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kgwilson

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Everything posted by kgwilson

  1. kgwilson
    The main reason for filing a flight plan is to make sure you will not be turned away if you need to transit CTR or land there. Mostly all I did was call in a Sarwatch by phone (landline in those days) or via radio while in the air. I got refused CTR entry on a few occasions due to weather or traffic & sometimes got asked to go over the top. It was always interesting looking down from 9500" & watching 747s & everything smaller landing & taking off underneath.
  2. kgwilson
    So how can RA pilots in NZ fly into controlled class C & D airspace then? They do need ADSB out as a minimum now and presumably still a transponder but the old requirement of a CTR endorsement has been scrapped. Sounds perfectly logical to me. The only difference here is the rego system. All RA & GA aircraft in NZ are on the same ZK register.
  3. kgwilson
    It doesn't matter what the engine is, there are a number of issues that could have caused the prop to detach including maintenance. It could have been a failure of some part of the hub or a blade leading to a chain reaction. Every mechanical device can fail. Nothing is immune.
  4. kgwilson
    Have a look at the NASA study from 1981 available on the web. It is NASA_CR3405 and has a long title "An Experimental Investigation of the Aerodynamics and Cooling of a Horizontally-Opposed Aircraft Engine Installation". I found it invaluable when designing the airflow system for my engine. Conventional wisdom states that the outflow should be a minimum of 3 times the area of the intake and for effective cooling this is the minimum. In at the top and directed by the plenum design to cool the heads evenly with barrels next and some airflow over the whole engine block and then sucked out at the bottom is the normal process. I also installed an oversize 7 row Positech oil cooler at the bottom of the firewall with its own NACA cool air intake duct and air exhaust. I also created a lip on the bottom of the cowl across the entire width of the airframe which is over 1 metre at that point to generate suction. My engine never runs hot even on 38-40 degree days. If the engine has water cooled heads as is the 912 a lot of the issues disappear.
  5. kgwilson
    I know that. It is just that the system is total BS for reasons I cannot fathom other than it being a power thing. As I mentioned in an earlier post the NZ CAA were and are very pragmatic and have been since I got involved in getting Hang Gliding accepted in the 1970s with clearance to 9500 feet & access to CTR with prior permission from the local tower. This was in 1978 & recreational aircraft were just accepted and welcomed in to the fold as another class of aircraft as technology and materials allowed them to exist.
  6. kgwilson
    Coffs coastal is also pretty good most of the time & ASA allow RA through even though technically illegal. I know a couple of controllers there which probably helps as well. I have a PPL & they know that but I am illegal as I don't have a current class 2 medical. It is all so much BS & they are happy to let you go through especially if you ring the tower & ask. They will almost always OK it if there is no RPT due at the time. ASA are largely responsible for the last fatality on 20/9/19 when they refused entry to a Mooney that wanted to go through Class D. It was early morning (before 8am) & there was a trainee controller on being supervised from Brisbane. They were offered seaward transit but did not want to change course so had to stay in class G & flew into a mountain. Father & son killed. I was in the air on the way to Airventure at Parkes at the time & it was 8/8 cloud below 5000.
  7. kgwilson
    Enroute Flight Navigation from Google Play. Created by some German Aviation students. Has constant upgrades & updates. It is simple without lots of fancy features you don't really need. Try it. Doesn't cost anything & has a good manual as well.
  8. kgwilson
    I have a problem with rough running that has developed recently between 2800 & 3000 rpm. Perfect below that & perfect above to full power (3300rpm). I am only 5 hours away from the next service so will check all the settings then to make sure they are all at the recommended settings and of course there are no leaks or crud there.
  9. kgwilson
    One simple reason. A head in the sand controlling attitude from CASA. If that ever changes GA could throw away their transponders & get ADSB in/out installed with Airservices having enough ground stations to ensure coverage, something they don't have with the existing radar & transponders 5000' and below. Good move by CAA NZ effectively making GA transponders redundant.
  10. kgwilson
    ATC can see all ADSB devices transmitting within range of their receiver even low powered electronic conspicuity devices like the SE2, they just cannot interrogate them as they can with a transponder. The aircraft type and Rego are displayed. For RA aircraft it is R1234. The R meaning recreational and the numerics the last 4 digits of the aircrafts registration number. So they don't need to interrogate ADSB equipped aircraft The reason they interrogate transponders is to establish the registration number which they do by radio providing a squawk code if one has not already been allocated, key that in to the computer against the allocated code then they can follow the aircraft on the radar screen. With ADSB this information is already there so they don't need to interrogate the device, just communicate by radio. ADSB makes transponders largely redundant though the radar & transponder have a much larger range. The thing is there are thousands of ground ADSB receivers owned by enthusiasts that provide data to Flight Radar 24 and Flight Aware. Most use a cheap Raspberry Pi processor. Air Services also has official ground stations . I can check my flights in FR24 any time I like as I am usually within range of a ground station somewhere that is updating FR24 all the time..
  11. kgwilson
    I cannot work out what the issues are. I was flying in controlled airspace as a PPL with RA pilots & aircraft in NZ in the early 2000s. The only requirements were that the RA aircraft had to be fitted with a transponder and the RA pilot had to have a CTR endorsement. The RA guys used to fly in to Hamilton Airport which has international traffic and a lot or RPT as well as lots of flight training happening (CTC an English FTF had 40 Diamonds + the club students) quite a bit to get Avgas from the club bowser. I didn't know they were RA most of the time as all aircraft over there are on the same ZK register. The procrastination & lack of good valid reason for CASA's delay beggars belief.
  12. kgwilson
    It is not a Rotax issue, it is how the Bing carburettor and its enrichment function for cold starting works. My J3300 has a type 94. The 912 uses type 64. Both are Constant velocity or sometimes described as Constant depression and both have a starting carburettor on the side of the main housing requiring the main carburettor to be set at idle to allow the appropriate rich mixture from the starting carburettors own jet. Once the engine is running it will continue to idle using the starting carburettor fuel supply until the main throttle is opened allowing fuel mixture in and the starting carburettor is shut off when the choke is closed and fuel is prevented from entering the engine via the starting carburettor jet.
  13. kgwilson
    The ADSB receiver in the SE2 sends the aircraft data including height AMSL and its current location to the connected display software on the moving map. The moving map therefore displays the direction of travel and can then estimate current speed and determine if there is a possible conflict. As I have mentioned the free software I have been using on my phone & tablet shows the ADSB data (rego, Height) from the aircraft in range (up to 40NM away) in green when it determines from its calculations there is no conflict and yellow when there is possible conflict and an alarm in red when there is probable conflict.
  14. kgwilson
    There is definitely no latency with my SE2. I have had it operating with Enroute Flight Planning & watched ADSB out equipped GA aircraft land & takeoff at our aerodrome with the details showing on the screen within a second or 2.
  15. kgwilson
    Must be a lightweight polystyrene crapper but it does look the part.
  16. kgwilson
    Chokes should all work like that IMO. Mine does & I have a Bing carb so the choke return spring must be too strong or there is insufficient friction in the choke cable, probably a bit of both.
  17. kgwilson
    Correct and the engine won't start if there is any more than a crack of throttle. Part of the cold start procedure is to make sure the throttle is fully closed. The choke stays where it is put on my Bing.
  18. kgwilson
    This may be your perspective but most of the experts have said he could not see the B17 during that turn. While it looks as though he should be able to see it from the video clip, there is a fair amount of elevator required to keep the aircraft from losing altitude during the turn so while it appears to be losing altitude it is not and the nose is high (as is the RH wing), the window frames are thick so these are all factors obscuring the B17 from view from the pilots seat. At the time of impact the P36 had 226 knots of ground speed.
  19. kgwilson
    The concept has been revived and Regent Seagliders have tested their first prototype which is all electric. The first is a 12 seater with plans for 100 seat versions by 2030.
  20. kgwilson
    My initial thoughts when reading the first 2 paragraphs of Post 1 were it is Avgas and lead that has caused the problem. Having seen a number of Avgas fuelled Jab engines pulled apart & dleggs comment, I'd say it is 100% an Avgas issue. Don't use Avgas despite what the Jabiru manual says. They had to say this for their certified engines. Their manuals now say Unleaded RON 95 & above is a recommended fuel but also have a caution note regarding quality control & shelf life. JSL007-7 is the latest fuel guidance service bulletin & is worth a read. 95+ RON unleaded petrol shows to be the best fuel with the same quality control and shelf life cautions noted so that reduces the star rating they provide.
  21. kgwilson
    The US made ADSB Out compulsory but only for aircraft flying in Class A, B, C up to 10,000 feet & E airspace above 10,000 feet excluding airspace below 2,500 feet and within 30NM of most airports so the aircraft in this incident had to have it installed by law, which they did. ADSB In is not mandated for any airspace. In this situation even if you had ADSB In you would not have time to look at the screen and there would be potential conflict warnings going off all the time due to the number of aircraft in a very small area. The long nose of the P36 meant that the pilot could not see the B17 at all while performing his left hand turn even though the photo with both aircraft circled looks as though he should be looking directly at it.
  22. kgwilson
    Helicopters are great fun to fly in especially one with a bubble canopy where you can see everything. There was a saying many years ago that "Helicopters can't actually fly, they are so ugly that the Earth repels them". No so valid these days as there are many sleep looking choppers. There are plenty of pretty ugly old and military choppers though.
  23. kgwilson
    Norma Cobra hose clamps are the best IMO. They are made specifically for each size hose from 8mm to 38mm and are very low profile so don't catch on anything, German made SS and there are special pliers for clamping and unclamping though you can use ordinary pliers. I have them on all fuel fittings in my aircraft.
  24. kgwilson
    When I did my PPL all those years ago it was called FRTO (Flight Radio Telephone Operators) licence and was a mandatory condition of attaining PPL.
  25. kgwilson
    I have seen a lot of poor wiring on GA aircraft. behind the panel it is often like a birds nest. Maybe not when it was new but with time and instrument, switch & other changes it ends up a mess. Tefzel wire is quite stiff as well so does not lend itself to tight curves in wiring harnesses. If the cause of this crash was fuel starvation then that is pilot error. Mechanical failures are rare even with helicopters. A few years ago a Jabiru 230 crash landed at YSGR when the new part owner took it for a test flight, not having ever flown a Jabiru before. I was one of the first on the scene. The LH wing was damaged and fuel was leaking onto the ground and into the cabin. The floor was a lake of fuel. It didn't catch fire and we were able to drain the remaining fuel from the tank & put the aircraft on a trailer & remove it from the field, then left it in open space for the fuel to evaporate. It was repaired and is still at the aerodrome (with a new owner).
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