BirdDog

Hey all, I hope everyone is well. Sorry - I posted this elsewhere as I didn't see this thread in my search.... My post was as follows.... So I get an email (as you all probably did) from RAA announcing an Aircraft Maintenance Logbook Review Service and thought, hmm... I have only owned the bird for 3 years, this might be a good idea to make sure my logs are up to date with what is needed. SBs etc etc. So I signed up, but maybe my expectations were somewhere else. 27 pages of links to everything from CASA regs, Rotax SBs, and stacks of other stuff. Lots of noise that I guess I now need to sift through to find bits that matter to me. Anyone else uses this service? PS - There is an encouragement to join up to Breezy Log, so would also be interested if anyone uses that too! NOW..... My logbooks are pretty good. I have only owned the machine for 3 years, but everything appears in good order. The only thing is, looking for what SBs were done etc, you have to trawl through the entries looking for it! And yes... I don't travel with mine either. They are in the safe at home, and only come out when needed. I run the RAA Maintenance Release, but have a customised TTIS sheet that I use. Cheers J

Hey all, I hope everyone is well. So I get an email (as you all probably did) from RAA announcing an Aircraft Maintenance Logbook Review Service and thought, hmm... I have only owned the bird for 3 years, this might be a good idea to make sure my logs are up to date with what is needed. SBs etc etc. So I signed up, but maybe my expectations were somewhere else. 27 pages of links to everything from CASA regs, Rotax SBs, and stacks of other stuff. Lots of noise that I guess I now need to sift through to find bits that matter to me. Anyone else uses this service? PS - There is an encouragement to join up to Breezy Log, so would also be interested if anyone uses that too! Cheers J

My bird is due for her 100. Parts are on the way, and I will not be letting it sit there waiting for Covid. It will have the 100 done, and I will fly her! Recency and Proficiency for me is both mental exercise and essential - full stop!

Done - I put a not in to identify myself, so you know who it came from. Cheers John

Happy to help Ian. I will also pop in a donation. We need this site to continue, as there really isn't anywhere else for what we need. And - as mentioned in our recent discussions, I am happy to help you into the future - even if you just need some info etc.

Ian, Actually - you are way over specced! But that's not such a bad thing. What is the forum software? I would honestly recommend moving away from such a system and going cloud based. I currently have about 5 times your capacity and it costs me about $120 AUD a month - PLUS - it's fully supported, so don't have to actually look after the infrastructure. Currently I have 8 sites running on a 10 site capacity plan, and there is still plenty of headroom! I am happy to discuss with you if you wish, and we can look and see if there is a better solution for you. It may mean you migrate to a different software platform, but I think you will be better for it in the long run.

Mate - I have dedicated hosting solutions that probably has capacity for the site. I would hate to see it go, so if I can help you - reach out mate. We can discuss the long term plans too!

I have to put up with the pesky buggers every time I go up! Either on take off, or on landing. My home AD has a massive grass strip and the magpies and galahs hang out on them all day. MOST of the time they get out of the way, but I have had quite a number of close calls. One last week went UNDER the wing!! Scary at times, and there is zero I can do about it. :(

I am with some of you guys! I have 2 wing tanks. 60L each. Both are displayed on the dash, and independently selectable. That said, I don't really rely on the gauge before a long trip. I dip the tanks. The gauge is used on the fly to keep an eye on which tank I want to switch to in order to keep the aircraft balanced. I burn around 15-18L an hour. The placard states 19L at/ 1/4 of a tank. So both at 1/4 should give me about 2 hours of flying. Now, all things considered, I never let the bird get down to 1/4 in each tank. It's not rocket science!!! Just keep fuel in the tanks. I get how some people don't want to pay for, or run AVGAS, but if it's the difference between getting it back in the hangar, or in a paddock, I know which I would like. Like a wiser man than me once said.... "If there is doubt, there is no doubt!" Just my 0.2!

I just read that! If that is the case, and the PIC was an instructor - well, I have no clue how to comment on that!

OK... I can't even see how to edit my original post, let alone change the title! LOL! Some more info - Reports are simply "Engine trouble" and there was an instructor and a student onboard, and they and the airframe are fine. Textbook paddock landing!!

Hi Nev, I am only going by what a mate heard in the air (He was up at the time). So complete, full, partial - doesn't really matter, and like I said, I really don't care what type of aircraft it is. I posted because I thought it was worth posting that a bird was forced down. If we can get the info, what happened, when, how, why, and what the pilot did, maybe we can all learn something. This was never a Jab witch hunt.

Yes! This certainly was not a dig at Jabs. I purely mentioned it was a Jab, because, err.... it was a Jab! I am not interested in the aircraft type, I am more interested in what happened, and the actions of the pilot, that no doubt saved both of them.

OK... Some info. Apparently was down near the snowys and is believed to be from Jindabyne. 2 PoB all OK. But that's all I know.

So a mate tells me he heard a Jab call mayday today with full engine failure and put it down in a paddock south of Sydney. Anyone got any info??

I don't think some people realise how quickly it happens. I had a recent experience where I took a family member up for a flight. It was a hazy day with smoke in the air from the fires, but on the ground it looked ok. I was cautious on climb out and decided to turn crosswind and climb up over the airfield - just in case. While I was making sure the aircraft was behaving etc, and my Pax was Ok, we started to climb above 3000, and the ground started to fade very quickly. It was at that point I immediately descended and put her away. I reckon another 30 seconds or so, and the ground was gone! From the ground though, it looked OK. I live on a hill not far from the AD, and I could see right across the valley. Obviously very different conditions at 3000ft up!

The same dumb mindset that killed Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1990!! No new ways to die in aviation!

For those that are interested, here is my custom logging sheets I use for the bird! Feel free to use as you wish! Aircraft Logbook.xlsx

I do my own maintenance. My maintenance logs stay here at the house. Not in the aircraft. I have the current Maintenance Release sheet in the TTIS folder, and my pilots logs in the aircraft when I fly though.

Yep! I hear ya Alan. My maintenance logs are really good actually. It's a nice thick logbook! The reason I raise this, is the recent bush fires. I live in rural country, that thankfully did not get affected by fires - BUT - if my house went up, and I was not home to gather what I needed, everything to do with my bird would have been gone! All the logs etc etc. The only one I keep in the aircraft permanent is the manufacture's handbook. My Pilot Log and TTIS logs are in my flight bag, which is in my office downstairs. I could only image how hard life would be if I lost all my logs! ?

Yeah - I am RAA. They provide a log book sheet for the plane, but it's ugly! I have my maintenance logs - but I am only talking about Time in Service etc. I was thinking there might be a good all in one solution for plane and pilot, electronically!

So here's a question... Log books - What do you use? Electronic, or paper based? If Electronic, which ones, and both for Pilot and Aircraft! Maybe you use a spreadsheet, or maybe you designed your own sheet! I currently use a sheet that I have designed, and it's in a binder (for my aircraft logs) my pilot log is currently in a tradition log book. In this day though, it makes sense to go electronic, but not sure which is good or not. Discuss!!!

Ouch!

I was asking the same question when the report said loss of rudder. The only thing is maybe it was stuck full right or something. Given my little experience with that machine, I still would have thought it would be cable. So if it was a broken cable, then it should return to neutral. So unless it got stuck, and they could not correct it, it has me scratching my head.