kgwilson

Found it in the opps manual - plus 5 / minus 3

Who is at fault here? From reports it appears the PA28 didn't make all radio calls but why was the RA22 hovering over the active runway with an instructor on board?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr7hAJmq5Pg&feature=youtu.be

Wow in 5 to 10 years CASA might even catch up with what has been legal in NZ since I lived there in  2005. There you need an RA pilot cert (self declared medical), CTA rating & a transponder. Simple & logical but then CASA is neither of those.

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The comment about Spitfires requiring skilled workers and 12500 to 13000 hours to build may be true but by the end of the BoB there were more Spitfires available than there were at the beginning. The Germans were not able to destroy the factories and it is also interesting to note that the British workforce included a very large proportion of Women and they distributed assembly of Spitfires all over the place, including Church halls and community centres. The resolve of the British public was something Hitler did not really consider. They were fighting for their very existence and unskilled labourers and housewives soon became battle hardened, very skillfull, resolute and inspired by Churchills oratory.

The Spitfire had its faults but that is why there were so many new improved versions, the Mk IX being the best it seems. As far as I am concerned, hype or not it is still the most beautiful fighter aircraft ever made, it sounds fantastic and by all accounts was/is a joy to fly.

One of the best and most humbling speeches I have ever heard on the BoB was by Wing Commander Tom Neil at the 70th anniversary of the battle. It is 40 minutes long and well worth a watch. He talks about the issues with the location of the petrol tanks in both the Spitfire and Hurricane and other issues but it was recalling of how he lost so many friends and saw so many badly disfigured from burns that is quite unsettling. Like it is for most of us when we go flying he recalls often going out in search of the enemy to see absolutely nothing most of the time.The youtube clip is HERE

Skydiving drop planes often take off with less than the designated minimum as they load up with parachutists. We have had 2 run out of fuel (before they were banned from the aerodrome). One of them just made it to the strip but the other didn't & ended up in a swamp.

Regarding RAA aircraft  -  Think of all the paper work and the grilling you will have with a Mayday call.Again a pan call is fair enough if genuine problem and aircraft is not near a runway   - but if you have an airstrip available 10 mins away  - would you REALLY hit the radio button.

 

Be Honest! 

It is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2018raausmembersurvey

I don't like going anywhere without plenty of fuel to get back to any aerodrome I have passed if everything turns to custard near the destination. It isn't a big problem for me as I can carry 170 litres if I fill both wing tanks as well as the main fuselage tank. My fuel burn can be anywhere between 14 & 29 litres an hour depending on whether I am cruising slowly or going flat out. Like the saying goes, "the only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire". Mayday when you still have 30 minutes of whatever that means seems a bit dumb.

I used automotive so have colour coding. Yes I know Tefzel is lighter and fire resistant but it is much more expensive and harder to obtain, not as flexible as well as being all one colour. I did use tefzel for engine instruments due to its heat resistance. Grounding and shielding are probably the most important aspects as if you end up with any ground loops, noise from the engine will end up giving you radio problems. I have attached a guide that I think is a good reference "Aircraft Wiring for Smart People". I found it useful

Aircraft-Wiring-Best-Practices.pdf

Aircraft-Wiring-Best-Practices.pdf

Aircraft-Wiring-Best-Practices.pdf

It depends on what sort of oil was in the shock. I had a leak in the hydraulic brake line at the wheel cylinder and the pads became saturated. I tried to clean it up but the brake on that wheel was not too good so I took the caliper off removed both pads & did a proper clean with petrol. Aero hydraulic brake oil is petroleum based MIL-PRF-5606 and is coloured red. Once cleaned and dried the pads were perfect. Put it all back together & no issues since.

You can pay an enormous premium for a top quality torque wrench. If you are a mechanic assembling engines, transmissions etc on a daily basis you buy the best. Most home builders, back yard mechanics or average L1s use their torque wrench at standard regular maintenance intervals which is hardly at all. So long as those people purchase something that has a torque range capable of dealing with all of their requirements you do not have to spend very much. The cost of calibration is pretty much the same for a cheapie as it is for an expensive tool. Both of mine were quite cheap to buy and were surprisingly accurate when I had them calibrated. Even if the torque is out a little bit, at least the torque you set will be consistent on all the fasteners you are tightening. If you haven't used it for a while it pays to set it on the lowest setting and put a bolt in the vice and activate it a number of times. This will allow the lubricant inside the wrench to recoat the parts to ensure it operates consistently.

I bought an Aldi one (good quality & price $30.00) and while it is great for wheel studs on the car it has no application on my aircraft engine as the lowest setting is about 28 foot pounds. I bought a 3/8 drive one for around $60.00 that has a range from 5 foot pounds to 80 foot pounds and that covers everything on a Jabiru 3300 engine. I also needed a 3/8 to 1/4 converter & long allen key hex socket for the cap screw head bolts. I have had both calibrated and they were both very accurate.

Isnt winter generally less humid?

There are very few so called "loyalty" programs that are purely this. Most do exactly what Qantas, Virgin, Coles & Woolworths do.

Would not being a frequent flyer member mean any less collection of my data?I notice that if I look for something on line, such as walking boots, I then get walking boot adverts popping up all over the internet.

 

Funny thing I thought I would play the system and looked at Lingerie, thinking at least the ads would look OK, but now I still get boots and batteries and water pumping equipment. Ah such is life.

Aircraft Spruce have the full range of Curtis fuel drains. Mine is 1/4 NPT. Most fuel lines are 1/4. Cost is US$14.50 but freight will kill it if it's the only thing you want. I like them for checking fuel push to open for a sample & twist to lock for continuous flow. I guess it depends on how much fuel you want to get rid of. I just put some fresh stuff in with the old & it mixes quickly. If you are using 98 octane Mogas the lighter components such as toluene evaporate first. This can result in the engine being harder to start but the actual octane level increases. Over 5 weeks it will go from 98 to 99.5 according to figures from BP. Have a read of this bulletin from BP & you might just decide to mix some new stuff with the old & not worry about getting rid of it. 

petrol-life-vehicle-tanks.pdf

petrol-life-vehicle-tanks.pdf

petrol-life-vehicle-tanks.pdf

This issue is one of the reasons why the so called reforms are a crock. The medical debacle could have easily been resolved by following the British common sense reform i.e no medical required. So long as an aircraft is registered and has an approved transponder, the pilot is licenced then there is no reason why he or she should not be able to land at any airport other than draconian rules. ATC might have you wait a bit and do a few orbits if RPT traffic is busy . You can do this in a RA aircraft in NZ but not here.

"There was no warning sign. Suddenly the windshield just cracked...." What did he expect, a sign on the windscreen saying "WARNING, I might crack or break at any time and you may be sucked out". Yahoo 7 you've done it again.

Octave & FT... there's no point arguing with this clown.  He probably doesn't even believe what he's saying, he's just after a response.  Just a troll.  I'm ignoring this thread and every ongoing post of his, he's not worth my time.

Simplicity and keeping weight to a minumum is why the chamber around the exhaust is pretty much the standard with air cooled engines. There is only one real risk and that is exhaust gasses finding their way into the cabin. Usually this only happens after a considerable period when there is a crack or some sort of leak develops in the exhaust system. This is why you need high quality CO detection which is audible and visual. If your engine is water cooled a radiator is the main option but weight is the problem with extra ducting pipework etc

Most of the problems have occurred in the US where hydraulic fracturing has occurred close to human communities. These are not common here as the fracking occurs in sparsely populated areas. I don't have the details but there were several instances in QLD as far back as 2010 where farm water supplies had become contaminated leaving the water unfit to drink. Also the US EPA has finally admitted that Fracking can contaminate drinking water at virtually every stage in the process.

They seem to have banned fracking, despite years of evidence that when done properly it causes no detrimental effects. Although I did read that NT was looking to lift the ban.

My experience with those batteries that once they overheat they are finished. That seems to be a recognised fact. The gel gets holes in it that don't heal. I've only had it with batteries with some time on them.. You need a heat sensor. for protection. Nev

I bought a smart charger 3 years ago from Aldi & it has always worked as specified & only cost $30.00. It recognises the battery type whether it is 6 volt or 12 volt & has several charging modes. I use the motorbike mode on my aircraft battery (Motobatt 21Ah AGM) as it is a gentle charge of 0.8A. Car battery mode charges at 3.8A. There are 3 stages, the last being trickle charge which is 0.07A. The only problem I had was when I left the aircraft master on for a week & there was no charge at all in the battery so the charger was not smart enough to recognise it & decided the battery was stuffed so would not charge it at all. I borrowed a flash Ctek charger from a friend & began charging it in the AGM battery mode as this is my battery type. Within about 30 minutes the battery was almost too hot to handle so I disconnected it & left it for several hours to cool down. Once cool I put my smart charger back on & as it now had some voltage it was recognised and took another 24 hours to fully charge. I reckon I was lucky as the the Ctek was obviously pumping umpteen amps in & the battery could have melted or caught fire.

I have a small 20 watt solar panel on the hangar roof which runs through a controller/regulator & keeps the 2 batteries in my hangar trickle charged as well as the aircraft battery. I have the 12volt power outlet wired directly to the battery bypassing all of the aircraft electrics & a cable from the solar panel hangs from the ceiling & I plug it is before leaving the hangar. Sometimes I forget as in when I left the master on.