xair1159

Have a look at The Cloud Appreciation Society website.

I have owned and used both the Smart Avionics PB1 and currently the PB3, and was very pleased with both of them. The PB3 works perfectly with no problems linking to it via bluetooth and gives good results. I have also borrowed and used the Dynavibe - works fine but not as versatile as the Smart Avionics. Nick

Thruster T600N with a Jabiru engine MTOW 450kg. Very little info is available on the W&B over here and some of it is conflicting. Where is the datum - leading edge of front spar tube or the rear of it? What is the allowable CG range? One quoted is 451mm to 501mm aft of datum which seems a very limited range. I thought a typical figure was 14% to 28% of chord which with a roughly 1500mm chord would give a range of 210mm, not 50mm Are there "official" moment arms for seats, fuel tank etc., or is it a case of simple measurement? Any info, advice or relevant pages from manuals appreciated. Nick

Googles Project Loon, designed to give broadband access to out of the way places (like Australia?). Did some trials out of Wanaka in NZ South Island a couple of years ago. Cheap disposable balloons with reusable electronics package, they reckon they can keep one in a relatively small area for up to 100 days by varying altitude to use the wind at different levels. Typically fly at 60,000 ft and fairly low ground speed. At end of life they steer them to drop the payload where it can be recovered.Have a look over the north east of South America / Amazon area As Rastus said, search on FlightRadar24 for HBAL, there's usually 10-20 in flight.

Adjusta-Prop - a hi-tech accessory for adjusting pitch angles. Two x 2 ft lengths of 2"x1" timber (for the non-metric parts of the world ) Two bits of foam pipe insulation Two penny washers Long bolt, bit of plastic tube and a wing nut Clamp over the root end of the blade, gives much finer adjustment and is kinder on the blades

Some ultralights use an instrument static port inside the cabin or fuselage and flying doors off can affect the ASI readings. If you have a proper wing mounted pitot / static set-up you are OK, if not just check ASI readings with and without doors before you perform a "firm" landing. Seeing your photos, very high AOA flight can give false ASI readings due to positioning error, i.e the pitot is not pointing directly into the airflow.

I have posted all this in the past, but just to update on my Xair Hawk (H, Hanuman) installation. Originally fitted with a hyd tappet Jab 2200 for about 350 hrs. Fairly average performance for a typical fuel burn of 14L/hr. Based on prop testing we did, I don't think the Jab was giving the spec 80 hp, more like 75+. Took the Jab out, weighed all the bits and came up with 68Kg total. Fitted the D-Motor,which I saw on the dyno at the factory giving a genuine 92 Hp when hardly run in. Weighed everything that went in, including fluids and ended up at 64Kg. I did post a photo of my bare engine hanging on a scale showing 45Kg. Performance vastly increased, typical fuel burn all but identical to the Jab at 13.5-14 L/hr. I would imagine EFI is a fair bit better than a Bing carb at efficient fuel metering. The engine is currently at 420 hrs and no problems (nothing like tempting fate.......) Put it this way, I would be confident enough in the engine fly from Ireland to Wales over 40 miles of Irish sea. I have no firm info but I believe they have sold around 80-90 engines with about 65 flying, mainly in Europe. Between Ireland (1 = me) and UK (6) I know of 7 engines flying. Like one of the posts above said, sell local until you have confidence, which seems sensible. Their initial production was certainly small batches, but I would imagine once they are happy with the design they will start serial production. I have always believed they are in this for the long haul, or I wouldn't have bought one. Nick

When I removed my Jabiru I weighed all the bits and they came to 68Kg. Same when fitting the D-Motor, weighed everything that went in, engine, exhaust, oil system, fuel system, ECU + cabling, cooling system, coolant and oil and it totalled 64Kg ready to run. I don't have similar weights for the Rotax 912, but I would guess around 75Kg

The West, near Galway

Super Cub, D-Motor engines flying in UK/Eire that I know of are:- The UK dealer has his demo Hawk and one more customer aircraft due to fly this week. There are 2 other Hawks in the UK, plus an Xair Falcon (F with flaps). The Light Aircraft Company (TLAC) based at the delightfully named Little Snoring airfield have a couple of Sherwood Rangers flying. In Ireland, just me, so around 7 or 8 engines total. Nick

My D-Motor LF26 still going well at 395 hrs.with the original single ECU setup. Power is considerably more than the Jab 2200 and fuel burn pretty much the same at 13-14 L/hr for my installation. In terms of redundancy, I don't see that a single ECU is any worse than a single carb which is what most light aero engines run with and at least with EFI you don't have icing worries. I have done in-flight stop and restart with no problem, other than slowing enough so the prop wasn't windmilling before hitting start to avoid damage to the starter gears. To me it sounds like some of the problems above are installation related rather than strictly engine, but I would have to agree that their current documentation is very basic which doesn't help . Don't understand the cold water cracking saga, I run without a t/stat summer and winter and haven't had a problem yet (nothing like tempting fate!). Water runs mid 80*C and oil 85-95 *C depending on engine load. At the request of the factory, a full power climb for almost 5 minutes (I hit our local ATC ceiling) got the oil up to 106*C and water still under 100*C with my cooling system, but this isn't something you would do very often. I have posted before that I flew the 6 cylinder in Belgium in a very unsorted installation. A prop that couldn't handle the power and poor cooling, but it still went well, was smooth and sounded great. I believe the main user of the 6 so far is a German helicopter company, not sure how many are up and running. Nick

I shall obviously have to be very careful in future with words that I use. Anyway, the carpet tiles do give dropped bits a soft landing.............. On radiators, a number of installations in the UK and Europe are successfully using a Kawasaki bike radiator, don't know the model but a fairly thin curved design which can be fitted under the engine at an angle. Still needs some sort of inlet scoop to be moulded into the cowling, but cheaper to use an off the shelf unit rather than one-off specials.

Having mastered posting photos, a few views of my own installation when the cowls were off for a service. The engine was not prettied up for these, it stays quite clean and dry Before I get rude comments, the old carpet tiles on the hangar floor make it easy on the knees and stop dropped nuts and bits disappearing. Nick

Correction, that should be radiator and fluids, you can just see the double can exhaust below the engine.

Magic! Thanks to fly tornado. Photos of the D-Motor 6cyl on its display stand at Popham. The red tape was just to stop it swinging round in the wind. Weight includes every accessory except exhaust and fluids, the oil tank is on the rear of the plate. Nick

Right, I have to admit failure, tried the images and file upload thingies that want URL's etc. without success. Please can someone give me an idiots guide to attaching photos to a post. Nick

I have photos of the 6 cyl at Popham microlight show, if I can work out how to attach them I will post them later, but it generally looks identical to the four. They have the engine + exhaust with a plate attached carrying all accessories (oil tank is on the rear face) except a water radiator. Weight is a shade under 77kg for 128 hp, so add the rad and fluids and I would guess somewhere around 85kg total ready to run. Main user of the engine so far is a German helicopter with contra rotating rotors and no tail rotor - I will post a link later. I have flown a microlight (!) fitted with the 6 cyl but only for a couple of hours. The prop fitted was a poor match and couldn't handle the power. The cooling wasn't sorted so high power runs had to be limited duration, but despite all this it was very smooth with plenty of power. It sounded superb and is worth buying for the noise alone! Nick

When I removed my Jabiru 2200 I weighed all the bits taken out at 68kg. Only items not included were the prop and spinner. The complete D-Motor installation with fluids and ready to run was 64kg. Add a prop and spinner which will be near identical. If anyone wants a detailed breakdown let me know. An overall saving of 4kg with a 15-20% increase in power (depending if you think a hyd tappet Jab actually produces 80hp) for the same fuel burn of 13-14L/hr A small but insignificant shift in empty CG on my aircraft which was nose heavy with the Jab, so it moved the right way. As of today I have just over 280hrs on the D-Motor and running well. Nick

Joe, I have an Xair Hawk (H or Hanuman to you) which was built with a hydraulic tappet Jabiru 2200 and flew this combo for 370 hrs. That setup had a reputation for being slow off the ground, but when an 80hp 912 version came along it was obvious that it wasn't an airframe problem but lack of power from the engine. Among other things my Jab required a top end job at 350 hrs and this along with other niggles persuaded me to change to the D-Motor which is a direct fit on the engine mount. I collected my engine from the factory in Belgium and saw it run on the dyno - freshly built it was giving around 90hp, so I am sure once loosened up the claimed 92-94hp is genuine. There was a fairly startling difference in the aircraft performance with much shorter t/o, very good climb and considerably faster cruise, all for the same fuel burn as the Jab of typically 14l/hr. I now have 225 hrs on the D-Motor with only a couple of minor snags which were quickly fixed be the factory. Support has been very good, infinitely better than Jabiru, although I agree about the manuals. It is apparent now that my Jab 2200 was giving closer to 70-75 hp on a good day rather tha the claimed 80hp, not a lot better than a Rotax 582. I have flown the same airframe with the Rotax 912 and performance is similar to the D-Motor - very quick off the ground and excellent climb which I think is down to having a gearbox rather than direct drive. However cruise figures are not quite as good. Not sure about fuel burn as I only flew for a couple of hours. Also I have flown the same airframe fitted with a trial installation of the 6 cylinder! Can't really comment on performance as the prop was a bad match and couldn't handle the power (125hp on the dyno for that engine), plus the cooling was marginal and needed sorting, but I can safely say it went "quite well". Certainly very smooth and worth buying for the sound alone! The 6 is really a 4 with two more cylinders so should be fairly well sorted as far as the top end goes, the new bit is the crank end of things. Weight of the complete 6 installation was almost the same as the Rotax 912, not bad for 125hp versus 80hp. I have a good collection of photos and info on the engine, if you want anything drop me a line. P.S. - Anyone want a slightly used Jab 2200 - still looking for a buyer over here! Cheers, Nick

I'm still alive and flying! Currently have 220 hrs run on the D-Motor and going well, performance is still good and way ahead of the Jabiru it replaced. My Jab 2200 is still for sale with no takers which might give you an idea of their reputation here, but I know of a few successful CAMIT rebuilds. The D-Motor is starting to slowly pick up sales in the UK and Europe with several airframe manufacturers either testing or already offering it as an option, and I would guess there are 5 engines now flying in the UK. The sport aircraft market here is fairly depressed and I don't think there are many sales of any make airframes or engines. The bad weather over recent months isn't helping either! All I know of D-Motor Australia is what is on their website and under the " installations" menu on D-Motor website, you probably know more than me. I have flown behind the 6 cylinder in a fairly unsorted trial installation with a poorly matched prop and marginal cooling, but it had loads of power, was smooth and worth buying for the sound alone. I believe the 6 cyl installation with 125hp will still weigh about the same as a Rotax 912 set-up. There is a German helicopter manufacturer who is using it and putting up hours rapidly on their factory aircraft, see http://www.edm-aerotec.de Nick

I may be teaching granny to suck eggs as they say, but a tip for balancing spinners:- I started out trying to hang the thing from the point using fine fishing line with a lot of messing about and not much result. Then I heard about this way...... Get a bucket of water, hold the spinner point down in the water and fill it with as much water as you can, close to the prop cut-outs. It should then float with the spinner rim level - I got high tech and propped a laser level up on bricks so it shone across it to check. Being frictionless you can make it slowly spin and if it floats at an angle, add small weights near the rim until level. I attached small washers initially with BluTac and finally with epoxy to the inside of my GRP spinner. Simple innit! Nick

http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/2015/Magazine/May/safety%20spot.pdf See page 51

In the UK there was an incident where a Zenith bubble door detached in flight and damaged the tail. Investigation showed it was caused by the curved shape generating enough lift to overcome the latches. I will try and find the report and post it.

I will soon have to replace a windscreen in my Xair Hawk (H or Hanuman) due to a load of small cracks spreading from the tight wing root bend. The usual stuff is polycarbonate (Lexan, Makrolon etc.), but there is a similar mechanical spec. material called PETG which is reputed to be fuel resistant and slightly more flexible - has anyone tried it?

According to the TV news, the autopsy showed he had swallowed a considerable number (80!) packages of cocaine and one had burst. Not surprising he was off his head and subsequently died.