Riley

Thanks for that Pete. I witness a larger participation at the dawn ceremony which seems to include more unaccompanied adolescents each year (and this is good as it indicates they aren't being 'pressed' into attending with mom & dad) however, I was disappointed this morning to see a tea & scones stand set up not 30 meters from the cenotaph. Granted, it was by donation only and the ladies shut down during the short wreath-laying service and no doubts the proceeds will be directed to a worthy cause but somehow it just didn't seem appropriate on the hallowed grounds. Dunno, maybe I'm just a crotchety old b+stard?

djp Being a foreign-born ozzie, I'm not familiar with the term 'Pittspanner'. Are you referring to the empty beer bottle or the 4 lb sledge? Enlightenment please.

G'day Pud I'm probably 'preaching to the choir' but when you next get up to the hangar and commence your overheating 'rat-killing', ensure that you knock off each of your check points & test individually before moving on to the next if not successful. We all stand to learn from your saga so have fun old son but no short cuts!

Having had the good fortune to partake of both Ms Richards and Mr Bell's abilities and enthusiasm a few years back when they came to WA for a super-charged RAA weekend workshop, I can say that you would be hard pressed to have recruited a more knowledgeable and capable pair of mentors. Much applause to those concerned and well done Mr Baker! I shall definitely lurk/participate in their respective forums.

Very interesting KC. Back in the early '80s I rebuilt a 1950's Fargo 1/2 ton pick up using some 'new' mechanical bits that had been written off by DND and buried in a bombing range north of Perth many years previously. Somebody knew somebody who knew something & eventually a couple of geezers made a project out of it and, in the dark of a number of nights, salvaged 3 large trailer loads of perfect parts still wrapped in cosmolene & greases paper. Forbidden fruit always seems to taste better so keep us informed if there is a sequel to your mate's story. cheers

I'll leave a propellor book the radiators. It may not have all of your deired info but there are plenty of nomographs that will either ameliorate your lack of understanding or further enhance your state of confusion. cheers

Right Pud Have rigged down & boxed the tall radiators and placed them by the back door as discussed. Didn't include any of the plumbing as it doesn't suit an R582 installation. Take as much time as you need as I'll be up to my a.s in alligators with other projects for some time to come. Hopefully I'll be home when you call thru but if not, the 'lations' have been advised of your visit and the dog doesn't bite (the wife does but she's overseas!). Best of luck with your over-heating identification & resolution. Cheers Riley

Jasus FT! That's in the running for being one of the most pessimistic viewpoints on any thing that I've ever heard. Guess it's no good me trying to sell you a sickness & accident policy? cheers Riley

AVWeb News 'Pickled Squadron of Spitfires found in Burma' or "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus"!!! More than 40 years ago whilst living & working in Singapore, via an expatriate British member of the vintage car register, I was told of the supposed existence of 6 (??) intact and crated Spitfires that were left laying in a godown (warehouse) somewhere in/around Rangoon after the war ended. On two other occasions since then in other parts of the world I've heard similar versions of the fairy tale repeated and thought 'wouldn't it be lovely - but it's obviously a Furphy'. I know a lot of people, like myself, wrote it off as a fanciful urban myth however, now we have it (or at least posterity has it)! What a coup for the persistant David Cundall and for aviation enthusiasts worldwide. Now, anybody got a lead on a couple of Lancs hiding in a backyard shed???

OK Pud I'll up the ante. Make it a $2.00 long term loan and I'll throw a R582 tall radiator hookup into the deal! Seriously, if you find you have to go down that road in attempts to resolve the issue, I have a set of twin tall radiators on the Suzi 3 cyl experimental project (presently stalled) that I'd be happy to LOAN you for trial purposes to prove the possibility before shelling out for a replacement cooling system. And, while I can bear the pain & hurt from that unkind comment on my coffee, my dear old Mom used to tell me that coffee & smokes would stunt my growth so you better come around for more cuppas because, as I recall, your radial growth could do with some stunting. Give us a call if & when when you need. Cheers Riley

Pud, if you loan me that 50 cents on low interest long term repayment, I'll loan you a set of bona fide 13* and/or a set of 17* pitch blocks to play with if you wanna do some trials. cheers

You already have the concept regarding the degrees of pitch so the other figure (28") is the distance that the prop will screw thru a large tub of soft butter in one revolution. You're an old chippy - think of a lead screw in a 'yankee screwdriver' (and disregard the butter if you're measuring the prop at home).

For about the past 60+ years as an aviation afficianado, to attract my serious interest an aircraft had to have a high-wing, be tractor configured and have a tail wheel. This little wing really caught my attention and has punched holes in what I thought I thought. I'd love to get up close & personal with one. Thanks for the post Mr Deskpilot.

Pud Betcha I flew the same river with the same instructor (probably around the same time) but in the T300 not the Gazelle. Did it again on the Moore River shortly after being cut loose but was on my own so was nowhere near as close to the vegitation. I agree, what great fun it was for a newbie. cheers

With regards your lack of power concerns - I suggest that you turn the dog around 180* so that when cable-tied to the engine, both the dog and aircraft tails are pointing in the same direction. In this manner the combined Kwaka HP and the 1 dogpower will undoubtedly shorten your takeoff run immensely and get you into ground effect much quicker. Now, having resolved that issue, you might next look at either a 'quick release' feature on rotation for the dog or perhaps change out the cable ties to a belly band or something similar for creature comforts whilst doing circuits? Always ready to help with life's little problems.

Three trikes hangar and fly off of Bindoon CAC airstrip (Superlight A/C Club of WA) about 100km north of Perth. Any and all airspace closer to Perth seems to be owned either by the RAAF or CASA. Happy hunting at any rate.

Pud Despite that you have no noticeable operational vibrations with your dipsy doodle Brolga blade, a 9mm variance in tracking is quite a bit outside normally acceptable limits and can't be doing any good. Generally speaking, blade tips should track within about 3mm. I'd suggest a bit of time be expended in fine tuning that miscreant - even if it doesn't feel bad at present, you'll feel good about having done it. Cheers

Mr Pudestcon. A slight drift off thread but, before we resolve any propellor imbalance situation first we need to sort out an obvious nationality problem! Viz: - Australians (especially banana-benders) finish off a statement with the conjunction "But" . - Canadians on the other hand usually finish off a statement with the query "Eh"? Given that you were definitely OZ at the time of our last meeting, I insist that you desist in your purloining of the canuck bastardization of english grammar!!! Now onto prop balancing. I do have a two-blade prop balancer (upgrade from the EAA one that Powerin referenced) available to anyone here in the West who needs it but for lack of any better process, I took my three blades down to the local post office with a can of spray paint and got the lovely lady to match weigh them as I sprayed up the tips of the lighter ones. It's a small country PO and she (not being overly busy at the time) was quite intrigued with the process. As regards Pommie John - Hell (much to his accountant's dismay) he'll happily look at doing anything aviation rather than earning some money by actually manufacturing a saleable product in the factory. Let's put it on him. Cheers

There isn't a low inertia/hi drag, rag & tube taildragger on line at YBOO anymore. The school uses a Sky Fox but, because it's handling idiosyncrasys are distinct from the Thruster, I'd imagine that one wouldn't expect to jump into it from a T300 and knock off a BFR without an hour or so of type familiarization beforehand. My former T300 still resides at Bindoon but she's been 'ridden hard and put away wet' by her current owner and as such doesn't have any immediate potential for check flights or BFRs. A possible solution is that you organize an overnight fly-in to the farm and we bring one of the SI's along and put him to work on-site. How much time we got? Give us a call. Cheers.

Master H. Can't say for sure that he's still in harness but Jim Cuthill, CFI of "Falcon Hawk" ( near Benalla) was doing taildragger instruction in his T300 up till a year or so ago and Benalla ain't that far away from the Dandenongs. He used to answer calls on (03) 5828 6428. Give him a hoy and see what you arrange. Cheers

First hand, timely communication emanating from a meeting of our Board - it's like a breath of fresh air! After ten years of information drought from Canberra we now get a Board meeting precis within days of it happening from state reps on both sides of the country. What a significant step towards restoring RAA member confidence (and it's had one hell of a caning over recent years). A big thanks to both John McKeown (SE Qld) and Gavin Thobaven (WA) for their informative posts to the members they represent. I much like the portent of this new approach. Keep up the momentum gentlemen!

Further to the Maj's post, it's a certainty that the 532 crankshaft/rods assy is no longer available from Rotax although there are a few Rotax gurus in the US who profess to be able to supply 'rebuilt' 532 cranks??? Apart from that, I believe most if not all other components are still available via CPS or the like. Confirming that single spark plug and Bosch contact breaker ignition with the 532 vs dual plugs and Ducati DCI sparking in the 582 certainly make the latter a much more desirable hook-up even if it is considerably more expensive. Having said all of that, there are still a lot of 532-powered recreational machines out there that have flown hundreds of hours and that will continue to do so as long as they're looked after.

Flyerme - from your other thread it would appear that you may have identified the woolie boogers in your little 447. Should it still not be 'on song' when you get the suspect carbs/fuel system sorted, get back to me & I'll find a couple of used coils for you to try. Deltacharlie - tell us more about the steam traction engine in you avator -I'm envious as hell! cheers Riley

Chickenmaaan?? Cripes Pud, I suspected you were old but I never figured THAT old. Up till now I reckoned it was only myself and my 150-year-old ex-NZ flatmate from Perth that would remember the 'fearless white-winged warrior'... and now YOU! I can only assume that your professional counselling sessions have had no positive effect but no matter, me and yer Mum are still proud of you (despite what the neighbours say).

Andy Curiously (is that a word?) , there is provision in an RAA Aircraft Condition Report for recording Bettsometer readings of the flying surface fabrics on a weightshift wing (95-32) but no specific requirement to do so with any other category of registration. Common sense (both from a vendor's and/or purchaser's viewpoint) dictates that the test should be performed and recorded at least at every 100 hourly even if the aircraft is normally hangared. As the Major says, tieing down outside, even short term, is to be avoided if at all posssible. Cheers Riley