Downunder

I prefer thin soled shoes and what's important for me is the sole at the heal. As I'm tall, I look for a minimal "heal" on the shoe. This surprisingly makes a great deal of difference in the angle of my legs, height of my knees and angle of feet to rudder pedal. Generally "runners" these days seem to have massive protusions on the heal but bicylcle shoes don't so much, so I choose from them.

The irony also being an internet connection is required, perhaps a paid account and suitable device...... yet casa pushes the "fallibility" and unreliability of internet connections and devices......

The time taken to travel and litres per person are relevant. (Litres per person per hour?) X thousand people on a cruise liner taking weeks Vs X hundred people on an airliner taking hours...... And regarding pollution, I guess the type of fuel matters too..... Is it any worse than one person driving their car back and forth to work everyday by themselves?

All Aircraftspruce transeivers. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/categories/avionics_instruments/av/menus/av/comm.html The Trig TY91 looks good to me. I like the compact and simple "round" head. It looks more moden to me than the rectangular radios. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/ty91vhfradio.php $1500 usd will be about $2000 aud (Don't forget shipping, insurance, 10% gst on purchase and shipping, and gst recovery fee) So $1500 usd may end up closer to $2500 aud delivered I think....

I have an Xcom which gets a bit hot (needs ventilation) but works fine and has not failed me. Horsham Aviation Services have provided me with excellent service and very reasonable pricing.

I think of it more as "All of this gadgetry STOPS me getting into situations where my skills may be lacking". A situation totally avoided is better than one requiring skills to get out of (whether you have them or not) ? Burning your ass on a hot vinyl seat in shorts.....

What if the problem IS the chairman....?

I believe "rule of thumb" is the exit should be 3 times bigger in area than the air entry area.

Any oil or fuel leak into the airstream may cover the windshield. Perhaps flames, smoke and heat in the case of fire also....

An interesting article about the moving magnetic poles and navigation. Earth's magnetic poles are on the move, but it's nothing to flip out about https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-01-25/earths-magnetic-poles-are-moving-but-dont-flip-out/10727276

How did you go? Make the trip ok?

It seems to me that many people "past it" ( for want of a better term) conduct themselves fine in known and habitual circumstances. To an outsider they look competent and capable but start to fall apart in new and unusual circumstances where they can become confused and disorientated. They may well know this and very carefully orchestrate events to "prove" they are capable. Some have protective spouses and family which also mask failing mental and physical capabilities. So on the surface all may seem well, but unless tested, it maybe just habit and routine covering issues.

The youtube video of the Tiger moth accident with the wing walker always reminds me how suddenly it all happens and goes wrong. Stall and left turn spiral into the ground. I won't post it here as it's pretty horrific.

Are the domestic HF frequencies still used, or is the vhf reception pretty good Aus wide these days?

My fuel wing tank port is at the rear of the tank. In cruise the bottom of the tank slopes down slightly to the rear. My fear ( but it has never happened) is that on descent the remaining fuel runs to the front of the tank uncovering the port. I always run on the fullest tank during descent to manage that risk.

I'd be surprised if the was one. Tax paying Australians seem to come last in any investigation here at times, and anything foreign (illegal immigrants & missing airliners) and/or media worthy and politically advantageous are the first priority unfortunately......

I've worked at a smelter/refinery and the company knew exactly when they could "crank it up" with the right wind direction and strength, so the remote pollution sensor stations would not register. Generally this was done at night also, so it couldn't be seen. They got caught out when the local town was covered with a change in the wind. It turned dead calm and everyone woke up with "smog" covering the town. Company said it was an "accident" and it would be thoroughly investigated......lol....

Both aircraft cleared to the same height and heading, to the same destination, one minute apart? What could go wrong.......

At this time of year, fly high and leave early......very early, as in crack of dawn.

It will be hard in my opinion to find a local comany (freight forwarder) interested in a small private "sea" shipment. They will do it, but milk it for all its worth.... The best option would be to put it in a container that is already coming to Perth, such as someone bringing a car over and they are paying for a full container. Another option would be to go on a holiday and bring it back as luggage. 35kg each split between two people.......Not cheap a holiday for two to the usa, but atleast getting some value for your money. And possibly no gst..... remembering you pay gst on ALL costs (purchase and shipping) plus a fee for them to recover that gst. Fedex or dhl fee was 50 to 80 dollars from memory, just to pay the gst over the phone on CC...... I tried the Auspost "shopmate" service and found it expensive and would not use it again. Savings were minimal and found it more of a consolidation of costs into one bill, rather than consolidation of items into a cheaper package. It could be a very effective service but auspost "price gouge" it heavily. I still had to pay local usa rates (from the companies I bought off as well) to the usa warehouse, then wait for evertything to arrive and be registered on the shopmate system. Shipping to Australia was quite long and the items did not turn up together.....

I will probably cop some flack for this, but I'm very happy to have individual "taps" for each wing tank. I don't need to fly out of balance on purpose. Can run an individual tank down to a certain known level and isolate it there, knowing 100% there will be no transfer between tanks and that exact level will remain. I can leave more fuel in the right tank to help keep the aircraft balanced and wings level in flight, one up. Both tanks isolated while parked makes someone stealing the fuel harder. Isolated taps and locked doors. (They need to syphon and not just drain tanks) If parked across a slight incline, fuel does not cross transfer and drain out the breather. When taking off with both tanks full, I can run each for 10 mins, taking the top off each. I have also run a tank empty in flight (controlled situation) and fuel did NOT begin to flow to the engine when the "full" tank tap was opened. Only when the empty tank tap was closed. Meaning the mechanical fuel pump kept trying to pull from the empty tank until it was shut off. (This seems to be the reason for this crash but they had no tap to shut off on the empty tank to get fuel flowing from the full tank. The horror of knowing you have fuel in one tank but can't get it to the engine!) For me, after closing the empty tank tap it took about 2 or 3 seconds for the engine to resume to normal operation. Note. The engine never stopped running, it lost power and "spluttered". As I knew exactly what was happening, my corrective measures were instant. Quite possibly in a "real" situation the engine would have stopped as the shock of the situstion and fault finding would have taken time.

I brought in similar in a LCL. Probably took up less than 10% of a container but recon I paid 3/4 of a full container. And don't let me get started on the 16 or so "port" charges..... Overall I saved bugger all on air freight, lots of paperwork, stuffing around and it took months longer to arrive. It would have actually been far cheaper to wrap and send each individual part by mail. You live and learn. There are specialist airfreight companies besides the usual fedex etc out there but I think 70kg will never be economical. What could be a great buy in the USA might turn out to be more expensive than new here......after delivery.

It took me 6 months and a few calibrations to get my fuel flow meter working accurately. But it's within a few percent of actual usage. "Quite accurate" would be the term I would use. My gauges (2) are spot on at the calibrated 1/2 level and when the low level light comes on I have 10 litres left in that tank. Cross referencing the flow (which has fuel used) and level sensors has given me very good fuel management. This company claims to have a level gauge that is within 0.5% accurate. http://www.beliteaircraftstore.com/fuel-probe-system/

Maybe it's a "sign" he should think about hanging up his headset....

You may gain a bit but a proper sealed airbox is really the only effective solution... If you look at "marine vents", you will have alot more choice... https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2323012.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC0.A0.H0.Xmarine+vent.TRS0&_nkw=marine+vent&_sacat=0