onetrack

The ATSB declined to continue their investigation into the crash, as no safety benefits could be derived from a continued investigation. https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/news-items/2022/discontinuation

I wouldn't be so sure on that. The Police must consider that they have an adequate case, to proceed with a manslaughter charge. A passenger does accept a higher risk of crashing in an experimental aircraft - but it's not unreasonable to expect that that passenger is flying with the knowledge that the aircraft has been properly maintained, and the pilot is licenced, and has been tested to qualify for that licence. A passenger needs to be fully informed as to the risks involved, and I believe that is not the case here. The trial result will certainly be interesting.

I don't understand why so many video-takers, record takeoffs from behind a wall of obstructions such as buildings, other aircraft, etc. It's simply a waste of video effort to see a minute of obstructions flashing across the screen - as compared to positioning themselves in a clear area, to get a proper recording of a takeoff, which would be so much better.

I can't see what the problem is here. This pilot apparently flew unlicenced, apparently flew with without adequate maintenance as required by regulations, and apparently displayed no duty of care towards his passenger, who he subsequently killed as the result of the pilots failure to follow even basic legal requirements. He's now looking at time in the slammer, and I trust he's never allowed within arms reach of an aircraft, ever again. This type of lawless person is the exact reason why the majority of law-abiding, careful and conscientious people get stifling, over-reaching laws and regulations. At the end of the day, he's got the death of his mate on his conscience - but I fear that a lack of a conscience is quite likely a trait of this type of personality, too.

Check all harness wiring connectors, and bolted/screwed connections for corrosion, and ensure all bolted connections are tight. Unsealed harness connectors and exposed bolted/screwed connections are notorious for corroding over time, with exposure to salt air, moist air, and dust in the air. Corrosion is an insidious factor in wiring that gradually alters voltages and amperage. Circuit breakers do also wear out (weaken) with age and constant use with substantial power loads. Check the actual amperage running through the CB when the electrical loading is at its highest, it may be higher than originally calculated.

......mpits. But it wasn't the flight suit with the 2-way zipper that made Cappy look like a modock - it was the large flap sewn into the...........

.....there was no-one left within earshot to hear what he read out. Accordingly, Turbo added a substantial amount of extra information to what he read out, which wasn't in the document he was reading. This additional information read out, was that Turbine Inc would be allocated the reparation funds initially, and the Mavis would then have to apply for whatever amount they sought, and state the reasons why they wanted those amounts. In addition, the applications would need to be on paper documents (as computers and computer literacy had not yet reached the Mer), in quadruplicate, and signed and certified by a minimum of 4 JP's, Police Officers, or Postmasters. Turbo further explained this was all to do with ensuring minimum levels of fraud, and verifying the ID of each applicant. Turbo went on - there was to be a fee of $150 included with each application for reparation monies, and this fee was to be in cash (not cowrie shells or kind), and it was also non-refundable if the application was refused. One thing Turbo did fail to mention in his reading, was that only ...........

There's an AD on the aileron hangars for the Skyfox. They must be inspected every 100 hrs or 12 mths, whichever occurs first. https://services.casa.gov.au/airworth/airwd/ADfiles/under/ca25/CA25-007.pdf

And you'll be stuck up there forever!

.....ensure that New Guinea opposum was placed on the Endangered and Threatened Species list, and thus would never appear on any menu in any civilised region, ever again. However, this political decision meant little to the bone-pointers and legal system manipulators of Mer, and before long they were again........

100 NM glide isn't going to do much for you, when you have 2000 miles of ocean in each direction! It really is a credit to modern jet engine design that no trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific, or trans-Indian Ocean commercial flight has ever had to ditch in the open sea. I often wondered about how a rescue would be effected if that ever happened. The distance out to the search area for MH370, well West of the SW of W.A. was a stretch for many of the search aircraft involved.

Ahhh, yes - in the days when the old saying, "pour on the coal", meant exactly that, as regards exhaust emissions! Little wonder we have so many "environmental activists" today!

This was likely to be the event that Brendan is talking about. https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1998/aair/aair199800361 Here is the aircraft model history. https://aeropedia.com.au/content/calair-ca-21-skyfox/

A Jabiru crashed after "experiencing problems after takeoff" at Chinchilla airport around 9:45AM today, 26/02/2023. Two people suffered moderate injuries and were transported to hospital, and are reported to be in a stable condition. The aircraft appears to be a write-off. https://countrycaller.com.au/2023/02/26/light-aircraft-crashes-at-western-downs-airport/

I guess there could be an argument put forward for re-engining with the latest engines. But the bottom line is the aircraft also needs to be gutted and the internal areas rebuilt for whatever one planned to do with it. That cost alone is a major cost. Although I must say I'm a little surprised that Coulsons didn't look at the aircraft for a jumbo fire tanker. At US$95M for a virtually new aircraft, the purchase cost would only be a little more than the value of the engines (reported to be US$80M). The B747 Fire SuperTanker that was put into service by Evergreen between about 2009 and 2013 appeared to be very effective. However, Evergreen fell into bankrupcty, the B747 Fire Supertanker was then taken over by Global SuperTanker Services - who then went into bankrupcty in 2021 - and the Fire SuperTanker was then purchased by National Airlines to be converted into a cargo aircraft. Why anyone would spend a heap of money converting the 1971 model Fire SuperTanker into a cargo aircraft is a mystery to me - particularly when this new B747 aircraft was available. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/747_Supertanker

Because the hourly operating cost of the B747, with 4 engines, is much higher than a 2 engine jet, such as a B777 - with no major gain in payload for the B747. 4 engine jets are a liability in commercial operations today, since the reliability of todays jet engines is such that major trans-ocean flights can be done with ease with 2 engine jets, with no fear of crashing, even if 1 engine fails halfway through the flight.

An absolutely fabulous piece of aeronautical engineering from the mind of the U.S. Navy Aerospace engineer, August Thomas Bellanca. August Bellanca started as a teenager in his father's aircraft factory in New Castle, Delaware, and went on to work at Douglas, Grumman, and other large aircraft corporations, before starting his own aviation company. NASA was so intrigued by the aeronautical "slipperiness" of the Bellanca 19-25 Skyrocket II, that they utilised the prototype as a test bed to check out the laminar flow properties of the wing design on the Skyrocket II. In 1975, within months of its first flight, the prototype claimed five world airspeed records for piston aircraft in its class. Three of those records still stand in 2022. The Skyrocket II had a cruise speed of 222kts and was powered by a 435HP Continental GTSIO-520-F flat six. It was built from composite materials, a ground-breaking design at the time. Another interesting thing about August Bellanca is that he was a member of the secretive Quiet Birdmen club. The QB club was about on a par with the Freemasons - only you had to be an outstanding aviator or aircraft designer, an astronaut, or an air combat veteran to join - and you had to be selected for entry to the QB club, you couldn't just roll up and join. The list of names in the QB "Hangars" (as the various regional groups were called) is a roll call of many outstanding and brave airmen. Of course, it was an all-male club, and each meeting was essentially a good old BS session between the boys, with regular semi-nude female entertainment. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182074190/august-thomas-bellanca https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellanca_Skyrocket_II https://veteranlife.com/military-history/quiet-birdmen/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_Birdmen

I could quite easily enjoy a quieter ride in small aircraft. It's not until you've lost your hearing due to excessive engine and industrial noise, that you appreciate the overall drive for noise reduction. Personally, if I was King, I'd start on banning leaf blowers and small 2 stroke engines - possibly some of the worst devices ever invented. Someone in Perth owns a small rear-engined twin business jet, which returns to the city on a regular basis. It's probably Kerry Stokes or Gina Rinehart - and I've never been able to properly identify the make and model, it moves pretty fast. But the engines on that little twin business jet put out the worst whiney howl I've ever heard from a little business jet, the noise is particularly penetrating and aggravating.

And how many accident reports reveal the reason for the crash was the pilot was indulging in "unauthorised low flying", so that they could show off/frighten someone on the ground - or even in the aircraft? I can recall one clown here in W.A. who got his pilots licence, and took 3 friends for a jaunt to show off his skills. Part of that showing off was buzzing cows in a paddock and getting a laugh at how they bolted. However, he got too clever and too low, and hooked his (fixed) undercarriage into a cow, resulting in the aircraft somersaulting into the ground, killing all four on board instantly, and totally destroying the aircraft.

......KFC stores. However, Lidia wasn't fazed by the opposition to her claims, in fact she went on a roll, speaking of how Colonel Harland Sanders actually got his ideas for 11 herbs and spices for his chicken from his visit to Australia in 1917, when he was employed as a steam engine stoker and he got to see the First Nations peoples in their native living conditions and actually tried the bush tucker he was offered. Lidia claimed that the fact that KFC today tastes almost exactly like the bush tucker Col. Sanders ate in 1917 is testament to the skills and abilities of the FN peoples, which far surpass any vaunted European or Asian cook today, such as Adam Liaw, Curtis Stone, Gordon Ramsay, etc etc, and the only reason we don't have Bush Tucker fast food shops today is because........

.....corn, which he will die for at any time. As anyone with even modest knowledge of First Nations history should know, we Kooris were growing corn long before the Mayans, and the fact that anthropologists can't find any corn kermels in our ancient Koori campsites, only goes to show how bad their training is, because they're not trained to look for..........

Your ripped-off Petrodollars at work. One hopes that one day, the Saudis will be brought back to a wealth level with other countries and people, instead of just splashing money around like confetti at a wedding. If they had done the right thing with their wealth, no-one in their country would be in need of anything required for a comfortable life.

It's interesting to see that the Ibis company is still in business, and supporting their aircraft owners. Their Headquarters is located in a very nice suburban position in Cali - but their manufacturing facility is simply a big open-sided shed in the country! They do appear to be constructing a new shed at the rear of the property, though! At least we can guess their factory costs are pretty low! http://ibis-aircraft.com/ https://www.google.com/maps/@3.1871419,-76.4935474,3a,16.3y,120.64h,89.57t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smwpNlJR9i8TtpY6QoUOUuQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Local companies and American companies may sell their obsolete parts to NOS dealers, but I can assure you, in Japan, the parts are sent to scrap after 40 years. But they recycle all the materials in them that are useable, such as metals.

Most manufacturers work on 20 years as the limit to which they will supply parts for their manufactured automotive products. After 20 years, you become reliant on aftermarket suppliers to provide components - and they will only manufacture "fast-moving" parts - the ones that wear out the most. With Japanese automotive products, the Japanese manufacturers go through the factory warehouse once a product reaches 40 years since introduction - and they grab every single new part and component off the shelves for that model, and send them to scrap - then they dispose of all the factory books, records and blueprints for that product - so effectively, there's no trace in the HQ, factory or parts warehouses, of that model ever having existed. Manufacturers are there to make money from current models, and from the manufacture of new products that provide the latest level of technology and competitiveness - and to produce products that also meet current laws and regulations. Bean counters are hot on ensuring the minimum level of company funds invested in parts on shelves, and storage in expensive warehouses. Parts deteriorate even after a couple of years in storage, despite good storage conditions and protective measures.