Jeffmac

Commenced flying lessons at 20, got married and raised kids - no cash for aviation, kids all married, switched to RAAus and pilot certificate at 55, built a couple of aircraft and still enjoying them at 71. I suspect this may be a typical chain of events among us recreational aviators!

 

 

Looking good. Congratulations!

 

 

G'day Riley. Congratulations on your new aircraft. Co-incidentally my home built Celebrity 19-8739 first flew about a week ago. A build time of about 3 years. As far as I know our aircraft and Derek Dwyer's are the only 3 of type in OZ. I would love to have your and Derek's power plant - mine has a Subaru EA81. The Celebrity performs beautifully and is a joy to fly. I will download a photo or two on the web site as soon as I can find somebody cleverer than I at the keyboard! Enjoy your creation! Cheers.

 

 

RIP Dougie. Thanks for some great times. You will be missed by all of us.

 

 

I can understand the concern when inbound to a busy fly-in. Most keep calls to the minimum required and as concise as possible. We have a number of powered parachutes operating at our airfield without radio and have for years practiced standard circuits and "see and avoid" At Narromine and Temorah fly-ins the volunteer RAAF ground "advisor" did a brilliant job, but it is still a worry knowing you have a dozen other aircraft in circuit and can only eyeball 3 or 4. I guess this is what we train for - in my experience the standard of airmanship at these events is pretty good. I would hesitate to fly in to a busy venue without radio.

 

 

Hi Jeff - welcome aboard - interested to know about your experience with Subaru engines - they were quite popular for a while here in NZ but in recent times have largely gone out of favour. Two Karatoo owners I know of both had Subaru engines - both had numerous problems and eventually gave up and fitted Rotaxes. The conversions were done by people who supposedly knew what they were doing but the engines just wouldn't hold together. Whats the secret?

I have had a pretty good run with the EA81 engines. Mine have AMAX redrives, I have fitted modified intake manifolds and Weber twin throat downdraught carbs. Carb de-ice is essential. Use polychain belts with the redrive - rubber will fail by stripping the teeth off the belt after 200 hrs in my experience. A better redrive is the Foxcon. My engines have a camshaft to suit around 4000 rpm. cruise and the powerhead has proved quite bullet proof. The engine in the Karatoo has done 600 hrs. and I expect in excess of 2000 before overhaul. John Birrell, a fellow South Australian and RF member is the guru on EA81 engines and a valuable source of proven information. Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

 

Hello all. New to this site and not very adept at the electronic media so apologies for any mistakes made. I fly an EA 81 powered Karatoo from Truro Flats in South Australia and in the process of construction of a Fisher Celebrity biplane also to be Subaru powered. The Celebrity is covered and in the early stages of completion. I have noticed several familiar names on this website and look forward to sharing experiences. Cheers, Jeff Mackereth