JG3

Quote: "...Gyros, the flying machines of the future, and probably always will be....."

Twin cylinder 4-stroke, so one pulse per rev. Of course it's a bit rough at slow speed. Smooths out at speed tho, eh. Real good engine. Not quite the peak power of a 582, but better torque curve at cruise revs. JG

Just got back from the South Grafton Fly-In and scenic tour, what an excellent weekend! South Grafton AeroClub is always very friendly and welcoming, and during the Jacaranda Festival their annual Fly-In is extra good. They’ve had a heck of time this year, with the entire airfield under water in the floods in May, then tried to organize a Fly-In a couple of months later and got rained out again....... So we really wanted to show our support this time. We started out from Kilcoy at 6:30 on a perfect Saturday morning for flying. That was Hans and Kenny 701, Geno 701, Dags Savannah, JohnG Savannah, Gordon and Allison Sonex, and Roger from Caboolture Savannah. The air so steady and smooth at that early hour, and the morning light just brilliant on the scenery. Jalapeno Savannah from Toogoolawah was also on his way. First stop Boonah to try to stir up some of those fliers. Rob and his partner in the Lightwing were already primed to go. The rest of them there all had excuses...... Over the range at the Border Loop, where the train goes through the mountain and then does a 360º loop through two more tunnels as it descends into the next valley. When I went over, a passenger train was just leaving the loop and headed south, with it’s passengers no doubt enjoying the scenery but nothing as spectacular as we saw it. They’ve had real good rain in those parts, so brilliant green everywhere. Follow the highway to Grafton, and then the whole city is a purple haze of Jacaranda blossoms! Lots of airplane and flying talk. We gave lots of free advice to help Richard to understand that useless instruction manual for the Savannah that he’s building at the field. He’s done a really good job despite that manual.... The bar in the clubhouse was soon busy, with a large friendly circle of stools swapping stories. Then a fine big smorgasbord meal, some more general B/S, and early to bed, some in our cozy tents under the wings and some in the club bunkhouse. As I’ve said before, South Grafton is a very welcoming field for a stopover at any time. Next morning we had planned to fly early via Mt Warning, and the Scenic Rim, but dark low cloud and showers to the north were ominous. Over breakfast the locals suggested we instead go coastal, with a stop at McIntyre Field (Palmer Island). That sounded like a great idea so off we went, down along that magnificent Clarence River, along with Grafton locals Peter Eurofox, Trevor Kitfox and Col Boorabee. Eleven aircraft arrived at McIntyre Field, so Bob McIntyre was delighted, and Annette was hard pressed to find enough coffee cups and biscuits. We learned that they have a popular fly-in barbeque every Australia Day, so we’ll really try to be there next time, sub-tropical ‘wet’ season weather permitting..... On to the coast, where the weather was brilliant again. Magnificent flight along the beach, past Evans Head, Ballina and Byron Bay. Inland again at Ocean shores, headed for the Numinbah Valley, but low cloud filled the pass, so back to Murwillumbah to land and re-plan..... Locals advised the landmarks to watch for in order to go through behind the Coolangatta control zone. That was a clear run, with a grand view of all the development along the Gold Coast. Then around Mt Tamborine and home to Kilcoy. On the ground everyone was still buzzing with the pleasure and excitement from the trip. A pleasant adventure that will be a treasured memory for the rest of our lives. Lots of grand scenery, some weather challenges successfully managed that become a good learning experience, and an excellent and growing social circle of like-minded flyers. I’m forever encouraging aircraft owners to get out of their home patch and use their aircraft more. This weekend was a really good example. We can only go on long trips to the outback once in awhile, but can go on short adventures like this on any weekend. The RAAus social circle is growing all the time, and these aircraft, especially home-builds, attract such interesting, diverse, and independent-minded characters. There’s always somewhere to go and swap aircraft news and views, and learn more about their projects. It’s really a heck of a lot of fun when you get away from your home field and see some new country and meet some new flyers. We look forward to seeing you around, and hearing your stories. Contact Dags at [email protected] to get on the email list of upcoming events. The next weekend adventure for us will be Mt Perry, near Bundaberg, 21-22 November. It’s a country race meeting, where they open the middle of the race course for aircraft landings, and provide camping facilities and catering. Sounds like a lot of outdoor fun! JG

Don't forget, South Grafton is on this coming weekend. Long range weather looking good. Lots of us planning to go, should be a good gathering. See ya there! JG

South Grafton airfield has finally dried out, and the annual Fly-In coinciding with the Jacaranda Festival is on again, 31 Oct - 1 Nov. South Grafton has always been home to a very welcoming group of flyers, and we've had some good times there. Not only at the annual fly-in, but also any time, with ready offers to help cart fuel from the nearby servo, and a bed in their bunkhouse for overnight. They've had a heck of a bad time there this year. Flying north up the coast in May, I had planned to stopover, but found the whole airfield, including hangars, under water...... Then later they tried to do a fly-in only to get washed out again.... But it's finally dried out now, so let's all make a real effort to go there and show our support. All those Jacaranda trees are in bloom, so the city is a haze of Jacaranda blue. Plenty of other festival activities all around the city. South Grafton shows a lot of history, with lots of early workers' cottages, and a couple of little old working class pubs with real character. The aero club will be doing a bar-b-que and breakfast, and reckon they'll find enough food for all of us. Let's test them on that, and turn out in huge numbers! JG

Well said Simonflyer. By all means lighten some GA rules to make it easier for those aircraft within that system, but please don't load down RAAus with all the compexity that would come with them. The golden rule of flying ultralights - keep it light, keep it simple. That's why we now have such light and simple rules. JG

Nope, no audio in. Just about the only short-coming..... Also no way to rig a remote start/stop....

That Zenith method of doming the c/s heads works really well. The taper of the c/s fits tight even if the hole is a bit oversize, and the head pulls down really tight. Especially for a Savannah kit where the punched holes are actually 9/64" rather than #30, to make it easier to align I suppose..... JG

We get all our Avex rivets from Specialty Fastners, Fyshwick, ACT, Ph- 02 6280 7794. Excellent mail order service, good prices. Part number for the 1/8" countersunk head is 01604-100412. JG

Just to get some facts straight here...... That aircraft at Inglewood was a Drifter, not a Thruster. It's VH registered, and rated for aerobatics. It was specially built for such aerobatics use, under the GA 'Experimental' rules, with all the necessary inspections and requirements. The pilot has a PPL with all necessary aerobatics endorsements. He always carries all the necessary paperwork for any CASA ramp check. All ultralight pilots that I know, realize that this is a special aircraft flown by a properly qualified and highly experienced pilot, and don't imagine for a minute that they can do similar in their ordinary ultralights. JG

I had a short-tailed S7 for a hundred hours, and it was great! A mini Super Cub but even better short-field performance. Many old hands prefer the short-tail version because it was lighter. Mine had the 100hp, but I feel that 80 would have been fine for anything but extreme show-off. I've flown in a Savannah, two-up with an 80, and it felt not much less than my 100, certainly not inadequate. For bush travel I'd probably choose the 80 next time, to be able to run on regular unleaded, which is often all you can get out there. For an analysis of why I ultimately chose to keep the Savannah rather than the S7, have a look at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft To get in touch with the guys who really know the S7 go to the Yahoo forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RansS7Courier/ JG

Yeh, that was Dennis Maland, test pilot for Spectrum Aviation in Canada. The aircraft was a Spectrum Beaver RX35. I had one very similar, and flew it 1000 hours all over Eastern and Central Aus. I knew him and flew with him once. He knew exactly what he was doing; that was a very smooth and graceful bit of flying. The aircraft weighed about 120 kg, wing loading 3 lb/ft.ft, stressed to +7, -4. In those maneuvers not much more load on those wings than a butterfly.... Low level, yeh that's frightening, but he was a dare-devil, liked to be right at the edge of the cliff, and I don't think ever screwed up in thousands of hours of flying. I liked the story he told of very early ultralight days at Oshkosh, when he demonstrated a ballistic parachute for a manufacturer. He climbed up to 2000 ft, cut the engine, deployed the chute, drifted down to 1000 ft, cut the chute loose, glided down to a dead-stick landing, and jumped out just in time to catch the chute as it fluttered down. That was a real high-light in the life of a dare-devil show-off! Last time I talked with him on the phone was really sad. He was pretty much bed, bound by a debilitating disease...... I'm really glad this video has showed up to remember him at his prime. JG

Here's my Savannah on some pretty fair-size rocks. Those 8.00x6 tyres are plenty big enough for anything but pure show-off. More about those STOL landings at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft JG

Yeh, it's not easy to afford all this fun, but this sort of adventure flying is TOP life priority for me, and everything else must take second place. I drive a $600 car so that I can own a $50k aircraft. I'm semi-retired, live on my own really lean and basic in a corner of my workshop and rent out the house, so I can afford the freedom to fly away like this. Those trade-offs suit me just fine, so I'm making the best of it while I can.... JG

A quick trip to the Birdsville Races 09, and adventures along the way. Photos and story at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft JG

I know a mechanic who looks after a 912 used in a gyro for mustering work, so full power much of the time. At 2400 hrs he put new rings and hand lapped the valves. At 5400 he did same again. Can measure some wear in the bore now, but within specs. Now it's out there at full bore again, aiming for 7000 hrs........

$100 / month at Kilcoy, available now. And that's for a full T-hangar with your own doors and no other aircraft. 0434 515 628

I've ground run both 447 and 912 engines without props. No problems, but be very careful with throttle as they can over-rev very quickly without the load. JG

Gday Jeff, Don't know that I can add much feedback. I find the Savannah to be just perfect for this sort of x-country travel. Enough cruise speed and efficiency, and very good short strip capability. Very stable hands-off flight for map reading, etc. I'd hardly change anything. Extended baggage compart yes. Extended fuel tanks handy in some cases, but not essential. As I travel solo, a couple of jerrry cans on the pax seat do just as well. The dinky little tyres that are standard need to be replaced. I don't like the Turf tyres that are offered as an option - very thin and punture prone.... Much better are 6.00x6 proper aircraft tyres, real 6-ply. They fit the original rims and original front fork. A bit heavier, but not as wide as the Turf, so no loss in cruise speed. I don't know if the factory has upgraded the front axle yet, but if not, we drill it out to fit a 10mm stainless bolt all the way through. You'll really enjoy a Savannah! JG

Last weekend a former Lightwing flyer told of an incident when a door opened accidentally. When the passenger reached out and grabbed it, the door caught the slipstream and was violently ripped in two, one half departing the aircraft..... Luckily it missed the horiz stab. The point is, on any aircraft don't feel complacent if an open door seems stable and safe; it can turn violent instantly and unpredicably. Hold your hand out a car window at speed and vary the angle of attack and feel the considerable and immediate force. Now multiply that by the size of the door, and a much higher airspeed. Also consider that the propwash is even higher velocity than the aircraft speed, and turbulent. Makes for a potentially very violent and unpredictable situation. Three recent real life experiences on different makes of aircraft have demonstrated this......... Take heed and take care.......

Yeh, thanks for that Les, it's input like that we need to keep up to date. I'll change the site as soon as I get home. Seems to me there used to be avgas at Lightning Ridge...... It was many years ago, and I was with a group with ground transport, so maybe we got fuel from town....... JG

Yeh, so it is. That's too bad, it was a really good stop.... JG

Here's a link to a map that I've prepared showing useful fuel stops in outback SW Qld, NW NSW, and NE SA. This covers the area needed to access the Birdsville Track, Lake Eyre, and Flinders Ranges. This area is the nearest real outback desert experience to the majority of the southeast population. It's readily accessible, well-travelled, and dramatic scenery. StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft I've had fuel from all of those 20 sites, some of them several times. In a couple of hundred hours of flying in such areas I've never had any problem with dirty fuel. The longest legs between Avgas pumps are about 250nm Birdsville/William Creek, or 270nm Birdsville/Arkaroola. There's much more ULP than shown on this map; I've just shown those sites that ULP is right at the airstrip. Also a link to some tips on planning and equipping such flights. StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft And some tips for packing to travel light but comfortable. StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft Time to order some WAC charts and start planning! JohnG

Yeh, good trip report Kevin, (Lake Eyre Trip), and a really good recommendation - "...Get out there!....." I'm always puzzled by the vast number of x-country capable aircraft that never go anywhere except to neighbouring airfields for the pilot to have a session of b/s and coffee, maybe to Narromine at the most, then back to the hangar and locked away most of the time......... That's a dead boring life for an aircraft, let alone the pilot..... Life is slipping by, go while you can! I started touring that fascinating outback country in '95 in a 50 kt single-seat Beaver with a single-ignition 447 Rotax. Many would say that's not a x-country capable aircraft, but it carried me to Birdsville twice, Mt Hopeless and Lake Eyre, Alice Springs, Barkley Tableland NT, Gulf of Carpentaria, and many other jaunts - lifetime memorable adventures that I absolutely wouldn't have missed for anything! Now I go on even longer runs in a Savannah, and it's almost too easy to be a real challenge, but it's still a heck of a lot of fun. To head out over the horizon on the start of another outback adventure still brings a tingle of excitement to my gut! In May when I got back from 4000 nm and pulled up to the hangar doors, I just wanted to keep on going, and so did my aircraft...... And you can fly most of those outback places without taking the risks of going over remote uninhabited tiger country. Just follow the roads - they mostly go from one fuel stop to the next anyhow. Even if they wander a bit from the direct track, the extra distance is small, and it's just more scenery, which is what I came for anyhow. Flying a direct GPS track from point to point at 5000ft (or even higher) is dead boring..... It's so good to not follow that GPS arrow, but rather just keep the road mostly in sight, and keep track of the features on the map, and wander a bit to have a better look at whatever. Following the road at 2000 ft or less gives a totally different view point than driving it. It's a grand, fresh, perspective rather than just corrugations and dust. Don't have to be right over the road, just close enough to glide down if need be - it's like having an emergency runway always in reach. It's the safest flying that I do, much safer than flying this coastal country that's all divided up by fences and criss-crossed by a spiderweb of powerlines.... And if you do have to go down on a road, or preferably beside it, you won't be alone for long these days. There are so many 4WD nomads touring around just about every road out there these days that it's hard to get away from them..... Of course you go in the winter when conditions are best, eh. I hear lots of envy and excuses whenever I tell stories of outback flights, but I just think, Bah-humbug.... It's all a matter of priorities - you need to re-arrange priorities so that the trip becomes NUMBER-ONE. Some jobs and other persons just need to be made to wait until you get back, and then of course you need to go like heck to catch up, but it was worth it 'cause you've then already got the memories to keep you company while you're 'back in the rut'....... And of course you're soon planning the next trip away, and that's just as much fun as the memories! Once you start you'll have to go again and again. The years keep slipping by, and it's so easy to keep putting it off 'til it's too late....... So get out there, SOON! See ya out there. JohnG

DO NOT OPEN DOORS IN FLIGHT! It creates an unstable and potentialy very violent situation. Recently I had a violent experience while opening a door in flight. I had installed a three-way latch system that was very secure, but when I closed the door one time I must have been leaning on the door a little bit, such that the rear latch didn't engage properly and ended up on the outside of the door post, leaving a 20mm gap at the rear of the door. I didn't notice this until well into a x-country flight and thought it would be easy to close. I knew there would be an outward pull on the door, so held the operating handle in my left hand while pulling inward firmly on the fillet at the rear of the window. Then carefully eased open the main latch, planning to pull the rear closed and re-latch. As soon as the front latch released, the door snatched open violently, swinging up about 45 degrees, then reversed and slammed shut so violently that the flange at the front edge of the door ended up inside the door post rather than outside. The inner frame of the door was broken in several places, but didn't break away. I continued on to the next airstrip, now with the rear of the door sticking out 80mm, and a bleeding arm from some skin that had been lost in the incident. It all happened in an instant, but I did a horror vision of the door ripped off the 701. See details of that incident at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft I know of others who have opened a door and reported that it just floated about 100mm out. Analysing this incident, I can see why it happened. I was pulling in strongly on the rear of the door, so that when the front latch released and the suction flexed the front of the door outward, creating an angle of attack generating a powerful lift on the door. This ripped the rear of the door out of my hand while the left hand was still pulling inward, now allowing the door to flex so that now the angle of attack was reversed, and it was driven violently inward by the airfllow. Hold your hand horizontal out the window of a car at speed and vary the angle of attack and feel the force, now imagine that force with size of a door...... This incident has demonstrated that the situation of an open door can instantly change from benign to violent...... Totally unpredictable! Much better to install opening windows for photography. I've installed opening windows on my Savannah, that are easy to do and work really well. I'll be writing up instructions with photos soon. I'll also be writing up a description of the three-way latching system. In the meantime be sure to use those little front latches on the Savannah doors. And always double-check 'hatches and latches' before take-off! JohnG