a problem drifting to the righgt. I managed to get my cross country endorsement yesterday in my Savannah, however I too have a problem with drifting to the right my instructor picked it up a few flights ago it seems I keep dropping the right wing without realizing it. I have been working on it but if the air is anything but reasonably smooth the right wing drops a little unnoticed by me which also makes it hard to keep the bubble in the middle. Likewise I would look forward to some feedback on fixing the problem. Ken

VGs or not VGs Hi Neil I am a newbie pilot 57 hours in total. I too have a Savannah. After Receiving my license I flew about 18 hours in my Savy with slats on before removing them and fitting VGs The one huge difference I found was landing, when landing with slats on if you flared a little high and did not get the plane down closer to the ground in time before running out of energy the slats would let go and dump you down fairly hard. With VGs if you make the same mistake the plane floats down and touches the ground a lot easier. The STOL caharicteristics stay very much the same with VGs as with slats . I have not flown the plane without VGs but I would imagine the stall speed would be higher as the boundary layer of air would be disrupted earlier . I tried to stall the plane with the VGs on and the only way I could tell it was stalled was by watching the VSI Overall I find the plane very much more forgiving and am very glad I took the slats off cruise speed has increased by around 6 or 7 knots. You may have already seen John Gilpin's web site but here it is if you haven't he has done a lot of testing with VGs StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft Regards Ken

I guess most of you have seen this before but for the benefit of those who haven't here it is again. Aviation 101 Takeoff's are optional. Landings are mandatory. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger, if you pull the stick back they get smaller. (Unless you keep pulling the stick back -- then they get bigger again) Flying is not dangerous; crashing is dangerous. It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here. The propeller is just a big fan in the front of the plane to keep the pilot cool. Want proof? Make it stop; then watch the pilot break out into a sweat. Speed is life, altitude is life insurance. No one has ever collided with the sky. It's best to keep the pointed end going forward as much as possible. The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire. Every one already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. But very few know the definition of a 'great' landing. It's one after which you can use the airplane another time. The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival. Always remember you fly an airplane with your head, not your hands. Never let an airplane take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier. You know you've landed with the wheels up when it takes full power to taxi. Those who hoot with the owls by night should not fly with the eagles by day. A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round and reciprocating parts going up and down - all of them trying to become random in motion. Helicopters can't really fly - they're just so ugly that the earth immediately repels them. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself. Trust your captain .... but keep your seat belt securely fastened. Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment. Aviation is not so much a profession as it is a disease. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. The only thing worse than a captain who never flew as copilot is a copilot who once was a captain. Be nice to your first officer, he may be your captain at your next airline. It's easy to make a small fortune in aviation. You start with a large fortune. A fool and his money are soon flying more airplane than he can handle. Remember, you're always a student in an airplane. Keep looking around; there's always something you've missed. Try to keep the number of your landings equal to the number of your takeoffs. You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back. There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold, pilots! Gravity never loses -- the best you can hope for is a draw! You start out flying with a bag of luck and a bag of experience, the trick is to get your bag of experience full before your bag of luck is empty.