old man emu

It's a bit difficult breath testing a pilot in flight I would guess...

"Just hover to the side of that cloud, sir. You've been stopped for the purpose of a random breath test."

OME

OK, my post was brief for the sake of forums.Sssooo...say if there is "some concern" which prevents the issue of the medical for flying to take place until further tests are carried out... does that stop the person tested from driving as well until the said tests are carried out and passed? This is for the upcoming RPL out of interest..

It is true that the Class 3 medical asks similar questions to those asked of a Heavy Vehicle Licence applicant, but there are some psychological questions, and balance/vertigo tests as well.

Getting to the point of a failed Class 3's effect on a motor vehicle licence, then the answer is that failing a Class 3 does not effect a vehicle licence.

However, having said that, let me say this - a licensed motor vehicle driver must inform the relevant motor vehicle licensing authority if the driver suffers from any condition, physical, medical or psychiatric that would impede the driver's ability to drive. So, if on attending a Class 3 medical examination and failing, a licensed motor vehicle driver would be required to confess the failure to the licensing authority. It would not be up to the doctor to report the discovery of an adverse condition, unless that condition posed a really serious danger whilst the person was driving.

As to failing the Class 3, start to learn how to jump through hoops.

OME

9.6 weeks = 48 days (on the basis of a 5 day week)

366.95/48 = 7.6 hrs per day (assuming that the OT hours are not at a penalty rate)

If the OT was at time and one half, than the actual hours worked were 366.95/1.5 = 244.6

Daily OT was 244.6/48 = 5.1 hrs.

I would have thought that the position of Technical Manager would be a salary package position and would not have included penalty payments.

OME

The liability implications far outweigh expanding non-RPT flying in Australia financially right now;

D'oh! Shoulda opened the doors and let the water drain out before we lifted it right out of the lake.

OME

Without prejudice

A quote from the Policy Document: "This strategic direction will reinforce safety as CASA’s primary responsibility"

and that, my friends is where CASA is hampering the sustaining and development of aviation in the non-RPT sector that we inhabit.

It would be better if the policy direction was to "promote aviation as an essential component of National infrastructure." You know, like the FAA has been doing in the US since the 1930's.

(I would have liked to have seen Labor's policy statement on aviation to compare it)

Old Man Emu

Boxy,

The L4 rating is the highest one can get with RAA. It is issued to select people who have the responsibility of approving airplanes before their first flight. So these people have to have lots and lots of practical experience dealing with all the systems of a light airplane.

An L2 is qualified to carry out maintenance. Without belittling any L2s, I would suggest that an L2 is equivalent to an unlicensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (although a heck of a lot of RAA L2s are in fact CASA LAMEs)

Why can't you son get an L2 ticket? Probably because his experience is with a completely different type of airplane design (unless he was working on light communications and observation types). What an L2 needs is greasy hands experience on simple systems. An L2 also needs to be able to put right mistakes and damage the correct way, without having access to highly complex maintenance documentation. I suppose that the best way to put it is that an L2 needs the experience with very light aircraft construction and design to be able to spot something that looks wrong without resorting to reference books.

I know it sounds like I'm putting your son's experience down, but put it another way, he is used to working with Thoroughbred stock. An L2 works with cart horses and hacks.

OME

I have a friend who has a 2-seater gyro with a Subaru engine pushing it. I'll go see him later today and post something tonight.

OME

I like the "Top of Page" icon, even if it is displayed at the bottom of the page.

OME

Thanks

Ahh, Ian.

1. How do we navigate to the web site's home page?

2. How do we log out?

OME

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Well done that pilot, but how did he manage to rip the top cowl off when stopping?

OME

Never a truer word said.

OME

Moulded plastic may be suitable as initial measurement models, but it would all depend on just how close your measurements and tolerance requirements are...................Maj...

I'm talking about brackets and plates that might be used on the airframe or wings. If the dimensions on the drawings for these sort of parts are, say, to the nearest 1/8", then the greatest accuracy you should look for is half of that unit, which is 1/16".

If you were measuring up parts to cut from stock, your accuracy would depend on the accuracy of your measuring tool. Therefore, you have to accept +/- 50% of your smallest graduation of your measuring tool. With a CAD measurement, the computer will use the measurement you type in to the program. I admit that the machine doing the making of the part will have "slop" in its movement, but since each movement is usually very small, the finished product is not likely to drift outside the +/- 50% error.

The idea of using 3D printing is to produce a test piece at low cost so that any modifications required will also be low cost.

OME

... AND I refuse to be intimidated or concerned by expressed fears of an engine starting with the plugs removed or someone walking into a prop arc while I'm doing a compression test.

Old Man Emu

If you were building a plane from plans, would you consider using templates made from hard plastic to check fit and hole alignment?

What I am talking about are airframe fittings produced using 3D Printing techniques. Basically the process involves drawing the part using a CAD program, then processing the drawing file to create instructions for a machine, similar in appearance to a CNC mill, to create the object by laying down filaments of molten plastic until the object is complete.

The object would be true to the drawing. It would contain all the holes that fasteners would go through in the final product, and would have all the correct bends if that was what was required. The plastic item could be used to check for fit, or used as a drilling template. The object would be made of ABS plastic, which is the same stuff the LEGO blocks are made from.

Finally, if the template was correct, the drawing file could be sent to a CNC machinist to make as many of the fitting as required from the specified metal.

The process can also be used in the process of making replacements for damaged components such as cover plates, knobs and switches if a person was restoring a plane etc.

Old Man Emu

What nonsense is this?

Quote: "The reading should be around 150 pounds sq. in/ ( Jabiru.).. Got plus / minus 10% deviation" End quote.

Can you indicate where this value is to be found in the Jabiru's, or any other engine's, documentation? Not that it doesn't seem to be a reasonable value, but it will vary considerably depending on whether the engine is high or low compression.

How do you calibrate your pressure gauge? It is possible to calibrate both gauges on a leak down tool (although it is actually more economical to throw the old one away and buy a new one as the cost of a new unit is about a quarter or one third the cost of calibration.

Finally, there is the safety aspect of turning over an engine in the workshop. Some twit might walk into the propeller arc, and Murphy's Laws says that one time, somewhere, an engine will fire while the test is being done this way.

Yes. The test delivers reliable results is the engine has been allowed to cool down a tab from operating temperature. This saves burning the LAME/L2's fingertips. However, studies have shown that apprentices are not affected by handling spark plugs removed from an engine immediately after it has been shut down.

Old Man Emu

Kieth,

It is not normal to talk about the compression readings of an engine in he same way as you do for a car.

The normal way of checking whether or not a cylinder is holding pressure as designed is to do a "leak down" test. To do this, you introduce compressed air to the cylinder and measure how much of the pressure is lost before the pressure in the cylinder stabilises.

The usual introduced pressure is 80 psi. An engine that is in good nick will stabilise somewhere between 72 and 80 psi. Lesser stabilised pressure readings indicate that air is getting past rings or valves and this is a sign of wear in those components. What one likes to see are the stabilised pressures being nearly the same for all cylinders. You can have the situation where one cylinder is way down compared to the others, and that cylinder needs attention.

You can't do a compression test on an aero engine like you can a car. There's a big heavy whirling thing on one end that can get in the road. Besides, the pressures in an operating engine will be a lot higher than 80 psi. the level of 80psi is used for safety. 80 psi in a cylinder can still turn a prop forcefully enough to cause injury.

Old Man Emu

I'd expect an allegedly humorous anecdote like that to come from a chappy in Cannock.

OME

Have a look at the starboard wing tip. There's a condensation trail there and it shows a vortex motion. The condensation trail from the port wing is expanding as the distance from the wing tip increases. The apparent closeness of the port wing tip to the ground could be an optical illusion due to the camera recording a 3d image on a 2d medium.

I reckon it's a possibility.

OME

WITCHIEPOO!!

OME

Farri,

Thanks for letting those RC guys have a place to fly. It is so terribly hard to get a place nowadays.

As the bloke from the club says, if your property is listed as a designated club flying field, the insurance is taken care of. If I was you, I'd make it a condition of usege that you are given free club membership, which will include your RC flying insurance.

The next thing to do is build some amenities and a bar-b-que and lay in a stock of soft drinks that you can sell. Never miss a chance to make a quid!

OME

But it's hard to get a piece of real chamois leather to filter through. I don't know if synthetic chamois cloths filter as well as real leather.

OME

So how is this downturn going to affect your business OME ? ..

I'm out of the hardware supply business since I was made redundant. I toyed with the idea of starting my own hardware business, but the market place I was setting up in (recreational aircraft builders) is not strong enough to support such a business fulltime.

I have moved into the service sector of the economy, providing management systems consultancy, but seeing as I have been targeting businesses on Sydney's two secondary airports, the number of closures has diminished the size of the market for my products. At the moment I'm providing environmental management systems consulting, which is required by operators on all the major metropolitan airports by dint of the Airports Act, which is Federal legislation.

Since the consultancy business runs on a long time cycle, I've also got myself certified to do electrical appliance and cable safety testing (test'n'tag). That's a hard area to break into because, once again, it involves trying to coax money out of small business, despite testing being a requirement of Work, Health & Safety legislation.

So basically, I'm an old fellow, made redundant, trying to pick up a few pennies from wherever.

Old Man Emu

Since I became a free agent, I have spent a few days knocking on doors on Bankstown Airport trying to sell my services. The future for General Aviation and, by flow-on, Recreational Aviation looks bleak.

Many of the doors I knocked on were on empty hangars with "For Lease" signs on them. Often when my knocks were answered, the occupants told me that the amount of work had dropped off significantly, to the extent that many of the older people were considering closing up and heading off into retirement. These are people with years of experience in some of the more specialised areas of aircraft maintenance such as propeller repair and overhaul, carburetor repair and overhaul, and instrument repair and overhaul. The worst part of this scenario is that there are no young people working in these areas and having the skills passed on to them.

Then yesterday I was heard a rumour that the Padstow TAFE is going to stop providing courses for apprentices working in the aviation industry. This year there are 19 apprentices in Year One. What are they going to do if the TAFE closes the course? What are aircraft owners going to do in the next 10 to 15 years when there is no one qualified to do those specialist repairs that come up sometimes on a regular basis.

For Recreational flyers, where are we going to get the people to recommend others for L2 licences? Where are we going to get the qualified people who will be L4s?

Australia - the Lucky Country.

Bloody Oath - lucky if you can find anyone who knows more than how to assemble a Big Whopper Dinner meal.

Old Man Emu