bushcaddy105

While in the big city on Monday, I visited the Apple shop to compare iPads. Side by side, the Air2 definitely has less glare than the Air it has just replaced (and it has the fastest processor of all the iPads). Urged on by my wife (strange, that) I bought the Air 2 to replace my old faithful iPad Mk. 1. My aging and genetically defective eyes find the mini just too small to read in flight. A kneedock puts the screen at a comfortable focal length for my multifocal glasses when in the driver's seat.

I should have remembered from 40 years ago. I put wife on back of motorbike and discovered that she had to keep her head level with the horizon. Bank left, she'd lean right to keep her head level. No more pillion passenger! 8 years ago I convinced her to go flying and all was well ( and she enjoyed it) until we did a gentle circuit to land after a 90 minute cross country. Her head went to jelly and she lost the plot. It took the rest of the day and that evening in hospital until she could stand up and walk again. That's why I don't have a regular flying partner.

No problem with my 19 rego upgrade to 600Kg. when it first was possible. Done in October 2011. Only had to provide evidence from the kit manufacturer that the higher limit was approved and as the particular model had been approved as an LSA in Australia this was no issue.

a_jricho, No, it's not- I'm not good at explaining the idea! Don't twist the grip at all, the spring which keeps it centred also ensures that the fluid pressure is applied equally L & R. Twist the grip left or right and pressure is only applied to the relevant wheel. How much pressure is still determined by how much force is applied to the lever which is attached to the twist grip, so rotates with it. Only a few degrees of rotation is required, enough to cover one valve port and open another in each direction.

Use the same principle as the control valve in hydraulic power steering. Mount the lever on a twist grip rotating around the stick and couple this twist grip to the proportioning valve with a torsion spring. (Probably mount the valve at the bottom of the stick to allow easy connection to flexible hoses). This provides self-centering so that no twist gives equal L - R braking but increasing amounts of twist gives increasing bias to either left or right brake. The amount of braking pressure still depends on how much pressure is applied to the lever. I can visualize just how to make this work, but please don't ask me to draw it! My brain is also old, but it must have momentarily connected the dots. Trust the above is food for thought.

Thanks for the replies, fellow flyers. After absorbing the 27 pages of explanations I had completely overlooked the "in vicinity of" provision. All is well!

Regarding section 7, Radio Broadcasts Today I tried to digest the wisdom of this change, but must be a bit confused. I have occasionally flown in to Stirling North (the home of the Port Augusta Flying Club) for their regular Saturday sausage sizzle. This is a private airfield, owned by the club and 7 nm from Port Augusta aerodrome. YPAG is security controlled, has RPT, charter ops, a flying school and a busy RFDS base. 126.7 has up to now been a perfectly workable common frequency for ops at both sites. As Stirling North does not appear on charts or in ERSA, I read Part 7.3.1 of the CAAP to require Stirling North traffic to be on area frequency 123.9 Note 1 of this section makes this explicitly required for the benefit of transiting aircraft who may not be aware of Stirling North as an active airfield. Can anyone please explain to me why being on a different frequency to YPAG makes it easier and safer for me when visiting Stirling North? Or conversely, please explain the error of my interpretation of the CAAP.

I recently landed at Ayers Rock/Connellan. It took less than 2 minutes from shutdown for the security car to arrive and its contents to ask for my ASIC. The security officer was, however, very friendly and obliging. That only made it the second time in 6 years that I had been asked for the red card.

You'll need a BP card for Avgas at Ceduna. They don't do Visa or M/C. (As at 2nd July when I last fueled there)

Am I reading it correctly that the mandatory inspection is only required after maintenance as described has been carried out, and not required for an aircraft which, after the original inspection and sign-off, has not required dismantling of any control mechanisms? I'll get mine checked anyway, but the intent of the notice isn't clear to me.

I now fly with a carb body temperature gauge, and use varying amounts of carb heat to maintain at least +5 degrees. My setup has both hot and cold air going through the air cleaner with the carb heat able to go from full cold to full hot or anywhere between. By a lucky coincidence, the SU carby has a blanking plug in the ideal position between the jet and the throttle spindle, and the port is the exact size and thread to accept a VDO temperature sender. A smear of heat conducting grease ensures that it reads actual body temperature. It has been a revelation since fitting this gauge to see just how cold the carby can get in relatively warm outside conditions.

Are we missing the obvious as stated earlier in the thread? A properly engineered brake system will not allow a nose-over on run-up. Even with greater than normal pedal pressure a good system will allow the aircraft to creep forward once, for example, 75% power is achieved. With the stick fully back (as it should be!) a nose -over is pretty well impossible. Why look for technology to solve what could have been fixed by better engineering in the first place?

This may not be relevant to small aircraft tyres, but:- I also play with vintage cars and had trouble balancing 30 X 3 1/2 tyres on a Model T Ford equivalent wheel. The Model T club in the states put me on to glass beads as used in steering wheels on trucks. I didn't believe that this would work, but bought a kit to try to prove the idea one way or another. The results were startling , to say the least. With the car on a hoist you can spin the front wheels and as they come up to speed the beads distribute themselves to the lightest spots and all vibrations disappear as you hear the beads stop rolling around. We drove this 1923 car to Canberra and return last October and had zero balance problems ( nearly 3500Km). I'm not sure about the small diameter of Jab wheels, but is anyone up to trying it? Google "balance beads" for more info.

From the installation instructions which came with my Matco's, you ONLY use hydraulic oil. The cylinder and caliper seals are not compatible with auto brake fluid which also is hydroscopic (absorbs atmospheric moisture). The mil spec oil I purchased came in a sealed quart can, but looks and feels much like the red auto trans fluid, eg Dexron. III.

Currently trying to fly north to the APY lands to visit a friend. Called it quits yesterday at Glendambo when ground speed dropped below 50 kts. Camped overnight at the airstrip. While the wind swung from N to W overnight it dropped enough to head to Coober Pedy this morning. The last 40 miles was sheer hard work. Gusting 30 kts with up to 5 tailwind component. Windsock on 22 was dead horizontal and swinging. The eventual landing after 2 gust relaunches was surprisingly smooth! Now in the roadhouse waiting for the wind to drop, but no sign yet. That's my last flight story.

EA81's have a small bypass hose from the thermo housing (right alongside the thermostat body) back to the water pump inlet, thus ensuring a gradual warmup of the thermostat and preventing sudden opening or closing. It works well.

All of the above highlights one big advantage of a fully liquid cooled engine - hence the great track record of the Subaru EA81. The stock car thermostat (83 C) keeps the coolant between 80 and 100 under all conditions (with correspondingly low cylinder head temperatures) so thermal shock isn't an issue.

Sorry about the spacing of the above - I had it all spaced out with lots of space between the columns, but posting the message removed all of my careful layout. PM me if you would like a scanned copy of the original data sheet.

Here's the specs for a Wade 240, straight from the sheet that came with the camshaft Cam Lift Duration Adv Duration @ 050 Valve Clr Valve lift Cam Lift tdc Phase <) Intake 283 282 220 0.017 0.4126 054 109.5 Exhaust 283 280 220 0.017 0.4126 With all this info, any cam grinder should be able to produce the same specs. They seem to be pretty well ideal for the EA81 as we use them. The main difference from standard is higher lift, but you must check the rocker geometry. I had to lengthen my pushrods to accomodate the smaller base circle diameter of this cam, even after taking .040 off the head faces. I hope you get it all sorted!

Would be great for the power output, IF it was lighter. I haven't seen an actual weight, but it's not likely to be any lighter than the EJ series engines and they are too heavy to consider for RA-Aus aircraft. It also has the unnecessary complication of variable valve timing on both inlet and exhaust - not needed for aircraft duty. I guess I'll have to stick with the old faithful EA81!

It's some years since my experience with importing a kit, but back then the rule had just come in:- If it's in a wooden crate and/or the crate contains any wood, it WILL be fumigated. I can't imagine that the rules would have softened any since then.

More thoughts on Natfly:- Having missed 2013 through registration delays, I again made the trip to enjoy the flying, the forums and the socializing. This being my 4th Temora after several Narromines. What I find disappointing is not the event, but the steady decline of homebuilt aircraft and particularly so the innovation that is part of that scene. Every year the emphasis seems to shift further towards the flashy GA substitutes with their $100k + pricetags. Is it any wonder that we recreational flyers are collectively assumed to be filthy rich by the general population, just because we own an aircraft? While not wishing to buy into the politics of proposed maintenance training, I came away from the relevant forums with the feeling that despite having spent over 1500 hours building my aircraft (including an engine conversion) I am not to be trusted to understand it enough to be allowed to continue maintaining and inspecting my creation without passing an exam and having to arrange for an L2/L4 inspection. Surely some form of recognition of prior learning should be allowed for. I will continue to fly for the enjoyment - Sunday's flight home was 7 hours of glorious flying despite headwinds.

As it just happens, I again intend flying my R80 to Natfly, arriving Thursday PM. Be aware, though, that mine is not standard issue as it is powered by a Subaru EA81. Otherwise you could visit me in Midnorth South Oz for a squiz.

The flying club at Stirling North (just SE of Pt. Augusta) has a LW they use for training, but I don't think there is a regular instructor available. They are at the field every Saturday and host a sausage lunch. Ring Ron at 0407 619 703. He can provide more info. I'm just a sometimes lunch visitor.

Yes it is a Metasokol. I know the aircraft and have flown in it. It is classed as a tailwheeler, with the tailwheel under the centre fuselage.