Moneybox

I just received a quote for the 8 engine mount rubbers from Bert Flood. 860695 Shock Mount Set ( $925.90 + GST ( In Stock ) Now I've worked out why they call them Shock Mounts 🤣

Hopefully Rotax don't lower their standards to meet a price challenge. Sometimes a company with a good reputation fails miserably to keep up quality control. Take Australian company Codan as an example. They produce a range of metal detectors under the Minelab brand. Their old products where they developed a very good reputation were exceptional in build quality, performance and endurance. In recent years they have started producing rubbish. Their machines still perform well but fail more often than not. These products sell at premium prices but usually fail before the operator manages to become familiar with the controls. Most people would use these machines in remote areas operating for days to weeks at a time and their new machines often fail to last those few weeks. The only reason they continue to sell their products is that there is no effective competition. Their warranty service is good but that doesn't help the poor sole who only had three weeks off work and travelled 1000km or more before being let down by a brand new machine from what used to be a reputable company. Competition is good for price control but build quality and endurance are more important especially when you have a long way to fall.

I haven't finished watching these videos but I think they blow the story that these engines are an exact copy of the Rotax. I have no doubt they have been developed from the Rotax but you don't turn out a range of engines like this overnight. It looks to me as though there have been years of development and testing so I'd be confident to purchase their products.

The problem is that it's a bit of a hit and miss when you buy from these developing countries. I remember when we first bought stationary engines from Japan, they came with a spare piston and rings, a set of spanners and various other parts. Some of the Chinese stuff is the same, you might get a good model but you could end up with something like the Kia Carnival when it came out. You were very lucky if you got 50,000km before throwing the engine in the bin and because of the reputation they built most of the vehicles ended up scrapped. Compare that to the early Hundai Excel, you couldn't kill them. Hopefully their aircraft engines have been thoroughly tested. The ZONSEN price has pretty much doubled since the first video clip from three years ago so I guess that's a good sign.

That looks expensive...

Please explain? I just stated the tank is right against the back of the seat so there'd be little difference with the tank full or empty.

I've not checked it out however the tank is right up against the back of the seat so there'd be little difference to the balance. The wife and I will only total 125kg so we'll have lots of weight to spare but it's a case of where to put it. 310kg tare weight and max 550kg.

I'll only have 60L in the one tank. I've thought about a metal outboard motor tank that can be plugged in and jus flick the pump switch when needed but weight and balance come to play.

I think squeezing all of the air out would eliminate the expansion problem if you just had perhaps half a bladder of fuel left. I've never tried it but I think it would have to reach boiling point to create more vapor.

I stopped using the plastic jerry cans for two reasons. If we store fuel in the boot of our bus/camper we don't sleep well. The fumes pass right through the plastic. If we use the metal cans then we don't even know they are there. The other reason is that I've had a few expand to the point of splitting and spraying a fine mist of petrol into the air. They blow up like a balloon but for some reason the steel cans keep their form even though they have quite high pressure that is released upon opening. I can't see me ever risking the use of anything plastic in our climate. I can see the value in the layflat bladder for short term use but I wouldn't like to ride beside one loaded with fuel.

Yes Skippy I did buy quite a bit locally. I got the tyres from Bush Aero with just $20 delivery to Cue, the hoses from Repco, Mako Services and Run Auto Parts and the carburettor kits and oil filters from Bert Flood and engine oil and ACF50 from the Flight Store but some items I wanted to be sure I got the right parts. I bought the safety wire and pliers from Clear Prop and the Odyssey battery from Goodchild Enterprises. The correct electric fuel pump was important because of the pressure and flow requirements so I bought the mechanical pump from the same place. Next was the 4mm hydraulic pipes for the propeller and brakes, I wanted to be sure the end fittings matched the components. The gas struts for the canopy, I've bought these things aftermarket plenty of times and more often than not the end fittings are wrong so I ordered original. I'm replacing all the external screws for fairing and other bits, I wanted original screws. I know I could have found the landing lights here but like everything else I wanted to get the right ones that just fit. The rubber joystick grips were a total of $8 so I had to buy original ☺️ Because I was already paying freight I tried to buy the Wacker P12 paste there too.

I don't have deep pockets but before I started on this flying thing I sold some assets to fund the training and the plane. I don't have a weekly wage, I'm retired without superannuation or a pension but because I built my little piggy bank I'm prepared to spend a few bucks on the things that matter. I will usually look for cheap options but I'm new to this aeronautical stuff so I find myself buying the more expensive option sometimes hoping to stay safe. Tyres and tubes are a good example. I bought Condor, a very expensive option but I imagine trying to control a take-off or landing on a flat tyre might be a little hazardous for a new pilot and some of the areas I might use as airstrips might test a cheaper tyre beyond its intended use. I ordered some parts direct from Evektor Australia hoping to get the right part for the job but that hasn't worked out too well. It's been about three weeks so far and even though all parts were in stock in Czechoslovakia they haven't left yet and I want to get things moving. Perhaps the cheaper locally sourced parts might still be the best option.

The way I see it is if it is a factory built LSA then it cannot be run on condition. If it is factory built and has a Type Certificate (not LSA) then it can be changed to run on condition.

I guess the ADSB in/out is only useful if both are equipped that way?

I've spent a lot of years on Autocad from Version 4 on but just 2D. I enrolled in a 3D Autocad course at Bunbury Tafe about 20 years ago but spent all the first few classes teaching fellow students the basics of 2D so I gave up in the end. The Tafe was at fault by accepting students that had almost no Autocad prior experience.

This guy put on quite a show (without hitting the wall) apparently fighting a strong crosswind.

Most Evektor Sportstars are LSA but for some reason this particular aircraft is Type-Certified. It was a Factory Demo model, perhaps that made a difference or was it registered before LSAs came into being? It's a 2004 model.

My Sportstar is a Non-LSA.

I still haven't got to the point of presenting my plane for inspection for registration. It's 20yrs old 711hrs on a Rotax 912 ULS and 24- registration. I've had advice from all the experts (an ex is a has-been and a spurt is a drip under pressure) and every one has a different opinion. I believe a factory built LSA cannot be converted to run on condition, it must remain running on the manufacturers service schedule. Upon inspection of the relevant documents for my plane, an early Evektor Sportstar, is not an LSA but a Type-Certified aircraft so I dodge that rule. It's not done yet but after RAAus looked into it they sent me the paper work to convert my 24- rego plane to run on condition. We will see what happens over the coming weeks.... There has been no mention of E- registration as it cannot apply.

I think the biggest challenge is the CAD 3D. I never mastered 3D drawing.

Brendan, I'm at about the same stage. I'm comfortable bringing the plane in but recently we've had such strong cross winds that he won't let me go solo. I did a few landings in 12 to 15kt cross winds but they were untidy and he wants me to land and keep it within 1.5m of the centre line. I can't do that consistently in a crosswind so I gave it away and came home to work on the plane. I understand what you're saying about the flaps, it's just another thing to add when your hands and feet are busy. On the last day we had low clouds, frequent showers and a strong crosswind so we headed down to the training area away from the circuits. We practised steep turns, 45°, spiral decents and spiral stall recovery. It was a lot of fun and a great way to finish off my couple of weeks in Perth.

I've just ordered Sportstar parts from the factory in Czechoslovakia so I added a tube of Wacker P12 to the order. It's not available at the moment.

Yeah, I had to play that again. 😀

I'm on my way home tonight disappointed that I never got the chance to go solo. I had a mix of reasonably good weather along with a lot of bad. My goal was to come home with my RPC but I never got near it. The first day back after five months off was a mix of good and not so good but was better than I expected. My radio work was much improved so I sat the theory test and passed that. I still couldn't fly each day so sat the Air Law theory and got that out of the way as well. I started circuits last week with 12 and 15kt cross winds and it was messy so packed it in early. Friday was a little better with a 8 to 12kt cross wind and even though I got some good landings in he didn't want me going solo in it. Monday was crappy again (yellow arrow). I was booked in for 9:00am but left it until later in the day hoping for the wind to align with one of the runways. It didn't so he asked if I wanted to practice some steep turns. I jumped at the idea, I just wanted to get some useful time in the air. We spent some time on 45° turns, Spiral decents and Graveyard spiral recovery. What a blast, it turned a shitty day into an experience to remember. It was all over way too soon and we were back on the ground looking forward to the promised better weather on Tuesday. Well that was today. I was booked in for 11:00am and 2:00pm but it never happened. As you can se by the centre of the graph the wind had backed off so it was my day to go solo but my instructor called in sick. Tomorrow and Thursday are looking pretty bad so I called it quits and went shopping. Now loaded with the next couple of months supplies I'm on the road and should be home by early afternoon tomorrow. 😒

Is there any way we can get a bit of audio from the cockpit? ☺️