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sfGnome

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Everything posted by sfGnome

  1. sfGnome
    Google’s take on it is “Flightradar24 primarily relies on its huge network of ground-based receivers picking up ADS-B signals from aircraft transponders, but it also uses other data sources like MLAT (Multilateration) and official radar feeds for better coverage, especially over oceans or for flights without ADS-B. While ADS-B is the main source, other technologies fill in gaps where ADS-B coverage is limited, giving a more complete picture of air traffic.” That would explain why it was showing Skip’s plane as 1200 - it was picking up his transponder, not his ADSB (which, of course, raises another question…)
  2. sfGnome

    Northrop Alpha

    sfGnome commented on red750's aircraft in Airliners

    Wonder what happens to the balance when the pax in the front seat decides to have a chat with the bloke at the back?
  3. sfGnome
    Welcome to Venture Capital takeovers… 🫤
  4. sfGnome
    One of the issues with patents is that if you release them gradually, and a competitor issues a patent that references one of your earlier ones, then your later patents can be claimed to be dependent on your competitor’s one. Hence, some development companies with a big new idea will hold the info really tightly against industrial espionage and then file an enormous set of patents in one sitting. A company I used to work for did this, and one time they walked into a patent office in the USA with two trolley loads of new patents.
  5. sfGnome
    Well, I’ve just ticked over 1000 hours building, and that’s just the time in the shed. All the hours on the computer investigating options and sourcing parts are not included. Probably about another 1000 to go. Funny thing I noticed yesterday. With the heatwave, it appears that all my heat shrink tubing has shrunk a little. The size that used to slide over a spade connector now just doesn’t. Now all I need is for the heat to help my gut to shrink a little… 😛
  6. sfGnome
    I reckon that if you had asked that young pilot what he should do if the nose was pointing up and airspeed was dropping, he could have told you, no worries. Knowing what to do is not the problem. Dealing with the startle factor is. In my training, I’d done heaps of touch and goes. Wheels on the deck, trundle along resetting the flaps, power up and away. However, the first time I had to go around from near ground level (and I was solo), I discovered exactly what that young pilot discovered; you pour on the power and the nose points skyward. In my case, I hit the stick ‘real quick’ and all was good, but was I well trained or just lucky? It’s not like there weren’t other times where I froze.
  7. sfGnome
    Interesting question with, I believe, much disagreement between the experts. Australia used to have some fantastic megafauna which all died out about the time that humans arrived in country. However, whether they were hunted to extinction or died as a result of the same climate variation that provided the human access bridge from Asia is not agreed.
  8. sfGnome
    Have you noticed that it seems that the majority of new ‘light’ designs are coming from Europe. Most of the ones listed from the US were designed in the 60s and 70s. There seems to be lots of different companies designing small aircraft in Europe, whereas in the US it seems that there’s just Vans, Sonex, Rams and Zenith with Vans dominating. (Disclaimer! This is just a thought bubble. Happy to be corrected).
  9. sfGnome
    Highly misleading title on that video. It wasn’t the fact that it was 3D printed that caused the crash; it was the material that caused it. It would be like using cardboard for spars, and then after a crash implying that you should never have spars…
  10. sfGnome
    Geez, you must have a crook lot over in the west! Our previous Aus Post delivery bloke knew everyone and was really good. When he left (to go to a job more suited to his skills and education), he shared the job with his replacement for a couple of weeks and introduced him to everyone. Now, if you want to talk about poor delivery service, talk Aramex (*%&#$%&!! 😠).
  11. sfGnome
    Funny. I was thinking how much I’ve enjoyed this latest issue. Each to their own, I guess.
  12. sfGnome
    Is there supposed to be space for a pilot somewhere?
  13. sfGnome
    Yep, definitely not ABS. With a glass transition of 52C, it has to be PLA. Someone got distracted and put the wrong reel on the machine (I can’t believe that it was intentional). Moral of the story? If you buy a 3D printed part, put it in the oven for a while (ie anneal it) and watch what happens.
  14. sfGnome
    Depends on the material used (apologies if the actual material was discussed earlier). My son printed some proof-or-concept items for me, and they distorted when left in his car. I can imagine the under-cowl getting hotter than that.
  15. sfGnome
    John Taru (who was (is?) an instructor at the Oaks) said on the ABC that one aircraft turned with the second plane turning alongside it, but a wind gust pushed one into the other. ☹️☹️
  16. sfGnome
    Orange AND purple! Very 70s. All I need then is to bolt a surfboard on top. 😁
  17. sfGnome
    Yep, totally intentional. It was the only colour I could think of that couldn’t be mistaken for sky, cloud (grey or white) or trees & grass. Doesn’t work for the outback though. Maybe we should invent a skin surface like an anti-chameleon; it changes its colour to the opposite of its surroundings! 🙄
  18. sfGnome
    And 2 months later, my shed is now a blaze of colour. 😁
  19. sfGnome
    Private aviation? The land of wait-a-while… 🫤
  20. sfGnome
    Not a waste, MB. We’ve all been through the “nothing seems to be working” phase, and time on the controls is the only way out of it. Take as long as it takes, and don’t pressure yourself to get there quickly (I know that your circumstances makes it difficult, but difficult is better than dead 🫣). As for the flap switch, reaching across and starting the change at the right time will become second nature; it’s just that at the moment everything seems to be coming at you so fast…
  21. sfGnome
    Assuming you are only using LEDs (ie low current, low voltage), then you don’t need shielded. Of course, the other option is to just run a string through lightweight corrugated conduit, and then you can pull through whatever wires you actually need when the time comes.
  22. sfGnome
    Look on the bright side. If your engine quits at 35,000ft, you have plenty of glide time to find a good landing spot…
  23. sfGnome
    Of course, this being a record attempt that was likely to generate vast amounts of positive publicity, it’s possible that the engine was intended to be discarded afterwards. It only had to work once, not forever.
  24. sfGnome
    You mentioned in the original post that it was noise that bothered him. What type of aids does he use? Are they the type that hang over the ear with the control/battery part behind the ear? If so, they might be reducing the seal so that he has noise leakage and reduced noise cancellation, and in that case, no amount of mucking around with other electronics will solve it. Another (expensive) option is to get a new headset with built in hearing correction so he removes the aids when wearing the headset. My headset ran a brief hearing test and now boosts the higher frequencies where my hearing loss is.
  25. sfGnome
    Sounds good. Be sure to keep us up to date with progress and testing. I imagine that there’s lots of functional testing that you can do long before you actually put it in an aircraft.
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