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Methusala

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Everything posted by Methusala

  1. Methusala
    Looks from your photo that the struts are gold anodised. This is not original Thruster but, most likely, sourced from Wade as he had a large stock of gold anodiosed 6061-t6 destined for manufacture of Vision 600's. Don't be alarmed as this material is the real thing.
  2. Methusala
    Rip-offs are not the exclusive province of govt funded enterprise. 7/11, Subway, Uber etc, etc. The gig economy has the young and students held to ransom. I remember my first after school job as a grocery packer for J B Youngs in Canberra. I was paid a recognised hourly rate and given meal breaks on Friday night and paid penalty rates on Sat morning. This was in 1965 and I was 14. Of course this was under the SDA Union, same as Bill Shorten worked for. By the way, when I saw him welded to the top of the Beaconsfield mineshaft I thought he would make PM one day. I don't happen to be sucked in by Merdok propaganda and think he is one of the best of the current crop. Don
  3. Methusala
    I love the way that you think Bruce. The storage problem can most probably be solved using small to medium sized pumped hydro. These can be located reasonably close to population centres ( think the Illawarra escarpment for e.g.). It is a feature of Austalia that much of the population is near to the east coast. The GDR is close to this coast line and so steep changes in elevation are readily available. I think that the day of mega projects, such as the much vaunted Snowy Hydro 2.0 are dinosaurs. Don
  4. Methusala
    Flew the Thruster in 10/10 conditions yesterday with "my darling wife". Some days are meant for flying. Nice post Blue Drifter. Don
  5. Methusala
    "Muscular" comes to mind! Very interesting post on an unusual and little-known British warbird. 5 stars Phil.
  6. Methusala
    See my post#19 on the topic of localised wind effects around wind turbines. IMO not a big concern - and I have flown with them in "my backyard" for over 5 years. Don
  7. Methusala
    Poor taste again!
  8. Methusala
    My post #32 in this thread gives some reasons to be skeptical about the viability of Snowy 2.0. The cost would be horrendous and the long lead time requires an almost mystical faith in knowledge of tech 5+ years down the track. Better solutions than this will evolve.
  9. Methusala
    I am unaware whether this is the same Phil Driscoll. Hope that I have not made an error.
  10. Methusala
    Phil is currntly in Canberra Hospital recovering from injuries sustained when his helicopter suffered power failure and crashed in the Lob's Hole /Ravine region of the Kosciusko National Park. We wish him a speedy and complete recovery. Don
  11. Methusala
    We often travel with "2nd order" carriers in Asia, such as Air Asia or Tiger. Some people who appear to know it all question our decisions. They don't recall incidents such as the Qantas Link Dash 8 that lost a propeller in flight FFS near Bundaberg among many other potentially disastrous events. Flying RPT is simply the safest way to travel and all recognised carriers operate very safely in absolute terms. Very occasionally something goes wrong. A million ways that an aeroplane can kill you.
  12. Methusala
    Biggles, my error, 140w equal to 10 amps is correct. Judicious use of electric heat is required. A/c is fitted with a volt meter. Still very much in experimental mode. Supplier reports many of these units have been supplied (mostly in the States I imagine) with few problems. Always learning. Don
  13. Methusala
    Bruce, the current draw at 10 amps would be approx 130 w. The book says that the Jab alternator is good for 180. Should only have the 2nd element operating for short periods. That's the theory anyway. Don
  14. Methusala
    Holbrook Ultralight Club had a Mustang as club single seater. It was fully enclosed with a sailcloth pod and zippered doors. Called "Black Beauty". Replaced by a Jeep and then single seat Thruster. I think it had a Rotax 377. $42 /hr wet. Cheap circuits in the early 90's.
  15. Methusala
    G'day Bruce. I weighed the remaining leading edge foil at 5g. I think that the greater force would have been the chaotic aerodynamics of it in the process of peeling off. i agree that it could have been more destructive than it was. I will try to measure the actual current draw. Perhaps the heating elements are designed to operate at more than 12v? It is recommended to run 1 element at cruise and add the 2nd when taking off, descending and when icing effects are apparent. Off of course when starting.
  16. Methusala
    Here is the link to the electric carb heat device that I have bought: https://www.motionaero.com/dual-heat.html I have not installed it yet but, on test, the elements have not produced any heat at all! I find this difficult to understand and have written to Motion Aero for some explanation. Each element measures 2.4 Ohms resistance. Bruce, There is no carby heater installed on our engine yet. It is only a possibility that the rough running was caused by icing Around the identical time of this event one blade of the Warp Drive prop shed its thin metal leading edge protection causing a distinct imbalance and I suspect of causing the power problem. I have read on Jabiru forums of engines that over 3,000 hrs of operation have not suffered icing. The carburetor is located very close to the engine in the downstream air path and the induction system is very close to the underside of the engine. Perhaps this creates enough heating effect to prevent induction ice being a problem. I don't know. I am in the early stages of becoming familiar with Jabiru. I am very favorably impressed with the smoothness and the tractibility of it so far. Not very impressed with the Motionaero accessory. We'll have to see what they come back with. Cheers Don
  17. Methusala

    VW carby

    Methusala replied to a topic in Engines and Props

    I have written on a few occasions on this forum of my positive experience running a Type 3 VW engine with EFI. I have in the shed a pair of BMW throttle bodies which (if I find the time in my mortal span) I intend to mate with a Haltech computer and power our A model Karatoo.
  18. Methusala
    On a slightly different matter, the Jab that I now own is installed in free air and has no alternate air source. A few weeks ago, another pilot was flying at around 8,000ft when he experienced loss of power and extremely rough running. He put down in a good paddock and the a/c was flown out later after being checked by a L 2. I have bought an electric carb heater which is fixed to the throat downstream from the fuel jets. The theory is that the body will heat preventing ice from accumulating in the carb throat. It is said to draw 5.5 amps when both heating elements are in use. Has anybody got experience with this type of device? Don
  19. Methusala
    Do other pilots here suffer the same degree of difficulty in reading the oil level on a Jabiru dipstick as me? I think that I am reasonably competent in these small manual tasks. But, no. I am not confident of seeing an accurate indication of this at all. Any positive suggestions guys?
  20. Methusala
    The Snowy 2.0 is a total crock! I have been interested in hydro power since I was a kid and dad worked for Kaiser on the Tumut developments. The mainstream media do not do the slightest of due diligence when reporting the outrageous claims made for this fantasy. eg. Whenever an article appears the length of the tunnel connecting Tantangara to Talbingo is quoted as somewhere around 27km. Any map reader shows that the shortest distance between these points is around double that. Many highly qualified engineers have given back of the envelope costings of over $8b but the jounalists stick doggedly to Turnbull's headline figure of $2b. The difference in elevation between Tantangara and Talbingo (head) is in excess of 750m. There are no hydro plants in the world that operate with this great a head. The only one that I am aware of is in Russia which suffered a catastrophic failure accounting for fatalaties. Then the distance involved puts extreme loads in regulating a column of water many, many km in length and over 12m dia with a velocity of 3m/s. There are many sites around Australia which are more practical for development of pumped hydro but they don't have the political cache of " The Mighty Snowy Scheme". Don't be mislead, this is simply PR BS designed to make Turnbull appear to have substance!
  21. Methusala
    My base is surrounded by wind turbines on the Eastern side of Lake George. Prevailing wind is N/W so mostly the downstream turbulence is to the East. When Easterlies blow then the effects can be felt as a slow modulus rise and fall with some rolling effects. This turbulence endures for km downwind but is no more than a nuisance to flying. Situational awareness is required but, as said previously, the towers and blades are much more visible than radio towers. They bring useful income to the people who own the property and I strongly believe that envy of this income is the generator (sic) of the opposition to wind farms . And NO I don't find them ugly, quite the contrary in fact.
  22. Methusala
    If the moderators think that this site is going to be improved or anyone become a better aviator as a result of childish questions asked then it is maybe time for me to find some better way to occupy my time. Farewell
  23. Methusala
    Survival trumps all else. Good luck mate.
  24. Methusala
    Did Cliff have a place near Manly? I knew he was in Bondi for years around mid/late '80's.
  25. Methusala
    Yen, I think that the camshaft has very little inertia so it would not be so affected by the power pulses as the output which drives a propeller of far greater mass. Just my thoughts, Don
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