Marty_d

Pilot returns home after months of rehab - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-25/avalon-airshow-crash-stunt-pilot-glenn-collins-returns-home/106048632

Ideal for a Europa.

The more safety conscious witches have ADSB out.

Do cargo planes have less stringent maintenance / age requirements than RPT? Just imagining how much worse this would have been with 200 pax in it.

Jeez, imagine being a Mormon. You'd need hangar space for multiple brooms.

I think it's the port engine on fire. The flames are blowing back over the wing because of the AoA which may make it look like it's further forward.

Pulled the plane out again this morning and did another start - thanks to @nomadpete the oil pressure gauge is now working. I bought a small fuel tank (generally used for working on motorbikes when the tank is off) and suspended it on one side of the fuselage going into the wing tank inlet to the header, put a couple of litres in then switched the line to the return barb for running. (Forgot to take a photo sorry). Ran it for about 10 minutes. Look like the oil TEMP gauge is not working now, so will have to try to figure that out. (or ask Peter to help which is more likely to result in success!) Kept it at 2000rpm for most of it, after running around 5 minutes at 2000 and with the oil pressure stable on around 3.5 bars I increased throttle to 4000rpm for around 30 seconds, then tested magneto drop individually. Then back to 2000 for another few minutes. Idle with throttle pulled back as far as it'll go is around 1800rpm, at that point oil pressure is reading just under 2 bars. At the end of the run the CHT's are showing around 75 degrees on one gauge and just on 50 degrees on the other. I'm assuming the lower temp is on the front cylinder, will have to trace the wiring on that (and then label the gauge!) I need to tighten up a few nuts in the oil system, there's a slow drip from the bottom nut and I think also the oil cooler connections. The other problem is one of the main gear tyres went flat - it always had a very slow leak but now you can hear the air whooshing out of it when you take the pump off. I reckon the valve stem has a leak where it joins the tube - will have to undertake the painful process of replacing that (it's a Savannah wheel which splits, I've heard they're painful!)

I'm going with the Norglass system Nev - a mate in Canberra has built 2 CH750's and used that, is happy with it. Part of that system is a metal prep and then etch coat for bare aluminium.

It's 6061-T6 which has some anti corrosion properties but still benefits from paint protection. Polishing is an option but doesn't really look good on big square slab sides - great on curvy planes like Ryans, Ercoupes and that new Spirit.

Fortunately after stupidly doing the rudder with the printing on the outside, I learned my lesson and built the rest of the plane with printing on the inside.

Bex! Welcome back.

A very generous pilot recently gave me 100m of plastic and an industrial drum fan. I plan to set up a spray booth inside the shed that my plane currently sits in, duct the fan outside and use it to suck the air through from a filtered (probably Hessian) inlet hole on the other side. What I would like is any hints or tips, things you did (or wish you did!), or things you wouldn't do if you knew what you know now. Lights? Are LED strips good? Breathing systems? Did you use tack paint inside the booth? Etc etc. Thanks in advance! Marty

I don't think any amphib landing on terra firma looks natural (they're like ducks) but the aircraft itself is lovely.

I remember the instructor telling me that sheep weren't a problem - they'll either get out of the way or help you slow down 😁

Cargo plane skids off Hong Kong airport runway into sea, leaving two dead WWW.BBC.COM The Emirates flight EK9788 was arriving from Dubai when it hit a vehicle on the north runway.

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...

Good outcome.

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.

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...

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.

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...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3792565/Lufthansa-passenger-plane-makes-emergency-landing-massive-VULTURE-smashes-nose-5-000ft.html

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.

Yep, Autodesk Fusion 360. I have kids in high school so using a free education version.

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.