bushcaddy105

Correct, Ian

I tried to find the advertised Lowrance stand at Airventure 2009, but found another vendor at that site. The guys at Aircraft Spruce (Lowrance dealers) confirmed that as of July 2009 Lowrance were giving up aviation products to concentrate on their marine side, their main production range. A pity, because the Airmap 500 I use has proved to be a great little unit, and I am still looking for a 600c to upgrade to a colour unit.

There is probably a good chance that you could pick up a used 2000c on eBay - my stored search for a 600c keeps turning up the 2000c, but not a single 600!

Can't help but add my feelings too:-

My ASIC is due for it's 2nd renewal, i.e. my 3rd ASIC. I've dutifully followed the steps, paid my pound(s) of flesh, and carried it wherever I've needed to. This amounts to about 4 or 5 locations per year, usually on my way to or from Natfly or Avalon and then only when I need to stop for Avgas.

How often has it been required? Once only, and that was when I was wearing it around my neck but it had blown inside my open jacket. And that at a country NSW airport.

If it really meant extra security, and was regularly checked, I would accept the need for an ASIC. But when country SA airports have 100 metres of security fence before anyone can walk around the end of this fence and on to the movement area I fail to appreciate the logic. These airports are often only attended by airline and operator staff immediately before and after scheduled RPT flights (and not many of them, either) - otherwise the airfield is deserted.

Maybe I'm getting old and grumpy, but this is clearly just another tax impost on honest, gullible citizens. Please convince me that ASICS are good and useful!!!

(Soapbox now dismounted)

Gooday Darky

4 please - Slogan:- "Fly like never before" Name:- "BushCaddy"

Thanks & congrats,

Gooday Scotty

I'm always interested in alternative engines for U/L aircraft, and have put my hand up to chair a forum on this topic at Natfly this Easter. Never having even seen a Corvair engine in Oz, can you provide me with any details and/or pics of yours? Or even better, if you are going to Natfly would you like a spot to talk about them?

Happy building on the Piet - they surely rate as a classic aircraft.

PM me if you prefer

Sorry Mike, I'm not aware of any other BushCaddies ever going to Narromine. It must have been mine in 2007 and 2008. There is one in Qld. now based at Boonah, another at Townsville and a kit soon to be built somewhere else in Qld. Another one is rapidly nearing completion here in Midnorth SA.

PS We built our house before I built the BushCaddy. Big mistake - it held up the plane building by years! You've got the right idea, flying first.

Gooday Mike, not quite a Murphy builder, but close! I chose a BushCaddy from the other side of Canada (near Montreal) Similar mission and performance & I often get asked if mine is a Murphy. Great spot, Tyagarah - I camped overnight alongside the clubhouse a couple of years ago. (And poured down, too) It didn't look much used then, so things must have picked up since.

I trust you will get as enjoyment out of building the Rebel as I got with the BC

A Lowrance Airmap 500 (and I presume all its siblings) quite happily outputs (via a single wire) an NMEA signal to drive a TruTrak ADI

Unfortunately, as of July 2009, Lowrance have given up the aviation scene to concentrate on marine GPS. A pity - their Airmaps are a good unit, simple to drive

Gooday Mike from a South Australian BushCaddy flyer. Kit came from about 30 km west of Montreal, not all that far from you. We visited your part of the world back in June, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting some of the local flyers as we travelled. I would love to experience your winter flying, eg on skis, and would also appreciate more opportunity to use floats than we've got here. You live in a flyer's paradise!

Thanks, Jack, for your most informative reply. I will indeed seek info from Shell.

Aero oils in auto conversions?

More questions:-

What are your thoughts on the most appropriate oil to use in liquid cooled auto engines used in aircraft, running on 100LL Avgas? Aviation oils or auto oils?

For the record, I've had no problems using Castrol Magnatec 10W/40 (a semi-synthetic according to Castrol) in my Subaru, but am always open to a better alternative!

My humble opinion, backed up by many pilot authors I've read:-

If you regularly fly with a tailwheel, you can easily fly a nosewheel

Not so the other way round

Interesting to see the revival and success of the numerous Cub clones now on the market. Why is it so?

There was a brief thread back in 2006 which referred to one of Budd's web publications.

I happened to hear this guy speak at a forum at Airventure (Oshkosh) this year, and was impressed by what he could teach us all. He has an amazing website with all sorts of flying training tips, amongst many other assorted interests. Do yourself a favour by visiting

www.airbum.com You won't be disappointed!

Congratulations, betterth'nsix, what will you name the 230? How long until delivery?

This aircraft must get around!

I saw it in a hangar at Bundaberg the week before Easter, 2008, and was told that it belonged to a local who worked there.

Here's another shot - BushCaddy on approach at Waikerie, SA

OK Cazza,

If the demand is there, I'll gladly keep law and order with any interested takers. Current plan is to fly over on Thursday 1st, weather permitting. (It usually does!)

Just to stir the pot!

Gooday Liam,

There are a considerable number of us homebuilders (probably mostly with shallow pockets like me!) who dare to use liquid cooled auto engines, as the vast majority of auto engines seem to be. They have lots of advantages, eg reliability and low initial and maintenance costs, when compared with their air cooled (or combination cooled in the case of 912's) brethren. Their big disadvantage is an inevitable weight penalty, but with careful design this can be incorporated into many aircraft designs. The Subaru family, for example, have an established track record along this path, and I for one am looking forward to exploring the emerging small high-tech diesels (all liquid cooled) which are appearing in many car makers new offerings. Keep your mind open!

How about a round table session on alternate engines? There are a lot of us closely watching rapid developments in small auto engines, and may welcome the chance to come together to discuss ideas.

Ditto re the hospitality at Casino

I spent a couple of hours there in 2008 waiting out weather en route to Natfly. The local CFI entertained me with his superb R/C model helicopter flying, and the members provided a welcome coffee & cake. Local knowledge was freely offered as well as a bed for the night if I couldn't get away that day. And all this to a perfect stranger who just happened to fly in unannounced!

It saddened me tonight to go through my photos of this visit and see the beautifully maintained red Boorabee in the hangar - now sadly missed with its owner in tragic circumstances.

They are a great club, and deserve to prosper.

Haven't seen the need for the big tyres on my Bushcaddy R80; it does a pretty good job as a bushplane on the 15 X 6 X 6 as standard, even though it is supposed to be on floats. Check out bushcaddy.com for lots more details

No trouble, Chris

The EA81 is basically standard with the following exceptions:-

Most important change is the camshaft - mine is a Wade 240

Heads are stock EA81, with 1.00 mm milled off the face, the inlet valve seat inserts have the ridge above the seat removed to match the port diameter. Valves are standard.

I run an EA82 inlet manifold with an adaptor to take a single 1.75 inch SU carbie.

An EA71 crank pulley slows down the water pump & drives an alternator off a Daihatsu Charade. An Alfa Romeo 33 radiator is mounted in the bottom of the pressurised cowl. A normal 13 psi radiator cap and overflow bottle take care of coolant. No oil cooler is needed or fitted - air flow over the standard sump is sufficient. The muffler is homemade - it simply combines both cylinder banks into a single central outlet. The distributor is a modified Nippon Denso electronic unit. This all drives a Foxcon redrive turning a 72 inch X 60 pitch Bolly 3-blade prop.

There you have it! All I can say is that it continues to work well

Also G'day, Robert

I have recently returned from a visit to your great country, and would have driven somewhere close to you while passing through Quebec. I built and fly a BushCaddy, from just West of Montreal (Vaudreil, in fact), and visited the company while there. Great people: great aircraft. I'm a bit like you - my grandparents motto was "We'll wear out, not rust out", and that served them well until 91 and 98 yrs. I have adopted the same family motto.

My motoring fetish is Haflingers, a bit unusual for Australia, and head-turners whenever driven. I couldn't find any in Canada (and I looked!) Do you know of any?

Here's the requested update, Chris

BushCaddy 4564 has (as of this afternoon's flight) 335 hours of EA81 power. It has been as far as Bundaberg via Innamincka, been to 2 Avalons, 2 Narromines, 1 Edinburgh Air Show,1 Camel cup at Marree, several trips to Mildura and many shorter sorties inbetween. It has been flown by many other pilots, all happy!

So you can assume that I am quite happy with the conversion, and trust it implicitly. Only yesterday it had its first hiccup - an occasional miss on one cylinder. A lead fouled plug was the cause, not surprising as the same set of platinum plugs has done all those hours, with cleaning each 50 hr service, and a 99% of the time Avgas diet. I lashed out and fitted 4 new plugs - problem solved.

My installation is simple, as close to how the engine runs in a car as possible, and I estimate that with my mods it makes about 95 HP flat chat. I cruise at 75% power for 14 litres/hour. I personally take the claims of more than 100 HP from an EA81 with a grain of salt.

I trust that this gives you the info needed

Rejected Subaru?

Hi Rudi,

I'm curious as to why your Subaru was underpowered in the Savannah - perhaps it was direct drive, and not running through a propellor speed reduction unit?

I quite successfully fly an EA81 in my BushCaddy (a bigger and heavier STOL aircraft), and while I acknowledge that the Subaru installation is all up heavier by up to 20 Kg, the performance is comparable to the 912S

Gooday Reg, have we met along the way?