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kgwilson

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Everything posted by kgwilson

  1. kgwilson
    Well you live in the right country for Rotax spares.
  2. kgwilson
    Can you imagine the size of parachute to safely bring down an A380 with a MTOW of 560 tons. It would be so big there would be no room for passengers.😁
  3. kgwilson
    Issue resolved. The coil was the only fault & the new one fixed it. The runup miss was due to about 30-40 engine starts to find the fault & no normal temp or RPM engine running. As mentioned the shutdown mag check was good after the first flight. Next flight was good. Runup no miss on either mag & smooth operation throughout the rpm range plus seemingly more power now.
  4. kgwilson
    I tried the cold cylinder procedure as advised by an old LAME by starting the engine on Mag 2 & found cylinder 6 cold. I thought I'd found the problem but after replacing the plug that cylinder wasn't a problem but the miss was still there. This was when it began to get confusing. I think there is/was more than 1 problem. The new coil has solved one of the issues, now I have to find whether the other is the distributor or HT lead/s.
  5. kgwilson
    My Gen3 3300A started running rough between about 2800 & 2950RPM & then after returning from a day at Tenterfield Mag 2 (RH MAG as seen from pilot seat had at least 1 cylinder misfiring. First I swapped out all 6 plugs one at a time with spares I had (used but going perfectly when replaced. I've got 36 of them). No change. Then I borrowed a lead tester & checked all leads. All checked out as good. Next I removed the distributor & it looked perfect but gave it a good clean & used some contact cleaner. Next started the engine, shut down Mag 1 & removed each plug lead 1 at a time. There was a RPM drop on each cylinder. Next got a new (genuine Honda) Coil from Jabiru & replaced the original (Honda knockoff) coil but still the problem existed. Mag 2 on runup 2000rpm had at least 1 cyliner misfiring. I took off & full power all good & the rough running was less noticeable but still there & full power S&L was 130 knots indicated at about 3200 running smoothly. On shutdown the idle mag check was good on both 1 & 2. The next thing I can do is swap distributor caps to eliminate that. My current thoughts are that I have a faulty HT lead or maybe 2 even though they all checked out using an HT lead tester. Anyone had anything similar of have any other ideas?
  6. kgwilson
    This will be the 9th Wings and Wheels Open Day since its' inception back in 2013 and the first since 2021. Last yewar the Aerodrome was still a quagmire after the floods in February. It is free to all, no landing fees, plenty of food and lots of things to look at. There are Helicopter and Warbird flights on offer as well. RA-Aus has provided Show bags for the kids and there is only a 3 minute walk to the local servo for 91, 95 & 98 petrol. No Avgas though. Details are on our website HERE
  7. kgwilson
    When I was training we had monthly competitions. One was to fly from the right seat so hands are swapped and there were different manoeuvres required. The first time I remember completely f**king it up when I pulled the yoke instead of power. It was a rude shock to have the nose pointing straight up. I,ve never had a problem since, yoke or stick left or right.
  8. kgwilson
    And I added a "N" and missed out the "R" in Costruzioni. I'm glad the Italian spelling police are away.
  9. kgwilson
    Most Pilot Operating handbooks will have a detailed list of items to be checked under a main header of "Normal Procedures" or something similar and will have the list sub headed providing some additional information e.g. Left Wing Trailing edge (heading) and (item) Aileron- Check security and full and free movement, whereas a checklist in the cockpit is usually on a card. The aileron will be on 2 checklists, one being the preflight walk around inspection and the other on the card in the cockpit (full & free meovement). The full POH checklist can run in to several pages whereas the card in the cockpit is a simple memory jogger to make sure each check is carried out. If you think you have everything committed to memory, think again. You will forget someting sooner or later. Our aircraft may be simple but we still forget things and adhering to a checklist is the best way help prevent this.
  10. kgwilson
    No offense but there is no"H" in Tecnam. It is an Italian aircraft manufacturer, full name Constuzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam.
  11. kgwilson
    My car which I bought new in 2012 has 7 airbags. I knew there were a few but had to look it up. That hasn't changed my driving habits. What has changed them is age. I don't drive as fast anymore and am far more careful when approaching intersections and other traffic. As far as BRS & birds are concerned, again I'll take my chances that the aircraft will still be flyable after the aluminium has been badly dented. Unless there is a major structural failure a BRS is a waste of space, weight and time. I'd rather be able to glide and fly as far in to the crash as possible. We have a few resident Wedgies at South Grafton. I encountered one on base the other day. I zigged & he zagged. I have encountered a few in cruise at several thousand feet & a tiny speck becomes a big object really fast. Their eyesight is extrememely good & when they see me coming they always roll over and dive away quite fast while I usually pull a pretty tight turn to the left generally. There is always a risk that one day I might hit one but then that's aviation. There are risks in everything. You just manage them as best you can.
  12. kgwilson
    Well it must be the season. We had a Wheels up landing in a 66 or 68 Mooney at South Grafton today. The owner had just had it signed off after spending months restoring it after it was written off in the Floods of Feb/March last year. He bought it back off the Insurance company. I have not spoken to him yet but apparently he had a partial engine failure on downwind and decided to land long to make sure of missing houses/trees on the 26 approach & was pre occupied with getting down safely & forgot the wheels. He has about 800 hours on that aircraft.
  13. kgwilson
    Yes I agree. The PA28 Flap lever (we used to jokingly call it the hand brake) is the best most positive flap control I have used.
  14. kgwilson
    Mentioned even earlier by me in Post 4
  15. kgwilson
    The larger the prop the closer the tip speed will be to the speed of sound. Direct drive engines have this problem when full power is applied as the prop loses efficiency once the sound barrier is reached. The Lycoming O540 in the C182 with spin the 2 blade prop up to just over the speed of sound at full power hence the loud noise from the prop on takeoff. Reduction drives on high RPM engines like the 912 allow for slower prop speed at full power and therefore a larger diameter, good for STOL aircraft but less efficient in cruise which is slower than if a smaller diameter prop was installed. The moral is You can't have your lunch & eat it too. Also 3 blades provide better take off & climb performance than 2 but less efficiency in cruise due to higher drag, hence the saying "3 for show 2 for go".
  16. kgwilson
    I put Wing tanks in my S100. They are 35 litres per wing with 100 litres in the main so provides excellent range with the 3300a engine. Photo 1 is looking at the bottom of the tank after initial installation. Photo 2 shows the flap cable routing around tank bottom. Photo 3 shows flap acble installation complete & photo 4 is the top of the tank
  17. kgwilson

    J170D Production

    kgwilson replied to CAV0K's topic in Jabiru

    I use wing down in strong crosswind combined with crab on final but when close to the ground keep the wings level & crab only, kick the rudder to plonk it down straight ahead on both mains. Friction reduces the windspeed close to the ground & my wing is only about a metre off the deck on touchdown. I can't do this in the 230 & need the wing down & touchdown on 1 wheel. This is not as positive as I would like hence my preference statement.
  18. kgwilson

    J170D Production

    kgwilson replied to CAV0K's topic in Jabiru

    The J230D is one of the best high wing recreational aircraft available. Great performance, a ton of room, easy predictable handling, easy to get in/out of, one of the strongest airframes available and an excellent tourer with plenty of fuel available. It isn't STOL but doesn't pretend to be. Personally I prefer the sports car style seating of a low wing and also better cross wind landing characteristics but other than that the 230 is up there with the best.
  19. kgwilson
    Tell the inhabitants of Tuvalu that the sea levels aren't rising. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_Tuvalu https://world.350.org/pacific/files/2014/01/4_PCCSP_Tuvalu_8pp.pdf https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/tuvalu-turns-metaverse-rising-seas-threaten-existence-2022-11-15/
  20. kgwilson
    I don't have to do any calculations. The car tells me what the range is at any time & will adjust it based on driving habits..
  21. kgwilson
    MPG is back to front. How far can you go on 1 gallon of fuel which is either 4.54609 litres or 3.78541 depending on which gallon you are talking about, Imperial or US. So it is a measure of distance you can go for a measure of fuel.. Litres per 100km is a measure of fuel consumption over a given distance. Using MPG requires another calculation given that fuel has been sold in litres for donkeys years and land distance has been in kilometres for the same length of time.
  22. kgwilson
    Back in 73 I went to Bransons Virgin Record shop in London. He'd organised some event for a record release & was there. He looked exactly the same as he does today, just younger. I have to admire his enthusiasm, tenacity, entrepneurial skill and consideration for his employees. Fast forward to 2007 and my aluminium fabrication business did some work on his Island in the |Noosa River. He purchased it as retreat for his employees. Not all people who become billionaires are complete arxeholes. I don't think he has much if any actual shareholder interest in the airlines that bear his Virgin brand today.
  23. kgwilson
    It is about time everything changed to metric. The only thing that makes sense is speed in knots as it relates to degrees of latitude & even then with decimal degree settings and electronic everything now it doesn't matter. Why is altitude in feet? It is in metres in Europe. I assume it is due to the original dominance of American & British aviation. Even oil comes in quarts from Aeroshell. Shell is European (Dutch) so you'd expect litres. Again the only reason i can think of is the dominance of the US GA industry, though it probably comes in litres in Europe.
  24. kgwilson
    It would be interesting to find out how many CEOs of top companies around the world began as bean counters. My guess is it is a very high percentage. They are always driven by the numbers. People are just a condiuit to get the numbers they want. It can come unstuck though as it did with Boeing, but even now they have an ex beancounter (Calhoun) at the top as CEO and Chairman (called President in the US). They fed the last CEO to the wolves but I don't think he cared given the multi million dollar gold parachute he got. Given her history with the company I will give Hudson the benefit of the doubt ........ for now. Joyce can now be confined to the dustbin of aviation history. Qantas now has a very tainted legacy of money before people & a lot of ex employees disposed of by Joyce will never trust the company or allow themselves the indignaty of re-employment no matter what sort of carrot they dangle. Others will of course purely for economic reasons.
  25. kgwilson
    In my experience a partially full container will expand far more than one that is full when the temperature increases. The presence of air in the container allows for evaporation of the lighter aromatics and unless the container is vented pressure will build up and in the case of plastic containers, then the container itself will bulge. If the container is full the fuel will only expand based on the temperature as evaporation is prevented.
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