JG3

At William Creek I had the thinnest steak sandwich ever. The 'steak' would have been about 3mm thick. Must have been sliced in a bacon slicer..... But it is a sad fact that so many of the outback roadhouses have been bought up by merciless quick buck artists. Those businesses are real goldmines now, what with the vast amount of road traffic these days. They know that most customers are just passing thro one time, and no local competition, so they don't care about reputation or repeat business. One exception is Mungerannie on the Birdsville Track - warm welcome, excellent food, and helpful service. But the airstrip is not theirs, and is now closed to visiting aircraft......

We have three very active 701s at Kilcoy Airfield, also three Savannahs for comparison, about one and half hour drive from Brisbane. We're out there every Sunday morning. Most welcome. Probably get a fly in one.... JG

How's this for a real handy, affordable amphibian

Yeh, weather forecasting is really getting good these days, especially for those inland areas. Just keep an eye on Water and the Land: Forecast Rainfall I've been watching this site closely ever since that wet Narromine a couple of years ago. It's always been very accurate several days in advance, especially for those weather systems that move across from the west. The forecasters can now watch the progress and monitor the influences by satellite so well. An iphone puts those images, plus the weather radar and satellite view right in your hand. NextG signal just about everywhere at altitude. We also used an iphone and that Forecast Rainfall site on our Centre Trip. Because of that service we were able to fly a clear spell, then get out before the next big wet system moved in. Absolutely invaluable, wouldn't go anywhere without it! JG

Yeh, I've never been able to find a suitable static port on my Savannah. I have six different ports on different parts of the fuselage, and have also made up and tried one out on the wing at the pitot. None gave correct readings. The best I have found is inside the cabin, which gives accurate readings within 2 knots over the used range at 2000 ft when flying 4-way GPS. Of course the problem with in cabin static is the effect of opening vents, etc. Just opening the snap vents doesn't change more than a knot, but opening my opening window which I installed for photography jumps the ASI 6 knots. So have to be careful to keep it closed at t/o and landing when such an error could be serious..... I look forward to hearing how that Jab style static works. JG

A had an experience that makes never fly right at 5000 ft again. I was riding in the right seat of an Aero Commander courier flight from Horsham to Melbourne. The pilot requested IFR at 5000 and was granted permission, with the usual, ".....no IFR traffic..." I watched him very closely, and for the entire flight I never saw him do a scan out the windscreen! It took quite awhile for him to adjust and synch those twin engines, then he was busy filling out paper work. The only time he did look outside was to check on a thunderstorm that was just off our track, but he never scanned the rest of the horizon. I think that procedure is fairly common for aircraft flying IFR, and not expecting VFR aircraft to be at that altitude. 5000 ft is the lowest commonly used IFR flight level, and is used quite often for such short flights. When it says that we must be under 5000 I think that really means that our max altitude should be 4500. JG

Birdsville is going to be washed out, but we're all loaded and ready to go somewhere. Turns out that Calide Dawson Fly-In at Theodore is a good alternative for SE Qld. Weather is still coming, but if we go on Friday then watch developments and come back Sat or Sun. JG Hi Folks… Only 4 more “sleeps” until our fly-in!!! ………. If you’re not organized better start thinking serious about it! …………… Everybody start prayin’ for fine weather! Attached please find “Dave’s site plan” Regards Liz and Dave See ANNUAL FLY-IN When: Saturday 4TH & Sunday 5TH SEPTEMBER 2010 Where: FROGS HOLLOW, THEODORE Co-Ordinates: S 24* 49.355 E 150* 08.396 Address: 326 Colombo Road Theodore 4719 Phone: 49931120 I can't figure how to post the attachments showing the strip, but ring Dave and get it sent direct.

Weather is now looking really doubtful for Birdsville. See Synoptic chart - 7 day isobar and rain forecast weather maps When they mention "...possibility of heavy falls...", it's pretty serious, especially in that country that's already sodden from last week...... We might well be hearing news reports of stranded road travelers. Disappointing...... JG

Nope no pictures.... Must be pretty spectacular scenery I'm thinking. JG

Yeh, I don't know how all this stuff works..... So here is a cut and paste of the text. ......................................................... I worried about the high altitude performance of the Savannah prior to purchasing my kit. I live in Denver, CO and fly out of Erie (KEIK) airport – elevation 5100 feet. I completed the kit in June 2010 and now have about 50 hours on the plane. It is a Savannah VGW with a 100 hp Rotax engine. I use 91 octane Mogas. I flew it to Oshkosh in July without any problems. I recently flew the Savannah round trip from KEIK to Leadville (KLXV – 9924 feet) located in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. I used "normal" techniques on all parts of the flight. No attempt was made to achieve maximum performance. I departed KEIK with full fuel (21 gals) and two adults (200 & 140 pounds). My plane weighs 633 pounds. Takeoff weight was 1099 pounds, well below the max gross of 1234. With calm wind, density altitude(DA) 7300 feet and one notch of flaps, the takeoff roll was ~400 feet. I climbed to 14,500 feet to clear the Rocky Mountains (peaks at 14,000). Initial climb was ~600/min. Climb at 14,500 was ~100/min. Typical speed for my plane at 5200 RPM and 7000 feet is ~100 mph. Speed at full throttle (4900 RPM) and 14,500 was ~70 mph. The take off at KLXV erased my worry about high altitude performance of the Savannah. KLXV has a 6400 feet long paved runway. With full fuel, two adults (1099 pounds) calm wind, DA of 11,300 feet and one notch of flaps my take off roll was ~600 feet. Initial climb was ~200/min.

There's a really interesting account of flying a Savannah at 14.500 ft, on the Yahoo forum at http://au.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.rand=eoakulfspom13 Flying at 14,500 over terrain at 14,000 must be somewhat exciting! JG ps- I just tried that link and it doesn't straight to the post. You have to click INBOX then the particular post. I hope it works for you.....

Yeh, real good point Walter. I didn't the use both pumps in combo for many years because I was afraid of over pressurizing the floats. When my fuel pressure gauge failed I removed it, so now can't tell if the mechanical pump is working, and that's why I've taken to using the electric as well. I guess a better solution is to get a fuel pressure gauge again, and monitor as you do. Point taken. JG

The six litre reserve tank is just about right for the Savannah, gives 30 minutes at economy cruise. (This is not to be included in the 45 minute reserve for flight planning.) Sure is a good safety feature. With these large flat bottom tanks it's not possible to know how much flying time left when they are near empty - could be nil or could still be an hour left. Wouldn't want to run to nil and then have to ditch wherever without power. Also would be a pity to do a damaging pre-emptory landing only to find an hour fuel left in the bottom..... The reserve tank allows to continue to the alarm, and maybe get to an airstrip, but if not then still gives 30 minutes to set up for the best outlanding option still with power. This is the first float switch failure I know of, but indicates that it should be part of routine maintenance checks. Gravity flow from the wing tanks in a Savannah is NOT SUFFICIENT for high power flight. I've tested it on the ground, and it's only sufficient for low power settings. Which could be a real trap if the fuel pump is u/s, in that the engine runs fine at taxi/run-up power, but won't be able to hold climb power. There's enough fuel in the carb bowls to start the climb but it will starve suddenly at climb angle while still too low for an easy recovery..... I didn't used to bother with the electric pump on take-off, assuming that gravity would be sufficient, but since I did the tests I always use the electric pump on t/o. JG

For those planning to go to Birdsville, the gates nearest the service station are locked for the duration of the races, so it's a l-o-n-g carry of jerry cans if you want PULP. Avgas is available on field but is a dollar a litre dearer..... To help this situation Dags and I have modified two golf carts into trolleys for carrying jerry cans. They work really well and make it real easy. They'll be available for loan, just ring JG on 0429 943 508 or Dags on 0418 780 355, or watch for any of the Kilcoy Frequent Flyers fellas. JG

Finally here is the visor that I made for my Savannah. Works really well and I use it a lot. Simple construction, light weight and low cost. It's made of that material that's commonly used for real estate for sale signs. It's corrugated plastic, very light and quite rigid. Mine is 600mm wide by 200 deep. I can see out from under this to enough above the horizon for safety. A length of 6mm aluminium rod is epoxied to one edge. I added aluminium strips wrapped around and epoxied to give more strength. Cutouts allow the use of good quality plastic clothes pegs to use as hinges. The clothes pegs are riveted to the cabin top. They provide a friction hinge, and allow easy removal of the visor. When not in use the visor is held up to the overhead console by a tab of velcro. JG

Gympie Poker Run is on this coming Sunday 29 Aug. I want to go to support an eager and growing club, and mix with some different flyers. Picking up cards at Gympie, Wondai, Eidsvold, Gayndah, and Biggenden. Lunch at Biggenden Hotel. Start early and finish by 1300. For more info [email protected] JG

Those long range tanks are the standard factory supplied tanks. Many existing Savannahs are so equipped, either at the time of building or added later. They fit easily in the next outer bays of the wing. Some with one extra tank, some with two. With just a pilot and four full tanks still within the weight limit, and an endurance more than 8 hours! That's really handy for inland travel and makes fuel planning easier and more flexible, can stop at a lot of places that don't have fuel. Also makes it much easier and economical to find unleaded instead of Avgas. Some times a dollar a litre difference in price.... Savannah definitely the way to go! JG

Last weekend Dags tested the reserve alarm in his Savannah by shutting off the fuel at the tanks and watched for the alarm to come on. He flew on and on until the engine coughed as the reserve tank ran dry. Of course he was at altitude and the engine recovered as soon as he turned the fuel back on. The alarm had failed to work, so it was lucky that he wasn't really depending upon it. We pulled the float switch out and found it to be totally defective. So maybe a good idea as part of regular preventative maintenance to drain the reserve tank enough to really test the float switch. We all know that the TEST button only tests the lamp, but it still gives a false impression that the system is OK. Better to remove that darn button altogether I reckon... Mind you, the original lamp does need testing, because that tiny bulb has a tendency to work it's way out of the socket. Even when it does come on it doesn't tend to catch the eye in sunlight way over on that side of the panel. So I've replaced the whole lamp assembly with a flashing LED, (Jaycar ZD-1965, $2.45). It's 10mm diameter and really catches the eye when it flashes. It mounts easily in the same hole in the panel a 19mm diameter rubber grommet. I use that alarm frequently on long trips. When using the outer long range tanks I run them until the alarm comes on, then switch to the inner tanks. I also run on time, so have a pretty good idea when those tanks will run dry, and am ready to immediately reach the fuel valve if the engine coughs because the alarm has failed. And of course I only allow that possibility at altitude. If the changeover is due while on approach to a landing, then I switch over early to full inner tanks. A problem that I had for ages was false alarms from that reserve tank. Once an air bubble gets into that tank it can't all escape readily, and a shallow bubble floats around and triggers the float switch. It mostly happened over bad tiger country, ie Blue Mts, Bass St, etc...... Then I removed the 5mm thick spacer between the float switch and the top of the tank. That moved the float switch down by 5mm, so a shallow bubble can now remain without causing false alarms. Works real well now. JG

We have found that the easiest way to get a good result is to attach the top of the leading edge first. Cleco all the way down to the leading edge radius. Then one strap at each rib. The key to getting the under surface tight and smooth is the length of 50mm thick spacer under the bottom surface so that the straps are pressing the skin against the ribs. Snub up the straps gradually, 'bumping' the surface with the palm of the hand to help pull it around the radius until the holes underneath line up. We got really good results easily when we did this last time. That's Kenny (Dags) snubbing the straps and Hans clecoing underneath. That's steel c-section were using because it was at hand, but pine stud material is ideal. JG

Just remembering previous visits to the Birdsville Races. Last year I arrived on Thursday afternoon. Only a couple of other aircraft there so got parking right at the gate. Thursday evening was a real good time to be there, cause the crowd is still small and easy to get into Brophy's Boxing tent. Friday sees the arrival of most of the aircraft. Sure is good to be already parked while all those high speed charters jocky for circuit placement... I enjoy watching the build-up of excitement as all the new arrivals fill the street outside the pub. Friday night is full on, beer cans curb to curb....... Hang around for while Saturday then depart while the airspace is deserted. Stop somewhere quiet for Saturday night, as a good contrast to the revelry back there. Enough is enough..... Sunday morning is chaotic with departing aircraft, often full of hung-over passengers impatient to get back to the big city. Another year I stayed on the ground til later on Sunday, and it was fun watching all the departures and seeing an almost deserted airfield again very quickly. Heard one aircraft returning immediately, "...due to ill pax..." So, several of us are already planning on Thursday arrival and Saturday departure, if the winds are suitable. JG

I just found my logbook today, waaaa-hoooo! It was stuck to the vertical side of the baggage compartment, and I could only see an edge of it. Brought it up to date, added an address and phone number, and took it home to photocopy once again. Whew...... JG

I've never taken a dog flying. I don't have a photo of the lady with her poodle all wrapped up for flight, but I do love this photo from a fella in a 701 in USA. I've posted it before, but will do again cause it's such a classic. I also know of a mustering pilot in central Qld who used to carry his working dogs in his Drifter in a cage mounted where the rear seat was. He needed the dogs for the yard work after the sheep were in. The dogs didn't like flying much, probably due to that very high noise in the back seat of a Drifter. They didn't have any muffs of course, life's pretty rough and ready for such working dogs, and their owners for that matter. Nobody gets pampered, out there.....

I'll bring a box of port. Won't need to buy coke and ice..... JG

Anyone needing an actual weather report at Kilcoy area can ring me on 0429 943 508 Any day after 0600. Birdsville temp can be totally variable at that time of year, depending upon the wind direction, which cycles hot northerly followed by cold southwesterly. Almost nil chance of rain at that time. JG

You need to learn how to maneuver tricky multiple choice questions. As my examiner cautioned, don't just go for what seems to be the obvious correct answer. Very often, the most likely looking first choice is a trap, with double negatives and false leads cleverly built in. His advice was to first eliminate the obvious wrong choices, usually two of them. Then carefully examine the remaining two for the correct answer. Many of the questions are more a test of your ability to analyse tricky wording rather than just understand the issue.