kgwilson

The Japanese did it already in WWII.

 

I think that came up on another thread and someone had valid points as to why you can't remove the pilot from the fighter (can't remember what they are now, but I remember they impressed me at the time despite being counter to my own position).

Why buy them second hand? You can get 4 for the price of 1 F35. The Flanker is also much faster, flys much higher, is far more manoeuverable with a far greater weaponry payload and apart from that has been in production for years and was a development of the original SU27 Flanker so has a great pedigree. India has them & Indonesia is getting them. The F35 is just too late, too heavy, too expensive & isn't even in production yet with a total development cost so far much larger than the entire Australian economy.

How did CASA come up with 142 failures when they originally stated there were "46 reported mechanical failures or inflight occurrences" when they imposed the Instrument? There must be a Pinocchio in here somewhere. There were probably 86 precautionary landings out of 46 failures of which 142 were some sort of incident but no-one can remember what the incidents were, where they occurred or even if aircraft were involved, but it is all absolutely true although there is no evidence to support anything.

So you ask the members what they want. How do you do that? Email, a letter, a survey to all 10,000. What would that cost? It would get about the same response as voting, bugger all as the whole cost and funding scenario would require explanation which most members would not bother reading anyway. So you allow the elected executive along with the paid professional staff to analyse the process as they are empowered to do, and they make a decision, and lo and behold it gets up the noses of a few but saves 40k a month in costs and the majority accept that as a step forward. I like paper magazines so I paid the $90.00, less than an hours flying cost, less than 1/2 an hour for many. I also have a pdf copy I can bung on my tablet to read in the dunny when I've used the last of the paper from the mag.

The other option is keep the mag as is, recover the costs from RAA funds and next time you renew, your fees are $300.00.

Lets get one thing straight. CASA did not say there were 46 Engine failures. What was stated in the explanatory statement attached to the Instrument 292/14 is below.

"As of 8 December 2014, CASA is aware of 46 reported mechanical failures or inflight occurrences in Jabiru-powered aircraft during 2014, equating to approximately 1 event per week."

Investigations by RAA & Jabiru found that some of the so called "Inflight Occurrences" included fuel starvation and other maintenance related problems. Of the 46 incidents there were 12 that required forced landing due to complete or partial engine failure and that was in 93,000 flights totaling 43,000 flying hours. So that provides a statistic which is 0.0129% chance of an engine failure requiring forced landing per flight or 0.028% chance per flying hour. This to me says the risk is very low.

The issue is therefore "What does CASA consider an acceptable risk to be?" They have not said and will not say anything because they are not prepared to put their collective anatomy on the line. If they did there would likely be a plethora of statistics from numerous other engine types that are worse.

Replace the olive oil with butter & some of the water with milk or add a bit of milk powder & it will taste even better. The additional flavour is well worth the little bit of saturated fat added.

FileTea = Anonymous Volatile file sharing

So the bullying continues. CASA continue to fail in the provision of evidence to support their actions. Meeting minutes are just a blank page. Maybe they pulled them down when they realised someone may actually read them.

Welcome Kiwi 303. Presumably that is the calibre of your wing guns. Plenty of Kiwis and Kiwi ex pats on this forum so don't feel lonely. I knew Max Clear well from his early days of building aircraft, watching him do aeros in the Pitts from my veranda in the evening about 3km from his airfield at Te Kowhai. It is a pity his family did not want to keep Micro Aviation going. There were a lot of active RA & GA pilots using the airfield and Max was in the process of setting up an Air Park when cancer took him. The property is now for sale so if you have a spare $4 million it would be a great investment. You get a bunch of hangars, sheds, clubhouse, workshops house & garage etc with an AirBP Avgas facility and a superb strip. I first flew there in the late 70s and it just kept getting better until Max's untimely death.

It has been said before but I will say it again. There should be a SINGLE REGISTER FOR ALL AIRCRAFT. If we stick with alpha characters we will probably have to increase the length from 3 to 4. Also there should be an annual registration charge for ALL AIRCRAFT.

It is as simple as that. The database should be available for all to check without releasing any personal information. There could be multiple classes within the database and registration fees would vary based on the class. Each of the RAOs could administer their respective classes and the fees charged based on a cost of administering the register, insurance and other costs/benefits that the RAO determines it needs. The levy on Avgas could be removed as the registration process may cover the loss of revenue however that is unlikely as governments do not like removing revenue raising when it is done by stealth (e.g. Petrol Tax).

This is no different from registering a motor vehicle each year. Even though it is a State based function it does not need to be. Rego charges cover or partly cover among other things CTP, road safety, regulations, enforcement, road maintenance and education. There are multiple classes such as motorcycles, scooters, cars, trucks, semi trailers, B Doubles, tracked vehicles, vintage and classic cars & even caravans & trailers etc. The vehicle register is available to anyone. You can get an App for your phone that will tell you the make, model, year, colour etc for any vehicle you key in the Rego number for. No personal info. It would be simple to install cameras on taxi ways to check if registrations are current.

All this is dead easy with relatively simple technology. It just requires a bit of "Outside the Square" thought and commitment.

The stuff used in the Jab engines from the CAMIT assembly is quite thick and sticky, a bit like chain oil & is coloured blue but what it actually is I have no idea.

So it's a Zeenith. More clecos than you can shake a stick at.

Well done indeed.

My understanding is that the 98 octane Mogas blends have a significant quantity of aromatics, in them, one of these being toluene and these evaporate off first significantly degrading the fuel over time, more so than the BP 95 which I know a number of people have used for many years almost exclusively. I am not sure why BP, though some have said it definitely has no ethanol added. There were some very informative threads on this subject but I can't seem to locate them now.

So by following great government policies, legislation, regulations and practices we end up learning more and more about less and less and eventually know absolutely everything about nothing. That'll fix it.

If you think the pistons are back to front just turn the engine around 180 deg & they will be the right way round. Simple. Just ask the Meercats. Push don't pull (or is it the other way around). Dunno, I give up.

Couldn't give a rats about all the why this, and who that, and what about etc. HE IS ONLY 16 ON ONLY HIS 4th SOLO. He did better than anyone I know at that stage of their flying career and deserves a medal not an inquisition, plus he was flying a great Australian product.

Well, kg, there are Jags and there are Jeeps. Sometimes one makes you sag while the other makes you leap. [ATTACH=full]36312[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]36313[/ATTACH]

 

Beauty is only skin deep. If you go after an airplane simply because it's beautiful but doesn’t meet your needs or desires, it's going to get boring fast. You want to look beyond the surface and see if you can have fun or accomplish your mission or if you even have anything in common with this airplane. (My apologies to Amanda Peet for my generous paraphrasing of her thought.)

 

A lot of words to say each plane has its strengths and weaknesses. Actually one of the things I like about the A-22LS is that it reminds me of a Jeep. Get 'er done.

It makes the A22 look quite agricultural by comparison.

Just to get back to the original topic, I just paid my $90.00 for 18 issues of Sportpilot from July onwards & my invoice number is No 00000217. I like to relax & read a magazine & flip through pages rather than read from a PC or tablet so I have no problem paying the money, but if my invoice number is anything to go by, then not many of the rest of the 10,000 members think so at this stage. I wonder how many more will take up the offer by 1 July.

They certainly love smoke & pyrotechnics.... and lots of power.

All the Cherokees I've flown have differential toe brakes. Differential brakes are always better than a hand operated brake when you only have 3 wheels whether one of them is steerable or not.

There is an RA-Aus Flight Test guide on the website at http://www.raa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Flight-Test-Guide-Issue1.pdf but the EAA test guide is more comprehensive and can be downloaded from http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC%2090-89A.pdf

"Made 22 Dec 2014Registered 23 Dec 2014

Date of Ceasing To be ceased 30 Jun 2015

 

Reason for Ceasing Self Ceasing"

 

The instrument self ceases at the end of June. CASA may choose to raise a new Instrument which would require DAS approval. Does anyone know if CASA intends to raise a new, similar or different instrument or live with the restrictions being lifted. Or is this query goading the bull?

The spar did end up with a curve in it when I made mine as per Garrys plan but it wasn't too bad. The solid rivets do stretch the material which is why you don't just start from one end & install them in line. As Garry said as soon as you fold the D-box over the spar and pull the whole assembly tight with ropes or in my case with ratchet straps (1 on each rib) it straightens out so well that I could not detect any deviation sighting straight down the spar. Worked for me.