robinsm

With all the toing and froing, we still don't know what happened, why it happened or how it happened. I am amazed that something about which we have so little information has generated so much comment. How about some facts people. Hearsay and innuendo do nothing to advance the cause of recreational flyers anywhere. At the moment Raa-Aus is our certifying body. Lets get some facts and debate it with all the information at hand. We don't need to make stuff up and infer "facts" just for arguments sake. This does nothing to advance the cause and makes us look like a bunch of reactionary d...k heads.

cool

Thats a blo-dy long road from melbourne ignition.

What a great looking area for flying, those mountains and the valleys make for great scenery. Good film.

Its a rumour only at present, could someone who knows these gents either confirm or deny please.

why?

Have heard a rumour tonight that 2 of the Raa Aus board members have resigned. Any truth in this and if so why? (Rumour is it was Bill Cain and Don Ramsey??)

I was taught, and regularly practice, stalls to keep my hand in. Both power on and power off stalls. Just like practicing engine failures etc. Keeps your hand in and enhances your faith in the aircraft, and your abilityies if things go pear shaped. Would have liked to try a few spins but not in an raa aircraft.

The term AWESOME comes to mind. Spent my early years gliding out of the old upper Valley Gliding club in Whitemens valley behind the Trentham military camp in NZ. (both have now moved - not my fault.) The performance of the aircraft in this clip is astounding (I learned in a Rhonlerch and a Rhonadler back in the late 1960's)

I know, problem was that it closed in ahead and behind me, plenty of diversion feilds but unable to get to them. I got my self into that situation through being cocky but I was lucky that the lesson was learned with only my nerves as casualties. Tired. long trip poor judgement, what can I say. Again, lesson definitely learned.

I agree FH, but then part of your situational awareness would be planning for an engine out and having a landing place in the back of your mind at all times. Volksy did mention that this was an in circuit discussion but maybe it could be expanded with his permission?

Practical application for low level nav ....get caught on a long Xcountry flight by lowering cloud/fog base. (yep, low level nav practice certainly pays off in the real world.)

Lets see, prang the plane and die outside the airfeild because I could not get to a known safe landing area, or upset a pilot on circuit because I cut in front of him. Hmmmmm....die or get shouted at, hard choice eh? As my instructor always said, AVIATE first (in other words fly the damn thing under control), Navigate, get where you want to be (in this case down), and then worry about the radio.

Pud, if the aircraft is performing close to what the others are (forget the 6800 rpm limit - I have never acheived it) accept it and enjoy flying. I have 700 hrs on an old grey head second hand engine, and then 100 hrs on a new blue head engine. I blew a hole in one of the pistons of the old grey head trying to get the "text book" figures. If the jets are as recommended by floods, and the carby setup is as recommended, the egt's close but a little low, accept it and enjoy flying the aircraft. I( just put 26hrs on mine over 5 days and the motor never missed a beat and performed well. I tried all sorts of changes and wound up back at the motor setup as per floods and the propeller pitch as per the recommendations of the propeller manufacturer/distributor site. (I run a 68inch 3 blade brolga with 16 degree pitch blocks through a c box 3.1 ratio.) If its close, fly it. Just my 0.2c worth.

Flying dog, I don't mind them sitting on the wing but they could flap to earn their keep, and not leave a calling card when they leave. When eagles overtake you and you can hear them laughing, its a trifle embarrassing.

Hey Boingk, just took a 2 stroke from Goulburn to Cameron Corner in the Xair and back again with no problems at all. 26hrs flying time over 6 days. Don't write 2 strokes off just yet. The 582 is 65hp by the way.

Eric, this sort of flight diary is a valuable resource for this site as a latge number of new and prospective pilots read the posts and it may help someone out that is haveing a problem or is in a similar situation to yourself. Keep them coming mate. Cheers Maynard

Corky450. 6300 flat out is what I get as well. Thank goodness someone else gets that, I was worried I couldn't get the quoted 6800 although everything seems to run ok. Is the e box a 3:1 ratio?

Xair with blue head, 16 degree pitch on 3 blade brolga prop with c box (3:1). 5500 revs cruise. 55 knots (only problem is 18 - 20 lts hr).

Ring Bolly props and see if their engineer will sign his life away.

I have now got over 300 hrs up and the amount still to learn is very daunting. I learn something every flight, even when doing circuits. I make it a point to learn something new every day and every time I go flying. Tim's CFI taught me to fly and I have had a couple of instances when her high standards approach to flying has made the difference between some very bad moments and some minor dry cleaning incidents. Training for safety far outweighs training for dollars only. I agree that recency is important. I find that even if I fly every fortnight, it takes a circuit or two to get back in the groove and the head in thew right place. Basically if you do it right and think about it it could save your ar.. one day and will help to strengthen the perception of you as a "competent" pilot. I can appreciate those pilots who are risk averse and fly to that level, but I also believe that to learn you have to push yourself a little to expand your horizons and knowledge.

I was chasing revs in a grey head engine and changed the main jet sizes. Burnt a hole in one of the pistons 300 ft about the airstrip on take off. Be very, very carefull when changing away from the recommended jets!!!!!!!

PM Old Man emu, a member of this site. I'm sure he can help you out.