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Had a nice fly in the mighty musketeer to a friend's strip in the hills for some Thruster flying this morning. The approach to the strip follows a curve in the creek valley, strip becomes visible on very late final and always looks very short. Good fun and the musketeer performs very well at light weight.

I have known Trevor for about 50 years. First in RC modelling when a teenager. he has a hangar at YCAB and built the RV8. I have been flying it it but when he had a more sedate engine in it. Trev changed the engine out a couple of years ago with a much more powerful turbocharged suburu than what he had in it. It also had a constant speed 4 blabe prop. The plane was a weapon. He travelled regularly to Raglan to see Ron the owner as they were good friends. Trevor is a very strong person. We are all very upset by this and we hope like hell he can pull through. We are well aware of the odds of survival with the percentage amount of burns he has. As a signal of his strength to be that badly burned and also the chest and other physical injuries from the crash then to walk 2km back to the homestead shows just how determined and strong he can be. Trevor is a very experienced pilot and has flown a lot of different aircraft including WW1 Fokker Triplane and Sopwith Camels and many others. He has done a heap of first test flights on all sorts of aircraft. He can be a bit gungho at times but his experience in flying all sorts of aircraft and his skill can not be denied. The club at YCAB and all of his friends are praying that he does pull through of course. I looked at his track it seems he took off from Redcliffe on the 22nd and the accident took place on the 23rd at about 10am. We dont know for sure but pretty sure EFOTO most likely . The suuru would have been at full power and I would say it let go. There isnt a lot of options out of that strip but it is a very long strip. I think he has gone into the trees at the end and has walked all the way back to the homestead. I dont know anymore details yet. 11K views · 104 reactions | A pilot is fighting for life in the RBWH,... WWW.FACEBOOK.COM A pilot is fighting for life in the RBWH, after his plane crashed and exploded into flames in Central Queensland.

As a retired airline examiner & instrument rating examiner with over 18,000 hours I still can’t understand why this has to come up every few months, simple airmanship & a sense of self preservation should keep you on the ground during marginal VMC conditions or a diversion if airborne. This is my instrument panel which I deliberately chose when purchasing my Foxbat, not an attitude indicator insight. Continued flight in marginal conditions equates to a DEAD MAN WALKING.

Magic morning for a local flight. Overcast but the air was smooth as silk. lake Glen Maggie was like a mirrorsalad farms

After dragging the plane in and out of the shed a few times, I decided to construct a tow bar to make the process a bit easier. Bent it up out of some 0.064" scrap, attached an old Bunnings table leg to it and put a cross piece on the end. I thought it may have been too short, but just tested it and it works a treat. Because it slides over the axle just inside the fork, it's easy to turn the plane too.

I didn't track my whole day because it was just more of the same. The purple is my Test Flight..... and I passed. 😇 The morning started out dead calm with take-off and landing from runway 14. I got told off for not doing a flyover on my solo return from the training area. The wind was up and had reversed so I actually landed down-wind. I had been away for an hour and never checked the windsock. By the time I got to my test there was a strong varying crosswind so my landings were a little less than smooth but I think I was given a bit of a concession for the gusty conditions. Tomorrow was meant to be the Sportstar test flight and my variable pitch propeller endorsement but the weather is likely to put a stop to that.

Harvest number 43 complete. Was a great year. Love the thruster.

And 2 months later, my shed is now a blaze of colour. 😁

It's reported the pilot has suffered burns to 80% of his body. That is a dreadful figure, and doesn't augur well for his survival. The docs used to say that if you add your age to the percentage level of burns, and it comes to more than 100, you have little chance of survival. Fortunately burns recovery methods have advanced in a big way in recent years (especially since the Bali Bombing), and the burns victims have a better chance of survival today. Despite all that, the first few days are critical, the body becomes overwhelmed with the repair job it's facing. I've burnt myself badly twice, it sure wasn't fun. Once when I dropped an open 1 gallon can of petrol onto a battery when I was crouching over it (youthful stupidity) - and once when I tipped a full cup of boiling water into my lap at breakfast time, as I was sitting in my jocks. It was made worse by the fact I'd microwaved the cup of water to boiling point, which really makes everything doubly hot. The pain was unbelievable, off the scale, and it took weeks for the burns to heal. I hate to even imagine what it would be like, being caught in burning wreckage. I trust this bloke pulls through O.K., and I wish him all the best for recovery, but he's got a long and painful road in front of him, if he pulls through the first few days.

Enjoyed an overnighter at our favourite bbq beach site with flying friends then an early start back to Palmyra for the Mackay Aero Club bbq event. Hazy skies due to our bush fire season. IMG_7439.mov

I flew from the Murray River to the Hunter Valley around a week ago. The ‘green’ didn’t start until north of Wagga. Lots of crop failures in Victoria this year and a dry spring knocked yields around in parts of central western NSW. For those that know the area, north of Dubbo the crops were pretty good. i think these pics were near Cootamundra, but I wasn’t the photographer.

Reported near Rockhampton Airport a Sonex 19-xxxx is down in a paddock a few nautical miles from Rockhampton Airport. Report over VHF radio is it ran out of fuel. Pilot is reported to have survived and is walking and talking to those on site. Other details very limited.

When I had my Rotax powered 601 HDS I made up a fibreglass scoop similar to this gyro setup. It captured a portion of the hot exit air from the radiator which was then plumbed to a cabin heat airbox. It was simple and extremely effective. jason

When the skirt’s over her head the plane is upside down. Simple, but effective and requires no batteries or gyros.

Sadly 10 years ago Ross left us. RIP mate.

Yes, certainly need consistency. I hadn't flown since the Thursday before easter and it took me a full two days to get back to where I left off. That's why I started out by getting the plane, I wanted to get my RPC and then keep it up until I actually feel comfortable jump into the plane and scoot off anywhere. It looks like I should get the Sportstar up here within a week or two. I started out training in the Evektor Harmony because it is basically the same but I ended up in the Jabiru J160 and J170. The first J160 scared me when it came to practising stalls but the one I had last week was as good as you can get, it would just stall and fall, rarely dropped a wing at all and if it did it started out as a steady roll that was easy to arrest. I'm back on Coodardy for a couple of hours morning and afternoon from 27th until 9th December. I'm hoping to have the Sportstar here for some of that time. The station owner invited me to fly in whenever I want to.

I was about to say you couldn't ask for a better paint job for the helicopter to find you! Shame about the nosegear, might have been able to top up and fly it out if it hadn't found that rabbit hole or whatever it was.

This one is 19 registered so is ok. For S-LSA Jab 160Cs, we will develop a MARAP package to be submitted on an individual basis for approval to allow these aircraft to be fitted with the Zonsen engine and continue to be used in commercial operations. We will do the engineering analysis for a standard FWF conversion that we will offer the package for. This is all dependent on folks actually wanting this conversion. We will determine that demand once we have an aircraft that we can demonstrate. If no one wants it, then we won’t go to the hassle or expense of developing the full MARAP package.

I must be one of those rare blokes that actually gets on well with his inlaws...😆

Thanks for the feedback on the idea, sounds like it might have legs so I'll move onto a physical prototype. I've noted the concerns about drift. There are a couple of 9-DoF PCB module packages which include magnetometers and are pretty drift resistant (e.g. BNO085). Cheap enough to give it a go and see how it stands up. For those asking "what's wrong with the primary attitude indicator": Nothing for what it was designed for (deducing roll and pitch when instrument scanning). The issue is that you have to be looking at it, and your brain doesn't automatically turn information presented to your fovea into orientation, it takes conscious processing to do that. Your brain can however turn signals from the peripheral vision into sense of orientation without conscious processing. So this idea is not intended to replace proper instrument scanning or to replace the AI, it's intended to project a sense of the horizon to the edges of your vision. An example use case of this is where someone diverts their gaze such as looking down at Foreflight on their iPad, or fiddling with the radios. They're more likely to ignore false vestibular cues and retain a sense of their orientation if there's something that looks like a horizon out the edge of their vision. In case anyone is concerned about the safety aspects of me building and testing this: I'm going to speak to one of the aero club's instrument rated instructors to see if he's game to try this out. I'd suggest he tests first in VFR then only if it feels ok test again in marginal VFR, then finally in IMC. I'll put in an easy to access "off" switch in case it proves to be a distraction or throws off incorrect cues.

Pilot returns home after months of rehab - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-25/avalon-airshow-crash-stunt-pilot-glenn-collins-returns-home/106048632

Hoping he makes a good recovery.

Congratulations Moneybox, we have all felt your struggle with distance, instructors, aircraft, weather and other things. Well done, now just practice practice and hone those skills.

Couldn’t ask for a flatter site to have an event. walking away is always a good outcome.

I did get to training this last Saturday and Sunday but not everything went to plan. After sitting on cruise at about 115kmh for several hours Friday I pulled up in Wongan Hills to boil the kettle. The Hyundai iLoad was running well as usual until halfway between Wongan Hills and Northam, the airport, I had to stop for roadworks and there was an awful rattle coming from under the bonnet. It was only at idle, as soon as I touched the accelerator the engine ran smoothly so I just reduced my speed and continued on the Northam. Once there I lifted the bonnet expecting to find the noise coming from the timing chain at the front of the engine. It was not. The heavy metallic noise seems to be coming from the rear of the engine and the engine shakes quite badly at idle but runs smoothly with light acceleration. It seems like a loose flywheel or clutch. It can't be gearbox because I can stop that rotating by selecting a gear with the clutch depressed, that makes no difference to the clatter. One thing that springs to mind was a similar experience with a 6.5L GM diesel many years ago. You'd have sworn the engine had blown up, the owner did and it was near new on warranty. Upon inspection the fix was as simple as replacing one fuel injector. Of course these engines are altogether different but the heavy metallic knocking was similar. One difference is that the 2.5L common rail diesel Hyundai only rattles at idle. Anyway it stuffed up my flying lessons to some extent. I was meant to do a little work on my plane Friday and then make my way to Serpentine airport for a 4:30am start on Saturday. We'd planned to fly the Jabiru 160 from Serpentine to Northam for circuits etc. Prior to take-of we'd do the preflight W&B and flight plan, another stage of training. It didn't happen because I couldn't drive the Hyundai any further. We commenced circuits as soon as the Jabiru arrived at Northam at 5:50am in cool calm conditions. I hadn't been up since April and it seemed like I'd never learned to land a plane. My landings were all over the place. Some too high, some too low, some too fast, some too slow and some simple to crooked to land properly. I didn't track the Saturday morning's flights but the pink track was some of the afternoon. The yellow was Sunday while I was still in the Jabiru instead of in my Sportstar where I was meant to be by then. I did repetitive circuits sorting out little problems one at a time. I'm wasting my time trying to get everything right together. I had to sort out the best way to handle the stupid electric flap switch that is located forward and right of centre. I can't use the right hand because that is on the stick so the left must reach across beyond the centre of the panel and the process from one stage of flap to two takes a good five seconds. Last time I chose to only use one stage of flap but I had to get it right this time. Then there were all the other little things like holding a steady 1000' while turning, using the radio, setting the trim, going through the various checks etc. In general I was all over the place. We did some stalls, emergency landings, steep turns etc to help break the monotony and that helped but in the end the biggest challenge was to get a string of neat successful landings before going solo again. I didn't achieve that until after the first five hours of Sunday but I managed 1.1 hrs solo instead of the 2.6 that I needed. The Sportstar was difficult to start, perhaps the 12 month old fuel is the problem. It runs well once started but getting it to fire the first time is difficult. My trainer was meant to take it up for a test flight and then I was to spend some time in it as well. As it worked out he realised he couldn't fly it anyway because he hasn't got his variable pitch prop endorsement. Hopefully that will all be sorted out next weekend. I have to go back anyway with a trailer to retrieve the Hyundai. We just got home just after dark tonight. Weather permitting we're back into it on the coming Saturday.

Yes, was a real eye opener for me years ago when I first did my ppl training. Did the two hours basic IFR. When the instructor gives you the frosted glasses and starts doing steep turns and climbs and descents for several minutes. Then it's "what attitude are we now?" "We are in a steep left turn" Then it's off with the glasses and damned if we aren't flying straight and level 😲 Years later, and now I've gone the ultralight route with ra-aus, and unless I missed it somehow, they don't seem to do that demonstration. I think there's no better way to tell you to stay out of the clouds than that one lesson.

https://cubcrafters.com/c/2025/10/press-release-cubcrafters-carbon-cub-ul-soars-to-record-altitude-of-37609-ft/ San Luis Obispo, CA — October 30, 2025 — In an incredible demonstration of the capability of modern backcountry aircraft, a CubCrafters Carbon Cub UL climbed to a verified altitude of 37,609 feet (11,460 meters / 7.12 miles) above sea level over the California coast on October 28, 2025 — setting an unofficial new world altitude record for Cub-type aircraft. This historic climb surpasses the previous record of 30,203 ft (9,206 m) set by pioneering aviator Caro Bayley in a PA-18 Piper Super Cub over Miami, FL in February of 1951. Bayley’s record was recognized internationally by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in the C-1b light-aircraft class, earning her the prestigious Blériot Medal, and has stood the test of time as the high-altitude benchmark for light STOL aircraft for almost 75 years. MISSION TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS The Carbon Cub UL represents the latest evolution in CubCrafters’ mission to build the highest performing backcountry aircraft. This record-setting climb showcased cutting-edge engineering of the Carbon Cub line focused on exceptional power-to-weight ratios, modern powerplants, and incredible efficiency, all while keeping the aircraft in a typical bush plane configuration. “This achievement exemplified everything we stand for — innovation, craftsmanship, and the courage to push limits,” said Brad Damm, VP of CubCrafters. “The original vision of Jim Richmond, the founder of CubCrafters, was to take the Super Cub, considered the workhorse of backcountry aviation, and make it better. I think Jim would be the first to congratulate our team on what was achieved on this flight” Although not an official FAI record attempt, the Rotax 916 iS powered Carbon Cub UL was also easily able to surpassed the current official FAI Ultralight category world record altitude of 35,062’ which has been held by a Rutan Long EZ since 1996. Piloted by Jon Kotwicki, the Carbon Cub UL began its climb at 9:55 a.m. out of the San Luis Obispo Airport (KSBP) under ideal weather conditions and with approvals from Los Angeles ARTCC. The aircraft reached its peak altitude of 37,609 ft after approximately 62 minutes of climbing, with an outside air temperature of -51 °F / -46 °C. This project was a team effort. The turbocharged Rotax 916 iS engine was developed by Rotax in collaboration with CubCrafters and Rotax served as a technical advisor on the project. At extreme altitudes, Kotwicki relied on supplemental oxygen supplied by project partner Mountain High Equipment & Supply and wore a parachute as a precaution due to the unknowns. Despite thin air and extreme cold, the aircraft maintained remarkable stability and control throughout the flight. “The Cub flew really easy,” Kotwicki said. “We were outside the normal realm of operating parameters, so we were proceeding with caution. It was pretty dang cool to be in a tube-and-fabric bush plane that high, and it was surreal hearing airline pilots over ATC wondering what a Cub was doing up there.” he team’s goal was to reach 30,200 ft to break the record for a Cub-style airplane, but with the perfect conditions, Kotwicki continued to 37,609 ft. “We didn’t know how high we could go, and we were honestly surprised we reached that altitude with 29” Alaska Bushwheels installed and all the camera gear onboard. The UL is truly an amazing backcountry aircraft. We could have gone directly from over 37,000’ to landing and taking off from any unimproved dirt strip anywhere in California. That’s what makes this machine so versatile,” Kotwicki explained. “This is my 17th aviation record, and it was one of the most fun to go after,” said Paulo Iscold, Professor in Cal Poly’s Aerospace Engineering program and Project Manager for the record attempt. “The entire team was great to work with. From CubCrafters and Rotax to Aerocrafted and Mountain High, we couldn’t have asked for better partners or a better aircraft for this project.” He continues that: “In test flying we plan for everything to go wrong. When everything goes right — that’s the flight you wanted, that’s the flight we got.” ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CubCrafters is grateful to every partner who helped prove that even a bush plane can reach the stratosphere. We want to especially thank the following people and organizations for their collaboration and professionalism that made this record-breaking flight possible: Flight Test Lead: Paulo Iscold (Professor, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) — project management and oversight. Test Pilot: Jon Kotwicki (Fly8MA) — for his expert airmanship. Engine Partner: Rotax — for technical guidance and flight test analysis. Aerocrafted: Tres Clements — for providing hangar facilities, tools, and ground support. Oxygen Systems: Patrick McLaughlin at Mountain High Equipment & Supply — custom-built oxygen regulator and system. CubCrafters: Pat Horgan and Brad Damm — for continued vision and support. Air Traffic Control: Los Angeles ARTCC Special and Military Operations coordination team and air traffic controllers — for safe flight monitoring and for providing the airspace for the record setting flight.

I practice slips all the way into the flare in the Thruster, engine at idle. This results in an extremely steep approach, there is quite a ground rush and the flare has to be timed, it is a fun manoeuvre. Also practice engine off landings. I do this by myself, in the event of a real engine failure there will be less stress. I rarely do slips in my other aircraft which have flaps. Always fly with correct airspeed.

I had an interesting conversation with a bloke that knew of some poor bloke that had a blown head gasket on his Rotax 912 and was stuck in the middle of now where. My comment was that it did not happen. There has never been a recorded case of a 912 blowing a head gasket. When quizzed how I could know that I pointed out that a 912 does not have head gaskets.

He was a great contributor here.

join the club. my xair is easy to see. looks likje a big jaffa

I'm back home after a good and bad few days down Northam way. I got my RPC so that's one hurdle I've managed to clear but somebody is running ahead stacking a few more up. The Sportstar has been getting hard to start so I dropped the old fuel and replaced it with new 98. When I tried to start it I found I'd left the Master on for more than a week so my nice new Odyssey battery was dead as a doornail. I managed to get enough charge into it by running a battery charger off the Hyundai but it never fully charged. At least the fresh fuel sorted out the Riotax starting problem. I hear plenty of people knocking RAAus but I've had nothing but polite friendly and prompt service. I worked my but off on Saturday getting through my test flight and numerous questions. I passed but he was probably a little generous with some of my answers however he knows I'll continue to work hard to become a better. My instructor processed my application late on Saturday but he had a prior arrangement to have my application dealt with quickly so that I could get my variable pitch propeller endorsement done Sunday. I checked Saturday evening and the application had been processed but with an error showing that I was still a student pilot. I called my instructor and he said "No problems I'll call him in the morning and get it sorted out in time". Sure enough Sunday morning the corrections were made. It now shows Recreational Pilot Certificate. How's that for service? Sunday the CFI who was due cancelled due to weather conditions however it was dead calm from when I got up at 4:45 until about 10am. Anyway I had other problems. I left home with the little Mercedes Vito towing the car trailer. My plan was to tow the sick Hyundai from Northam 106km up to Wongan Hills to have the rattle diagnosed and repaired. I would normally do the repairs but I'm trying to learn to farm work out. I may as well be doing what I enjoy, digging a bit of gold to pay for it. When I tried to load the Hyundai onto the trailer it just lifted the Vito of the ground and each time it just ran away. I ended up hooking the trailer onto the back of the Hyundai and then loaded the Vito onto the trailer. That meant driving the Hyundai heavily loaded for another 106km. It was not the best thing to do because it was obviously sick but it did make the fault diagnosis easier. Even though it hasn't been pulled down it appears to have a collapsed piston. It's done about 440,000 so I think I'll be opening a can of worms so my best option is likely to be a replacement engine. Too much to deal with right now so it's just another job that has to wait a while. Right now I'm waiting to see if my LAME can test fly the Sportstar and deliver it to Cue.

The whole career has been constant training, practice, conversions and upgrades. Each new type, you effectively start from scratch - but the longer you go, the more experience you have to draw from. He’s now a qualified F-22 instructor (night and day) with an FCI-equivalent role on squadron. But you’re right, failure is a possibility at any step of the journey. Having seen what they go through, I’m in awe of the guys and (now) girls who succeed.

Enjoyed an overnighter in the Nynja with Sandy at our favourite bbq beach site catching up pre Xmas with flying friends then an early start back to Palmyra for the Mackay Aero Club bbq event. Hazy skies due to our bush fire season. Evening was cool due to 16 Knot ESE breeze and that was welcome after the warm day. IMG_7439.mov

So i see you asked this same question on the rotax forum and dismissed the answers as is your way. I will not try to convince you that Rotax engineering chose to use electronic control to provide maximum performance while maintaining engine protection from detonation. Some questions for you for you. Do diesel engines detonate? What happens with the performance of a diaphragm type actuator used on a simple turbocharger waste gate system if such a system climbed to 16,000 feet? Why do many turbo diesel engines not even have a waste gate?

May not be too damaged. Image from CQ Rescue post.

A brief video from Juan Brown, who coincidentally flew C130s in the National Guard. He points out it looks like the #2 engines propeller seems to be missing.

Analog nav computer for Soyuz missions. This is just fantastic 😊 Ken Shiriff does great write ups of interesting tech. I can't follow most of this, but I know some of you will. Follow it or not, this is EM porn 😊 https://www.righto.com/2023/03/reverse-engineering-globus-ink-soviet.html

I love sideslipping in the sav. Flap or no flap really it doesnt matter. The sav does it really well. I do it all the time

When I worked on a charter boat the person in charge of the bait station was the masterbaiter.

Seems likely it was a RAAus registered Tecnam P92 echo.

True, or one could have a Thruster...

If you want more than ONE wife at a time, you're a MORON.. Nev

As someone in the farming game about 90% or more of crop farmers have their own ground sprayer, either self propelled or a tractor trailer unit. Drones also don't have to fly, small autonomous ground units are available right now, these can be very light weight and often use weed seeking camera technology for fallow spraying.

Sorry, Skippy, but not only is Thrusters "theory" plausible - it's not a "theory", it's basic science. When a centrifugal or gear pump sucks, it creates a low-pressure area at its inlet, and the higher atmospheric pressure on the liquid's surface pushes the liquid into the pump, to try and equalise the pressure each side of the pump. If you've ever tried to get a centrifugal pump to extract water from a well, you would know the maximum depth level you can draw from, is around 8 metres (approx 27 feet for us old timers), and the absolute maximum well depth you can draw from, is 10.336 metres (33 feet), by using a vacuum assist pump primer. This is all due to the fact that MSLP can only lift water to those maximum heights before the water pressure equalises with MSLP. A jet venturi pump can lift water from much deeper levels, but this requires a pressure pipe going down the well to the water level, where a housing that uses a venturi effect, utilises the pressurised water from the surface pump, to provide additional water lift ability. If the surrounding air pressure is zero, a centrifugal or gear pump cannot work, because it needs air pressure to make it work. A vacuum cannot "suck", it simply relies on external pressure such as air pressure or gravity, to provide that pressure, to move the liquid to the area of vacuum - i.e., the area of low pressure. If the fluid being pumped is located in a reservoir considerably higher than the pump, then gravity can be used to supply the fluid to the pump inlet. However, for small quantities of fluid, and small diameter supply lines, a lack of weight and the internal restriction in a small diameter supply line, can often mean there's little pressure at the pump inlet, so the pump ends up being starved of adequate fluid to pump. https://www.completepumpsupplies.co.uk/resources/why-cant-water-be-lifted-above-10-metres?srsltid=AfmBOor_On-I8TC5d_1nb21mtLvS2jXI1eu4K8qYddEXsf41KhTw947w

I agree, Nev. But if it is over her head you might reliably conclude that all is not well.

Benny, please let us know the critical attitude information that the Hula girl provides? Is it all related to the level of skirt sway?? 😄

The Rotax 916 turbo still producing 24 inches of manifold pressure at 36,000. "Stunts" like this sell aircraft. Amazing engine.

I'm thinking "cheap" by aviation standards, certainly less than it'd cost to hire a Cessna 152 for two hours. Maybe $150-$250 (US)? It'd be a one-off purchase, no dumb subscriptions. It's not intended to be a primary flight instrument, just an awareness aid, so I can avoid a lot of the certification headaches for version 1. This would also keep the cost down. I'm hoping that instrument rated pilots would be interested because if the NASA papers are to be believed, it'd cut down those fleeting moments of spatial disorientation in IMC, so they'd be getting benefit for a lot more of the time than VFR pilots.

We're doing a little work on a local station for a few days. Just a couple of hours morning and night, three airstrips and I can't fly.😒