bushpilot Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Well our school's new Jabiru 170D is finally in the hangar - after a wait of several months for the 'D' series to be certified.. 4 of us made the trip to Bundy this week to collect her. We took the J160 up and left it with Jabiru for its 1000 hour top overhaul. (It has done brilliant service, with no issues at all in its 992 hours and 3,472 landings.) We also took up one of our J230s for company. Picked up the 170 on Thursday and a quick (5.5 hours) trip back to Bathurst, with no fuel stops. Averaged 102 knots and 15 litres per hour, with some bursts at full throttle. Photo (attached) shows the main changes - a 230-sized front cowling (4 cyl motor set well forward to assist CofG, and no big ventral fin (the best feature of the D model). Not so obvious is the much fatter tail fin - assists with directional stability. It is brilliant to fly; doesn't drop the tail when fully loaded and landing is so much easier that the 160; just round out, pull the throttle back to idle and it just settles; no heavy thunks onto the strip, even with inexperienced pilots. On Friday we put 3 low hours students in it for circuits, with a stiff x-wind - and they all loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Evan. Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Looks beautiful, Chris! :thumb_up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfox99 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Looks very nice. Would love to see some more photo's if you have some available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Evan. Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Would love to see some more photo's if you have some available. Agreed! Which panel option did you get, Chris? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Answers to Qs: 1. Will take some more pics as soon as I have a chance 2. Option 1 panel, with Garmin Aera 500 and Transponder (We have full EFIS etc in the 2 J230s as we use them for NAVEXES and private hire. The 170 and 160 do most of the local ab initio work) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jake.f Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Finally got time to take some more pics of our new J170D, as asked for. We have put more than 50 hours on her in just 3 weeks and the one thing that all the students like is the ease of landing her - compared with our J160. She gets into ground effect in the round out, and all it takes is pulling the power back to idle and wait for her to settle... Easy. To our surprise she handles cross-winds much better than we assumed; a lot to do with the new profile of the fin, we suspect.. And, as expected, the climb rate is 30% better than the 160. All in all a great training package. Click thumbnails to enlarge: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyfox99 Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 The J170D looks very nice, and sounds like it performs very well also. How do you find the new panel? It looks high in the pilots area and thought that it may restrict visibiliby a little. That is most likly the photo. I do like the aircraft. Jabiru just keep moving forward and slowly but surely there aircraft are ngetting better and better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly_tornado Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Tried stalling it yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 The J170D looks very nice, and sounds like it performs very well also.How do you find the new panel? It looks high in the pilots area and thought that it may restrict visibiliby a little. That is most likly the photo. I do like the aircraft. Jabiru just keep moving forward and slowly but surely there aircraft are ngetting better and better. No problem with viz. It only comes up to the bottom of the windscreen - at least if you are normal height. The starboard side of the panel is lower than the 'old' panel, hence creating the effect you are seeing. And I took that photo in a low position as we use it for briefings before TIFs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Tried stalling it yet? Yep, no big. Even at high angle of attack and wing down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winsor68 Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 They certainly do look nice... The J170 is back in business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaba-who Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Just to go off on a tangent for a second - regarding stalls. I've got a 430 so asking the 230/430 owners here. What are your stall characteristics like? Mine are are so benign you don't know it is stalling unless you look at the VSI. It just starts to slowly fall without any nose drop and it is very hard to get it to drop a wing. Is that same as others have found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggles Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Finally got time to take some more pics of our new J170D, as asked for. We have put more than 50 hours on her in just 3 weeks and the one thing that all the students like is the ease of landing her - compared with our J160. She gets into ground effect in the round out, and all it takes is pulling the power back to idle and wait for her to settle... Easy. To our surprise she handles cross-winds much better than we assumed; a lot to do with the new profile of the fin, we suspect.. And, as expected, the climb rate is 30% better than the 160. All in all a great training package.Click thumbnails to enlarge: [ATTACH]14924[/ATTACH][ATTACH]14925[/ATTACH][ATTACH]14926[/ATTACH][ATTACH]14927[/ATTACH] Yes Chris the 170D is certainly a nice aircraft and an improvement over the old one with the temporary mods . Jabiru should also be commended for their prompt action in rectifying the faults and the J160 does need full concentration when landing at ( or above ) MTOW. Also nice to chat with you briefly at the factory . Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moroa Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Yes Chris the 170D is certainly a nice aircraft and an improvement over the old one with the temporary mods . Jabiru should also be commended for their prompt action in rectifying the faults and the J160 does need full concentration when landing at ( or above ) MTOW. Also nice to chat with you briefly at the factory .Bob What is prop ground clearance like since distance from prop back to nose wheel is more what is it like to taxi through a small ditch ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relfy Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Thanks for the info Chris, what TAS/rpm were you getting on the return trip? 15 lph is god for the 170. The 170 i used to fly was up around 18lph at cruise. They certainly look nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nunans Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Student perspective on the 170D, I had my first fly of Central West Flyings 170 today and it went well, I can only compare to the 160 as i've not flown any other jabs so here goes. Climb performance and take off distance improved quite alot, even the engine seemed to be making more power and pulling harder than the one in the 160. Cruise is a little slower but it felt more solid at a slow cruise or on a slow approach than the 160. Roll rate is less and it takes more encouragement with aileron to get it to lay over (i think due to the longer wing) also there's more adverse yaw observed when deflecting aileron than there is with the 160 (also makes sense with the ailerons being further from the fuse and having more leaverage as a result) Flare is less critical as it seems not inclined to just flop down on the runway when going slow like the 160 can do even when you're only a couple of feet from the tar and with a high aoa. The dash layout is better with more of the instruments concentrated to the left side than the 160. Brakes are much better than the 160 ever was and that's got to be safer for people who need to stop and not just cruise through the fence while hauling on the break leaver with both hands !! I don't know how they fixed them maybe bigger diameter disks or better pad compound but i think earlier jabs could benefit from an upgrade like these. The stall of the 170d really is no drama and not a safety concern to me at all. No tendency to spin, recoverable instantly by releasing the stick and it's easier for me to keep the wings level in the 170 with the elevator on the back stop than it is with the 160. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted September 23, 2011 Author Share Posted September 23, 2011 What is prop ground clearance like since distance from prop back to nose wheel is more what is it like to taxi through a small ditch ? Sorry about the delayed response; I was o/s when you made this post. A good question. The distance from nose wheel to prop is indeed a fair bit more than both the 160 and 230 - about 200mm. Ditches could present a problem and will need care. We also notice a bit of a nose heavy feel when taxing or on T/O, so we tend to trim back or hold back on the stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted September 23, 2011 Author Share Posted September 23, 2011 Thanks for the info Chris, what TAS/rpm were you getting on the return trip? 15 lph is god for the 170. The 170 i used to fly was up around 18lph at cruise. They certainly look nice. We varied the RPM quite a bit given the new engine.. But a 'slow' cruise at 2800 rpm gives about 90kts TAS at 5000ft. It is a bit less slippery than our J160. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza 38 Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 I was just reading the Latest JabbaChat. A good write up on the testing of the 170D. Looks nice with the longer nose I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedwa38 Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 I'm interested in purchasing a 170D. How has this aircraft preformed so far? Any negatives? Any positives? Any things to beware of ? Cheers. Bart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rankamateur Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 What didn't you like about that Savannah Bart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank marriott Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Bart I own a J230D (500hrs) and recently (6 months ago) picked up a J170D with a new owner from Adelaide and bought it back to Townsville and was very impressed. 100 plus kts TAS @ 15 ltrs per hour. The owner has done another 50 hrs since he got it home and no complaints. If this is the aircraft you are looking at I can't offer any negatives. Hope this is of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedwa38 Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 What didn't you like about that Savannah Bart? Haha I just put that photo up and I was thinking to myself that someone might make a comment along those lines. The savannah is a brilliant machine, solid, reliable and capable. I'm looking for an a/c with 600kg mtow, 35kg+ of baggage space, 100knots cruise and 5hrs endurance. The Jabiru 170 ticks many of my boxes for an aircraft in that price range. I've done around 50hrs in a 170-C, so I'm somewhat familiar with the type. If this is the aircraft you are looking at I can't offer any negatives. Cheers Frank, that's great to hear, the fuel burn sounds good too, the 170C I flew would consistently burn 17L p/h, must have been built on a Friday. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rankamateur Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 600Kg MTOW is now a reality for the Savannah S, luggage pod to achieve your 35Kg luggage is doable, but gee the pod would rattle a bit at 100Kts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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