RossK

2 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

 Hp for Hp composite aircraft, can & do, offer the potential for better performance, lower noise, negligible corrosion issues (lower maintenance effort/ cost) than metal,  however they unusually come at a higher comparative kit cost , due to mostly being very advanced factory made modular components, rather than a Meccano flat pack.

Compare 2 kits: Vans RV14 vs a Glasair G2 from Advanced Aero.

Both can be optioned with the IO-390 and performance specs are pretty similar for Speed, Economy and Usable Load.

Vans RV14 Kit cost was US$50,550

Glasair G2 Kit cost was $114,995 - Quickbuild option only though.

Kits do not include the engine, prop, avionics, upholstery, wiring or paint.

If you add another $20K for the Vans Quickbuild wing and fuselage option, it still makes the RV14 significantly cheaper.

Their current situation suggests it was too cheap.

15 hours ago, facthunter said:

Power is another control and the electric motor is  more reliable than perhaps anything else including a Jet motor..   Nev

They should be more reliable, but unfortuantely they are still assembled by humans.

Report on a Pipistrel Alpha Electro

STATUS: Review complete. The electric aircraft was conducting circuit operations when during the climb for the 4th circuit at 600ft AGL, an instrument display warning appeared 'Power control lever failure' which resulted in complete loss of power. The pilot pitched for a glide and a turn back, attempted a reboot cycle of all switches off, pulled the power control breaker, powered on all systems in sequence but the same warning appeared. They repeated this one more time, but power control was not restored. The pilot carried out a successful emergency landing in a field to the north of the runway. DETERMINED OUTCOME: Upon close and detailed inspection of the power controller circuit and connectors on the aircraft, it was identified that the white wire pin in the power controller Molex connector J104M at the main controller PCB was not seated correctly in the Molex connector and was making intermittent contact. This connector had not been handled, serviced or disconnected at any time since the aircraft was delivered from the manufacturer. The pin has now been correctly clipped and seated in the Molex connector to make secure and consistent contact. A tension test was conducted on all pins in the main controller PCB and found no other pins to be loose or 'unseated'. A detailed visual inspection of the power lever PCB and mechanism was completed and no anomalies were found. Initial run-up tests after these actions were taken, including shaking the wiring looms by hand during low-power tests, indicate the loose connection has been resolved.

Don't take this as EV knocking, I am looking forward to the day when electric aircraft have decent range comparable to most RAAus/GA aircraft, it's just that in most technical applications, us humans are the weak link.

2 hours ago, MattP said:

ozrunways needs a sync feature for your flightplans though.

This is a standard on both Ipad and Android for Avplan.

I can draw up a flight plan on my phone whilst at work daydreaming, and when I get home, it's on my Android tablet and back up Ipad.

This will set the cat amongst the pidgeons - Flying Dog, google Ipad EFB overheat.

I've flown with an Ipad Pro, an Ipad Mini 4 and the Samsumg A7 lite.

Despite the loss of features on the Android version of Avplan, the A7 lite is my primary EFB and the Mini 4 my backup.

17 hours ago, RFguy said:

 

I think all 'old school' people did it this way, it is how I was taught.  I think this only happens when taught private, rather than mass flying schools these days.

Lilydale teach the old school way, pencil, chart, whizz wheel. No EFB until you've got your certificate or licence.

I do use the EFB predominantly now, but I use the flight plan to set my heading and the Chart to verify what I see on the ground matches where I'm supposed to be. The magenta line may get a cursory look, but it's not how I navigate with the EFB.

I've been caught out once with a EFIS showing a compass heading 20 deg off course, I didn't verify it with the old school compass either. Took off from Lilydale headed to Caulfield Race course to track the VFR route west, set heading using the EFIS and merrily flew along, aiming at the big green patch I could see ahead. No need for checks, it's 15 minutes, how far wrong can you get in 15 minutes? 

Instructor evetually asked, "do you know where you are?" In that voice that instructors have when you've done something wrong, and they want you to realise it.

"I think that's Caulfield, but now I'm not sure" I reply.

"Well, it isn't" he replies!

insert long pause here

"You'll want to turn hard right now, before you bust into Moorabbins Class D" he says 😲

So that Nav was done and we go back to Lilydale to debrief my multiple errors 😒

It was an excellent lesson to learn with an Instructor next to me.

On topic - my point is, having an accurate compass is particularly helpful. I've had to use it 3 times so far when either the EFIS or DG has decided to have the day off.

I'm using an S7 Lite with AvPlan. Works well.

Yes, you miss out on some of the features of the Apple version, but for VFR flying, it does just fine at less than half the cost of the equivalent Ipad.

15 hours ago, Thruster88 said:

The stall warning should not sound at best glide speed. Going below best glide speed is stupid.

And this is the part that gets people killed in the impossible turn.

From the vidoes I've seen online, and my own trials (with an instructor at altitude), to make the turn work, you need to bank hard (60deg angle) and keep the turn tight. Hard bank increases the load factor and the stall speed. The increase in load factor increases the stall speed pretty much to the best glide speed for most aircraft.

What people forget is during the turn, you need to push the nose down to keep the airspeed up - higher than best glide speed

Doing that with the prop stopped would take every ounce of your mental and physical courage to resist the urge to pull.

Reports of an attempted turn back

 “The airplane attempted to return to the airport but failed to make the runway,” the statement reads.

Doesn't look to be many good options departing from Lake Placid.

He was in the right seat apparently, so not PIC, but still a bit of a surprise, considering this video he did in 2021.

Impossible Turn

Terrible loss, his videos were always informative and I found them helpful.

Hi Skip, I'm not advocating no boost pump in your aircraft. I'm just suggesting that the fuel system should be able to work comfortably without it.

As to the Sportstar, I agree it's comforting to have the pump on in those critical phases of flight, but when I was last flying with an instructor in the RH seat, his comment was,

"it's unusual, but follow the POH" ie. leave it off. 

Hi Skip, don't take this as criticism, but you may be looking in the wrong area.

It seems that your fuel delivery system may have a lot of restriction (lines, connectors, pumps etc), which is limiting pressure and flow.

As an example, the Sportstar POH actually says the boost pump is on only for start up and emergencies. It's off at all other stages of flight, including take off and landings.

The boost pump is actually an optional extra for the Sportstar, ie - the fuel system will work just fine relying on the Rotax pump alone.

I'm not advocating deleting the boost pump, having the boost pump there is more than nice, redundancy in an aircraft critical system is a good thing to have. But I don't think your fuel system should rely on it to give satisfactory performance.

Preliminary Report, 

ATSB

A friend of mine has just received his Wing and Fuselage kits from Vans.

70% of both are Laser Cut, and some not great. To say he's disappointed is an understatement.

With that amount, he's delaying building until Vans come up with a solution, ideally, replacement of all LC parts.

2 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

No! that is until just now.

 

 Cant find any mention of SGS or Robin Austin, however I find the FAI Records web page to be very difficult to interrogate.

You need to try harder Skip 😁

Robin Austin Records

Too early to get accurate info from commercial News, some sites are showing a Jodel D150 VH-PNH??? But VH-PNH is listed a a Kavanagh Balloon!

First Nav, my instructor had my first landing at a short grass strip, 650m. Should be doable, right?

This strip wasn't suitable for a first time away from home, new Nav pilot, with trees, powelines and fences.

What he was looking for was for students to say "Nope, not for me, off to the alternate", which I did after 1 low pass and 1 attempt at a landing.

14 minutes ago, turboplanner said:

 

 

.......one who boasted of flying on instruments self-taught and killed himself by flying into a hill in cloud, one who didn’t bother with a formal aviation MET report, and was killed when his plane broke up in a cell, one trike flier confident in his self taught Night VFR skills who hit a windmill while low flying at night and killed himself and his wife.

 

Seems to be a pattern here 🤔

RH wing is folded along the RH side of the Fuse.

LH Wing tip and aileron have also departed.

Tends to happen when you put a 9.5m wide aircraft through an 8m gap between a hangar and a water tank.

14 hours ago, facthunter said:

Ross K, that seems excessive. If it only had air in it the fuel should move quite quickly.  Nev

The information comes from testing, following the forced landing of a PA32, that had plenty of fuel onboard, but the pilot cycled through the tanks too quickly.

Forced landing was spectacular effort though, so well done to the pilot on that point.

4 hours ago, Rodr said:

previous comment recommended Funke and they probably fine just the name is a bit disturbing!!

Probably plays good music ✌️

Not sure about water, but I've been told it takes 13 seconds to get fuel from the useable tank after running the other tank dry in a PA-28.

I reckon that would feel like a very long time.

On 27/06/2023 at 6:15 PM, facthunter said:

 An ejaculator seat?   Nev

Winner ! 🤣

Give this man a prize 🏆

Evektor were using a Pierburg 12V pump, part number 7.21440.51, but since 2021 have been using a Facet 478360 pump.

The above has been good discussion.

The circuit or within 5 miles of the field have been where I've had all my close encounters.

I'm certain the Skyecho has saved us once.

Anywhooo, my last flight was a good one - first solo in the Archer this morning 😎 .

Currently doing the RPC to RPL conversion.

42 minutes ago, kgwilson said:

 

 

Photos are uploaded every 6 minutes and are live on Ozrunways, Auswebcams website and Windy.

Also through Avplan (no affiliation...😄)

The Android version of Avplan works well and so far I haven't come across any bugs.

My only gripe is that it is also written for IOS, so the Android version misses out on features.

I get an email every wednesday informing me of all the great features of Avplan and how to use them, most of which are only available on the IOS package 😒

But for a VFR pilot, the Android version works fine, and my Samsung A7 lite is yet to overheat.

Just because it's a Cirrus, doesn't mean you have to pull the chute.

Cirrus forced landing

Here's an example of a Cirrus pilot executing a successful forced landing.

Result - new engine and plane files again.