Tasmag

Here is one I use, adapted from a South African version I found. 760 KG load sheet.xls

The front seats should be -12 in your spreadsheet I think, it is the only station in front of the datum. I think what confused me was the addition of a header tank and the same fuel listed in the wing tank calculations. 135l in wings and 5l in header. Normally the aircraft is weighed with header fuel and not included in the weight and balance because it is considered unusable fuel. Mike

RFguy, shouldn't the front seats be a negative figure on the 230D, and aren't the wing tanks only 65L (But they may take more I suppose)? Mike

I wonder how he will feel about all the monday morning quarterbacks deciding what he did wrong!

Yes, just used old styrofoam and very thin fibreglass sheet. Would mean a respray of the altered surface though. Would actually be possible to moud up an insert that would be able to epoxied inside, without any changes externally. Mike

I have also seen people covering with white Gaffa tape to achieve a similar result. I filled mine with foam and then a very thin layer of fibreglass. Mike

I glassed these and the wing tip cavities for this reason when I built. No idea if it made any difference though. I also did the ends of the ailerons and flaps from memory. If you do this make sure you put in a small weep hole for pressure release. Mike

Thanks Glen, Yes the diagram showing the connection via main bus had me worried there was a reason that was not immediately obvious. The relay I have fitted is wired so that it will disconnect charging when madter is off, so would do pretty much the same thing, unless I am missing something. Mike

I am looking for some advice regarding the fitment of a powermate regulator to the Jabiru Gen 4 engine. I have the latest version of the Kubota Reg fitted which does not utilise a sense wire and the red output of the reg is connected directly to the Battery. (via a relay) The wiring diagram for the Powermate Reg (attached) shows the output wire attached to the main bus, therefore not a direct connection to the battery. 1. Will a direct connection to the battery be a problem with any parasitic draw from the Powermate regulator when not running? 2. The wiring diagram shows an LED of greater than 70mA required, or a current limiting resistor, what size resistor would be needed for a 20nA led? Mike

Might be worth asking on this forum. Rainier, the founder and CEO of MGL will most likely give you an answer within a day or two. Mike http://www.mglavionics.co.za/phpBB3/index.php

Unless both mags are intermittently grounding there shouldn't be any electrical issue that stops a Jab engine once it is running.

A Stratux (or ADSB pi) works fine out to 30NM from the ground, further when you are in the air, and that is with the standard wire antenna included with the SDR Dongle. What is the ADSB PCB filter's role in the setup? Unless I have missed the point and you are trying to replicate Flight Radar.

What's your interpretation of 4(2) in that same act? Mike

You will probably find that you dont have a claim of ownership anyway. Whilst I know you are not interested in reclaiming the model it might be of some interest to have a look at the doctrine of 'Market Overt' Mike

In an ideal world I would have a single switch activated ELT in the cockpit when it goes pear shaped and one on my person if I manage to get out of the plane. I have seriously considered adapting an existing PLB to use a toggle switch, the process to activate PLB's tends to be too long for in cockpit activation while still flying. And I wouldn't use use any PLB that wasn't GPS equipped, it takes substantially longer to resolve the location without GPS.

I just used self adhesive loop side of velcro, no rubbing and gives a better air seal. Mike

Rfguy, The plastic balls in the tank vents are no longer used on the 430, and as far as I know the the 230 either. They were added to get the 160 certified was the advice I was given from the factory. There should also be a vent from the header tank to both wings. The header tank should have 3 lines each side, two feeds and one vent. The construction manuals are very good, but there are subtle differences and improvements that haven't been added over time. Mike

My thoughts were that you would open the inline tap, transfer fuel to the wing tanks, let the two wing tanks equalise and then transfer more if necessary. Once you are finished you close the inline tap and the wing tanks are completely independent of the Aux tank. Adding a one way valve would require the Aux tank to be filled externally instead of through the wing tanks. My idea was to use the Aux tank as soon as the wing tanks were low enough you accept the litreage held in the Aux tank. Once at your destination and on the ground open the inline tap and allow the remaining fuel to drain into the Aux and by the time you refill the wing tanks you would have a full Aux tank.

With a tap in the line you could then fill the Aux tank from the wing tanks when you wanted to fill it.

I have been thinking about doing this and decided that the most reliable way is plumb a Tee into one heafer tank feed line and then pump the fuel into the tank. 3-4 psi would be more than enough to overcome the head pressure. Just need to make sure you don't jettison fuel overboard by overfilling.

Would be interested to here what you think started the fire.

I believe it was started as a result of the battery being unable to keep a charge and that could with the low internal resistance caused the stator and regulator to fail. Causing the fire/heat to originate at the regulator and quickly overcome a fuel line above it. So no matter the origin of the fire it was the LiFe battery that caused the fire, one reason i chose not to fit one when I was going to. I am not sure that there are sufficient safeguards available for their use with the jabiru charging system at this stage.

If it wasn't the battery, what was it.

And just bad luck for anyone on the ground that is injured or suffers property loss as a result of an accident/incident?

I add 20 litres of water behind the seats in my 430 when two adults up front to keep it in the COG envelope, I prefer to have it at least middle, if not a bit further rear in the envelope. I use an exel spreadsheet to experiment with loading.