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Marty_d

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Everything posted by Marty_d

  1. Marty_d
    Looks like Dareton Men's shed is the place to be. Not only have they restored a CA-47 Sabre, they've now been given truckloads of 3 Vampire parts to restore a Vampire to static display. De Havilland Vampire Mk35A jet fighter to be restored by Dareton Men's Shed - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU A former RAAF jet fighter will be rebuilt by an amateur team of restorers in the second such project for a south-west New South...
  2. Marty_d
    Good outcome.
  3. Marty_d
    Price is USD 69,500 complete. On today's conversion that's around $106,000 in proper money. Are you saying it costs another $100k to transport a plane from the US? (Not to mention the folding wing system means it fits in a 20ft container with no fuss - tie it down and it's done). Which also means it can sit in a single car garage instead of hangaring.
  4. Marty_d
    Just thinking too, it's probably a smart choice to make something retro. Mostly the people with the money and time to commit aviation are 60 - 80+ years old. Probably a good proportion of them prefer the nostalgic lines, polished aluminium look and all aluminium build, to the plastic fantastics. Being a single seater isn't a problem for them, as their wives are trying to get them out of the house anyway...
  5. Marty_d
    Plus 25 staff, not a cheap operation but it is an impressive looking plane and tempting for anyone who loves that "real plane" look (Ryans, Ercoupes etc) at a fraction of the cost.
  6. Marty_d
    There's a few interesting videos of the Spirit SE1. In one shot thew showed about 20 sitting in the factory. Certainly not a pie in the sky design out to lure investors. All aluminium, even the cowl. If I had the money...
  7. Marty_d
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3792565/Lufthansa-passenger-plane-makes-emergency-landing-massive-VULTURE-smashes-nose-5-000ft.html
  8. Marty_d
    Yeah Fusion is light years ahead. I've used SketchUp for renovation drawings and it's fine for stuff like that, but anything with detail that I want to print is Fusion.
  9. Marty_d
    Yep, Autodesk Fusion 360. I have kids in high school so using a free education version.
  10. Marty_d
    My design, but the idea is out there in others - probably far better than mine but using steel and machined parts, where I wanted to stick to ally tube and printed plastic.
  11. Marty_d
    I almost forgot - the control lock. When not in use, the two angled tubes pivot back towards the stick holder and clip parallel with the centre tube. Quite light but strong.
  12. Marty_d
    Thanks Bob. Yep I have the right gauge, it just doesn't have any wires connected to it! 😄
  13. Marty_d
    Hi Mike, yep half and half with demineralized water.
  14. Marty_d
    Thanks guys. I will add more. I don't know where the coolant went, as I said it was the recommended amount - but there's only a bit in the top metal reservoir, none in the plastic overflow, and the hoses all seem to be empty too. And there's been no leaks.
  15. Marty_d
    Thanks Mike! Hey guys - question about the cooling system. As per the manual I put 1.5 litres of coolant (50% green stuff, 50% demineralized water) in the metal reservoir with all the pipes coming out of it. There's been no leaks in the system, no puddles under the plane, but even after today's run there's no coolant in the plastic overflow container (which has min/max lines). Should I be worried about this?
  16. Marty_d
    Success! Well partial success. First attempt I forgot the magneto switches, so it turned over for 5 seconds before I stopped. Luckily at that point I noticed fuel dribbling in the cabin from a loose hose clamp on the fuel pressure gauge. A friend outside the plane also noticed fuel dripping from the lowest point - another loose connection on the header tank. With these fixed, I tried again. Engine started immediately and went to 2000 rpm. Tried throttling back to 1500 but it didn't drop much below 2000. Then noticed the oil pressure hadn't risen so turned off. Looks like I hadn't connected the wiring for oil pressure. Oil temp and CHT's were also zero so I will check those. All that aside though, it was great to have it running! (And I did call "Clear prop!" just before the start of the video...)
  17. Marty_d
    Okay, it's a few months later, but finally ready to start the engine. Today with the help of some good friends I got the plane out of the shed, got the wings on and pounded in some star pickets to tie down to. Tomorrow I will also tie the main gear back to a very solid post before trying a start. I also made a control lock that I'm quite happy with. That's locking up the rudder and elevators now, if the flaperons were attached it'd lock those too. Will post photos of that later. Any final words of advice?
  18. Marty_d
    Wouldn't any retractable system also have a mechanical lock so any load on the gear would prevent retraction?
  19. Marty_d
    Missed the green though.
  20. Marty_d
    The 2 storey thing gets me. Every segment on the second floor has to be movable. Having a carousel on single floor makes sense, and it'd be cheaper to build another one next to it. Plus, that way you fit 10 (in 2 buildings) because you don't have to leave a segment free.
  21. Marty_d
    There's an awful lot of empty desert in Nevada where they can practice.
  22. Marty_d
    Oops. Helicopter close call in Tasmania in 2024 unreported to safety authorities until video tip-off to ATSB - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU An incident in which a helicopter crew disagreed before the aircraft hit a lake due to pilot miscalculation was not reported...
  23. Marty_d
    Is that you on the bike in the poster?
  24. Marty_d
    Imagine being in that car that drove straight through the fireball in the second after it hit.
  25. Marty_d
    Pretty amazing photos. https://www.twz.com/air/eurofighter-typhoon-canopy-shattering-bird-strike-captured-in-amazing-images
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