alf jessup

Doug, I have a really nice plane already, if I had an XY GTHO phase 3, it wouldn't come out of the shed as there are too many scoundrels in the world that would nick it.

Bull, I understand your predicament as a fisherman as my brother used to be one and its a struggle, I saw it first hand on how hard it was to make a living, he made a career change 5 years back after 15 years fishing in to mining working away 2 weeks on and 1 week off and has sacrificed a lot to try and get ahead as we all do. I have worked in the oil industry for the best part of 20 years and for 10 of those years I haven't been home with my wife and 4 kids as I work away equal time, I have missed birthdays, Christmases , funerals, weddings as you probably have in your field of work. before that I worked shift work for 14 years to make a living Yes I do have a reasonable sort or aircraft as you can see by my avatar, but mind you I have sacrificed a lot of things to get it in the last 20 years. Your still flying Bull and that's all that matters, I hold no prejudice to a rag and tube, to a trike, to a plastic fantastic as every flyer has their own pride and joy they worked hard for. RAA annual fees are cheap compared to a lot of other memberships ie joining the average golf club. Keep flying Bull as it is obviously a passion you share and enjoy like the rest of us. Alf

Anyone of us could have bought a LP aircraft if we wanted too, I and many others chose to buy what suited us, I had LP as in a trike for 8 years and wanted a change, since when has freedom of choice been a crime? we all have the freedom to do as we please. Everything goes up in price just have a look at the median house prices in this country, wages, food, bills, ect ,everything goes up, aviation has never been cheap but RAA gives us the opportunity if we choose so to have low end GA performance for a fraction of the cost, guess I better go and get rid of my later model cars and get an EH because I was born in that era then.

Been quite a few trikes involved with fatalities I am hearing and I wouldn't class them as HP, my old trike was involved in a fatality but it wasn't the trikes fault, it flew perfectly up until it stalled turning final, trike flew in to a windmill in the dark killing 2, wasn't the trikes fault, drifter took a wing off up Casino way killed 2, been a fair share of rag and tube people killed in the 29 months, or are we not classing a trike as a LP rag and tube because that's what they are made of. Most of all these accidents have not been the fault of the aircraft, peoples attitudes need to change, the aircraft is only an extension of the person controlling it, HP or LP

Getting personal now Bull which is not really warranted . Most ex GA pilots move to RAA for the cost, GA is expensive, fuel is expensive, GA planes use lots of it & RAA planes don't. They have as much right to join the RAA as the rest of us do, good on them, they don't need to lobby to fly in to controlled airspace because they already have the qualifications to do such. Me I have no desire to fly in controlled airspace, I can quite happily navigate around it because I go a lot further than 20 miles from home, you might want to spread your wings and get out of your 20 mile comfort zone, it's quite therapeutic actually

Bull, What drugs are you on??? 160kts I wish, 100 for me fella and that is plenty fast enough. My registration is 24- .... (aka) RAA not GA, just like you if your registered that is, I cannot fly in to Tullamarine, Essendon, Moorrabin, Archerfield, Bankstown or and airport that comes under ATC as I have an RAA certificate and we aren't allowed in to controlled airspace, don't go bitching that you only fly 20 miles around your patch, nothing stopping you flying anywhere I do albeit it will take you a lot longer to get there. I pay the same fees as you so why should I have a user pays system and not you, I pay registration as you do and have a certificate as you do. About time mate you built a bridge and got over whatever your issue is considering half you rants have no substance. For what it is worth, my aircraft can fly at max gross weight with me and a pax (depending on their weight up to 95 kg) and full fuel a small amount of baggage and still be within the cg range as i actually do weight and balance calculations and have had my aircraft professionally weighed, I also fill out a WB chart that I have printed off for my aircraft (do you) You want to fly around at 300 ft and not cross a public road, fill your boots mate, rules and times have changed. PS remember to stay out of controlled airspace mate WE under RAA unless you have a GA licence cannot fly a RAA registered plane in to it. END of STORY Alf

RAA will never please everyone, I enjoy the privileges RAA affords me, I appreciate the aircraft I fly and have flown, I had my time of 60kts for 8 years with my trike and enjoyed it immensely, it was my choice to buy a faster aircraft and I don't regret it, I am not so much grounded these days by the winds as I used to be with the trike and I am no more at risk flying a faster aircraft. We are all aviators whether rag & tube or 3 axis and we all fly for different reasons. I fly for the freedom and the view it gives me & I have a healthy respect for the activity I participate in. Each to their own I say

Planes don't kill people, people kill themselves unfortunately in planes at times, HP or LP there is no difference, the organisation has come a long way from 300ft limit and not crossing public roads. Each to their own HP or LP, fly as safe as you can and make good decisions might just keep you alive a lot longser

Every 50 hrs for me oil & filter, oil is cheap, find it actually burps a lot better hot, next flight check the level and burp it again to see if the level has risen or fallen with that next burp Alf

Sorry Avocet, But can't help it, what answer will I give to the doc if I turn up for a hand job? he will probably tell me too risky + you probably have given yourself 1000's over the years lol. What options do I have then ? Alf

Tim, Dwaynes injuries will heal over time, the fact is that he is still with us is the best part and has an intention to fly again once well enough. Everyone on here is wishing him a speedy recovery. Thanks for keeping us posted . Alf

Your never going to stop people killing themselves in aviation, you can bring in all the rules you want and go blue in the face preaching them and people will push the boundaries like they have in the past and like they will in the future and end up dead. What you as an individual pilot have to do is fly as safe as you possibly can, as disciplined as you can and minimize the risks, bail out at the earliest option for bad weather, don't say "i'll just push on that little bit further because it might be clear" plenty of dead pilots have just done that. Shipload of ways to kill yourself in our sport as the stats have proved that, if you end up dead you can only blame yourself in most cases. As I have said often in the past on these forums, it always happens to someone else doesn't it, well no we all can be that someone else, end of story. Alf

asmol, Trikes are far from being dangerous mate!!! Some pilots are dangerous, flying in bad weather is dangerous, flying in to obstacles is dangerous, beat ups are dangerous, showing off is dangerous, low flying is dangerous. You can't spin a trike but you can tumble one but to do that you have to be doing something very very dangerous and well outside the trikes flight envelope. IMO I actually think they are pretty darn safe like any aircraft if flown within the design parameters. Humans pilots kill themselves mate in some shape or form, the aircraft what ever it is will not get in the air by itself (obviously) Alf

Nev, Glycol wouldn't get the temp up to anywhere near what Rotax advises to run at, with the hotter/normal running temps now 90/95 deg it also gave me about a 10 deg increase with oil temp also, mind you I still have to partially cover the oil cooler in winter to get it to run at 90 deg. Lot of my mates with Rotax's gloat about how cool there oil is and think its fantastic, I have forewarned them that 90 is what it should be running at and running cooler oil temps like 60 & 70 deg is not doing them any favors. Alf

Rick, Just off topic Just putting some info out there regarding increasing coolant temp without covering the radiator as this is my experience I have had. When I bought my Tecnam it had a 50/50 glycol mix in it at the time of purchase and I couldn't get much more than 60 / 65 deg out of the cylinder head temps in cruise, as per a Rotax instruction when I had my 4 stroke trike they advised to use the Evans waterless coolant instead of the glycol mix as some engines had boiled over time with the water evaporating out, when I changed to Evans on the trike it gave me about a 10 deg increase in coolant temps. When I changed my Tecnam glycol out for the Evans I got a 30 deg increase in temp in cruise to 90 / 95 deg. I have flown my Tecnam at almost max gross weight out of Yarawonga on a 37 deg day climbing full song all the way to 8500 to cross the ranges without the temps going out of the green so I am sold on the Evans. I am guessing the Tecnam got a bit more of an increase because the engine is inside a cowl where as the trike was out in the open air. Cheers Alf

Keep strong Tim, hope you mate is doing ok Regards Alf

Standard is 1.5 turns out, running unleaded is the reason for the black soot, if we were running avgas or leaded fuel they would be grey, nothing to panic about just the norm, sooty more so on the lower plugs. I have over 1000hrs in Rotax 4 strokes and that has been normal for all that time. I'd be more concerned if the oil temp was not reaching 90 deg when running at cruise power. Alf

Congratulations beefy, Doesn't matter how few or how many hours it took, you are one of us now, a band of aviation brothers/sisters, now fly safe and keep learning as we all should do. Alf

Nice flight today in the Tecnam with my mates Doc & Mick in the Foxbat, departed West Sale around 10 am & headed off to Marlo airport a mere 83nm away following the beautiful Gippsland lakes & coast. Coffee consumed in the great little terminal at Marlo & a chin wag with Peter based at Marlo then we were off again to Bairnsdale. Arrived at YBNS just before a couple of tandem meat bombs exited from 10000 ft and had a little break as there was not much happening there either. Offer from a mate Bill from Bruthen who was in Traralgon with his awesome Revo trike to grab a few pies while he was in town was enough encouragement to head to LTV and chew the fat. As per normal LTV was busy on the weekend with quite a few aircraft in the circuit(s) yes I say circuits as most using 21 and the odd one using 27 and the odd unreadable radio which doesn't give you such a warm fuzzy feeling as you neck is on a swivel trying to spot & slot in. Safely on the ground and down at Kens hangar saw us scoff the maggot bags & the bun that Bill had kindy supplied between chewing the fat talking the usual about aviation. Good hour + spent there and it was time for the 25nm trip back home to YWSL touching 120kts GS in the Teccy and the Foxy hitting 105 had us home in no time. Top day had by 3 mates who just love to fly and catch up with fellow aviators and enjoy such awesome scenery in the part of the world we live in. And that my friends is how we spent the 6th of June 2015, we were LTD (living the dream) Cheers Alf Photo below is of Lake Tyres & Lakes Entrance ahead after leaving YORB (Orbost)

Nice ride Graham & Val, congratulations on your purchase, can't fault my Sierra either. Alf

gandalph, On the Sonex site it confirms it was Jeremy from what I read, still haven't released the Pax name. Alf

Just proves even the pro's are human and don't always get it right, nice to be a mere mortal isn't it, only difference is they can bang it up for no financial loss to them but only to the taxpayers.

My Sierra has hand brake set up also, have found no issues with it and far easier to operate than the Jab 160 hand brake system which I learnt in.

Its not that we can't have zero Sue its just we won't as the law of averages show us that every year. Can we cut the fatality rate I think we can but only if everyone is on board and fly's as safe as they possibly can and don't take unnecessary risks, no beat ups, not pushing on, no kick the tyres and light the fires attitude. Alf

Lets be serious, as long as human and machinery work together there will be deaths, we can strive all we like to reduce the road toll to zero but that will never happen and that is the same for aviation and anything else in the modern mechanical world. Humans are human and make some costly mistakes, you cannot control how other humans think or the decisions they make. You are in control of your own destiny only and I guess it all depends on how much you value living, every accident (crash) has some form of human input to make it happen whether it be mechanical, medical, poor judgment, impatience, get there-itis and the list goes on & on. Sad fact with aviation as great as it is it is very harsh on mistakes made, many get away with it for years, many push there luck & have gotten away with it but many haven't. As defensive as I drive & as disciplined as I fly I still realise that it CAN happen to me, I just try to minimise the risks on the roads & in the air as I am not perfect as none of us are, when flying as much as a hack as I am I try to strive for perfection every time I leave the ground until I am back on the ground & in the hangar. If your every reading about me on this forum in a bad or sad way means I messed up in some way shape or form, and guess what I'm only human like the rest of you so the sooner we all realise that it doesn't always happen to someone else the better we all might be. Alf