Moneybox

Yes Skippy, I like the power controlled landings however it's always on my mind, "What happens if the power fails at that critical time"? You'd have no chance of making the airstrip because your approach is way too low to glide in. I have no flaps so approaching low under power lets me drop it right on the piano keys if I choose to just by reducing power at the correct time.

I’ve been following this guy’s YouTube videos. He discusses loading sufficient ballast to the rear to balance the aircraft.

Oh, I guess that’s what the S means. 🤔

My Zodiac CH 601 HD has no flaps but is a beautiful plane to land in all sorts of terrible weather. My stall speed with just me onboard 67kg and about 70L of fuel is too low to register on the MGL instrument. It goes down to 27kts and then to zero before the stall. I have no desire to fit flaps.

The problem I had was getting available hours. I camped in the car park at Cloud Dancer for weeks for just an hour here and there. I ended up driving over 1000 km and camped in Esperance to finish my training with another instructor.

I can’t get to check my engines but I expect they are too old to be included. Pity, because it might be a good opportunity for an internal inspection with most of the labour covered.

If there was nobody onboard perhaps pilot failed to use HANDBRAKE?

I use the free app HANDBRAKE to reduce video size. Dead easy to use and no noticeable reduction in quality.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-24/pilot-dies-in-light-plane-crash-near-northam-east-of-perth/106836910

I went for a class-2 medical because I hadn't had a decent medical checkup for many years. The mistake I made was disclosing 70 years of medical history that they used to put me through the wringer. After months of tests and analysis they were calling for more so I spoke to my GP, he said "Don't worry there's nothing wrong with you, I'll write them a letter". That did it, I immediately passed but it only lasted two years so next time I just did the class-5 declaration. Your flight instructor will direct you to the correct quack for your CASA medical. Mine flight instructor told me, after the fact, that you just tick all the right boxes and you'll pass. I thought that might be ok until you attempted and insurance claim and some relevant medical history was disclosed then you'd be stuffed.

Baz, I’ve followed your build and from what I’ve seen you have all the skills required plus some. You’ll easily knock it off and your age is certainly no barrier. I didn’t decide to learn to fly until I hit 70 and took a serious look at my bucket list. I’m 72 now and have flown 95 hours but would have done a lot more if my other interests didn’t get in the way. I think it’s important to make sure your finances are in order before commencing. I’ve seen too many unfinished projects and too many dropouts before finishing flying lessons and that is a waste of time and money.

Brings back memories of my first car, a two door Fiat 600 with suicide doors. It ended up having matching arcs impressed into the front door skins that fitted the rear wheel arches. When the exhaust broke on the Zenith I smelled the fumes right away. I didn’t hear it until I landed an hour or so later. Now I have an RAAus CO detector that hopefully never has a reading.

Surely you didn't fly the Jabiru to NZ? I'm in the Pilbara right now. On my prospecting lease P46/2135 just east of Nullagine. I'd love to fly here but I think if I left the plane sit at the Nullagine airport overnight it'd be missing the wheels by morning. You're welcome to drop in the Cue sometime but you'd have to check our movements, we don't sit still for long. Right now I'm trying to arrange freight from Perth for a pair of Excavator tracks. I walked it up a creak deep into the hills in the middle of the lease before the RH track came apart. Fortunately I was on the ground at the time. 😂 Phil

I realise some might be concerned about a fire risk of using the Chinese copy but any electrical device can fail in the same way. At $45 a pop repair of the old one would seem like a waste of time. I'm not flying much at the moment so I can't prove its worth but for the ease of fitting I feel it's well worth a shot. We're right into gold prospecting season now so the plane is securely tied down for an extended period.

I guess it's better than crashing into them? 🤪