bushcaddy105

We live in a valley with 4 Telstra mobile towers within 15kM. No signal from any of them, all "over the hill". We feed our Celfi with a weak Telstra signal from a tower 27kM away. Good 4G most of the time, but some weather conditions drop it to 3G.

5G? What's that? Never likely to see it here! BUT, we live in a special spot and are happy to accept what we have.

On TV news tonight, no details, no video. Just that pilot was injured.

Years ago now, but 12 foot long crate in 8 X 5 trailer with 2 feet hanging out front and back (no gates). Had the advantage of me knowing how it travelled.

Very sad to read that Dave Briffa was one of the deceased. While having never personally met, Dave and I shared a common interest in that we both have rare GRAY cars from the early 1920's and Dave was very generous with information and literature when I restored mine in 2010/11.

My condolences to both families who I sincerely hope will eventually be advised of the cause of this event.

On 07/01/2024 at 1:21 PM, Jabiru7252 said:

Me (VK5KKS) and at least two others I know about.

In a (very much) past life, VK5ZFL. Never got round to Morse before marriage and a family provided other pastimes. Also 9SYM Mobile Outpost SSB for a while.

The BushCaddy family (no longer in production) used a modified Clark Y with a completely flat underside. Works well for me, with lots of lift and a benign stall at 32 knots indicated. That's without flaps. The R80 is the baby of the models and doesn't use them.

15 minutes ago, turboplanner said:

I went looking for the data; probably dropped the project when no SA country people (who'd appealed for assistance) wanted to make it a submission.

It may have been the July 2003 speed reduction on 1100 km of SA rural roads from 110 to 100.

10 km doesn't make a huge difference in trip time, but I remember looking at tradies who lived in Mount Gambier and were buiding hsoues in Penola, Robe, Bordertown etc. made a difference twice a day 5-7 days a week.

Some roads were dropped from 110 to 100Kph. One local one was the Goyder highway from Crystal Brook to Gulnare. Caused a ruckus, until independent MP Geoff Brock made it an election platform to restore the status quo.

He won, and achieved his promise. Have to remember, though, SA's roads are all 100Kph UNLESS signed otherwise. The otherwise is usually only national routes.

Not just aviation. South Australia's road deaths so far this year are way above 2022 numbers, particularly motor cyclists. Significantly, the majority of country road deaths are of country drivers.

From experience, if joining pipes from each head at a muffler, make sure that you include a flexible section in one side’s pipe. Otherwise the expansion and contraction with heat cycles will work the flange studs loose in the heads. Been there, done that!

ABC news photo shows a power pole, possibly on a SWER line, at the edge of the burnt area and close to the wreckage. May or may not be significant.

13 hours ago, old man emu said:

The granting of a patent is a complex business. A patent application must include a specification of the invention, which contains instructions adequate to enable a skilled person in the relevant area of technology to produce or perform the invention. The specification must also indicate the ‘claims’ that define the invention; that is, the scope of protection that the applicant is seeking. Australian patent law recognises two types of patent applications—provisional and complete. Provisional and complete applications may be filed to obtain either a standard patent or an innovation patent. A provisional application need only contain a description of the invention. Often, an inventor files a provisional application before all the details of an invention are known. The applicant then has 12 months to file a complete application.

Too true! Back in the 1980's I took out a provisional patent on an air suspension system for small trailers after taking out a section prize in the Royal Adelaide Show's Farm Invention Competition.  That's when I learnt that patent protection is only for the big players, and then it is only effective in countries that subscribe to the Geneva Patent Convention. Two examples of countries that don't are Spain and (surprise!) China. Even back in the 80's it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars just for a few countries. I still have all the paperwork to remind me of how naive I was as a young fella!

3 hours ago, Bosi72 said:

You've answered the question yourself..

Not sure of your answer, Bosi72. We live on the eastern side of Spencer Gulf under Class G airspace, as is Port Pirie aerodrome from where I fly - nowhere near the restricted area. My comment was sounding out the possibility of military aircraft  heading for Cultana.

Please explain ???

Is there a way of finding out what military flights occurred in your area?

Yesterday morning (Mothers Day) at 0810 local a very fast, pure jet sounding aircraft passed low overhead. We raced outside, but it was out of sight.

Perhaps significantly, the army's Cultana training area restricted airspace was active at this time.

My thoughts were:- What if I had chosen that moment to conduct an inspection flight over our neighbourhood? 

59 minutes ago, turboplanner said:

Almost certainly Harold, right location anyway.

No, certainly NOT Harold Clisby. I knew Harold back in the 70's when his primary business was manufacturing air compressors which to this day have a very good reputation. Harold was by then a very successful businessman who dabbled in many hobby interests as well - his small scale steam locomotives being one notable passion. He built an extensive track network at his Teringie Heights estate. The chap to whom I refer was the opposite - a battler who worked from a small shed at the back of a run-down house, surrounded by scree-slope piles of engine and gearbox pieces. His passion was his speedway cars, not his business! I did attend Rowley Park on several occasions, and coincidentally my son"s wife's father used to race there.

14 hours ago, turboplanner said:

Harold Clisby?

No. I can't remember his name. He ran a small business rebuilding gearboxes and engines for speedway cars both for his own cars and for clients. He was on Churchill Rd. Kilburn, opposite the then SA Railways workshops.

4 hours ago, Area-51 said:

In the mid 60's a couple of brothers in Newcastle i think built a Daimler SP250 drag car that ran without any inlet or exhaust valves

In Adelaide in the 1970's I met a guy who had built rotary valve heads for Holden grey motors. They ran in speedway cars at Rowley Park

Heavy duty jumper lead cable. Many, many strands of thin copper so flexible. Soldered ring terminals at ends to suit. Glue lined heat shrink over terminals to insulate and keep moisture out.

On 12/04/2023 at 7:49 PM, bushcaddy105 said:

It's easy enough to make an acrylic right angle bracket with the suction cup on the base and the SkyEcho on the vertical. It will then ideally meet the recommended mounting position when on top of the panel looking forward. To make sure the suction cup stays stuck I smeared mine with silicone adhesive/sealant before mounting. I don't remove it from the aircraft as its power is supplied from a 2 amp USB outlet behind the panel. 

I'll take pics on Friday when at the hangar, and post on Friday night.

47 minutes ago, kgwilson said:

The suction cup is fine so long as there is not much if any curvature of the acrylic surface and the acrylic has no scratches on the mounting location. The cup must be kept very clean but never moistened. Mine has never fallen off

The suction cup wouldn't hold for long on the slightly curved and painted alloy deck above the panel, hence the adhesive. 

It's easy enough to make an acrylic right angle bracket with the suction cup on the base and the SkyEcho on the vertical. It will then ideally meet the recommended mounting position when on top of the panel looking forward. To make sure the suction cup stays stuck I smeared mine with silicone adhesive/sealant before mounting. I don't remove it from the aircraft as its power is supplied from a 2 amp USB outlet behind the panel. 

I'll take pics on Friday when at the hangar, and post on Friday night.

Thanks for the reply, Turbs

Yes, some people may have difficulty with restrictions. It comes down to planning, preparation and flexibility. I have flown many interstate trips "low and slow", for example in to CTA at Avalon for display at the airshow more than once. Dodging CTA down the East coast isn't impossible, just a matter of being flexible with regards to weather and restricted airspace. We are all recreational flyers - why complicate our sport by carving it up into defined chunks? Let us all enjoy the amount of "rules" with which we are confortable.

9 hours ago, turboplanner said:

Who was to know that as soon as AUF was set up to allow people to build their own aircraft using small two stroke engines and basic materials, and fly locally without the complications of navigation, older people who couldn't meet the medical standard for PPL would migrate into it, manufacturers would come up with aircraft which looked like GA aircraft, bigger engines would be fitted, people would try to use them as touring aircraft and want to fly town to town and into cities and cross country, but still with the exemptions they'd been granted for local flights. 

Turbs, what's your argument against 19- and 24-  registered aircraft (which have bigger 4-stroke engines and look like a GA aircraft) being used as cross-country tourers? They still have to be flown by qualified pilots under the same rules e.g. equipment carried, airspace, radio procedures, etc. The only real difference is no CTA, not wanted anyway in my case. What exemptions do I fly under?

Way back in 2006 I installed an Odyssey AGM. 8 years later I started to worry about its lifespan so replaced it and used the old one in the ride-on mower. It is still in service 9 years later! 

Expensive, but very small self-discharge when idle, and easily spins the Subaru. Significantly, in the aircraft it is charged by a 40 amp Denso automotive alternator with inbuilt voltage regulator. 

I'm not sure how these batteries go with permanent magnet alternators and PWM regulation as in Jabiru engines. 

Back to chokes - (I am late to this thread). I use the choke cable assembly from a 1980's Subaru, and my 1990 Suzuki Sierra has the same setup. The pull knob can be set anywhere in its travel and is held there by an electromagnet. When a coolant temperature sensor decides that no choke is needed (and this is quite soon after starting), the magnet releases and a spring returns the cable to the off position. You still have manual control but if distracted it looks after you.

Hey watch it! I'm one of those "old farts" who happens to also restore vehicles and machines as well as fly. The video certainly mimics a single cylinder, twin flywheel Lister 4-stroke diesel commonly called a CS (for "cold start"). I have a 6 HP at 400 rpm example built in 1946. It worked for 50+ years driving a pump at Wirrabara Forest in Sth Aust and the only issue when it was taken out of service and replaced was a blown head gasket. That's all it took to have it running sweetly again. Throttled back to just above idle it's exposed pushrods fascinate viewers who have never seen 4 stroke valve operation on an engine.