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Jab 160 lover


john emmerton

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Hi John, welcome to the forum,It is good to see you getting your own aircraft (especially a Jabiru), moving back to SA, having your own hangar at Truro Flats, and getting back with all those fantastic guys and gals up there, life doesn't get better than that. 107_score_010.gif.2fa64cd6c3a0f3d769ce8a3c21d3ff90.gif.

Haven't been up there for quite some time but will no doubt catch up with you again sometime.

 

All the best,

 

Alan and Jacqueline Marriette.

Fantastic to hear from you both......god, I sure do miss Truro flats, but I will be back there in a couple of months. I will be retiring to my property in Waikerie, and every w/end I will be back on the airfield. Take care, both of you. And again, great to hear from you both.

 

 

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Hi John,congrats on your decision to purchase a plane, I too own Jabiru aircraft a 230 and a 160, to say that my run with these aircraft has been abysmal would be an understatement to rub salt into the financial wound the factory has behaved both deceptively and arrogantly.

Its easy to call me a Jab basher but my advice is based on experience I too was once passionate about the plane but it quickly changed to frustration and financial depletion as I bounced from one component failure to another. I am not alone in this position and prior to forking out your hard earned talk to lots of owners, sure there will be those with good and bad but weigh up how many bad to catastrophic experiences and you will clearly see a trend, not one owner in my previous location would purchase one again, and given the engines reputation when it comes time to sell you wont even be able to give it away ( I know).

 

I would recommend that you very carefully consider your purchase as once its out the door in my experience the factory will be of no assistance.

 

I am sorry to rain on your parade as they say but I wish someone had have pointed out the statistics before I blindly outlaid my cash on these aircraft.

 

By all means PM me with your email and I will send you correspondance from the factory that may change your mind, history of both my aircraft and the latest issue, the factories theft of my property.

Email me [email protected].........I am curious to hear your side of the story. Cheers,

 

 

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Why be insulting? I have to say that imminent engine failure in a Jabiru has never been at the level of concern to me when I fly one, that is expressed here. often. I watch how a plane is operated by the owner and have always recommended feeling the compression properly as part of a pre flight check which is appropriate to many engines. I do know that many don't get the heads retensioned properly, and I prefer the manually adjusted tappets, where a problem with a valve shows up in changed settings. I'm not going into a whole list of old(mixture etc problems) but they are all addressed on the Jab site. over time.

 

If a Jab is running lean on a cylinder and overheating, why would it keep running reliably? Aircooled engines are much more critical than liquid cooled ones. There's plenty stored badly too.. If an engine is not exactly right don't fly it .. It's not a lawnmower or a shopping car for mum from the wreckers. Nev

 

 

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In the United states they have a saying "Go drink your Kool-Aid" but I've noticed people have taken to "Go fly your Jabiru" if they want to be really insulting.

I have to say I am puzzled by the outright venom that some people express in relation to the Jabiru.......in the 100 plus hours I have on the 160 and the 170 at my training school, we had three of them. Apart from routine maintenance, there were, by comparison, very few serious issues, and the Jabiru factory in Bundaderg supported us 100 %. If there were any serious issues re support from Bundaberg, I would have heard about them. We had three jabs......all of them did a lot of work with us students. I am yet to be convinced that there are serious issues, with either the Jab or the factory support. And of course, there are nearly two thousand of them flying, as I understand it, right around the world. Not bad......!

 

 

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I have to say I am puzzled by the outright venom that some people express in relation to the Jabiru.......in the 100 plus hours I have on the 160 and the 170 at my training school, we had three of them. Apart from routine maintenance, there were, by comparison, very few serious issues, and the Jabiru factory in Bundaderg supported us 100 %. If there were any serious issues re support from Bundaberg, I would have heard about them. We had three jabs......all of them did a lot of work with us students. I am yet to be convinced that there are serious issues, with either the Jab or the factory support. And of course, there are nearly two thousand of them flying, as I understand it, right around the world. Not bad......!

Maybe a good idea for you to pm Motz and Deadstick, they may be able to enlighten you

 

 

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I have to say I am puzzled by the outright venom that some people express in relation to the Jabiru..

 

John,

 

Thankfully there only a couple of professional Jab knockers here.

 

As you, we have a clutch at our club. Most owners who are interested in upgrading are saying that they can't find anything better than a Jab when they upgrade.

 

I hope that you take most of the criticism as personal grievances as I do and not multiply it by the number of posts by this few.

 

IMHO

 

Phil.

 

 

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Guest Andys@coffs

My 3300 engine didn't make 200hours and cost me $10k to put right, and that was with the same original thick finned heads. I would have liked to put the newer thin finned heads on but that was an extra $5k.

 

Some of the damage I accept was indeed customer induced, I had corrosion on the unlined steel bores due to the very wet 2009/2010 here which meant I wasn't flying as often as I needed to and I found the issue via low leakdowns done as the expected preventative maintenance regime. Read the engine manuals understand how often you have to fly and inhibit if you cant meet that regime.

 

At the time of overhaul the L2 found pistons that had become egg shaped rather than round due to operating too hot and valve guides were cut out.......I did all maintenance called for by time or hours. The issue of concern to me is the overheating and the valve guide failure. $$$$ issues

 

I love my J230 its a fantastic aircraft, I simply wish the engine was equally inspiring. In my opinion it isn't!

 

As Nev inferred do the maintenance when its called for IAW the manual and you may well find the issues on the ground rather than in the air but that just means you need $$$$ rather than a miracle and then $$$$$$

 

Andy

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Not sure if this is the place to do this, but "Hi".......I am a low time jab jock.....about 100 hours total and will be buying a new J160 D in March 2014.

Hello John

I am also a new member and an picking up my new J170D at the end if this month. Lets keep in touch!

 

Roscoe

 

 

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Hello JohnI am also a new member and an picking up my new J170D at the end if this month. Lets keep in touch!

Roscoe

Hello JohnI am also a new member and an picking up my new J170D at the end if this month. Lets keep in touch!

Roscoe

Out of curiosity, what made you go for a 170 as opposed to a 160...??

Cheers,

 

 

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Out of curiosity, what made you go for a 170 as opposed to a 160...??Cheers,

Gday John, have been doing conversion from GA and read Review on this site and liked handling characteristics of the 170 which is similar toWarriors I have flown.

The 170 Review I read written by an obviously experienced and un biased Pilot answered all the things I needed to know and just suited me perfectly for what I wanted.

 

I also considered a 230 but just couldnt justify the extra $15K and the 170 has greater payload for not that much less speed.

 

Have you seen the Pilot Flight Reviews of all the JAB models on this site?

 

Regards Roscoe

 

 

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You will love it........tip tho, ensure they fit door gutters, cost is minimal, but worth it.

Russ, thanks for the tip. Will investigate!

Regards Roscoe

 

 

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Gday John, have been doing conversion from GA and read Review on this site and liked handling characteristics of the 170 which is similar toWarriors I have flown.The 170 Review I read written by an obviously experienced and un biased Pilot answered all the things I needed to know and just suited me perfectly for what I wanted.

I also considered a 230 but just couldnt justify the extra $15K and the 170 has greater payload for not that much less speed.

 

Have you seen the Pilot Flight Reviews of all the JAB models on this site?

 

Regards Roscoe

Yes.......and I have been thinking about the 170 as opposed to the 160. The 160 is my first preference, as the 170 always seemed to float on landing a little too much, but I now think it may be 'cos I invariably tried to land the 170 with a little power on. I am due to plonk down my deposit in a few weeks, so it may yet be the 170 I eventually buy. Cheers Roscoe.......good to hear from you.

 

 

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I haven't flown the 160 but have heard its more positive to land. Also John I am getting excellent service from Jabiru and have been to Bundy to check out their operation first hand.

 

My 170 should be ready at the end if this month so I will let you know how it goes. Cheers

 

 

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Welcome to the forum John, I own a J160 and flown it over most of Australia on holidays with no problems, just that the engine and has to run very cool with the CHT just into the green scale for trouble free running.

 

 

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I haven't flown the 160 but have heard its more positive to land. Also John I am getting excellent service from Jabiru and have been to Bundy to check out their operation first hand.My 170 should be ready at the end if this month so I will let you know how it goes. Cheers

Thanks Roscoe........pls keep me informed, as by then I will have to decide between the 160 or the 170. The 160 is sweet to land. 1sr check, and then a couple of seconds later the 2nd check. If the final approach is stable, you can feel the landing gear flare out under you and then return to the "loaded" position as the aircraft decelerates. I always had trouble in the "float" with the 170, but I think that that is due to only a handle full of hours in the 170, whereas I had many more hours in the 160. The 160 felt so good to me that it was like putting on a pair of old work boots - reliable, dependable, and would not let me down. The 170 now appeals to me however due to the potential for slower landing speeds. I also have a high regard for the Jab as an aircraft. When I was doing my training at Gawler in S.A., we students worked the three 160s very hard. And....the factory support was always very good. If there was going to be a problem with service / backup / support, we all would have heard about it. And the Jabs were being flown 6 days a week. Cheers mate.....let me know how it all goes.

 

 

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Welcome to the forum John, I own a J160 and flown it over most of Australia on holidays with no problems, just that the engine and has to run very cool with the CHT just into the green scale for trouble free running.

Do you cruise at 90 kts or a little faster...?? I will be curious to hear.

Cheers, and many thanks.

 

 

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I was talking to an operator of several Jabirus recently. They get 1000 hrs from each engine with few problems in between. (I see many reports of Jabiru engine problems in the ATSB weekly summaries). One aeroplane has done 5000 hours so getting a facelift soon, apparently.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Thanks Roscoe........pls keep me informed, as by then I will have to decide between the 160 or the 170. The 160 is sweet to land. 1sr check, and then a couple of seconds later the 2nd check. If the final approach is stable, you can feel the landing gear flare out under you and then return to the "loaded" position as the aircraft decelerates. I always had trouble in the "float" with the 170, but I think that that is due to only a handle full of hours in the 170, whereas I had many more hours in the 160. The 160 felt so good to me that it was like putting on a pair of old work boots - reliable, dependable, and would not let me down. The 170 now appeals to me however due to the potential for slower landing speeds. I also have a high regard for the Jab as an aircraft. When I was doing my training at Gawler in S.A., we students worked the three 160s very hard. And....the factory support was always very good. If there was going to be a problem with service / backup / support, we all would have heard about it. And the Jabs were being flown 6 days a week. Cheers mate.....let me know how it all goes.

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