Old Koreelah

Report time: I ended up mounting the existing dipole aerial vertically, which required it to stick out the top of the fuselage. Added a bit of streamlining. After major surgery to the carrier to clear the aerial I still managed to catch it when rotating the gantry. Damn dipole broke, so I cut up an old 27meg whip to serve as a splint.

 

It seemed to work well on the trip to Narromine.

 

 

 

Besides the attributes already mentioned, whatever venue we pick needs to be reliable. Let's stick with Narromine. It ticks all the major boxes. If people have certainty that it's on again, at the same venue, same time each year, over time it will develop a larger following.

 

At long last the artificial boundaries between different sorts of aviators are dissolving. Let's continue that trend.

 

 

Use vinylester but use kevlar cloth instead of glass. Will eggshell but not shatter in event of accident. Also lighter than glass.

Agreed, but Kevlar is a bugger to work with. Hard to see if it has been wetted out and hard to cut (will blunt scissors after a metre or so- buy a box of cheap Xmas scissors). Might be better to use light fibreglass fabric for the first layers then laminate Kevlar over the top; that's what I did.

 

 

I'm about to build two fiberglass auxiliary tanks for my Explorer, they will only be about 15-16 liters each. Can anyone tell me what composites I need to purchase that will be immune to ethanol and adhere to aluminium which I plan to glass in for the fittings.Thanks in advance

 

Steve

This topic has been discussed before, Steve. A search of old threads might reveal more.

Acting on advice from a chemical engineer, I built mine from vinyl ester, because he said it was pretty much ethanol proof, and resistant to most fuel additives. Epoxy is less resistant, but can be used to add fittings because it sticks to vinyl ester (but not vice-versa).

 

 

Ah....... Nothing about essential services.................this is defence of the realm stuff.So no worries about budget.

To what extent will the move to Sale improve defence of the realm?

 

 

The Federal Government has been wielding the knife in essential services so where will it get the cash to upgrade Sale?

 

 

http://australianaviation.com.au/2015/09/lockheeds-team-21-finally-confirmed-as-air-5428-winning-bidder/suggests that Tamworth might turn CTAF.

Why? There are still RPT flights in and out and Tamworth will be pulling out all stops to attract another training outfit.

 

 

I really enjoyed the weekend; well done SAAA and everyone else involved. Great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. I finally got to actually see one of my all-time favourite aeroplanes and watch it fly.

 

 

So sad that it ended up being pranged, but good nobody got hurt.

 

After only ever seeing these amazing planes in books, how lucky am I to see them up close and in the air!

 

Spare a thought for the enormous investment these owners put into buying, restoring and maintaining aircraft that were designed to only last a few weeks in combat. Which leads me to an improvement I might suggest to the organisers:

 

After each flying display the commentators asked the crowd to applaud. The hard-working pilot never hears this. He/she lands their aircraft, taxis in, parks and climbs out to silence from the crowd which is now transfixed by the next flying performance. Perhaps next time commentators could be positioned so that they see the pilots climbing out of their planes and ask the crowd to applaud.

 

 

Welcome Denis. T'field is not far from my old home (OK). Your town used to have an airstrip; is it still open? Are there other aviators around your area?

 

 

Just spoke to SAAA office. Apparently people were removed from the under-wing camping area as a safety precaution, but only for the duration of a flying display.

 

 

see the organisers, they advertised under wing camping on their page...

I'm all set to fly to Narromine in the morning, but if I can't camp under the wing I won't go.

 

 

Surely German light bulbs are so well-built they don't need changing.

 

 

Quite true Robbo. I was commenting on the age of the weapons shown; most a century or more old.

 

Perhaps the police missed the rapid-fire long arms and handguns we associate with gangs; or maybe our strict firearms regulations are keeping them out of circulation.

 

 

Other than getting that pecurser agent for ICE off the street the rest of the haul is pretty poor considering the amount of man hours put into it...

....and the firearms shown seem to be a historic collection-not the rapid-fire weapons police should be more concerned about.

 

 

Your eyes must be better than mine. Were the rego letters under that blurred-out bit near the fin?

 

 

I hope RAAus throw the book at him. No commercial use of our aircraft allowed.

 

 

What peasant could cut up such an iconic aircraft? Even in that dilapidated state she is still a beautiful, menacing beast.

 

 

I bought the middle-of-the-range Silver Edition. Robust, good picture quality, but hard to operate unless you control it via WiFi from your iPad. Battery doesn't last long, especially when wifi is turned on.

 

I also use a Kogan action camera. Although picture quality is lower, it's easier to use, has inbuilt screen and cost 1/8th as much.

 

 

Thanks for the link, Skeptic. Our club is investigating doors for our building. This us my preferred design, but our engineer cautions about the extra weight and cost of a food-up door. Any extra info welcomed.

 

 

I really enjoying visiting this forum. It reminds me how quickly people can make assessments on matters (re national security) based on their armchair commentary...

...even though he has access to the best resources, would our leader do any better?

 

 

Decisions about national security are best made by cool heads based on information from reliable sources. Given his past "Captain's Picks" I have grave fears for this operation.

 

 

Plans now available for the new wing to make your Cheetah/ sierra into a touring motor glider. This new wing will give the aircraft a wing loading of 35-42 kg sq m which is a good loading for soaring the skys.

Gary are you sure of those figures? That's the wing loading common to most rec aircraft.

 

 

Thanks for all the posts and PMs, people. I have doubled what I know about radios.

 

Looks like the short-term plan is to grovel inside the fuselage with a measuring tape. It might be possible to mount my current dipole antenna vertically if I drill a hole and poke it up thru my rear locker. If that isn't possible I might try installing a Morris Loop. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

 

... A suitable bit of aluminium strip is about $12 from an aluminium supply shop - even Bunnings (gag) may have it....

Thanks Oscar, I appreciate you having to do unpalatable things like even mention Bunnings-grade aluminium. Fear not, for my little beast has shopped at the Green Shop with the Hammer. It uses a few bits of their extrusions in non-critical areas.

 

...I suspect that a purely horizontal dipole orientation may cause a 'hole' in your coms when pointed at the tower.. or in the circuit when aligned with other aircraft...

You're probably right Oscar. On Saturday Tamworth tower couldn't read me clearly as I was head-on (shielded by my body and the engine) but said I was clear after I turned downwind- transmitting thru the side plywood.

 

...And yes - I rather suspect the aluminium UV layer for your fabric may be setting up a Faraday cage - why don't you check with Dafydd about that? As you know, he's been fa#ting around with fabric on his Blanik.

I'll do that; I hope to call in to see progress on his test cell in late September when I'm up that way.

 

 

Thanks for the replies fellas.

 

Most of the info given went straight over my head; I'm not stupid (stop it SD) but electronics and formulas make my eyes glaze over.

 

Scott -the aircraft is all wood with fabric skin (but remember the fabric is sprayed with a thin layer of aluminium to block UV). I use the remote mic on my DC headset and yes, there is a fair bit of cabin noise so I sometimes have to throttle back when transmitting.

 

Nobody -the antenna was supplied by SMC, along with a Black Widow TT2000 extension cable designed for aircraft radio band.

 

I was advised to install the dipole vertically, but it doesn't fit, so it's mounted at an angle. Having read the links sent, it seems I might be best off to mount it horizontally. It will fit in one wing leading edge (I can slip it in past the ribs) or inside the tailplane.