alf jessup

Well finally picked up the new SST wing on Wednesday 14th April from Porepunkah.

Enjoyed the 4 1/2 hr drive from West Sale to Porepunkah with the fine company of a mate and fellow trike pilot John Brent from LTV,

Left home at 5 am with a quick stop for a Maccas mcmuffin / coffee and a ciggie at Bairnsdale then onto Bruthen to drop the bettsometer of for Bill Pilgrim (skeptic36) then on our way to Hotham and a quick stop for another Dart (ciggie) then onto Porepunkah airport where Steve Ruffels was waiting.

Unpacked the base off the trailer and into the hanger for the mast change out which John and I completed in about 1 1/2 hrs with a few tips from Steve along the way.

Steve set up the wing with the help from John when needed (inbetween customers turning up to the hanger during the morning) as it comes short packed and a task i wasn't too keen on doing on my own.

Wing set up and checked and attached to the base by 1:30 pm saw Steve don his test pilot helmet and taxi up to the end of 36 and complete pre takeoff checks,( I had a few butterflies watching Steve attempt to defy gravity with my now substantial investment attached to my XT 912 base).

Take off checks completed saw Steve soon rolling down 36 and low and behold it lifted off into the sunny skies of Porepunkah, 20 minutes later saw Steve on final to 36 this time with trim wound on for landing and a beaming smile on his face saying it flies as straight as an arrow and hoots along.

A quick chat with him saw me strap in as he didnt want to come with me as he said I had far more hrs in a st3 wing than him and I would be right.

Taxi up to the start of 36 pre takeoff checks done trim wound on for take off, chute armed soon saw me leaving the ground at a considerable rate of knots instantly noting a different feel in the wing than the st3.

Climbing to about 2000 agl i conducted some mild turns both left and right at varying airspeeds noting a nice solid feel from the wing with what thermal activity that was happening, climbing and decending turns were next followed by a couple of stalls with me feeling copmfortable by now to tackle a few circuts.

Turned onto final where i normally do on the st3 only to find the new wing still like flying during a powered decent 3300 rpm, hmm quick chop of the power saw the wing still saying na don't wanna land were you normally do how about we glide a bit further.

hmm this baby is slick me says at 60kts ias hmm lets wind some more trim on for next one and turn final a bit further out which saw a indicated 55 kts and a lovely decent onto 36 followed by one more to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

Pulled up with a big smile on my face and discussed the handling differences with Steve (all positive ones) and sat back admiring the new wing still thinking something doesnt look right without a kingpost and top wires.

Coffees consumed and a few darts saw Steve say to me "well no point packing it up Alf you may aswell fly it home as it is perfect weather"

A few minutes to ponder the remark taking into consideration hmm what happens if I have an engine out and need to get this into a small opening with the limited time on the wing saw me phone East Sale RAAF base to find out what time they were deactivating that afternoon as i did not want to push landing near last light.

Assured by the corpral in the tower at ESL they would be deactivated by the time I reached Bairnsdale I planned my trip which I have done 8 times before, a quick call to Bairnsdale AWIS and ESL and saying my goodbyes and thanking John for offering to drive the Xtrail and trailer back home for me (mind you he did offer to fly back) my journey began departing 36 at 15:20 hrs and making a right turn tracking over Bright township making my way to 9500 ft passing 5nm nth of Mt Hotham while monotring Hotham CTAFR and putting out the appropriate calls.

The 14 miles of tiger passed fairly quickly between Hotham and dinner plain airport at a gs of 80 kts, Omeo was soon 10nm off to my left as I traversed down livingstone valley at 5500 ft, soon Swifts creek passed beneath me and Ensay also now with just this 10nm of tigerish country between me and the plains and valleys of the bairnsdale area, a few miles into the tiger i started my slow decent to 2500 ft knowing full well i would easily make the valleys and farmland if mr Rotax decided to play up, in no time i was calling my 10mile for Bairnsdale noting the further i turned west the slower my gs was getting as i ws starting to punch into a 30kt headwind at 2500 ft this side of the ranges, hm Bairnsdale was reporting 12kts at ground level b4 i departed, soon i was overhead Bdale joining xwind for 22 and soon enough i was on the ground 16:50 hrs and taxiing for the terminal noting the wind was now about 18kts on the ground.

Tucked in behind the trees a quick toilet stop, a mujch needed dart and phone call to AWIS @ESL saw me depart rwy 22 for the 31 nm journey to WSL at 17:10, copping a fair bit of turbulence on leaving I noted the much better handling of this wing compared to the old one as it felt very rigid in everything the wind was throwing at me at this lower level.

I decided to climb to 2500 ft where the air was smooth and strong and lent on the bar giving me 75+ kts ias and a gs of between 40 and 45 watching the sun get lower and lower on the horizon (last light was 18:11), soon enough ESL passed off to my left now only 9nm to run i decended down to 500ft where the air was still smooth and now only about 15kts, a quick flyover home and a 3 mile call to WSL saw me diverting to the dead side of the field to join a low level xwind for rwy 27, soon enough i was on final into a 10kt westerly and at 17:55 i was parked out infront of the hanger with old 001 base and now 049 sst wing sitting there in its splender.

Total moving time for the trip 2hrs 32 minutes including taxi times landing at Bdale ect

In the hanger she went covers on and a call to the lovely to come pick me up while poor John was still around ensay on his way back.

Trip was a good test for me and the new wing I have over 600hrs in streak wings and this wing has proved to me to be the best wing i have flown so far out of Airbornes range and so it should be.

9.7 hrs was completed with the SST wing in 6 days prior to me coming back out here at work for another 2 weeks, cant wait to get back home and fly it some more.

Hope you enjoy the yarn.

Alf

Melvicaus,

Porepunkah or Mt Beauty would be the 2 nearest other than Albury but I think Wang is the closest. By line of sight wang is 48 kms, and Porepunkah is 43ks but by road may be another story, the road from Mt Beauty to Yack is a nice easy road.

Sorry i can't be any more informative.

Alf

Slow day on the rig today is it Alf

Yes Bill we call it a farmers day.

Alf

[quote=Tracktop;

now how far, and how long was that in my slow streak III.

Just to keep on thread track I'll take a bit of video on the way with my vid mounted on the mast.

Ray,

Flight planned it for you mate on google earth.

After take off from maitland swing onto a heading of 210 deg and keep going for 642 kms (346 nm), you will pass just east of Pitt Town a fairway east of Canberra and just west of Cooma, plenty of tiger country to cover but they are all friendly tigers once you cross the Victorian border, should take you 6.18hrs at 56kts.

Just look for the tree with the top cut out of it and the strip markerst 642km mark on your gps and that will be Bills, he will be the one on the trail bike with the 2 cuppa's in his hand and a big smile on his face to greet you.

Yeah good idea with the video on the way you might see some of our friendly vic tigers and you can show your mates back up there.

Should have enough range to do it in one hit as airborne quotes 400nm, not sure at your bladder range though.

Cheers

Alf

[quote

As for Bill's strip, with all those improvements, there may be landing fees soon!

Cheers, Jim

Jim,

I'm sure if you fly up there to Bills place he would most likely pay you a fee to land there, as he is of course one of them rich farmers with his own strip lol.

Not like me I'm only a poor offshore rig worker.thumb_down:help:

Cheers

Alf

the biggest improvment though has been cutting the top out of the tree that is on the west side of the threshold.

Regards Bill

Geez Bill,

I thought you were going to say you cut the top out of that hill south of your strip lol, you know the one i am talking about.;););).

Will come up one day and test the sst wing out when i get it that is of course if I can see your place the mega speeds i will be traveling, I might have to start slowing down abeam Bairnsdale lol :big_grin:

Cheers Alf

Jim,

Are you doing your trike training with Geoff White from Churchill??.

I fly often into his strip and occasionally to LTV when it is no so busy.

I fly out of West Sale.

When you get your ticket and X/country you need to do a trip up to Bill's once you get a few hrs under your belt as he has a nice testy little strip up at Bruthen.

Cheers

Alf

Hi Pete,

Im with Walter on this unless of course the blade has only minor damage, but my guessing if it hit the ground it maybe a tad bit more than minor.

Bolly sells the duratuff leading edge 3 blades for the 912 for about $400 a blade but i think you may have to change the hub also as I am not sure if the hub for you current prop is compatible.

Cheers

Alf

Hmmm. Maybe that is an effect of the change from the old microlight friendly HGFA and the new not so microlight friendly organization i_dunnoRegards Bill

Bill,

I have heard rumors that the HGFA are quite possibly in the near future going to try to rid trikes from the organization, maybe I should register this new wing with the RAA, I gather someone out there maybe able to give me advice on how to do that, and some info on what is involved.

Cheers

Alf

AlfI kept my original HGFA Rego when I sold my Streak 1 and bought a Streak 11B for the Edge-X (a couple of years ago). All I did was complete a change of registration details notification form (after phoning the office to confirm I could keep my rego).

 

I removed the numbers off the old wing though, as I was selling it - might be worth checking again as all you are doing is 'de-registering' your old wing?

 

Safe flying

 

Kev

I spoke to the HGFA and they told me unless I destroy the old wing (which is still perfectly flyable) I cannot swap the rego. I can keep the original rego on the old trike wing forever, so blown if i know as I was on the phone for 15 minutes trying to convince them to let me swap it.

Alf.

As Donkey said about West Sale I fly close to the Fulham prison on my downwind so I hope they dont complain as the areodrome has been there since WW2 and the prison 10 years to 15 so they can move :-).

On the lighter side though as i fly near it I am always saying I would rather be up here than wishing I was down there.

Alf

John,

Thats probably what i will do, i would rather hang it than have it sit on the mezzanine floor in my shed,

I'll just buy a 16 ft ladder and get some foam for covering the rungs as it will probably sit there for a very long time until i decide what i want to do with it.

I would like to keep the wing as it matches the base with the 001 serial number, more for sentimental reasons than anything else.

Alf

Glen,

I haven't flown one yet either but have ordered it anyway, hope i like it or there might be a cheap SST for sale.

Hmm disk brake rear end, never thought of stopping her, will wait awhile for that as dont wanna have the MOWAF (minister of war and finance) frowning upon me, mind you i only got home yesterday and just happened to mention to her my thoughts on getting one, she said why dont you so I did before she realised what she said. BNPYL (better not push your luck)

Ray,

Good idea on not spreading the rat sack around as I dont want to attract them if they are not there.

Will look at different options for storing it mainy dont want vermin or mould ect.

Cheers

Alf

Well it's time, enough of them are out there flying so I just put my order in today for a SST wing for old 001, I am not going to re-register 001 wing as I will fold her up and put her in storage to keep it all original after the newbie arrives early April.

Going with the same color on the newbie but spewing I cannot use the original rego on the new wing, HGFA says I can if I destroy the wing (Yeah like that's ever going to happen with a perfectly good wing at 700hrs).

Any ideas out there on how to keep the old wing (folded and in the bag) in the shed without causing damage to it over the long term??.

Would it be better to hang it from the shed rafters or put it on the mezzanine floor with a heap of rat sack around it not that I have any rats that I know of in the shed.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Alf

Bill,

Was worth a read as I just put in my order for a new SST wing from Airborne, hope to have it early April.

Cheers

Alf

Thanks Nev,

I'll keep on using it until i run out of bottles as i have enough left for 3 more oil changes.

Alf

Maj,

My mistake I was meaning aeroshell sport plus 4 that I have been using for the last 150 hrs, are there any issues with this as I have had no problems at all with oil consumption changing compared to the VSX i was using before.

Cheers

Alf

Hi all,

Ive been using the aeroshell 100 for about 150 hrs in my 912 and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary regarding oil consumption.

What is the deal on this oil.

What is the reason Rotax/Floods are recommending ditching it in preference to other oils???

Thanks

Alf

Well guys,

This is the way i look at it, how many 4cylinder cars do 400000 kms before they are touched, this equates to 4000 hrs running time @ 100kph but infact with all the stop starting, traffic lights, idle time this could well be infact 6000 to 7000 hrs in that 400000 kms, mind you these car engines dont filter the fuel prior to going in the tank, only have a single ignition and are commonly abused throughout the rev range during there life.

The Rotax 912 is an air/ oil/ water cooled engine most likely made with more love and care than a mass produced car engine, it has fuel filtered before it goes in the tank (or it should be) runs a dual ignition system and usually is in cleaner air than a car will ever be, it also runs more constant rpm in its life than a car ever will so your total hrs are infact the total hrs the engine has worked.

Keep the oil, filters both air and oil clean and i cannot see a problem in attaining high hrs out of these.

It's like this, you look after it it might just look after you for a long time.

Thats my $2 worth seen as though it is a bit longer than 2 bobs worth.

Cheers

Alf

Donkey,

Thanls for the info on what type of aircraft it was, my mate said the main runway was shut down because part of the wing i am told was infringing on it.

Like i said it is all second hand to me.

Alf

Apparently it had undies problems and it was a deliberate wheels up on the grass.

Other than that i dont know anymore on what type of aircraft it was.

Hi all,

Mate of mine was out at Latrobe Valley in his trike this morning and said a radial of some sort did a belly landing on the side of 21, anyone heard anymore on this or know what type of aircraft it was???

Alf

Thanks LenSo my air speed reads 4 kts over, my fuel use is 20% under, my altimeter QNH reads 2 high for known ground height, my oil pressure looks reasonable. anything thing else I should know before I venture too far :confused:

Ray,

 

Yep keep the wheels up the right way.

 

Stay clear of the ground unless landing.

 

Don't fly in clouds.

 

Dont get lost.

 

Keep plenty of fuel in the tank.

 

Your bladder will succumb before the fuel runs out.

 

And best of all have FUN. lol

 

Cheers

 

Alf

Hi Pud,

I got a can of plexus from the lore of flight in Yarawongs a year or so ago and I am sure I didn't pay 35 bucks for it.

Seems a little steep to me but it is great stuff considering you dont have to use much when you clean, I also just got some more dupont cloths from him (50 to a pack) , 13 bucks a packet and they are the best disposable cloth i have ever used as they pick up fine dust without scratching the surface.

Might pay to give him a buzz and check out the prices as he will freight stuff over.

Cheers

Alf

Thanks Alf - probably in line with my guessesOK here is another component to consider

 

Does a high windscreen increase or decrease consumption (drag). OR no net effect

 

I agree it effects air speed indication

 

And now I written and thought about that, raises another one is an outback more or less efficient than a pod? - probably hard to answer

Ray,

Cant really say with authority that a tall screen reduces consumption but I can say it makes flying far more comfortable and if it did it would only be Marginal if any.

Yes it does effect the indicated airspeed by a few knots (well it has mine).

I would say an out back with a streak 3 wing would probably use more fuel than a podded one with a streak 3 wing at the same indicated airspeed due to the drag associated with all the bits and pieces out in the airstream but again I think it would be hardly noticeable except maybe at the fuel pump if you both had full fuel and pretty much used the same power settings at take off, cruise maybe a different power setting to attain the same ias??? this would effect fuel burn between both of them?? dont know.

There are too many maybe,s in this as even though the Rotax 912 engines are made by the same manufacturer some perform differently than others from new same as the wings made for airborne.

That's my view on this

Alf