Gnarly Gnu

Ian is that Flightradar? How do you set it to show the aircraft track like that?

Bit like Mack trucks, it's all in the name... buy the same part for an International or something, and it'll be less than half the price!

Sorry I can't help the OP Geoff with the cup of fabric covering fluid.

Great, threats from legal grubs now. Remember two can play this nasty game, RA-Aus may have a basis to counter-sue.

Con't:

This doesn't seem unreasonable until you begin to consider how many factory-built Light Sport Aircraft are imported. I found myself thinking, "How could this policy be enforced overseas?" And, not coincidentally, the FAA addresses this very question. SLSA manufactured outside the U.S., the FAA says, must be manufactured in a country that has a bilateral airworthiness agreement (concerning airplanes) with the U.S., a bilateral aviation safety agreement with associated implementation procedures for airworthiness or an equivalent airworthiness agreement. The aircraft must also be eligible for an airworthiness certificate in the country of manufacture.

Again, this needn't be especially onerous, but here's where it gets complicated. During its assessment, the FAA found numerous anomalies. For example, some SLSA are shipped disassembled to the U.S. and are assembled by people who declare themselves to be U.S. manufacturers. Some of these aircraft came from countries with bilateral agreements with the U.S.; some did not. In either case, the U.S. assemblers could not carry out the functions they attested to in the statement of compliance. In other cases, the foreign manufacturer claimed responsibility for certain aspects of the statement of compliance, while its U.S. counterpart claimed responsibility for other parts, splitting the responsibility between two distinct persons (and, it would seem, making policy enforcement problematic). Further, for some aircraft manufactured in countries with the appropriate bilateral agreements who shipped to a U.S. distributor, neither the manufacturer nor the distributor could maintain a program to correct safety-of-flight issues as stipulated in the statement of compliance. In other words, buyers could be on their own. Certainly there are legitimate SLSA manufacturers who meet the statement of compliance requirements and provide safe aircraft and reliable customer service—and who can document this. They are not the subject of the FAA's attention.

Sounds rather similar no? Presumably the US has a "bilateral airworthiness agreement" with China so if 'made in China' stuff will fly one could reason the quality bar may not be that high - or simply requires a bit of baksheesh to sort out.

A couple of quotes from the (US Kitplanes) editorial referring to FAA-2012-0408:

...the last paragraph states that there will be some entities who have claimed to be SLSA manufacturers who may not meet the requirements for compliance, rendering their fleets ineligible to retain their airworthiness certification as SLSA. They may, however, be eligible for certification as Experimental Light Sport Aircraft (ELSA).

What exactly are the manufacturers of SLSA required to do? Well, they must 1) be able to identify the aircraft by make, model, serial number, class, date of manufacture and consensus standard used; 2) state that the aircraft meets the provisions of the consensus standard; 3) state that the aircraft conforms to the manufacturer's design data, using the manufacturer's quality assurance system that meets the consensus standard; 4) state that the manufacturer will make available to any interested person the following documents that meet the consensus standard: operating instructions, maintenance and inspection procedures, and flight-training supplements; 5) state that the manufacturer will monitor and correct safety-of-flight issues through the issuance of safety directives and a continued airworthiness system that meets the consensus standard; 6) state that by request of the FAA, the manufacturer will provide unrestricted access to its facilities; and 7) state that the manufacturer, in accordance with a production acceptance test procedure that meets an applicable consensus standard has: ground- and flight-tested the aircraft; found the aircraft performance acceptable; and determined that the aircraft is in a condition for safe operation. If the manufacturer cannot demonstrate that it is able to perform the functions specified in this statement of compliance, the FAA would not consider that person to be the manufacturer of the aircraft.

That'll be 3 CASA penalty points buddy.....

Hey the Nflightcam videos look great Kyle, no propeller chop.

There is a good editorial in October 2012 Kitplanes by Mary Bernard on this topic DJP, not sure if it is online. All relates to a new FAA docket number FAA-2012-0408 - special airworthiness certificates for LSA. They also seem keen to push lots of aircraft off into ELSA by very tightly defining the manufacturing criteria eg an imported aircraft with a few bits (wings etc) attached on arrival in the USA may no longer comply depending upon who attached the bits etc. So for them more problematic for imported than 100% local made aircraft apparently.

Welcome 503, I'd love to check out a PPC one day, they don't take much wind though right? Also not sure if they would handle a big beastly Gnu.... sounds like a lot of fun though. Is there a 4-stroke option?

Edit: corrected spelling - wind, not wing.

The last couple of days one of the security systems on our server has locked me out of the site several times and...it is like I have been banned from the site

Will one of the Magnificenti Moderati please make that edit so that Mr Gknew doesn't lose any more sleep.

A little OT but as I see you like questions and polls this clip might excite, pretty funny:

Mate it's RAPT - from rapture. A wrapper is something that gets discarded...

I wonder if this is CASA breathing down RA-Aus neck. Apparently a very similar thing is happening currently with the FAA in the USA, they've come up with a non-workable list of criteria to define factory built LSA aircraft. Note that none of this has to do with any actual observable safety issues, it's just bureaucrats demanding more and more authority via petty regulations.

All the best with that Nik, it should travel well. Be aware that Murphy will not answer emails or provide any technical assistance. You will need to rely on other builders and forums.

Nik,

I doubt you'll have any hassles at all now. If the paperwork is complete you should be all good to take delivery. I've found the Customs GST charges to be reasonable, container delivery can be expensive but you can often negotiate that down a little.

That's a nice bird in the photo.

Gillard would scare the birds...

Interesting article in the New York Times: Has Apple peaked?

"As

[/url]Apple

’s chief executive, Jobs was a perfectionist. He had no tolerance for corner-cutting or mediocre products. The last time Apple released a truly substandard product — MobileMe, in 2008 — Jobs gathered the team into an auditorium, berated them mercilessly and then got rid of the team leader in front of everybody"

why was it posted?

Thinking it's almost worth buying Apple just for the new map app..... Well done guys.

Thanks for posting Rosita, glad you and David are OK and I hope your injury heals soon.

I suggested to hubby that the cockpit be lined with a high density cushioning/lining.

Welcome flyinghaggis - great name BTW!

Clouds can be a good indicator of flying conditions, in general flatter clouds will indicate smooth flying conditions and rounder clouds will indicate more turbulent conditions. Clouds can also be a good indicator of severe flying conditions, for example lenticular clouds.....

hello,I'm in the process of importing a Murph Rebel if anyone wants advice on th pitfalls and issues one faces.

Nick

This thread could be moved to humour section, it just keeps getting kookier. Must be the mention of Mars....

Welcome Mark, I presume that is Perth Australia you are moving to? Great spot.

Our government will surely welcome you also, they love GST.

Have a open mine Peeps.

BTW thanks for paying all that tax for all those years Dazza.