Riley

Great to learn that there is another FFP Celebrity in the country. In addition to we three, Phil Ritchie in Grange, SA is well advanced on his Celebrity with a radial to be fitted. His build blog is very graphic and he's sure to end up with a much more 'speccy' machine than my 19-6900 which, like an old stock pony, was 'ridden hard and put away wet' thru the 4 previous owners in the USA. I'm still awaiting technical help in posting the video but in the interim, will eagerly anticipate seeing your photos. Cheers

Dumbass has won the day in that the videos went somewhere other than here. Apologies to all. Will recruit some learned help and try again later. cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KojMhWMvmKu[/url] https://youtu.be/hkdRrv3dH6o

Here-in short footage of the initial test flight of Celebrity 19-6900 near Perth, WA after many months of skinned knuckles, bad language, many w/shop hours and some small financial input. Work completed since it's arrival as a non-flyer fm the USA comprised: - re-power to 7 cyl radial engine - full electrical rewire - rebuilt interior of both cockpits w/ leather upholstry and tonneau covers - new instrument panels fore & aft - addition of turtledeck head rest. - larger wheels/brakes - sign written - "Double Dip" (much to my wife's annoyance but the devil made me do it) Some minor adjustments being done and a fair amount of familiarization necessary (it handles not quite like the Aeronca Champ) but am very pleased & happy with the outcome. cheers

Gentlemen, in the past on these forums I've had great respect for both of your opinions and experience. Feel free to tear one another apart in PMs but let's not blow your statures with a public spat. Have a Bex (not the chinky one) and revisit tomorrow with a clean slate. cheers

Quote ".............. we know nothing about this so-called engine failure except for the questionable info on this post" unquote. Well put Yenn. Much of the conjecture put up on this thread so far comprises figments of some imaginative minds. Wait for the facts folks.

Bruce, I have no experience, personal knowledge or wild-assed theories as to why this one failed at 261 hrs and no relevant answers why your is +15 years old and hasn't caused you any grief. Not sure what sort of an answer would be an effective response to your query.

I disagree Nev. It contributes increased awareness of an ongoing problem.

One of the recently newly certified series 2200 at 261 hours in a J170 from brand new in a FTF envirionment.

Greetings Mick Fox 4 has opted for new skins so if you haven't been scared off, send my your postal details by PM and I'll get it in the mail to you. cheers

Didn't have any strife with the Bettsometer on 2 Drifters whilst doing L2 chores and I do recall using it successfully on one set of significantly bleached Thruster skins for a UACR some years back without drama. I certainly wasn't aware of potential limitation problems in using it to test anything other than weightshifts. Obviously, if harbouring any doubts, Fox4 will go in a different direction but I would definately appreciate any specific data on the suggested limitations of the tool. Meanwhile, it's available if anybody chooses to use it. Mick, if Fox 4 decides to pass then I'll get off to you post haste. cheers all

I have a 'Bettsometer' tool for testing both fabric and stitching on rag & tube aircraft. It's been loaned it out previously for fellows to test their suspect dacron etc - check it out on google. If of interest to you for assessing your fabric, I'd be happy to mail it to you on a 'loan' basis (you pay postage both ways and agree to replace it if lost or damaged). It's always come home so far. cheers

With winter coming on in Trondheim how do you activate cabin heat in a glider? Welcome Geirt. Cheers Riley

turbs, it's rare that I take a different view from yours but I gotta jump ship on this one. If an ex librarian is so dumbass as to pickup a chainsaw without first ensuring (either thru employer-provided training or self investigation) that he/she is going to be sufficiently aware not to cut their knee off, then they are eventually going to be carried home to their family in a basket for any number of self-inflicted woes. You cannot effectively lecture on common sense. Should the rest of society be held responsible for either an employer's greed or a Newstart recipient's lack of self-preservation? I am not my brother's keeper when it comes to stupidity.

Whilst educating David in the 'caution' tag, can someone also advise if the 'more' designation is a request for additional info on the relative subject, or....?? Tks in anticipation.

jetjr. I remind you that kasper's points of query were not (and probably won't be) the only areas where RAA has jumped the gun by denying/ignoring member's concerns with either the presentation of the Constitution or content of the Maintenance Manual. In this resolution instance the Board has a pyrric victory but it does little towards espousing new feelings that our higher paid help is looking after our, the member's, interests as opposed to CYA for their apparent bulldozing. Until I see that all member's concerns are being addressed in an efficient and effective manner, I shall remain in the Doubting Thomas box.

I too, had debates with Mr Linke prior to the Constitution being put to the vote. Apart from the poor wording, it was obvious there were too many gaps in specifics to accept it carte blanche. The gist of RAA response was, "we'll try to get this set down now and fill in the gaps as necessary later". My request for a delay in the ballot to have more time to thrash out /eliminate some of the areas of 'we'll attend to that later' went unheeded. What say we start a crowd-funding appeal so as to give ASIC the resources they need in order to attend to what they are supposed to be doing:wink:? This curious management has me both confused and wary but mostly I'm pissed off at having been led down the garden path (despite having voted against acceptance). I will seriously look long and hard at jumping ship if a realistic alternative to RAA were to be presented.

How benevolent. Constitutional law is either mis-understood (unlikely) disregarded or deliberatley and blatantly contravened by persons at the helm and you advocate " let it ride 'cause it's too much hassle to resolve", "don't do it again", "we take your word that you're doing the right thing by us even though it's in an underhanded and unacceptable manner". jetjr, I wish I had a small bit of your Christian charity and/or blind optimism. Hell, we've been thru all of this just recently and barely survived. I doubt there is enough resilience in the thinking membership to suffer it again. Small wonder that alternatives to RAA are being looked at with more than curiousity by rec flyers.

For just one blatant example of 'mini Casa' how about the unecessary and pointless revison to the Tech Manual (by our own Tech Dept) which requires progressive inspections on homebuilts to be signed off by L1s and above has to be a favour-currying CASA bum-kissing exercise, "look at how good we are at doing YOUR job Mr CASA"! I agree with Frank. we're being two-bitted into perilous existance territory. I didn't like Reid, I surely despaired of Runciman and now methinks I'll be ready to hang up my headset before the current Board steers the ship onto the rocks. Can somebody assure me I've got it wrong?

Aeronca Champ (virtually same A/C except for tandem seating and stick vs side by side and wheel controls of the Chief) is currently registered RAA 24-5210 @ MTOW 0f 553kg. Chief is slightly heavier w/ MTOW of 567kg so can carry an RAA 24 series hull number. cheers

Hell Frank, wasn't he lucky that he found an 'almost gap' in the forest to put it down in.

It took three months for me to locate one when I was forced to take the Warp Drive off the Lightwing to validate re-registration during the CASA/RAA audit putsch a couple of years back. Were it not so expensive and hard to come by, I reckon it would make good firewood kindling. I leave it to you to work out which of the two hasn't been racking up flight time.

Pylon, where in the world would you find a 'lover of Allsize props'??? Riley

Old K. It was VMC into IMC that killed those people - not the old deHavilland. Old aircraft are like old aviators, if they're kept in good condition they have lots to offer. I wouldn't swap my 70-year-old Aeronca for three plastic fantastics.

Flyerme. You could try contacting Wayne Holden at: #1 Fred Reece Way, Lightning Ridge, NSW, 2834. Tel (02) 6829 2963. Have never used his products or had any dealings with him but Rotec Engineering Ltd were on-selling his wooden props for their Rotec radials a year or so back. Happy hunting!