Callahan

Good Gooly Goo! Man, I thought we had it bad in the U.S. with rules, regs & prices! I was shocked when I got notice recently of a $5.00 billing to register my Drifter! Me, being me of course, promptly threw it in the garbage, luckily the trash man was coming next morning. Having second thoughts & being the civic minded person that I am, I dutifully retrieved my extortion notice from our Federal Aviation Administration folks, wrote a nice note in return stating: "Thanks anyway, but my Drifter was originally designed as an ultralight aircraft and as such registration is not required." I kept my 5 spot. Of course, I lied my ass off. It retains its full complement of gear. I feel for you guys. I really do. Sign me: Granddad...per Bex. P.S. Bex, I like that name!

Okay, you guys win. Granddad can't compete with you whippersnappers. But I can tell you this. Granddad-ism will be on you before you know it & some younger person will be making fun of you too before you realize it. Someone said: "Life is Short." Yes it is. Incredibly so. But! You have to be smart enough & lucky enough to get there. Many don't.

Actually Bex I was with Napoleon on the outskirts of Moscow when we're assaulted by a blizzard of monumental proportions along with an all out assault of massed Bolshevik infantry! We had no choice! We had to retreat! Thank you for your interest though. It was a truly terrible ordeal. Look Bex, it wasn't meant as a assault against you personally. It was my opinion & I forgot to include many taildragger crop dusters I've flown such as the AT-802 and Turbine Dromedar, both long nose aircraft in much tighter spaces than he had. Pilot's Responsibility. Bottom line. Granddad? Unfortunately, you'll you'll be one too. Sooner than you think. I hope you survive to make it. From your response, I think your days are limited.

I couldn't agree more KG. Well said. I've flown small (Howard DGA - Beech 18s) and large (DC-3 - C-46) aircraft & never ran into anything for the past 48 years. It is the Pilot's Responsibility to look ahead on final & ascertain any obstacles in the intended path. Long nose like the Yak or stubby nose like the 46.

Down under.....This is Wild Bill in what was the USA. Loved your "ffs." In the U.S. that translates to "FFS!"

Kasper....sorry to drag this out but I miss-read your post. I thought it was you that hand propped the ultrabat. That made the news in the U.S. Wild. Thanks for the link. If that had happened in the U.S. litigation attorneys would've been foaming at the mouth to get a piece of the pie!

I have since that day been 100% cautious whenever I hand prop any aircraft. You & me both Oh Learned One Kasper! You young sky troopers out there, learn from us & don't be stupid. Think! Before you act! You may not be as lucky as us!

Kasper! Quick story on the power of 65 horses. Took off in my old 65 hp Drifter, engine failure at 300 feet, landed straight ahead no problem. Key word is takeoff...see if you can figure it out before I finish the story. Landed okay, got out, looked it over, got to thinking, "I wonder if this sucker will start?" Had a B box, no starter, gave it a turn or two by hand, WENT WIDE ASS OPEN! Horizontal stab hit me, knocked me flat on my back, going down I was able to grab the port stabilizer, from that point on I went round & round like I weighed 10 pounds, my usual is 195. As the nose came around for the third time I came up with a plan, turn it loose as a line of bushes come into view. I had to plan it as the spin was very fast but turned it loose, it took off immediately, climbed to about 6 feet, bushes being only 20 feet away, grabbed it, didn't flip over by a miracle. I got up, ran over, cut the throttle and ignition. Talk about lucky and the power of 65 horses and the stupidity of not thinking through an action. I actually thought I would be able to hold it until somebody showed up to help. No friggin' way! Takeoff! Motor had quit. Throttle was still wide open!

I'm a Big proponent of living now & not saving for retirement. Problem is, I got retired & my not saving has got me so broke I can't pay attention. That said, I think about all the people who saved & saved & saved dreaming of a nice ultralight & flying off into the sunset.....and died in a car wreck at 30 or 40 or 50 or 60. So, I'm broke but happy!...and not dead....yet.

Thanks Ace. Any person 80 years old & still flying deserves our praise & respect. Some will say he died doing what he loved. Maybe so. God Bless!

52 hp Drifter I should've said.

I was wondering when a disagreement was going to appear. I'm 69 with a 52 hp Rotax. Started in '78. Both of you have valid points.

For what it's worth, I agree with everything you stated. Well done! I'm from the southern U.S. where everyone hung a black man at least 20 times a day. In reality, we all got along as everyone worked. No "give away" money back then. We didn't have time or the inclination to go people hanging. There were however, isolated incidents usually in very isolated areas.

One Track, I found it. Called "PM Maintenance." She should be attached below. An artist named Eisner thought her up. Should be somewhere below. O

One Track, If you're white & wake up in the morning in what was the U.S....you're a racist. Racist is a catch-all phrase here from any black to whom you don't suck up to their line of <mod censored>. As for instructional type comic books, they actually continued up to the end of U.S. support in Vietnam. The star character was a gorgeous blonde, scantily clad who gave tips on fixing & maintaining everything military. I enjoyed reading it - looking at her - and dreaming! You might can Google "Vietnam era military instructional comic book."

Toady, Welcome to the club! You're talking to the least technical guy here. Emu, M16 & Nev could walk all over me. However, there is a However! When I look at a spark plugs cap that my common sense tells me is 45 degrees from vertical then have people (no offense) tell me it's 120 degrees from.... whatever they pin that conclusion on, well, hell. I give up. It's 120. I'm too old to argue anymore.... especially with my wife. I agree to everything. There was a Governor in the State of Louisiana. He was like me. Agreeable. He signed off on everything. One day a leaf blew in his window, landed on his desk. He signed that too. Nice guy.

Dan & Down under. Thanks for your replies. I wonder why they call them 120 degree plug caps when the design is 45 degrees? I think Amazon's ad refers to them as 45 degree caps...if I remember correctly. Anyway, that little metal clip inside actually slides down over the threads & snaps snugly into place. It does not screw on like I originally thought. It's a good tight fit into the concave interior of the cap. How it will hold up under vibration is another story. But I intend to find out. I ordered three more to go with my one I bought out of curiosity. Will post an update later. I've used resister plugs before with no problems. Many parts catalogs have NGK caps priced up to $37.00 each. I've been using Amazon's NGK normal horizontal caps with no problems whatsoever....at $2.41 U.S. These 45 degree caps are just over $6.00 on Amazon. Why pay more? I did a complete strobe & landing light system on my Drifter for $175. "Drifter Flying Part 2 by William Catalina....on YouTube if you'd like to see it.

Thanks Frank1

Below is a photo of my one & not only 45 degree plug. If you look very, very closely at the inside view, you will see that the interior is slanted inward or a concave design. If you can get a close up, you will see a tiny clip inside at the 10 o'clock position. This clip, I assume, grabs the plug threads & secures the cap to the....you got it...threads. I think I'll buy three more & see how it does. Will let you know. I'm interested because my 90 degree caps get jammed up sometime with wires, cowling etc....and the fact that I'm a sucker for gadgets.

Jaba, Read my reply below to Nev about resistor plugs. My Drifter had an elaborate radio setup with everything shielded including resistor plugs. I never use a radio, the radio didn't work either, so I took it all off. In short, I can't answer your question.

440032, No, not 120 degree but 45 degree.

Thanks Nev! I know some people use resistor plugs to eliminate radio interference/static somewhat along with shielding sleeves on plug wires & metal plug caps. I had those on my Drifter when I bought it. I removed all of it & went standard. I ordered one 45 degree just out of curiosity. Should be in tomorrow. I'll post a photo of it with three other 90 degree caps just for the heck of it. I don't see the harm with all four as 45 degree caps....yet....but I defer to you as you, M18 & a couple of others seem to be the technical wizards on here. I say that in sincereity.

Depends on which way you move them if you start at the top or the 360 position. If you....oh forget it. You win.

Nev, You just confused the heck out of me. But forget it. I ordered one today just to see if they work okay. Will post a report. I do like the 45 degree idea though. Thanks.