JG3

For any auto engine conversions with fuel injection and thus ECU, consider the problems that can bring. I know of a 701 flyer who had a 4-cylinder BMW conversion. He was very happy with it, until a sensor failed and the ECU shut down the engine, dumping him in a cane field that wrecked the aircraft..... This was not a fault in the engine, just the sensor itself had failed and then the ECU panicked when it lost signal..... It's normal for auto ECUs to either shut down or back to idle when an error signal is detected. A properly designed ECU for aircraft would give an alarm signal then keep the engine going until the pilot can make a landing, then the engine can't be restarted until the fault is properly rectified. ECUs can be reprogrammed/modified to act this way but it's a very specialized operation..... JG

I replaced the Brolga with a Kool, as per these prop comparison tests StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft As you will see, there was very little difference in performance, but on a long trip alongside an identical Savannah, the Brolga used one litre per hour more fuel, as would be expected because a 4-blade prop is inherently less efficient than a 3-blade. The Brolga company was by then out of production, and I really liked the Kool so have been using it ever since. JG

This is for anyone flying far from home with a 912s and having an incident that destroys their prop. It can happen in a minor incident, and can lead to a real problem waiting for a replacement. I keep an old Brolga 4-blade prop all packed up and ready to ship anywhere same day or next day at latest. Complete with pitch blocks matched to a 100hp Rotax. The advantage of the Brolga is that you don't need a protractor and testing to get the pitch correct. Just bolt it together and it's ready to go. All I ask is that it be shipped back to me when a new prop has been acquired. Keep my number handy and I'll help when I can. 0429 943 508. JG

Any more details on this one??

If you can access to put a couple of bolts in there, that would be a good solution. JG

Yeah I'm well aware of that issue and certainly wouldn't use s/s with Al in a marine environment. But I've seen the results of s/s rivets in aluminium aircraft for many years with no problem, that I decided to use them here where they are easily inspected daily. JG

That'll be a really good aircraft I reckon. A good replacement for the old Drifter, now with a 912, better landing gear, and durable all metal structure. That's designed by Max Tedesco who also designed the MXP 740, since copied by ICP and renamed the Savannah. He has long experience designing and building practical ultralight aircraft. JG

Get in touch with Roger at [email protected] JG

My last long flight was late November, when I flew my Savannah from Kilcoy, SE Qld to Melbourne, Snowy Mountains Scheme, and the 'Gathering of the Moths' fly-in at Mt Beauty. It was a heck of a rough and challenging trip...... Not a good time of year for such a flight, but earlier constant bad weather in those parts kept it delayed.... A good start down the coast to Port Macquarie, smooth and good tailwind. Getting a bit rough through the lane behind Williamtown, then heavy smoky haze and really rough up the Hunter Valley. Planned to stop and camp at Wellington, but a line of thunderstorms confronted. Bless OZrunways for the radar overlay. Made it so much easier to find a way between the developing thunderheads. Had to keep going west to Peak Hill, south of Dubbo to get clear. So a long 8hr day..... Next morning back to Orange for fuel, but too early for the only refueler Wade Air, so on to Bathurst. Then backtrack to Cadia gold mine of look around, then riding a strong northerly tailwind to Tumut for a look at the Blowering and Talbingo Resevoirs, all full now after all the rain earlier. Then to Khancoban to view the power station and pipes down the mountain. From here that northerly became a violently rough Xwind to Lethbridge. But had to press on because the windy.ty site showed a sharply defined front line coming through late afternoon. It showed a 20kt northerly with temp 34 degrees on the north side and a 20kt southerly with temp 14 degrees on the south side, so inbetween would be wild..... Made it to Lethbridge in plenty of time, but while waiting ages for the fuel pump to prime itself the gust front of a wild thunderstorm hit. I sat in the aircraft with the door open, ready to jump out and grab a strut. The aircraft danced around and slewed around, but just enough protection from the buildings to stay right side up. As soon as there was a lull, Gary, owner of Lethbridge airfield kindly put me in a hangar just before an even more violent cell hit. Safe at last..... Then holed up at my daughter's place for three days while Melbourne's shit weather did it's thing. Friday cleared up so rode the 15kt SW'erly across to Leongatha where I ran into low, drizzly, very dark cloud, could be flying into a trap so landed to sit it out. Later got through to Latrobe where it all improved. On to Benambra and a cup of tea and a yarn with Ben Buckley. Finally over the mountains to Mt Beauty. The weather for the 'Gathering of teh Moths' fly-in was perfect, and a really good turn-out of good flyers. Some STOL demos from the Supercubs and Savannahs, then lots of interesting visiting with the boys. Excellent hospitality from the Mt Beauty folk, thank you. Sunday was also perfect weather at last. Landed on reputedly, the highest airstrip in OZ, according to flyers who would know. 'Emergency Only' but this was an emergency, eh, just had to do it! But still only 5200ft altitude, about the same as the city of Denver, Colorado.... Called 'Alpine' or 'Snowy Range'. Not challenging at all, cause it's a long open strip also used by heavy fire-fighting aircraft when necessary. But lots of very ominous 'tiger country' all around, with tall forest and steep slopes. Then on to Mt Kosciouzko, and looking for above ground signs of the Snowy Scheme, but of course most of it is underground! Landed at Cabramurra airstrip and walked down to to the 'Highest Town in Australia'. There's a really interesting electronic display in the shop, showing the complex layout of the Hydro Scheme and real time showing which generators are operating and where the water is flowing. Then to Tumut again for fuel and on to Leeton to camp the night. An ideal campsite, soft grass, shady tree, toilets and shower. Next day a good run to Narromine for fuel. Hundreds of glider trailers there for some gathering. Increasingly rough to Moree, then the windy.ty site showed a narrow but very strong band of northerlies ahead, so diverted east and found windy.ty was exactly correct, so a wild Xwind ride across to Ashford. Unloaded my bike and rode into town for a sandwich and a rest. But rapidly developing storms so had to press on. Once again thanks to OZrunways and that radar overlay I was able to find a path between the now fully developed thunderstorms. Clifton was clear so landed there to watch developments.... Watched a storm on BOM radar headed for Kilcoy, until it cleared away to the north. Sure is wonderful this modern technology! So finally back home to Kilcoy, feeling relieved, and battered around as if I had just played overtime in a rugby game..... So just proved that it isn't a good time of year for long flights..... Need to start first light and plan to stop by 1100, then retire to aircon accommodation cause it's too hot to tent out under a wing. And have a hangar space arranged for the aircraft because of those late afternoon thunderstorms.....

Only takes one to be a disaster.......

Yeah it's for sure that I personally find airshows boring and annoying, but that's not the issue with my objection to them taking 4 hrs of the main day at our Narromine Fly-In. True fly-ins and airshows don't mix well - the airshow dominates and really screws up the fly-in. An airshow is a spectator event, while a real fly-in is a participation event, totally different game..... By closing the airspace for that long it forces all the rest of the recreational flying into the remaining time left. Just imagine, by the time the pylon racing is finished at 0800 there'll probably be several aircraft maneuvering around outside waiting to enter and then having to sort out their order of approach, meanwhile there'll be a que of aircraft on the ground waiting for a chance to take off. Then it's going to be a frantic two hours of dealers wanting to do as many demos as possible and flyers just wanting to have a fly, so the circuit area is going to be crowded and intense..... And it's not really a full two hours, cause you'll have to be careful how far out you go and keep a good margin so that you don't get caught out by the closure - (and then what do you do and where do you go to wait out three hours!) By the time it's open again it's early afternoon and not the best flying conditions and you don't dare have had a beer at lunch.... Traditionally at Narromine we roamed around the aircraft and met the owners and learned about different aircraft and often swapped rides to get the real feel of another aircraft. That has to be spontaneous with the freedom to go up when the mood is right.... Making an appointment for later is a real hassle cause both are liable to be involved in some other conversation and would need to break away from those visits. I can't imagine anyone being inspired to take up recreational flying from watching aerobatics. They can see right away that the costs are so far beyond their means that it's not reachable. But I've personally inspired several newcomers to take up their dream of flying. When I see someone looking interested in my aircraft I engage in friendly conversation and ask if they're tempted to take up flying. The typical conversation goes as follows, and has been repeated many times: Me - "Are you tempted to take up flying?" He - "Well, I always dreamed of flying but family responsibilities and shortage of money didn't make it possible, but now the kids are gone and I have some time and money to spare, but I still don't know if I could afford it..." Me - "Well it doesn't have to cost a lot these days. This aircraft cost me about $50k, about the same as a new 4wd, burns premium unleaded and gets about the same mileage as a 4wd, but goes 150 km/hr Xcountry with no doddering caravans or whatever in the way, and we do all our own maintenance which is easy with these engines these days. I built this one from a kit, really easy, just rivet it together, was lots of fun and very satisfying. There's lots of support and help around for beginner builders, and of course lots of advise...... If you do a good job, after a year it's worth more than it cost you, while a 4wd will be rapidly depreciating...... So it is really affordable and enjoyable and the best thing I ever did at this stage of life. Golf and bowls just wouldn't do it....." He -"But where would I get training?" Me - "Get online and go to www.raa.asn.au and there you'll find a listing of flying schools all over. Call one and arrange a Training Introductory Flight." Me -"Would you like to go for a flight right now to see what it feels like??" If they're really are interested of course they grab the opportunity. I explain what I'm doing all the way and insist that they take the stick for some gentle turns, and then I can feel their excitement! Well now, I reckon that's introduced several, if not many, new flyers into the game, over the years that I've been doing it, many of those times at the old Narromine Fly-Ins , and at many other venues:. But I wouldn't want to try to fit in that hectic gap between airshow activities in the morning, and at lunch I want to have a sit down to rest the weary feet. and a beer. and swap stories with old friends for the rest of afternoon. I reckon one hour of aerobatics late in the afternoon would be all that a good fly-in should have to tolerate. But of course that wouldn't bring in the paying drive-in public who are required to fund the airshow. So how about if the all the airshow activity was moved to Sunday?? It would still attract the drive-in public, and leave our main day free for the real fly-in participants. And then I and many others could head for home right after Sunday breakfast, very satisfied after an enjoyable Narromine Fly-In. JG

Well, so much for that enthusiasm to support the new Narromine...... Just got an email from RAAus with a schedule for OzKosh, and note that the airspace will be closed for 4hrs! for air displays on Saturday. I had planned to arrive early Saturday morning and have a peaceful day visiting around and watching other fly-in aircraft show their stuff. So stuff it, I'll now arrive Friday and leave really early Saturday and avoid the noisy display, p***d off..... Now I'd only bother to show up at all cause it'll be on my way home from a longer flying adventure. Such is life.......

I feel the need to bump this up. Let's go and try and make OzKosh at Narromine into a success! I'm making the effort to support it, and several others from our airfield are also. We had all been fans of Narromine and I had been there 11 times, but when NatFly moved to Temora and changed it's character to more of an airshow, we lost interest..... Now the chance for a return to the once very popular Narromine Fly-In needs lots of support. See ya there! JG

I was touring Sweden on a motorbike just before the changeover. They enjoyed telling me that, "Too make the changeover easier, first the trucks and buses would change sides then next week the cars would also changeover..." Typical low key Swedish humour.....

A really good reason for slower aircraft to keep final as short as possible to avoid being on the same track for any longer than necessary. Excellent visibility from base out the final approach before turning final with just enough room to line up. Not suitable for faster aircraft that need a long final to bleed off speed, but those are the ones that I fear running over me from behind.... Minimum time on the same track cuts risk of conflict.

If they advertise warbirds and aerobatics then I don't want to be there.....

These are flights in OZ that I have done over the years. Lots of photos from those flights are at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft Individual trips are listed under 'Flying Adventures' down the left side of the page. Come along for the ride! JG

I'm still hoping to find some Drifter ailerons, any condition....... Location SE Qld, but willing to go a fair way to pick up. JG

I need a gearbox breather for a B box. Anyone?? JG

We've been using general purpose spraying thinners in vast quantities for years, to remove old silicon-based UV protectant. No damage to Dacron fabric over many years. JG

There are quite a few flyers heading over the horizon these days. Just locally I know of a large group that went to the Centre this year, a single aircraft to the Kimberleys, then a group planning Kimberleys in August, and three aircraft headed around OZ. Each of these is having to do their own flight planning on what info they can find, but others may have already been there and would have tips to share of where is extra good value to go and also where to avoid.... So how about starting a new list specifically where flying travelers can share info about accommodation and food and fuel that they have found to be good value along the way. Sean has started to work on a Google map to show 'Fly-In Resorts and Accommodation', and I already have done a Google map of 'Strips within 1km of a Pub and Food' If we just put such info in the General Discussion list it soon gets buried under politics and such crap, so a dedicated list would be really useful.... JG

John Bridges sent me these: · YFSA Forsayth. Airstrip for Cobbold Gorge. It is 40 kilometres away, but they will send a bus to pick you up. Accommodation is good, transfer costs $25 return pp. No fuel. · An addition to YCHT Charters Towers. Marvin from the Park Motel will pick you up from the airport, lend you his ute and generally look after you rather well. Accommodation is inexpensive, meals are very good.

Excellent, please do it! To start just pull those sort of resorts and accommodation from my map. Then put a request on here for suggestions that other flyers have found to be good value, and I reckon you'll get a flood of useful info. If you need any help to set it up just ask, not that I know very much about such work. Seems to me there's a need for a separate list on this Rec Flying forum specifically aimed at sharing info for travelling around. I know so many real fliers who are headed off this year for the Centre and the Kimberleys and right around OZ. There's lots of experience out there that could be very useful for those planning such trips. It could have both maps right there handy, and an invitation for others to contribute what they've found. Sure would make much more interesting reading than political sniping and other such crap.....