Farmpilot

I'll let Chris know,  he's a neighbour. 

I have just ordered 17mm silicone from these guys.

https://www.miniworld.com.au/product-page/heater-hose-17mm-bore-1m-long-blue-silicone

I personally have hull and liability to top up what Raaus provides as in today's litigious society, it may not be enough?? 

I have had three flats but I land in paddocks a lot. First was in a canola stubble, I won't do that again, it was cut short but is extremely strong. 

The second I didn't find the cause of but it happened on takeoff so I landed with a flat and tore the valve stem. No amount of goo will plug a leak like that. New tube. 

Third I found flat preflight, goo fixed it for a couple of flights but as the tyre is not rotating in the air, it did not stay sealed. I went for a couple of short local flights to test if the goo would work on a multi leg remote trip. Maybe not. 

My daughter took this as I flew over the paddock they were in. First calm evening for months, nice to fly without being bounced around. 

On 21/11/2023 at 7:11 AM, facthunter said:

It was when wool was a Pound a Lb. Nev

Showing your age Nev! Not many people now days would understand the impact that had on farming. Made many farmers rich overnight. It was before I was born by the way but heard many stories about it. 

Yes, a carpet python. Occasionally they will bite but non- venomous. There are a lot of them around here, help keep the mice down. 

He (the Huntsman) started crawling up the door towards the air vent so I opened it for him then realized it was blowing onto my face so shut it again.. 

This big fella lives in our ceiling all winter and had just eaten a couple of parrots. Not sure if he can get into the plane though, might be interesting for passengers. Not sure why no-one wants to come flying with me.

... 

 I went for a quick fly new years day and had a stowaway. Glad my wife was not with me. I tried to attach a video but cannot work out how to do it using my phone.

I am super lucky, have a farm and 50m from house to hangar and airstrip. Look out bedroom window to check windsock.

Congratulations, Savannah’s are great fun to fly especially off field.

G'day Dan,

How did you get on with the repair? Hope it worked for you as well as it did for me.

Cheers

This is a link to what I purchased off eBay. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VDO-KENWORTH-SPEEDO-TACHOURMETER-NEW-LCD-DISPLAY-FIX-YOUR-OWN-KEEP-ODO-READING/223255942918?hash=item33fb175706:g:LkwAAOSwh39cB1pM&frcectupt=true

Pry the bezel open from the back like this video shows.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIGVe96yzN4

This video explains what causes the LCD to fail and I did try replacing the grease and it worked for a while but failed again so I recommend just replacing the LCD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eldRUU7qc2Y

My VDO was still working but the LCD gradually stopped displaying. For a while it worked intermittently then stopped altogether. When I put a new LCD in the hours were correct so the timer worked but just would not display the hours. I used a small flat head screw driver and gently prised the bezel off and the used pliers to press it back again. It did scratch it but I’m ok with that. 

G’day Dan, I prised the front open on my tachometer and put a new LCD screen in from eBay and it’s working perfectly again. My tachometer is a VDO brand and I googled ‘how to change VDO LCD’ and followed the instructions, it’s very easy. 
Cheers 

Thanks again Mark for making the effort to share the improvements that you make to your aircraft. I would like a set as well if that is possible.

Cheers.

Thanks for the links 80knots, I will get something sorted soon.

Mark, your new avatar is really really good, the lady from Indonesia is very talented. It is so well thought out and extremely well executed. I hope the house plans etc go smoothly, can be a stressful time. You will be glad to get Mabel finished also. I guess you have nothing to fly now.

Cheers,

Dean

G’day Mark, do you use a carbon monoxide meter/detector? I have been looking at portable ones but would rather something wired in that comes on when the engine starts. I have watched a couple of you tube tutorials on making them. You are an electronics guy, do you think it’s a good idea? You can buy the components fairly cheap.

Cheers,

Dean.

Thanks heaps Mark for your efforts in sharing your journey. It has been invaluable for every Savannah owner. I certainly have read it more than once and refer back to it often. I need to pull my wing skins off to fix slight leaks in the fuel tanks and will save many hours reinventing the wheel by copying what you have done. So a big Thank You from all of your fellow forumites!!!

Dean.

Hey, that’s great that the ‘Girlfriend’ is sold. Lucky buyer!!

The finishing mower does a great job by the looks of it. I have a couple of bits of railway line welded about 1500mm apart that I tow over my strip occasionally which does a reasonable job. I will keep it sprayed from now on and it will pack down hard over time. My strip is 18/36 so I am getting used to xwinds but mostly don’t fly if it’s windy. Tomorrow‘s forcast is 1kn all day so a fly is planned!!!

G'day Mark,

I fitted your flap bracket a couple of weeks ago and it is heaps better than the original, the first stage is what I use for take off and most landings. I can use it for Xwind landings when I used to use no flap before as the wind used to push me around too much. (Remember I am a novice....)

Mabel is looking great!! It will be awesome when you can shift out to the farm. I love being able to walk out the house, open the hangar and fly whenever the weather is suitable.

Dean

Hi Farmpilot/Dean - Just like Dean I am using a car (12v) burglar alarm siren, mounted on the firewall/undercarriage frame, as close to my cowling air exit as feasible. I use a press switch from JayCar (press on/release off), In my case came out of an old Mercedes wreck, I purchased for parts. So origin unknown but definitely an after market, not an MB original. I started with a motor bike horn but it wasn't quite laud enough. There are heaps on the web, unfortunate you have to take their word and give them the dough, befor you find out how laud they are.

CT9000, skippydiesel.

Thanks for your reply’s. I’ll do a bit of horn hunting online.

Cheers.

Wow ! you want quieter than a standard Rotax muffler ?

 

My muffler is an off the shelf Rotax 912 ULS job. My aircraft is so quiet I have fitted a siren to get the attention of those on the ground, particularly when contemplating a landing - my "problem ?" is the opposite of yours.

Hi skippydiesel,

I have trouble getting sheep off my strip sometimes and have thought of a siren also, can I PM you for details.

Cheers,

Dean

Sorry that you lost your wife, that would of been very hard!

I can recommend that you go for it!! I got my licence in October and have a farm strip, hangar etc and have logged a bit over 70 hrs now and loving every minute of it. It is great to just go for a fly whenever I want especially now in lockdown mode, just open the hangar, do preflight and go. Sometimes it is just a heap of circuits and the other day it was to find the source of smoke as we are still a bit nervous of fires but it was just a farmer burning windrows 20nm away.

I have a Savannah S and it is great, mostly can land in 100m but my strip is 480m with high trees one end.

Have fun,

Dean.

G’day Ian,

I think emotion has to be removed from this as it has come to a financial one and needs to be dealt with accordingly. Estimate how many members would be willing to pay an annual subscription and how much money you need to keep this service going. Devide the dollars by the amount of people and that’s what needs to be done. If you had 500 members willing to pay $50 per year, would that be enough? Just my thoughts as a business owner. I will make a donation today.

Dean.