rick-p

What colour is the aeroplane? This is a very important factor as everyone knows that unless it is red it will not take of. Red makes it go faster. You have all said so in other threads.

Darren please don't insult the poor old humble blimp at least it's good for something unlike that other thing.

Simple, you can't legally exceed your maximum takeoff weight thats what what "maximum" means dosn't it? (tongue in cheek). If you read Ian's post carefully no where in it did he say that he exceeded maximum takeoff weight or will exceed maximum takeoff weight. I'm sure Ian's passenger if 90kg then he will reduce his fuel load or take his passenger to the steam room first. When we crunch numbers to achieve our figures for weight and balance we shed something somewhere if over elsewhere it's the PIC obligation and legal resposibility to do so. Assumptions drawn from text can be very dangerous so one has to be carefullnot to make the wrong assumption because of a lack of facts which could thereafter put all concerned in the gun. I hope that you are not offended by my comments but I have notice some dangerous assumptions drawn on innocent statements made in certain of these forums. Always remember that someone maybe watching who could make life very difficult for us all if predisposed to do so. Just a word of advice from the intiated. Kindest regards, too all.

Where I live in Central Queensland, for me, petrol per litre fluctuates between $1.05 and $1.10. You would have all heard the saying it will run on the smell of an oily rag, well I have another which I gleaned years ago from a sticker on the back of one of those 2 or 3 cylinder French jobs, I think a Citrone, if thats how you spell it. It said save on gas and fart in a jar as it takes you much further in one of these than the smell of an oily rag will. Anyway, it was something like that but it has now given me an idea. Don't they have installed under the seats in Parliment House exhaust extraction units to take away the after effects of those long lunchs in the Parliamentary eatery. Could it be the case that our pollies may be in a very good position to assist Australia by supplying copious amounts of free gass to industry in our democratic domicile which may be of some help in reducing the price at the bowser. "Fart in a jar daily and save energy" that could be our Paliamentary national slogan. Or "Pollies get behind the energy crisis with a national outpouring of methane support". We all know that hot wind can turn a turbine, then why isn't Parliament House our biggest power station?

Congrat's Ben on your achievment, it's a good feeling. Even though I have had my pilot's certificate in Australia for many years when I recently went solo in the Philippines and thereafter received my certificate to fly there, I felt fantastic as I had been wanting to do it for many years but just never had the time before January this year. It's a beautiful country to fly in and I recommend it to others, you won't be disappointed. Also the flying club outside of Angeles City is the Ritz of clubs, very comfortable and friendly. There are a number of Australians, like me, who are members and enjoy the facilities immensely. When I get around to it one day I intend to do a "great trip" article with pic's just so everyone can see the value of what we have as recreational pilots. Never lose sight of the fact that God didn't give us wings to fly as that would be too boring, he gave us machines to do it in, which if you love all things mechanical then a recreational aircraft is by far better than a pair of wings. Kind regards.

Three bladed props on Skyfox's are legal if an Aeropower engine and a three bladed wooden All-Size prop. I don't even know if Tony Kerr makes 3 blade props but the previous owners of All-Size did. Maybe a point of interest to some, I know Factfinder would like it.

Yes Yen I am a member of Callide Valley Flyin Group. I don't think that too much has been happening lately, I have been away myself before and over Christmas for better than 2 months. As to the green slime I think you are right to use it. I used it myself in the Supa Pup engine (447) and it ran without a hitch. In fact the chap that bought it a few years back flew it from Biloela to Gove without a problem. Regards.

At least by the look of it the wing it does have is the right type of wing, ie; SNAKE PROOF.:big_grin: Stay safe.

Facthunter, yes I have heard some horror stories about rats chewing into wing spars on Moth's and Auster's and that is one very thorough check I give my Auster J1N regularly, all panels open and it's then done with mirrors. A wing departing your aircraft will most certainly spoil the rest of your day. Stay safe, fly safe. Rick

Yes John I now recall the procedure, as discussed quite some time ago with Tony. You can in fact get away with just replacing the top plate and thats why I remember that there was no need to remove the wing tank for that repair. In my case this was about the time the aileron horns had to be replaced etc. Rick

It was Factfinder and it took me a long time to get over it as you just can't pull over and jump out. But think about what prompted my story telling, how many good men have come to grief through a similar incident whilst flying their aircraft? No one can explain what happend as the snake, spider or wasps just to name a few nasties, has, after the crash decamped the scene leaving no trace as to the reason for the pilot and his aircraft's demise. I remember some time ago reading, I think in AOPA, a pilot's story about a green ant that had got on or in his cap that he had placed on the ground when he landed with his family to have a picnic and when they returned to the air the ant entered his ear and stung him. It took all his willpower to stay with it and fly and land the plane, the thought of his family going down with him kept him from passing out from the severe pain of the ant sting on his eardrum. Another story I know of involved a friend of mine who had multiple engine failures on a return trip to his home in central Queensland as a reult of a mud mason in a very short period time blocking the breather tube to his fuel tank. The insect had some how got it's doings up inside the breather tube where it couldn't be seen and this act of sabotage took place in a matter of about twenty minutes whilst my friend was attending to some business a short distance away from his aircraft, not thinking that in such a short time something like that could happen. From the account of his girlfriend who was with him my friend had to do 3 emergency outlandings before he discovered the cause of the engine stopping. Once the plane was on the ground the pressure equalised and the engine ran ok until he got altitude again. As I previously said maybe we should start a thread in these forums titled Believe It Or Not (Fact at times can be stranger than fiction). Regards, rick-p

If you want the good oil on the wing main spar attachment pins then may I suggest you contact Tony Kerr at Gympie aviation, his details may even be in the RAA magazine and Ian I think recently purchase an All-Size prop from him. From recollection you don't need to remove the fuel tank to replace the front pin guides only if you do the back pins which is rarely done. Tony needs to make up a couple of plates and these are riveted and glued to the main spar.I don't think there is an actual tube between the plates. The wear to worry about is if the wings when holding the wing tips and pushed from left to right actually move backwards. I understand that if there is a negligible forward movement when moving the wing tip fom right to left on the left wing tip and left to right on the right wing tip then there is nothing to worry about. Maybe to make it clearer I should say forward movement. These attachments wear through movement experianced at those points during ground movements and wing tip strikes resulting from a severe ground loop. Most Skyfox's with a few hours up will see the pins move up during ground movements and after takeoff can be moved downwards with your finger. I don't think that there has been a recorded incident ever of one of these attachment points failing. The main spar carry through tube will fail before the pins or the attachment point because there is very little pressure exerted on the pins or attachment points in flight. Any way for peace of mind call Tony Kerr, he maybe a New Zealander but you don't hold that against him. Regards to all, rick-p

Facthunter, I think that it's not a bad idea for many reasons to plug the exhaust pipe particularily if you live in a rural region as you never know what may decide to take up residence in it if you leave the plane unattended for a few days. Believe me from personal experiance I now never leave open any sort of opening on any of my aircraft that would allow the ingress of wildlife. Corrosion is one thing but the little nasties that get into these openings can very easily bring down an aircraft through either mechanical failure or by way of a direct assault on the pilot. Maybe we should start a thread on this specific topic as I really do believe that a number of aircraft in the past have been brought crashing to the ground by an unwanted stowaway. Maybe some real life recounts in this area may just save a life. How I got onto this topic I don't know but anyway as I said I myself have experianced such an incident and lucky for me I lived to talk about but the stowaway died, by hands. A number of years ago when I was a very low time pilot I had a very close inflight encounter with a very nasty character. The tale goes like this:- It was a magic late Spring arvy, very balmy weather with little wind which was for all intents and purposes straight down the strip. I decide that I would go for a fly and take in Callide dam and the lower reachs of Kroombit Tops. After my very thorough pre flight of my Supa Pup Mk4, or so I thought, I primed the little beasty of a motor and then hand started it. It immediately on the first flick swung into life. I went through my further checks and run ups, lined her up to the North, gunned it, tail up within a few metres, stick forward, hold it hold it a little longer then easing back slightly on the stick, I was away, she leapt into the air, I stayed in ground effect for a little and then on having built up a goodly airspeed, back on the stick and she climbed like an homesick angel. I then potted around for awhile mooching over and around the dam and the lower lying areas of Kroombit Tops as it is real tiger country high up and over the ranges there. I decided after about an hour of doing this that I would return home and do a few circuits. On about the 3rd touch and go, on finals, without any warning a four foot thats right a four foot long very aggresive brown snake lobbed in my lap having exited the wing through a hole in the wing root 'rib'. I could hear this bloody great serpent hissing in anger even though I had on a headset and the 447 was making it's usual noise. Somehow I managed to get the snake out of my lap and onto the floor of the plane. At the same time my attention once again became focused outside and it was then that I realised that the planes attitude was dangerously steep, relevant to terra firma, I was in a steep dive towards the ground. The fast approaching ground had now got my attention over the snake. Stick back and throttle full on and feet on the edge of the seat. Yes you heard right I had pulled my feet of the pedals to avoid the snake. I looked down but couldn't see the snake, though I did think that I could hear it thrashing around under the seat. I looked up and out again just in time to see the top branches of a Black Wattle tree pass under the Supa Pup and at the same time feeling a slight bump from underneath. A thought passed through my mind, like a bullet and that was that unless I composed myself I could die today. I pulled myself together and got back to the job at hand, flying the aircraft. The snake wasn't in sight and I reminded myself that I wasn't in ordinary circumstances frightened of snakes. I eventually composed my self, completed the circuit and landed the Pup without a further appearance of the snake. I only returned my feet to the pedals moments before touchdown, which just goes to show that you can fly without rudder if you have to. Anyway, back to the tale at hand. As soon as the Pup stopped rolling, no brakes fitted, I bolted from the aircraft as I had shut down the engine and I could hear the snake still hissing in a very angry fashion under the seat. I stood back for awhile thinking as to how I would get it out of there without getting myself bitten. I very gingerly peered under the seat to see to my suprise the snake wrapped around the right hand rudder cable along with one of those sticky pad mouse traps I had previously placed in the Pup to stop the little vermin, in their tracks. The snake had it's head well and truly stuck to one of these pads which in turn was stuck to the rudder cable. I reached in grabbing the snake just behind the head and pulled but it wouldn't shift so I gave a very hard tug which worked and i pulled the snake out thrashing, but minus it's head as the rudder cable severed it from it's body on my giving it that last mighty yank. I was amazed at the snake's size, it was quite big, about four feet in length. I assume that the snake must have been chasing mice and it got up into the wing through the wing root rib, fell asleep but then was eventually woken up by the noise of the engine and movement of the aircraft. I was extremely lucky on a number of counts that day such as not impacting the ground or the tree and not suffering multiple snake bites. Lesson here to be learnt, expect the unexpected and ensure that the wildlife in your area can't make those recess' in your aircraft their home or resting place by either the use by you of temporary means or permanent if such won't interfere with the safe operation of the aircraft. I know of a number of other life threatening incidents that have happend to other pilots in similar circumstances so particularly you pilots in the bush stay alert at all time and always be aware that there may be on board an unwelcome stowaway.:devil: True story, rick-p

Thanks Captain, I was previously advised similar figures by the factory for the 2200. My temperatures are excellent at all times it's the pressure that has thrown me but i'm starting to think the pressure is in fact ok and it's just the quick reporting of the Flydat that is throwing me. As i have previously stated in this thread fitting an oil cooler creates not insubstantial problems for me because of the aircraft the Jab 2200 is in. Such as new cowl, over max takeoff weight and few other issues to boot. Incidently the s/s washers under the pressure relief valve I think made the oil pressure less, figure that one out! Regards.

Micgrace thanks for the advice, i will be discussing problem further with the factory tomorrow, Monday. I will post the outcome of those discussions and findings. regards, rick-p

Gongrat's ferret, I know the feeling, the efforts of my life crisis at 50 yrs young, a young wife and a 6mth old boy who can wee and shat and throw up on me anytime as you wouldn't change it for the world. It is I believe the true building of character and bonding between parents and offspring. Kind regards, rick-p

Turtle, interesting article. I have been for years a rotax person from 447 to 912 but now the Jab 2200 has come into my life and I must say that I do think that if the 912 was installed in the aircraft I have now it would not look as good around the cowl and also present a slightly larger frontal area, more drag. There is as I understand it another Lambada flying down south with a 912 in it and it performs very well also. Anyway my point or I should say question and please excuse my ignorance, it mention no carby heat in the article, do Jab's (planes) fitted with Jab's have carby heat? My Lambada does not and others fitted with Jab's in Ireland and other parts of Europe don't either, without reported problems of carby ice. On the Lambada the air filter is right in a recess in the firewall which would have a continuous flow of warm air around it which I would imagine in it's own right would alleviate the need for carby heat, would you not agree? My old Auster J1N has a similar system to that of the Gypsy Majors in the Tiger Moths that is a sort of firebox which can be operating on takeoff without loss off power.;) Anyway your comments and observations will be appreciated. Thanks rick-p

Thanks Darren that would be great. Yes and the old girl is a dream to fly

Thanks brentc for your advice. I knew that you can add washers as I said in my post that I had added 1 already but I didn't know that you could add up to 4. The thing I have gleaned from your post and turtle's is that my oil pressures are probably ok and I had been misguided in my belief that it should be running around 2.8bar 3.2bar once the motor has reached operating temperature. Maybe I have been overly concerned for no reason and everything is really ok. I would hate to stuff the rear bearings because of low oil pressure and hence lack of lubrication to those bearings. Anyway thankyou kindly for your advice it is much appreciated as I said to turtle it's you guys that really in a lot of case are the experts because you are empowered with the experiance of use. Kind regards, rick-p

Hi turtle, It's defintely not a temperature or lack of oil cooler problem as at the worst the temperature on a long climb out on a hot day nearly never exceeds 85deg. Normal cruising temp's about 80deg's and only once did it get close to 90deg's but pressure was about 2.1bar. I know the history of the oil coolers on Jab motors and I do believe that in this case it would just be an unecessary addition which would probably create another problem through the adding of extra weight to the aircrafts already maximum empty weight. The air flow over the motor even in long idle situations is so very efficient because of the cowl design etc. The large sump is completely exposed to the slip stream of air off the prop along with the ram air ducting to the top half of the motor. Yes I think your spot on about the Flydat it is sensitive and would register fluctuations in pressure very quickly. Of course I know that I need to discuss the perceived problem with the factory but I may add that I think you and brentc have answered a wealth of questions of mine. At times it us the operators of these motors that do in the long run tend to know them best. In the area of recreational aviation it is the smart guys out there building and flying these planes that are the ones in the know. Without them the manufacturers would never make it. We are the ones that ultimately test the motors for them and you don't have to be an engineer to do that so never sell yourself short. Thanks so very much for your advice. kind regards rick-p

Darren, great pic's again and the smiles all round say it all. That is what aviating is all about, ' FUN'. rick-p

Magic pic's Darren. Maybe you can send me a PM on how to shrink my pic's to a size that is capable of reproduction in this forum as I have many beautiful pic's of planes and places in the Philippines that I would like to share with those who have an interest in far away places. As an aside, the Lambada is very happy in it's new home as is the owner with it. Regards, rick-p

THE INSTRUCTOR'S LAMENT [ATTACH]1455[/ATTACH] IT'S NOT YOUR TURN IT'S MY TURN, YOU SAT IN IT YESTERDAY. OK! BUT PLEASE BEHAVE AND I MIGHT EVEN LET YOU START THE ENGINE TOMORROW, ONCE THE MECHANICS HAVE REMOVED THE POLLY TANK MATERIAL FROM THE PROP AND PUT THE ENGINE WHERE IT BELONGS, BACK AT THE FRONT OF THE PLANE.:black_eye:

PRIDE OF ACHIEVEMENT [ATTACH]1454[/ATTACH] OH SHUCKS IS WAS NOTHING, I KNEW THAT I WOULD EVENTUALLY GET IT BACK ON THE GROUND, THIS TIME, WITHOUT BENDING IT TOO MUCH BUT I JUST DIDN'T SEE THAT DAM WATER TANK.

SOLO INITIATION IN CERTAIN OVERSEAS COUNTRIES IS BASED ON STRONG TRIBAL RITES [ATTACH]1453[/ATTACH] IT WON'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT BUT IT WILL HAPPEN! MR PANTENE EAT YOUR HEART OUT.