BirdDog

I am with you mate. Think of it from the pilot's point of view! He quite possibly nearly died, and all gets on here is schoolyard laughing and giggling at his expense. I am sorry - if that's the "Aussie way" then we have serious issues. I am not saying we should all become numb robots without a sense of humour - but seriously - We need to think about it. Ask me how I know!!!

I just wish people would not be so quick to laugh at someone else’s misfortune. How quick some are to turn on their own. I thought we were a community. Maybe I should not assume. Poor form.

Wow. Again. At least the pilot is ok, that’s the best outcome.

Not really! We started commercially in drones in 2006. So been in the game 12 years - long before the word "drone" was a thing. We went on to start Australia's first multirotor drone training certified by CASA in 2014. The industry is booming, but only in the last 5 years or so. Before that, we were geeky dudes playing with strange tech! LOL!

I have just ordered one of the prebuilt units! I wished I had time to tinker myself, but alas, no. :( I will let you know how it goes when it lands.

Yeah I guess. But look at the result. :( Sad for the owner. Not sure about the Jab, but it would take me less than 5 minutes to pull the battery from my Sporty. I guess it could be a bigger job in some birds.

I will agree with the above. My industry literally runs on batteries, and the dangers associated with them are real. Ok, ours are mainly Lithium based batteries, and they can be very nasty, but the problem more lies with the electronics in whatever charger you are asking to charge them. I have a growing list of clients that have lost houses, cars, boats, and more recently the life of a young drone operator to a battery fire. Please don't get complacent peeps. Batteries can be nasty little things when it all goes wrong. I know it's after the fact, but I would never charge a battery while still mounted in the plane, car, boat, bike or anything else for that matter. Charge in a clear well vented area. PS - My motorcycle was supplied with a battery tender setup, and I won't even use that. If I need to charge the battery, I yank it from the bike.

My question would be more of why not remove the battery from the plane to charge it?

Yep! Agreed. It's only a matter of time. Be very careful flying over an Airfield. If it's an Airfield that is registered with CASA - as in - AD, ALA, HLS, or the like, it's a $9000 fine, regardless if the owner said you can! It's actually written into legislation, and not just a CASA decision. I know a number of individuals that have been caught out on that one. Recreational or Commercial - it's the same.

having been in the drone industry commercially now for over 12 years, I can tell you we are only at the tip of the iceberg! Detection is not as easy as you think! I have been working with a variety of technologies (all of which currently are not legal to operate) and it's not simple. Even law enforcement need to get serious exemptions in place in order to use this tech. The drone gun displayed for the comm games was just that - "displayed". The current regulations do not allow for any means to take down a drone, be it a commercial drone, or a recreation drone. Doing so could see you face 7 years in the big house. Sounds mad I know, but recently legislation was changed, and now they are all defined as "aircraft", so they are covered by many laws that most don't know exist. We are yet to see a serious incident with drone tech here in Aus, but with drones that you can buy at JB-HiFi having a range of 7kms out of the box, it won't be long I am afraid. :( My biggest fear is LSA meets Drone = Disaster. I have missed one already just off my wing at 1000ft. Bloody scary.

They fly amazingly well. Very stable and very predictable. Comfy enough, although I would love some higher backed seats. But that would restrict access to the storage behind the pilots.

Thanks and Yeah - she is certainly a nice machine to fly.

Evektor Sportstar

I have no idea on that question! Mine came factory fitted. I cruise nicely in calm air at about 5300rpm, WOT at about 115kts

I agree with the above - simply pulled too tight in a slow turn. :( Poor bastards.

My Sporty has a Woodcomp in flight adjustable.

Oh Dear. :( Let's hope he is OK.

I just pulled all 4 plugs on my 912ULS at the recent 100 and all were fine. I run mostly Mogas, but use avgas when I’m out and about. When you say fouled... how bad? Do you have a pic? I would firstly organize a leak down test to rule any of that out first and foremost. You don’t want to be chasing your tail. If that checks out, next step is idle mix. Check and set and rule that out. Make sure your carbs are balanced, needles all set etc, and you don’t idle below 2000 for any extended periods. That’s the process I would take. Good luck and let us know how you go. Cheers J

That’s them. Took a flight from Coota to Mudgee, via young, Cowra and Orange! Was a great couple of flights too. The Wx was awesome.

Wow! Just found this thread, and I am keen to get one of these in my bird. Had an episode on flight last week where a Chieftain crossed my track maybe 500ft - 1000ft below us. By the time Mel Cent had alerted us (I have a transponder) he was already right there. We didn't see him coming as he was moving quite fast. We would have missed, but it would have been really nice to know he was there a bit earlier. I have OzRunways up on my iPad mounted on the dash, so this is prefect. I also have a Garmin Aero on the dash, anyone know if they can work together with this Rasp Pi solution? Cheers J

So had a good fly last week and flew over a few.... Here are some for you. Number 1 Number 2 Number 3. Sorry about the glare. You can thank my Pax! Number 4

Ahh yep! Good old parachutes will also prevent you from flying over the field. Well done man! Looks like you re doing all the right things! :) How good is it aye!! :)

Yeah I hear you, but the organisation MUST have some level of positive cash flow. You never want to be scraping the bottom of the barrel. This will allow for better options for a range of activities and investments. The organisation can't grow if it stagnates. There is nothing for nothing in this world. FYI - Up to this point I have had an L2 looking after my bird, and was happy to pay that. I am taking over now more for my own interest rather than anything else, and still may get the L2 to do the 100 each year. Anyways... always good to throw these things around. :) Cheers J

Hi Mike, RAA is a great place to start man! Once you get your Nav Endorsement (not very expensive) you can pretty much fly the country (no controlled airspace). I just took the mrs up from south NSW to Mudgee and back for a quick trip! It will get you started! The birds are cheaper to hire, and the cost to get certified is lower than GA. Then, after you are happy and flying, you can then step up to either RPL or PPL with CASA etc to do more things. :) Good luck man and keep us posted. My buddy is learning to fly down your way, I will ask where he is and what his experiences are like. Cheers J

Congrats to you mate! Well done. I am relatively new to X-Endo too, so I know how you feel. My instructor did really put me through the ringer when it came to approaching an AD. He was very anal about not dropping in on the circuit. Stay high and get setup before you join. After all, if you are up high above the AD and above circuit height, you have time to reset and consider your options - Spot the windsock etc. During a training exercise I made the mistake of simply following another bird in. My instructor asked why I had chosen runway 16, and I said, "because he called it, so it must be the active". I soon found out that parachute planes like to get down quick and this guy was landing with 10-12kt tail wind. OK for him - not ok for me! :) So now I overfly every strip and spot that sock before I pick a runway. That said, I make sure I have a good knowledge of the AD I am approaching and play it out in my head before we get there. Of course the weather can swing that around should wind directions etc change. If you can get some time to do some circuits etc at a busy AD, it's really worth it. Dancing around with increased traffic gives you great experience at a familiar site. In regards to altitude/height. I, wherever possible go up! Gets me away from the swirly air, but also, gives me options should the fan stop! The higher you are, the longer you have should you need an emergency out. I just came back from a Nav to Mudgee and sat on 7500 all the way there. Clean smooth air, and the view is not bad either. :) Turbulence is never nice, and it took me a while to get use to it, and like stated earlier, accepting that it's not going to fall out of the sky or rip the wings off. It's pretty easy to descend on the dead side of the AD, and join, rather than spend 10 or 15 minutes getting belted because you dropped altitude to get setup for landing. As you fly more, your confidence will build, and you will soon be doing it like a champ. ALSO - Don't worry that you are nervous or anxious. That can be a good thing, as taking things for granted, or getting too relaxed could also be a detriment. Keep learning bro, and enjoy it! :) Cheers J