TechMan

I will post it on the forum as waiting for it to appear in the magazine will take a few months. A report has been received of a failure which will affect all aircraft and will need to be rectified before next flight. Whilst the details are still being investigated, it is envisaged that all aircraft owners and operators will be required to inspect their aircraft for compliance with the forthcoming alert bulletin. The failure is interestingly in the cockpit area, which makes it common to all aircraft. Regardless of the care taken by aircraft owners in maintaining their aircraft, the defect only occurs once the aircraft's seats are occupied. We are presently stumped on what can be done about it, so any input from the field is gladly accepted. Please reply here and don't email me directly. Thanks Techman

I had a look at it, and whilst there is a lot of work to be done, it is a fairly simple repair. Is it worth it? Well, it would be for someone who has just spent 4 years or more building it. Is it viable? It would be for a professional repairer if the wreck could be purchased cheap enough. As for the owner, the question of how much money to throw at it, compared to selling the aircraft as is and putting the money spent on repairs towards a second hand aircraft and just going flying as quickly as possible would come into consideration, though then you are purchasing someone else's problems which may cost more to fix in the end. As a side, the aircraft will be repaired, so I guess that answers the decision made. Chris

Thanks Dave, I ask only as I have not seen any application for acceptance of the LS model under factory built regs. Cheers Chris

Narromine is great for that. People like to talk much more than write reports. I was told that there have been up to 10 through bolt failures in Jabiru engines in the South Australia region alone. I know of four. Beats me how we get people to report these things. I will put into motion an online reporting page on the website, which will give back a confirmation receipt number, or something along those lines. That way, if we in the office believe we did not receive a report, you can give us the receipt number so that we can track it down. The office is still busy even when no work comes in on a particular day (which never happens). Chris

Folks, Rest assured that the situation is being looked into. There are other factors that are involved in this failure that need to be looked into. Age of aircraft, landing cycles, environment and maintenance practices. We all know that the back end of any aircraft utilising a tail gets vibration from propwash and certain areas need to be looked at during regular maintenance. Is this part a definite fatigue area? Is it a one off? Was this aircraft involved in a previous 'knock' to the tail section? RA-Aus knows that this particular aircraft suffered moderate damage back in 2000. Was that a contribution to this failure? As you can tell, there are many factors to consider. As this was a serious airframe failure, the positives on this issue are that a) the pilots were unhurt and b) we get to learn something important which we can inform and advise the rest of the world on. I will work with Tony on providing a solution for the Thruster community. Let's hope it is a one off, though let's rather be sure of that after inspecting the affected area. Regards Chris

Hi WestCoast, I take it all CTLS are going to be LSA registered? Regards Chris

You will have a problem there as no manfucturer will sign out a statement of compliance under LSA for a 4 seater (with the rear seats removed). If and once you register the aircraft LSA however, you cannot re-register it as VH Experimental. The aircraft will remain as LSA, as the manufacturer has signed it out as being such. Once a duck, always a duck. Chris

Not wanting to blow our own horn on this issue, the inspector training along with the procedures and handouts that have been implemented into the 'go' kits that our investigators have access to is running pretty much at 'worlds best practice'. From doing the Cranfield Accident Investigator course run by ATSB (Cranfield investigators were heading up the Lockerby disaster), the procedures we teach our investigators are not very different at all as to how those chaps do it, albeit on a much larger scale for them. Unfortunately, the process of accident reporting is slowed down due to the agencies involved in reporting the facts. RA-Aus is simply there to ASSIST the Police with their investigation. RA-Aus has no jurisdiction or say in anything on an accident site, though through good relations and positive communications, RA-Aus offers assistance to the Police, which has yet to be turned down by them. RA-Aus compiles a report for the Police, if ATSB gets involved with parts checking, then an ATSB report is also compiled and both reports go to the Police to be included in their report to the Coroner. The RA-Aus reports are generally done fairly quickly. After that it is out of RA-Aus' hands. Considering the money pool that we have compared to ATSB, I don't think we do too bad. Chris

In light of the HKS alert, the manufacturer is recommending the use of purely synthetic oils in their engine and the running of Avgas or 100LL. HKS and indeed Rotax say their maximum level of Ethanol content that can be used in their engines is 5%. Considering that Australia will be heading for 10% ethanol foreseeably, it will pose the question of whether to remain with Mogas or switch to Avgas. The question therefore, for those chemists out there is, what affect does 100LL have on full synthetic oils? I am wondering if the band aid fix that HKS are suggesting in their service bulletin will actually work, or whether it will exacerbate the problem with the valve guide, forcing the eventual replacement anyway? Chris

I tend to agree with Brent. The cessna's and piper's are solidly built aircraft, and built to much more stringent standards than a lot of our current trainers. You don't hear of Cessna's or Pipers losing their undercarriage legs or veering off runways due to overcontrol every second week. Yes, students still bang them in and wheelbarrow them down the strip, though they are much more forgiving than some of our trainers. The extra weight however, will give the chance for sturdier airframes in the current crop of rec aircraft ( I am talking factory built's here). With regard to maintenance on old corroded Cessnas and pipers however, this will be an issue that will need to be addressed. The argument, in a flying school aircraft, continues to be that the aircraft is maintained by a level 2 to the highest standard, and this is where the control of Audit and inspection will continue to be. For private flyers, you make sure you continue to maintain your aircraft to the manufacturer's standards. Having said that, the issue will be on the side of training our maintenance personnel and making available courses that can be attended to achieve the rating to be able to look after school aircraft. Certainly, the new suite of maintenance regulations from CASA will go towards attaining an L2 rating, for those interested in attaining AME or LAME qualifications. There continues to be no reason for private pilots to request the services of L2's, AME's or LAMEs to conducted their maintenance work if they feel they are not competent enough to do the work themselves. Chris

Unfortunately for Birdbrain, he forgot to include GST, Fuel surcharge, landing fee's, ASIC renewal costs and a recent 300% increase in interest rates (as the Millenium master is owned by the bank), which, just by opening the canopy on the aircraft made him liable for a bill of $392.75. Iain was rubbing his hands together with glee. Bugger me, Birdbrain thought..

I am not sure what extra complexity you mean Mick. We already have all the complexity that the lower end of GA have, if not more. Retracts, CSU, Floats, Amphibs, auto pilots, glass cockpits, rescue systems etc etc 750kg would allow aircraft like the C150/152, early pipers, RVs to join the ranks if they wished. It would still not allow helicopters, gas turbines and the like to join up. Chris

I can issue you with Stig authority. Simply fill in the application form to become a Stig, along with 3 references by 3 individual Stigs who can vouch for your becoming a Stig and send it to Top Gear. Won't make you fly any better...but you never know. :) (I can see images of two Stigs squeezed into a Jab LSA55 complete with burn suits and helmets)

Do Virgin Blue fly up there these days? I thought Qantas had a strangle hold on Port M (Judging by the last time I got a price to fly there from Canberra - I could have bought my own plane for the ticket price)

At least you have a shed Ian, mine are forced to park outside!! Chris

Thank You A big thank you to the rumour monger and his disciples for the most wonderful flowers and gifts that arrived very unexpectedly at the hospital. Nardi and I were amazed at what arrived and she will surely enjoy using the bag of goodies. Sam was born on Saturday weighing in at 3.12kg and 51cm. A cruisy kid who likes to eat sleep and poo his pants, has his parents wrapped around his finger already, is a joy to us both and his big (step) brother. Thanks again Ian. Let the sleepless nights begin... yey :-) Chris

If you're not familiar with the work of Boswell D. Rabbitsmith, he's the famous erudite scientist who once said: "I woke up one morning, and all of my stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates." Here are some of his gems: 1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize. 2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back. 3 - Half the people you know are below average. 4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 5 - 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good. 7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 8 - If you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain. 9 - All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand. 10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. 11 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend, but she left me before we met. 12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark? 13 - How can you tell when you're out of invisible ink? 14 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. 15 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 16 - When everything seems to be coming your way, maybe you're in the wrong lane. 17 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not being smart enough to be lazy. 18 - Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now. 19 - I intend to live forever... so far, so good. 20 - If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? 21 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. 22 - What happens if you get scared half to death...twice? 23 - My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder." 24 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name? 25 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. 26 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. 27 - Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. 28 - The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread. 29 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research. 30 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up. 32 - Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film. 33 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?

Just a quick note to all of you who fly past / through / around the Temora area, that there will be an extra 67 aircraft (not including around 10 towplanes) in the air around the central west from the 14th to 25th January. This will include turnpoints in the attached list. Please be extra careful when flying through this airspace. Whilst most should be on the area frequency, a lot of gliders will be on their chatter frequencies of 122.5, 122.7, 122.9. Remember that you will not see these aircraft until they are very close, being mainly white and very thin profile, unless they are turning. Please make a note of not flying at cloud base or underneath cloud streets as this is where the majority will be cruising at anything up to 130kts generally and weighing up to 850kg! All of these pilots will be wearing parachutes - will you? There should be a NOTAM out about this, so check that. The official website is http://joeyglide.com/MulticlassNationals/tabid/211/Default.aspx Please call the office there and ask for the assigned tasks for the day and they will be able to tell you which way the aircraft are headed for the day. Launching usually starts between 10am and midday, so flying through there early should be fine. Please feel free to drop in, stay the night and watch the action also. The homecoming finishes are simply magical and worth a great photo opportunity for the photo comp here :-) Chris waypoints.doc waypoints.doc waypoints.doc

Forgot to ask Don, what power settings are you using in a cruise? Do you have the new carby jets installed? Chris

Don, What speed are you climbing out at? There are some who climb out at 80knots just to get the cooling happening better. Admittedly, that is not the best practice for circuit work, though can help for navs etc. I would also recommend testing the sender unit. Also get in behind the panel and make sure the spade connectors are supplying a proper connection to the avionics, as I have had some reports of the wiring/connectors causing issues. Chris

That probably because Jabiru don't want to authorise the use of other propeller brands on their aircraft. Being LSA, it is up to the manufacturer to authorise any modification on the aircraft. CAR35 engineers cannot be used for approval of modifications on Light Sport Aircraft. If you decide to say stuff it and operate the aircraft our a GT (for example) without the manufacturer's approval, then you are operating outside of the Special certificate of airworthiness and CASA undoubtedly has a whole range of penalty units that can be applied to that. Remember that the SCoA is a CASA issued document and has nothing to do with RA-Aus. If you breach the conditions of the SCoA, then you deal with CASA. Chris

Polishing perspex used on glider canopies, I personally use the 3 inch buff made up of cotton sheets, on a speed variable polisher. Admittedly, this is a very high risk way to do it, but it works fine none the less and gets rid of any over spray and fine scratches. Note: This does not use a circular buffing motion on the canopy. Done properly, it polishes in line with the direction of flight. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME (or in the hangar) unless you know exactly how to use a polishing machine properly and have the right wax for it. I am simply putting in my 2c worth as to other ways it could be done. Chris

Hope its not written elsewhere in the postings Ian, but what sort of foam is it? Doesn't look like a standard divinycell or Rohacell type foam used in sandwich composite construction that I am aware of. Chris

If you do get one, make sure you take the pin out before you go flying, otherwise you may aswell not get one. Chris

Mal, as a side issue, you cannot register brand X ELSA in Australia unless there is an SLSA version of the aircraft. See AC21-42: 6.8 Manufacturing kit built LSA 6.8.1 An LSA kit is not required to follow the 51 percent rule as required for other experimental kit aircraft. However, before a kit built LSA can be accepted for an experimental certificate, the manufacturer will need to produce a production aircraft issued with a Special Certificate of Airworthiness in the LSA category of the same make and model. (Refer to CASR 21.191(j)(iii)) You are correct in your assumptions Mal. That is one of the 'features' of LSA. (Microsoft always have features and not Bugs) Flight conditions are listed in CAO95.55. Whether you fly LSA or normal factory built/amateur built, the limitations are the same, as the Order defines the limitations based on the category of aircraft. Chris