JG3

Still don't now what to do.1. copying SD 025

2. use stronger rivets or bolts

 

3. do nothing

JG

Hi JGI have always been under the understanding of not using stainless steel rivets for attaching aluminium due to the noble metals scale, electrolysis and its effect that the aluminium will waste away. Best regards Mike

JG

If you want to see a Drifter on Steriods, check out this Pterodactyl ;-)http://www.worldaircraftco.com/surveyor/

JG

Hi mate iv just seen your post. My ignition modules have failed can you recommen a suplier. ?

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 one incident from maybe 400 landings isn't a bad result.

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

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 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

Sweden was the last country to change from LHS of the road driving, to RHS, in 1967.

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.

Looks like you won't see an airshow then' date=' all airshows have aeros[/quote']Yep, and that's just fine with me.

 

Now basic fly-ins, I do enjoy them.

 

Flew to NatFly at Narromine about 11 times and enjoyed all of them.

 

Then they moved it to Temora and one of the early advertising posters was of a Spitfire and the invite, "...hear the Spitfire and watch the aeros..." So I quit going, and I sure wasn't the only one, cause we saw the enormously popular NatFly at Narromine go the the dismal failure at Temora..... Now they're trying again at Narromine and I'll be there even tho they seem to be planning some sort of an airshow, cause I want to support the return to Narromine. But the planners need to remember what happened at Temora and take it as a lesson.....

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

.Sites that come to mind are Lake Eyre and Argyle, Kings Canyon, Uluru, 12 apostles, G B reef, etc, but where have you been/seen that you highly recommend???

 

Pics would be great,

 

Cheers

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

Check those little slots at the tail where the rudder cables exit the fuselage. If the cables have to do a little joggle through there then they'll bind when there's pressure on both rudder pedals as in flight, especially with the tensions of the first flight. On the ground pressing each rudder pedal separately they will run free. When Hans did his first flight in his 701 he must have been leaning heavily on both rudder pedals and the rudder was binding such that it would go suddenly full defection one way then the other, and with that very powerful rudder on the 701 the result was alarming! I was trying to video the t/o and had to hit the deck to keep from being scalped. He very nearly lost his aircraft on the first flight...... Those slots were the cause. Extending those slots with a small chainsaw file fixed it.

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

Thanks for the replys guys,Starting it now, Anything you want to add just pm me.

Thanks,

 

Sean

· 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.

I would happily do itThanks, Sean

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.....

I drew up this Google map to show airstrips within 1 km of pubs and food.

A few fly-in resorts and accommodation have sneaked in, but they're not really the same. There seems to be a demand for a map of such accommodation, and I know there are quite a few fliers travelling around these days who have found excellent places. Someone should start such a map, but I'm not interested cause I'm a dedicated camper and never use such accommodation. It's really easy with Google Maps, and once started, the list will build quickly from suggestions of those who have found suitable places.

Anyone interested in doing it???

How bout this for a long rescue flight, just a few days ago. From Calgary, Canada to the South Pole, by Twin Otter STOL aircraft. This company has a track record of such ballsey cold weather remote flying, and that's why they were commissioned to go all the way from Canada to the South Pole in mid-winter (-60F) to rescue a medical case from the the base there. This was right at the southern winter solstice, so flying and landing in total darkness, on packed snow with just flares for markers. Of course they pulled it off with no problems, and that's why they were chosen. What an adventure!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/kenn-borek-air-south-pole-june-22-1.3646966

That's that same company that salvaged this DC3 from Antarctica several years ago. Just imagine the logistics involved in bringing everything needed for such a major repair. And imagine replacing the landing gear and repairing the wing damage while working on their backs in the snow..... But then they're Canadians and a bit of cold and snow is no big deal, eh....

Have a look at this video

JG

Thank you, JG. I will make that mod before assembly.Are there any other bushes I should be looking at while I'm doing that?

Those little brass bushes don't last all that long, so long ago I machined teflon bushes and no problems since.