David2ayo

Until today, I hadn't realised that a Beechcraft King Air was a 2-seater modified Cessna Jet. Pity the poor bugger flying it back to the real owners. The drug dogs would go ballistic if their noses got within 100 metres of the thing! David

Working yesterday, so couldn't attend. Put in a bid through a friend for $750, but apparently sold for $2500. Don't know whether that was without fees (although clearing sales are generally exempt from theft by "Buyers Premium") and GST. David

Great day Saturday, in spite of a 4 hour layoff. Visited the museum while waiting, well worth it, my son went to the Matt Hall talk, loved it, got the signed hat as well. A couple of planes provided some entertainment landing in the midst of the high winds, apparently successfully although I didn't see them taxi in to the show area ... Caught up with OK, yes I should have announced my intentions but a bit busy (read: disorganised). David

Sometimes I think bowden cables or rods are more reliable - what you see is what you get. Automotive fluid Dot5 is the silicon version, as used in some American military vehicles and Harley Davidson motorbicycles. For some reason, probably hatched after a heavy night at a local alehouse, Dot 5.1 is back to a 'normal' glycol based fluid. I suppose one test is to put some on a painted surface - silicon fluid doesn't harm it, glycol will. Once you've figured out what you should use, then put labels EVERYWHERE to indicate what it should be!

Thats not a silly picture at all! Well, maybe it could be a "blonde copilot ....

Has it just let it out, or is it about to eat it? David

- And you really wouldn't want to see it fart ....

I personally think its a real bummer

I was walking down the road today and saw my Afghani neighbor, Abdul, standing on his fifth floor apartment balcony shaking a carpet. I shouted up to him, “What’s up Abdul, won’t it start?”

Battery maximum charge voltage may have been the culprit in some of the cases mentioned above. If the "smart" charger is expecting to charge to (say) 14.8 volts, and the battery chemistry won't go above 14.2 volts, then you have a problem. If the aircraft regulator is fairly basic (say something like the zener regulator on an early motorbike) then it won't let the battery charge above its regulating voltage, so will never "fully charge". I don't know what the charge system is like in a Jab, so not sure whether trying to take the voltage above the aircraft's usual max voltage will cause catastrophic failure in the aircraft regulator. I suspect that there is more than one contributing factor here. David

Peter, you should have read the fine print BEFORE you bought it! David

Check out the Belite turn indicator in the Clear Prop shop - may do what you want, not on special order and lets the wallet live another day. David

Aero Club drinks ths afternoon, so I will take a temperature camera along and do some measurements. If I can, will break into some aircraft and measure some internal temps as well. Don't worry, for my own safety I will wear a black hoodie and dark sunglasses so the Gestapo won't see me. David

Probably best bet is a Punkin Head cover or similar, I'd suggest a gazebo on an airport is a oops-oh-dear-didn't-think that-could-happen event waiting (a good gust of wind and off they go visiting). Failing that, a standard medium-price tarp with a blanket under to prevent scratches, if you are staying at Dubbo PM me and I will assist. Part 2. Is it better for heat effect, to park on the sealed apron or on the grass? Everyone seems to aim for the sealed, but here (Dubbo) there seems to be plenty of spare Celcius, so whats the thoughts? David

Interesting to see in the comments, the Hurricane supporters are out in force - I gather that the Spitfire was faster but the Hurricane could turn tighter, so a combination of the different a/c would really upset the Luftwaffe. Thanks Phil for bringing yet another fascinating article to our attention! David (yes, I'm back).

Now, the question is, wot is dis??? 1. It farted. 2. The owner decided the empennage took the MTOW over the limit 3. Some bright spark thought by extending the fuselage tube the rudder authority would be improved. 4. Medieval re-enactments with swords in the hangar went wrong 5. It wouldn't fit on the trailer. 6. Come on, I've given you 5, switch on your own grey matter! Your replies, on the back of an envelope, posted to c/- Watsonia PO, VIC 3087 will be ignored. David

I checked out the reference, but none of them are long enough to fit Old K. (he's such a lanky bugger!) Suggest you go to Police Forensics, they seem to have some pretty good water and smell-tight zip-up bags. David

My impressions of Airventure. Cost - reasonable, 3 day on-line ticket worked for me. Displays and trade - loved the BushCat, the Kelpie and the Quicksilver, Thursday was a good day to talk to the dealers as the crowd wasn't there. Friday was good too, the weather kept all but the diehards away. Shame that Jabiru couldn't make it, not their fault but it would have been nice to have a recorded presentation. Swap and sell was a good idea, hope it will be better supported next time. On-field PA either dominated if closeup or couldn't be heard properly if at a distance, and intruded terribly into the seminars. One part of my business is PA, and it disappointed me. Main tent exhibits good, couldn't find headset adapters (GA to Heli) so will need to order from Ian. Seminar tents with airconditioning! A bit noisy, but hey! If it had been a real scorcher (not unknown in Narromine) would have been essential. SAAA took their talks up to their hangar, good in some ways but not good if you wanted to get 'a bit of this and a bit of that'. Food ok, but I brought my lunch from home so not sure of value. Did buy cups of tea, that was nice. Security. Really! it was about as sensible as ASIC. For the amount they would have spent on that horrible 6 foot fence they could have employed / coerced some extra marshalls and had a safer and friendlier outcome. Made it very difficult to walk the aircraft parking area, which is a good way of seeing real in-use machinery and their accessories. A low mesh fence, a few sets of sensible eyes watching and a firm message on arrival (PA and written) to keep clear of active taxiways will work better. Airshow - Roulettes are just so polished (although did one wingman drop back briefly once?)(says someone who has difficulty pointing in the right direction let alone getting speed right). Good variety for the rest, Matt Hall was scary, A real highlight -met up with Old Koreelah, Storchy Neil, MartyG and his wife. Would have liked to have met the other forumites, but they probably were scared I'd take the pith out of them... Only took a couple of photos (sorry Peter), my son got a few, will post them as I get time. Will I go again? in spite of its imperfections, yes. of course, easy for me, just 40km down the road. David

Just about to head out to Narromine for the last day - weather good, yesterday damp but didn't stop the action. Saw a cute Jodel, green, yellow, black, white patches - I don't care how pretty some of the aircraft on display were, to see a real working fun machine made my day. Sunny today, so will be wearing my pith helmet. David

Marty, follow the keeper talks at the Zoo, you will get a lot more out of it. A quiet day, which gave me a chance to talk to some of the vendors without feeling rushed. I'm the long-haired geriatric wearing a pith helmet - its not bullet proof, so will give you blokes a chance. Hopefully will catch up with you all over the next 2 days David

This thread reminds me of the common Biblical misquote "God so loved the world he did NOT send a committee". In the real world, trying to control a bunch of egotistical aviators who haven't yet realised that the best ground transport is a Land Rover must be very tiring, and I am very appreciative of the efforts of Ian in running the forum so far. No matter who is at the top, the members will make it work, so I feel if we all keep doing what we are doing now, we will still have the best Aviation forum on the net. David

Focusing on pilot skills is important, for sure, although unfortunately pilots are human (some of them). "B767-300 is equipped with a tail skid" (ATSB Report), not that it would do much protection, more telltale evidence. The APU drain probably protected some of the bodywork. A 'full-noise' tailstrike could really do some damage, I suspect most of the tailstrikes are fairly gentle, so a sacrificial pillar could help. Not a pad - not enough absorption of impact. Compare the old chrome bumper with the plastic versions, much kinder on idiot pedestrians. Of course, hanging extra junk underneath then reduces your maximum takeoff angle, so more strikes ... David

OK, hindsight is always 20 20 vision, but .... Surely a sacrificial tailskid would be in order here - something strong enough to protect the a/c, absorb some of the impact to prevent further damage and be not critical for flight. It could even have a tie-down hole in it, sort of doubling as a plimsol line as well as somewhere to hang the miscreant pilot (in effigy of course) (unless you fly for North Korea). Sorry guys, overdosed on stupid pills today David