alf jessup

Ombudsman is the best bet Cali, you’re aircraft is certfied.

This knob just has a hard on, he has no right to refuse you.

I would just take off and land in any case, what is he going to do, it is not a private strip is it? If it is council owned he cannot discriminate against you.

You could find yourself in a discriminating situation where the council might be paying you’re hanger fees for the next few years with the compensation awarded to you.

Me I would set up the trike in the hangar you are paying for and give him the bird as you taxi past

Condolences to the lost aviators family and friends, never a good thing to see and hear on the news.

If they got nothing to hide they would tell you is my guess..

But saying all is confidential has me thinking they don’t want to tell you I case you don’t buy.

Hi Pete,

I’m pretty sure I heard you guys on your way to BH, we had departed BH that morning heading for Leigh Creek and then on to Coober Pedy on our trip to Ayers Rock.

The Monday we flew from Swan Hill to BH in a very strong headwind landing in close to 40kts on 32.

I am positive it was you guys on the chat channel discussing all sorts of things from heights to GS, distances to run.

Cheers Alf

What a loser. If he wanted to take out the house and everyone in it, he should have dived vertically through the weakest area - the roof.

Well at least the dead beat died and his family survived.

What a pathetic person trying to take his family out.

Real justice prevailed.

Kudos to the madman, glad he only took himself out in the process

Clearly the Gympie council have turned in to a bunch of Gymps

noun: gymp

1. 1.
   twisted silk, worsted
    
    
   

Alf, they "work" but not as well as they could. They have faults, some of which I have listed as I see them. It's not a complete list... People shouldn't buy them thinking they are "bomb proof". As they have made so many, the engine should have become cheaper as they amortise the development costs.They are good to fit a C/S prop on.. IF they have had a prop strike they need inspection. Drive runout is not a guarantee. I would like to see a bigger choice. of engine(s).in the market place.. and lower priced options.

Makers have a big job producing something people won't muck up or fatally neglect with the idea it should run for X( X= 2,000) hours without a spanner on it or any checks needed.. Your tele might do that but a plane engine won't. It's environment is too unpredictable. . Nev

No engine is bomb or bullet proof, but as expensive as they are they are probably the most reliable overall engine for the Light sport / snowmobile range.

The US military uses them in some drones and have clocked up many thousands of hours on them ( from memory over 10,000 hours) without changing them out.

If we could get a cheap light 120hp turbine now that would be a good thing, other than expensive to buy and a triple fuel burn it would be something awesome.

Alf

If there was anything to replace them with they would hardly sell one they and their bits are too dear.. They are not a GOOD design from a few points. Built up crank is unnecessary and has been the source of. a few problemsIt can't easily be enlarged. (more cubes).This is a fairly common aircraft engine situation.

The inlet manifold set up is quite bad..Fuel distribution is not good and is hard to improve. The existing manifold design is the problem. The Bing Carbs are a cheap thing and shouldn't be high up on the motor. especially with float equipped carburetters

 

Liquid cooling (only the heads) is a trick system with a lot of complexity for only cooling a critical part. Often they run too cool.

 

The oil return system is quite weird. I wonder who was so clever as to think the crankcase pressure is a good way to scavenge the oil.back to the tank rather than use a scavenge pump.

 

The engine cannot be zero timed. It life expires on a time since put in service as well as in use hours. One of it's saving graces is it doesn't need to be opened up very often. Working on engines is no problem if people know what they are doing. Unfortunately they rarely do so leaving your Rotax alone is a good point. Nev

The seller has emailed me pictures of the aircraft's maintenance log from the 1,000 hourly onwards. Looks pretty comprehensive and every 50 & 100 hourly is noted fully.Oh, I don't think there's any chance of Rotax going broke - just by what they charge for a new donk!

Good old adage.

You get what you pay for.

Rotax are expensive but they are robust.

50,000 or more 912’s built in 30 or so years.

Got to be doing something right considering most light sport manufacturers fit them.

But yes they are still an internal combustion engine and can have failures.

Clean fuel, clean air filters, regular oil & filter changes will go a long way to keep you running.

About $1700 for a overhaul including new gear set replacement , pressure washers ect on a Rotax gearbox including labor.

2100 hrs on the engine, just run in, gearboxes are the weakest link on a very robust built engine.

2000 hr TBO is one way Rotax keep making money selling parts that most likely don’t need replacing , otherwise they would go broke.

I use this type of tiedown which came with the plane, recently on my trip to Ayers Rock I had no issue screwing them in to the hard red earth at Broken Hill & William Creek

Was blowing consistently around 40kts at Broken Hill in the way up and they never loosened a bit.

Need a little effort screwiing them right down but very secure, had the ropes splayed slightly forward & towards the wing tip side to the tie downs.

Proved their worth to me

Trip looked great. I wish I had better than 55lph. I would have a crack at something like this for myself.

Yep that would clinch the sphincter a wee bit at 55 per hour, guess if your doing 200kts it might be worthwhile,

My little baby was TASing 107 to 112 most of the time averaging 17.7 so I cannot complain.

I see your driving a 182, nice ride.

But your fuel cost alone would have almost been the cost of my entire trip

Hi Alf,Thanks for the trip details and excellent photo collection. I am planning to a trip to Alice to visit friends and inquire details of your landing and holding arrangements whilst your toured around Alice. Thanks Matt

I didn’t go to Alice I went to Ayers Rock

Alice is controlled airspace which I cannot go too.

Landing fees at Ayers Rock Wass $55 for the first 24hrs then $38:50 each day after

Plenty of tie down places.

Cheers Alf

No worries anytime no guarantees on room but there usually is and that goes for anyone happy to help if I can hate seeing planes in the weather if there is a better option

Worst part about Ayers Rock is they made me tie it down with the tail in to the wind after I asked if I could tie it down in to the wind as all the other planes there were tail to wind, but mine was the lightest out of the lot of them, at least I got to tie the control stick so the ailerons and stabilator didn’t smash to bits.

Sat on the tail skid a number of times too which pee’d me off

Or ASIOReminds me of the time I was helping a political candidate who was at the top end of the Eccentric scale, but had been bruised by one of the major Parties very unfairly.

I was having a cup of coffee in his house when he lowered his voice and said ASIO are watching me you know; they send planes over all through the day and into the night. I burst out laughing and said "One of them was probably me; you're under one of the turning points in the Moorabbin circuit".

Cheers for that Stewy,

Next time mate if the offers still on

We have a friend of my wife’s up there we don’t visit anywhere near enough.

Wal at Floods says only to use 91 octane on the 80 hp as that is what it will run best on.

Mind you a reputable brand though

BP, Shell, Caltex ect

Trip completed safely.

Left home on Sunday 22nd as the weather for Monday was forecast average south of the Dividing Range.

Departed West Sale and tracked via Lilydale-Sugarloaf Reservoir- Kilmore Gap- Bendigo and on to Swan Hill for the night, headwinds all the way. (20kts)

Day 2, Swan Hill to Broken Hill punching in to a smooth 45kt headwind at above 2000 agl most of the way taking 3.5 hrs for a normally 2.2 hr flight.

Day 3, Broken Hill - Leigh Creek (fuel) and on to Coober Pedy for a couple of nights in an underground motel and also to do some exploring. (20 kt headwind most of the way)

Day 4 touring opal mines, resting up and doing other interesting stuff around the place, was well worth visiting. If you ever visit look up Aaron Noble tours $65 bucks for a 5 hr tour including nibbles, also a fantastic young bloke.

Day 5, Coober Pedy to Ayers Rock, yep just another headwind of about 15kts, did the field of lights tour that night.

Flight time on the airswitch was 14.5 hrs for the 1150+ nm trip & consumed 276 lts of mostly Avgas.

Day 6, bus trip too the Rock for a look see around it and a 100m climb up it, yep wasn’t climbing it all the way. Worst and most expensive accommodation of the whole trip.

Day 7, Ayers Rock via Mt Connor- overflew Oodnadatta and on to William Creek for the night, yep about a 15 kt headwind to Mt Connor before climbing to 7500 and catching a 15 kt tailwind. William Creek is an awesome place to stay, great accomodation and meals and reasonably priced.

Day 8, William Creek - Lake Ayre North - Flinders Ranges - Lake Frome then on to Broken Hill for the night, (finally a consistent 15-17 kt tailwind for these legs), we hired a mini van and stayed this time at Silverton Hotel 27kms West of Broken Hill.

Best accomodation and meals out of the whole trip and very affordable, not to mention how wonderful Patsy & Peter the owners were to all of us, will never stay in Broken Hill again.

Day 9, Broken Hill - Swan Hill (fuel & lunch stop) then on to West Sale via Bendigo (few showers dodged at Bendigo through to Kilmore Gap) then down the VFR Route to Sugarloaf, over Coldstream and tracked north of Warragul then Home to WSL had a 25 kt tailwind from BH to SH and a ripper 37kt tail wind from Kilmore Gap through to WSL at 3500 agl.

11.2 hrs and 227 lts of Avgas for the return trip from AR including an additional 100-150nm extra on the return.

What a difference a tailwind makes on both time and fuel.

What I found amazing was Avgas prices in some outback remote areas was cheaper than what it is at West Sale.

WSL $2:40 cpl.

Swan Hill $2:36.

Broken Hill $2:37.

Leigh Creek $2:36

Coober Pedy $2:38

Ayers Rock $2:50

William Creek $3:00

Overall we had a blast, landed in some pretty strong winds at Broken Hill on the way up but wasn’t an issue, the 35 kt xwind made it damn hard to taxi down the main bitumen runway after landing on the dirt strip most in to the wind.

Plane ran real well on Avgas from Swan Hill onwards.

Averaged 17.7 lph overall for the trip running nothing under 5200 rpm, I also did a lot of climbing to find the best winds for the Cessna 172 that was with us as their burn was double mine in cruise.

Spent the best part of $4K to do the trip but accomodation alone for 2 nights at CP and AR was $1100, another $500 for the remaining 4 days, fuel was $1215, tours totalled $500 ish food and bevy’s a touch more.

But I must say it was worth every cent as the wife loved it including the flying part as she is not normally a regular flyer with me.

Few pics

Rhrudder,

What fuel does he run in it

91 or 95/98?

Alf

Hi Alf,You sound like you are enroute to Alice Springs. I am planning a trip to AS in mid August 18 and would appreciate any advice on landing options. I would leave my plane for a week whilst visiting friends in town. Also is an ASIC card required,

Thanks Matt Walsh

Not going to Alice as it is controlled airspace and ASIC would be a definite, we are going to Ayres Rock (Uluru) not controlled.

ASIC definitely, 24hrs prior notice by phone before flying in.

Then they email you a lovely form to fill out and email back with your ASIC number, expiry date, aircraft type , weight, rego, number of people onboard, arrival time, departure date then finally your credit card details so you don’t skip out on the $55 Landing fee the first 24 hrs then $38 each day after that.

As for places to park your plane in Alice I cannot help you other than charges will apply.

Procedures are all in the ersa with airport charges required to be looked up on the ntairports website.

Cheers

Alf

Not having any issues with running Avgas or buying it other than it’s up to 80c a litre dearer than Mogas

Best advice I can give you is get some skyfuels cards (they cost nothing to get and can be delivered within a week) 3 cards our travelling companions got from Skyfuels before we started this trip as BP bowsers only take BP card (Swan Hill, Broken Hill,) Leigh Creek takes credit cards as does Coober Pedy, let you know what Ayres Rock takes once we get there.

Biggest problem with some of the numptys is they look at their compass and call the 10 mile from the direction they are heading not even thinking the are coming from the opposite direction to which they are heading.

Puts my neck on a swivel more that it normally is when I intitially think they’re in close proximity to me and calling the same level

After frantic searching I usually ask .... are you actually coming from this direction inbound?

Usually get yeah oh sorry.

As much as I love flying, I spent 17 years flying offshore in 10 million dollar Sikorsky S76’s and never liked it one bit, too many moving parts, different vibrations on different helicopters.

Robinson’s? I would never set my arxe in one as to me the rotor does not seem to have enough inertia in them let alone how flimsy they look.

Each to their own I guess.