sfGnome

That may be true, but I know that I wouldn’t swap what the last few years of building has given me for the instant gratification of flying something off the shelf (though I’m happy to accept that I’m possibly not ‘normal’ 😁).

No, it’s ok to charge it in the aircraft (see the last sentence of their message to you), but make sure that when you’re home, you put it on a mains charger for as long as it takes.

By the looks of that, you’d be glad that you weren’t landing in the opposite direction. ☀️

I found a gotcha in the regulations last night. If you're building a Group G aircraft (601 to 760kg - aka Light Weight Aeroplane) and intending to do your own maintenance, read on. If not, feel free to skip this. The RAAus Technical Manual says "Only appropriately qualified Part 66 licence holders may carry out maintenance on an amateur built lightweight aeroplane unless an individual has been authorised under CASA instrument 18/22 (or updated instrument)". Reading CASA instrument 18/22, it's all pretty straightforward (in their typical roundabout way). If you built it, or if you own it and have built an essentially similar aircraft in the past, then you can do the maintenance. So far, so good. However, right down near the bottom of the CASA document, it says "13. Before a person performs any activity authorised by this instrument, the person must hold a certificate of attainment, in the topics and standards specified in clause 12, from a course or an organisation mentioned in Annex 3", and then Annex 3 says "Training course and training organisations recognised by CASA for the purpose of this instrument 1. Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) Maintenance Procedures Course as approved by CASA. 2. A CASR Part 147 Maintenance Training Organisation that is approved by CASA to provide category licence training." The thing to note is that there is no organisation that meets the requirements of point 2, so the only way that a builder of a lightweight aircraft can do their own maintenance is to join SAAA in order to do the course (which does not run very often). Talking with Jared at RAAus, he said that they are trying to get an existing online TAFE course approved by CASA for this purpose, so this may change. However, as of this date, that's CASA's rule, and what CASA say, goes. p.s. Note that the required course is not about maintenance; it's about procedures i.e. how to fill in the paperwork. p.p.s. Another interesting catch is that you can register your aircraft after obtaining your experimental certificate (CofA), etc, but you can't fly it until the maintenance release is signed, and if you haven't done the course yet, then you have to find a LAME to sign the release. Until then, no fly...

Just to clarify, SAAA and RAAus are totally different types of entities. SAAA exists to assist people to build and fly aircraft. They have absolutely zero involvement (apart from lobbying for changes) in the administration of aircraft. For the types we fly, it’s either CASA or RAAus for the administration. If you don’t like one, pick the other. If you don’t like either, then find another hobby. SAAA will help you whether you’re building for VH or RAAus registration (in my chapter, we have two builders aiming towards RAAus rego).

Ummm… What’s the black thing on the bracket in the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd pictures?

That patch of ground has lots of trees; it’s not open pasture. It’s possible that it hit a tree during the last phase of landing.

Wow. Put it in a museum!

That sounds like they’re moving into drone territory, so they really should be required to meet the ‘beyond line of sight’ drone rules (ie radio, conspicuity and licence). My old 2metre gliders would not have been visible from the ground at that height, let alone a small sports model.

Getting back to kiwi’s suggestion of 25nm navs, I did that too, but I did it as practice sessions between (expensive) nav lessons. I think maybe it’s better to avoid getting the bad habits that may arise from self (or good mate) tuition. As for using EFB vs charts, I follow the magenta line like everyone else, but I also print the tabular plan for fuel/time tracking, *and* the charts with the plan from the EFB. Got a nice surprise a little while back when the EFB wasn’t working (my fault - config problem), so I pulled out the chart, pointed the plane in the right direction, did a quick calculation on time to the next town, and, hey presto, there it was, right under my nose, right on time. Been a lot of years since I did that… 🙂

Not exactly a flight, but it’s always the first place they want to go when they visit.

Has it always done that, or is this a new thing? Knowing that may help to ascertain whether it is a build problem (like unshielded mag wires) or a failure issue (like an old cap or a crook earth, etc).

While I couldn’t go this year, I did join the Rich Stowel webinar yesterday morning. It was recorded, so I think it is worth watching if they make it available. There was nothing new and startling, but it did serve as a good reminder of a few things. He gave two statistics that I found interesting. The first - that 70% of accidents occur in takeoff, manoeuvring and landing which only accounts for 17% of flight time - was no surprise. What did surprise me was that the cohort with the lowest accident rate were students, including those flying solo (so their low accident rate cannot be attributed to having an instructor next to them). His theory was that they were also the cohort who spent the most time circuit bashing, so they actually had more recency in that aspect than most ‘experienced’ pilots. Food for thought. How much circuit bashing have you done recently?

They sent out a message a little while back that phone renewals won’t be available in future (as of some date that I don’t recall) as you have to agree in writing to the new document. They’re basically trying to stop people doing stupid things (ref the Mt Beauty crash) and then blaming RAAus for it. I haven’t seen the document yet, but the concept seems reasonable enough.

The gremlins must have got it. Glad to hear you’re home, but you know the old saying - no photos; didn’t happen. 😁

I will admit that my diseased imaginings didn’t include a constant speed prop (that would be more like a dream), but Neil hit the nail on the head. The issue isn’t what to do right now (apart from “don’t panic”), but what to do when you get to a suitable airport (hence my “plenty of fuel” specification in the original post). We all train for engine failure (don’t we?), so landing dead stick from above the strip shouldn’t be a major issue, but the only other thing I would add is, after cutting the engine and while still at height, attempt a restart just to see if it is possible so that a go-around is an option if the landing goes pear-shaped.

This thread is just a result of a diseased imagining in the early hours of the morning, but if it prompts some useful questions and discussion, then the restless night was worth it. 🙂 Imagine that you’re cruising on a long distance flight, say at 5500’, plenty of fuel, CAVOK, then the engine goes to wide open throttle and you can’t reduce it. What would you do?

To make lots and lots and lots of money. Nothing else matters. 🫤

You’ve just mover a shovel full from your bucket of luck into your bucket of experience. Thanks for putting this out there. It’s really important that we learn from each other.

Silicone hump hose might help. The intent of the hump in the middle is to allow movement between the two ends. I don’t know whether the right size for your application exists, but it’s worth a google.

Yep, but that process won’t fill the radiator if the thermostat is blocked (and yes, it is fully blocked at low temperatures, unlike the coolant thermostat which does have a small bypass).

I’ll second (third?) the RAM mount on the longish arm. I used to have an iPad mini on a 75(?)mm arm and it worked well (and that was in a low wing - never had a problem). On your panel, I’d look at putting the mount below the Hobbs meter. It doesn’t matter if you can’t see it in flight, and it’s easy to move the tablet to check it at flight’s end.

For those of you who have a Rotax with a thermostat fitted, how do you do the initial fill? When cold, the radiator is bypassed, so it won’t get any oil. I have worked out a method, but I’m interested to see how others did it. Note: I’m not asking for people’s opinions on whether thermostats should be used. That already been thrashed in other threads. 😛

I used to (and hopefully will soon be able to start again) fly from Sydney(ish) to Bairnsdale (eastern Victoria), and there’s no direct path there that doesn’t go over some very ‘ordinary’ country. I used google maps in satellite view to pick out a path between Delegate and Nowa Nowa that had consecutive sequences of “light green patches” following a slightly circuitous route, on the basis that the light green was more likely to be some farmer’s paddocks rather than remote heavily wooded stuff. That, combined with staying as high as possible, made for a comfortable (ie not buttock-clenching) trip.

Wow! And I thought plans-builders were nuts dedicated. 😀