Callahan

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.

Should have gone to spec savers.

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.

Oh please Granddad, tell us again about the time you attacked the German machine gun nest armed with just a toothbrush ...

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.

In theory the pilot should have identified that the runway was clear of obstacles on final. By the time he got to the flare stage he could not see a thing in front of him. The Yak 3 has a very low and narrow canopy. The reality though is that at an airshow like Wanaka all sorts of paraphernalia abound near the sides of the runways like Military vehicles, pyrotechnics setup, camera crews, crash vehicles, paramedics etc and so it is likely he thought the cherry picker was further away. He passes several items and people off to the side before impact.

i think it's idiocy that these guys dont fit a forward camera to see whats in front of them on the ground.

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

An extra 176 grand and they STILL need to increase fees?.....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!

Yep - saw that one coming. And i've see similar go very wrong:

 

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!

Yep - saw that one coming. And i've see similar go very wrong:

 

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!

Suggest you give some actual thought to just how much power 65hp is when you’re flying a light weight airframe one up before you make comments. And compare that “low power” to what even a 100hp rotax powered fast plastic has per kg flying 1 up.

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.

Some of us still do fly "real ultralights" ;) [ATTACH=full]54516[/ATTACH]

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.

Suggest you give some actual thought to just how much power 65hp is when you’re flying a light weight airframe one up before you make comments. And compare that “low power” to what even a 100hp rotax powered fast plastic has per kg flying 1 up.

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.

Great work Mark , Danny sent me a couple of youtube clips about 'balance beads', used in tyres , to understand how it all works . Amazingly simple once one understands the process.I don't think it can ever be perfect though, because of the ' hunting ' gearset used in the gearbox . That means any imbalance in the engine will be in a different place at the prop shaft every engine revolution .I suppose an extra Balancemaster mounted to the engine flywheel may take care of that .

 

Jim....you said it right. I had a Balance Master on my prop shaft, didn't notice much difference, then installed one on the mag side (as recommended) much smoother!

 

cheers

 

Jim G

One Track,

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

Funnily enough, the Americans introduced cartoon and comic-style educational booklets during WW2 and well into the 1950's and 1960's, as a way of educating those who struggled with conventional "schoolroom-style" learning.I'm pretty sure this started during WW2 when rapidly increasing numbers of military conscripts needed education in new and more complex areas than they were used to - such as machinery and mechanised equipment, and aircraft.

I strongly suspect this type of schooling was found to produce better results amongst African-Americans, Hispanics, and those who could be classed as coming from "tribal" societies.

 

I'm not trying to start racist or xenophobic arguments here, but I believe in that era where colour was regarded as a big divide, and anyone who wasn't of largely Western European extract - and was regarded as being "second-grade" in intelligence levels - the cartoon-style and comic-book style education was seen to be the answer to improving educational results from amongst those "second-grade" groups.

 

There was also the problem of trainees who simply had a poor grasp of reading and comprehension, and who essentially, just struggled with the English language. "Ebonics" wasn't known in this era - but the concept was understood.

 

Then there were, no doubt, those with undiagnosed and unrecognised autism-type disorders (which I believe were probably just as prevalent in WW2, as today), which many trainees suffered from, which made them "difficult" students in that era.

 

The American cartoon-style and comic-book education booklets seemed to die out around the late 1960's. I actually enjoy collecting them, I think they are a great thing, and I think they will be looked back on as a unique educational tool for the era, in years to come.

 

Caterpillar in particular, produced a wide range of educational comic-style booklets for the operators of their machinery. I would guess that this was because it was thought, that the majority of Cat equipment operators would largely be high school dropouts.

 

I believe good illustrations and diagrams and clearly-defined descriptions supported by good photographs, are a valuable educational tool, combined with text schooling. As is often said, one photo is worth a thousand words.

 

However, to introduce an educational program with a strong cartoon identity isn't a good idea, as there is then a tendency for numerous trainees to start focusing on the cartoon identity, rather than the message.

 

Caterpillar understood this, and used "characters" in their "comic-book" educational pamphlets, that could be identified as the various types and personalities associated with the industry - but funnily enough, no-one with dark skin ever featured in those Cat educational booklets! Racial bias? For sure. Intended? I think not. Just a simple fact of life, that the whites who drew them up, didn't consider that "people of colour" were unconsciously being excluded from the educational booklets.

 

I wonder if the "Sunny Swift" comic-book style educational program is related to the large amount of recent immigrants to Europe who aren't of Western European ancestry, and who may be struggling with conventional "schoolroom-style" learning, and the English language, as it is their second language?

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."

Funnily enough, the Americans introduced cartoon and comic-style educational booklets during WW2 and well into the 1950's and 1960's, as a way of educating those who struggled with conventional "schoolroom-style" learning.I'm pretty sure this started during WW2 when rapidly increasing numbers of military conscripts needed education in new and more complex areas than they were used to - such as machinery and mechanised equipment, and aircraft.

I strongly suspect this type of schooling was found to produce better results amongst African-Americans, Hispanics, and those who could be classed as coming from "tribal" societies.

 

I'm not trying to start racist or xenophobic arguments here, but I believe in that era where colour was regarded as a big divide, and anyone who wasn't of largely Western European extract - and was regarded as being "second-grade" in intelligence levels - the cartoon-style and comic-book style education was seen to be the answer to improving educational results from amongst those "second-grade" groups.

 

There was also the problem of trainees who simply had a poor grasp of reading and comprehension, and who essentially, just struggled with the English language. "Ebonics" wasn't known in this era - but the concept was understood.

 

Then there were, no doubt, those with undiagnosed and unrecognised autism-type disorders (which I believe were probably just as prevalent in WW2, as today), which many trainees suffered from, which made them "difficult" students in that era.

 

The American cartoon-style and comic-book education booklets seemed to die out around the late 1960's. I actually enjoy collecting them, I think they are a great thing, and I think they will be looked back on as a unique educational tool for the era, in years to come.

 

Caterpillar in particular, produced a wide range of educational comic-style booklets for the operators of their machinery. I would guess that this was because it was thought, that the majority of Cat equipment operators would largely be high school dropouts.

 

I believe good illustrations and diagrams and clearly-defined descriptions supported by good photographs, are a valuable educational tool, combined with text schooling. As is often said, one photo is worth a thousand words.

 

However, to introduce an educational program with a strong cartoon identity isn't a good idea, as there is then a tendency for numerous trainees to start focusing on the cartoon identity, rather than the message.

 

Caterpillar understood this, and used "characters" in their "comic-book" educational pamphlets, that could be identified as the various types and personalities associated with the industry - but funnily enough, no-one with dark skin ever featured in those Cat educational booklets! Racial bias? For sure. Intended? I think not. Just a simple fact of life, that the whites who drew them up, didn't consider that "people of colour" were unconsciously being excluded from the educational booklets.

 

I wonder if the "Sunny Swift" comic-book style educational program is related to the large amount of recent immigrants to Europe who aren't of Western European ancestry, and who may be struggling with conventional "schoolroom-style" learning, and the English language, as it is their second language?

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.

That plug cap is for fitting over the round "nut", not for going on the thread by the looks?The thread on a plug is quite small, that looks too big. Maybe just the pic.....

The 582 plugs are available as "solid" with a fixed non-removable head or with a screw on nut type.

 

Rotax do specify the "solid" types for the 582 as there is a risk of the nuts unscrewing in flight they say....

 

NGK Rotax 2 Stroke 120 Degree Spark Plug Cap Ultralight Engine 582 VBO5E | eBay

SPARK PLUG BOOT 45 DEGREE

Frank.

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.

Ok. Found them.Not sure they would suit my Jab. The Jab Spark plugs are fully inside the Ram Air ducts and they currently have 90 degree bend cap and I think they only just fit inside the duct. I don’t have the plane here at home so I am only making a guess. Don’t think there is any gain.

But what might be worth pursuing is the fact they are resistor type caps.

 

The standard Jab spark plug is I think non resistor type ( I think it’s a NGK D9EA ). And I do ( and always have ) suffered to some degree with ignition noise.

 

So would changing to a resistor type plug or adding a resistor type cap make a difference?

 

Anyone tried it already? If so what result.

440032,

No, not 120 degree but 45 degree.

NGK 120 degree spark plug caps me thinks would google better. 45 degree caps would be pointing back at the cyl. Just sayin...

NGK 120 degree spark plug caps me thinks would google better. 45 degree caps would be pointing back at the cyl. Just sayin...

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.

NGK 120 degree spark plug caps me thinks would google better. 45 degree caps would be pointing back at the cyl. Just sayin...

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.

Better straight onto the thread. Some plug ends are integral with the plug. If you use a clip it goes straight onto the thread. .Nev

Jaba....I tried doing a link & can't make it work. You might try "NGK spark plug caps" and follow it from there. That's how I found them. If I figure out how to do a link I'll post it here.

Tried a search but couldn’t find them. Can you give a link with a specific page or maybe a serial number or code?Or a photo?