Phil Perry

You don't mention the oil you use. Use a specific two stroke oil. Pennzoil In the US have airtested and approved, one of their formulations. Some oil additives will short out plugs over a short time. A good 2 stroke oil doesn't lower the octane and don't use an old mix. Nev

Silkolene Comp 2 semi-synthetic Premix Nev,. . . . The manufacturers stuck their heads on the block long ago and labelled it "Suitable for use in Aircraft" which none of the others would. I didn't mention it before, as it might not be available where Lucas flies, and there are so many others available. . .a lot of friends use Aeroshell and others, but I found the Silkolene worked for me and there is usually no need for decoking anywhere near as often either.

 

Phil

 

**Edited to add. . . **

 

I've used it in 2 stroke dirt bike engines over the years too, with no problems.

 

 

Dear Lucas my friend,. . . .

 

I am truly sorry Sir, I have only just noticed your post. The forum restructure got me a little confused BUT, after a while, I GOT IT ! ! ! we are a bit stupid sometimes, us half English Half Australian people you know,. . . .!

 

Point number one, if you want your 532 engine to last more than a few weeks then I suggest you alter your propeller pitch to make it a little more COARSE,. . . . when I read that your RPM reading was 6,800, I nearly fell off my chair. You REALLY should NOT run that motor at MORE than 6350 RPM ABSOLUTE MAX. . . if you want it to continue working for any length of time. . . in my experience, most of our older Rotax users don't like them to run at much over 6,000 revs anyway, it reall shouldn't be neccessary with the correct prop for that type of aircraft / engine combination. !

 

If you HAVE to run such an rpm level, then buy another engine and run the 2 together at half power ( ! ) or make sure your passenger is not a fat bloke like ME ! ! ! I have used two of these engines for some time, and if you exceed 6350, then you will end up with damaged pistons, rapid ring wear / failure, and possibly damaged cylinders too, they are just NOT designed to run at such a high RPM whilst swinging a load such as a propeller. Some of the 2 stroke motorcylce engines I used in times gone by would rev to 15,000 rpm and sometimes a lot more,. . . .but after the race, they would be scrap metal. That's great to win racing prizes,. . . but no good if you want to use the engine again tomorrow OR. . . fly regularly, and SAFELY. Your plug gap for a Rotax 532 using the B8ES Plugs should be 18 thousanths of an inch nominal, and not more than 22 Thou.. I have not got a calculator nearby but I'm sure you can convert this to millimetric fractions. USING PLUGS STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX is just plain nonsense, all of mine are checked on receipt,. . . , I replace them every fifteen hours and every one has a different gap when recieved. . . . ( no offence intended). I do a lot of flying OVER LARGE EXPANSES OF SEA, so I try to ensure that I'm flying as safely as I possibly can. . . ( I HATE sharks. . .not many of those over in the UK, apart from those who sell microlight parts,. . . . )

 

I have no idea why you should get any unusual "Vibrations" after a few hours running, without more information, Is the PROP in balance, ? . . . .ARE YOU SURE ? ? ? I've found, using Rotax 377, 462, 503, 532, and 582 two stroke Rotax engines, and also some 440 Robin engines is that if they start to behave in an abnormal way, then it's probably because the mixture isn't right, the points gap is incorrect, OR. . . if you are using capacitive discharge / electronic ignition, then maybe you are overheating it ,?? (look at the EGT at all times, find out what the MAX EGT for the engine is,. in my experience, if you run a 532 engine and see an EGT of more than 1150 degrees F,. . . you are going to damage the engine. . . . BACK OFF, AND CLIMB MORE STEADILY. . . . forget the CHT, as if this redlines, it just means that this will simply tell you that you have stuffed the engine, by over-heating in hot ambient conditions, or over-revved it,a at the wrong plug gap setting, and / or the wrong fuel/oil mixture for far too long.

 

If your spark plug ends are black, whether they ar OILY or not, means that you are running a fuel/oil mixture which is too rich, so change your carb needle setting to lean the mixture ever so slightly.

 

The usual mixture for a happy 532 engine, is to mix 400 Ml of good quality pre-mix oil ( NOT INJECTOR OIL as this has a different viscosity rating )to 20 Litres of petrol, this may differ a little depending upon the kind of Automobile Gas you get from your local service station. . . I may be getting a little too OVER complicated here, but find out if you can, how much ETHANOL the gas contains, as, if there is too much of this in the fuel, and in the USA, it has been reported that in some states, they put as much as 37% Ethanol additive in their gas,. . . .

 

You will need to examine your fuel system very carefully, and very regularly. . . especially if you have any PLASTIC fuel hoses, and / or plastic fuel tanks with plastic output tube assemblies. . . as they degrade very quickly with high ethanol fuel content, and some other rubber type hoses will also start to degenerate internally also, thereby causing a problem with a build up of rubber and plastic bits which will cause blockages in your fuel filters.

 

After a while, you will find the right settings by making slight alterations to your fuel mixture. Ask your fuel hose supplier if the fuel hose you are using is OK to use with high ethanol content fuels, . . . if they don't know, then get on the web and ask the manufacturers of the product. !! This problem has caused all sorts of difficulties in the UK over tha past ten years. People just DON'T check. . . . Get onto Youtube and look for a video which is titled something like. . ." Problems with two stroke engines using ethanol additives in gasoline". . . It's a USA video made by a guy who repairs all sorts of 2 stroke machinery and boat engines,. . . it's most interesting and very informative.

 

And Remember, look for a nice TAWNY or light to medium Brown deposit on your plugs. But for heaven's sake, adjust the prop a bit to reduce that bloody RPM as soon as you can, or you'll be looking for another engine very soon.

 

Regarding your comments about coolant temperature 85 deg F should be the MAX remp to aim for.

 

I hope that you understand all of this, I am sorry that, although I speak a few languages, Argentinian / Spanish isn't one of them ( ! !)

 

Kind regards,

 

Phil

 

 

I have condensed this a bit, as it's a four page, highly detailed report in the crash comic. . . . because the bloke was seriously injured.

 

From the the latest AAIB bulletin, ( read the whole thing on the web if you so desire ) a young man who had some experience flying weightshift ( trike) style aircraft, bought a Team Minimax ( single seat shoulder wing homebuilt microlight - 2 stroke powered ) which has three axis standard stick and rudder controls, some are fitted with pitch trim,. . .some are not.

 

He was strongly advised by friends and fellow pilots to take some "Differences" training with an instructor on some kind of aircraft which has similar controls and responses, this he elected not to do. (Differences Training is mandatory anyway in the UK when swopping control systems, and five hours is the recommended minimum expsoure to the new system prior to being signed off as safe. . . )

 

His flight history mentioned a "Small" amount of glider flying, but this was not expanded upon in the report, ie, if it was significant, then another reason for the crash may have been an issue. . . The report stated that He was obviously confident that he could handle this ( Very benign ) machine without any problems because he had, . . . SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON A THREE AXIS FLIGHT SIMULATION PROGRAMME ON HIS HOME PC" The particular software was not detailed in the report.

 

The A.A.I.B DO go into a LOT of background descriptive in these reports, so If you really want to read the history of the flight, then the CAA website is the place to go.

 

Suffice to say here that the aircraft entered an erect spin, from which the pilot was evidently, due to inexperience of type, control system, training, or otherwise unable to recover, and struck the ground at a near vertical attitude resulting in total destruction of the airframe and serious injuries to the occupant.

 

There was mention of the fact that the aircraft had recently been either re-built or in some way modified, the aileron circuit was mentioned specifically here. . . so that,. . . ONLY an approved test pilot could have legally flown it prior to it being decreed safe to fly. Perhaps an experienced pilot may well have noticed if there was something amiss with the control system responses, ? we'll never know as the machine was pretty well trashed in the impact. Whether this had any bearing on the piot's apparent loss of control is obviously conjecture, but it makes one wonder a little if a properly trained person would have been able to recover the situation ?

 

I realise that simulation is a LARGE part of flight training nowadays, I have sat in several extremely realistic"REAL WORLD" training simulators, costing nearly as much as some aircraft, but exactly how useful would this type of training be if it's conducted on your home PC I wonder. . . .

 

I'm not being in any way judgmental here,. . . .What does the team think ?

 

 

In the military you can't enter or leave a helicopter without a thumbs up from the pilot. Probably a good idea in civilian world as well methinks.

I witnessed a passenger "Pick-up" where an Enstrom sat on the apron with rotors turning; the pilot gestured to the pax to enter the aircraft, who then jumped into the seat a little energetically and bumped into the cyclic as he did so. . . The aircraft gyrated around quite a bit, and I thought for one moment that it was going to tip over. . . the pilot shut it down and they went and had a cup of tea and a bit of quiet contemplation I guess !. . . perhaps a case for removal and stashment of the left stick ( if possible ) when non - pilots are being carried . .? ( Or even better still - - -SHUT the damn thing down, - - what's the all fired hurry ? it only takes two or three minutes. )

 

And as for ceiling fans,. . . . I HATE those analogue types, . . .too risky. I'm waiting for someone to invent a nice safe Digital one . . . ( ? )

 

Phil

 

 

I've found over a period of time that the best way to make a really good cup of tea is to agitate the bag.

 

So nowadays, I yell into the kitchen " Two sugars Fatbum "

 

 

A little old lady was walking down a Sydney back street dragging two large plastic garbage bags behind her. One of the bags was ripped and every once in a while a $20 note fell out onto the pavement. Noticing this, a policeman stopped her, and said, "Ma'am, there are $20 notes falling out of that bag.". . . "Oh, really? , . . .Oh Dear!" said the little old lady. "I'd better go back and see if I can find them all . . . Thanks for telling me about it Officer.

 

"Well, now,. . . not so fast," said the cop. Where did you get all that money? You didn't steal it, did you?"

 

"Oh, no, no", said the old lady. "You see, my back garden is right next to a Golf course. And all the time, a lot of Golfers sneak over and pee through a knot hole in my fence, right into my flower garden !! It used to really tick me off.. . . Kills the flowers, you know. Then I thought, 'why not make the best of it?"

 

 

 

"So, now, I stand behind the fence by the knot hole, and keep really quiet, with my hedge clippers. Every time some bloke pokes his dongle through my fence, I surprise him, grab hold of it and say, O.K., Mate! Give me Twenty Dollars. . ., or OFF it comes."

 

 

 

"Well, that seems only fair," said the cop, ( by now giggling like mad. . .)

 

 

 

"OK. Good luck!"

 

 

 

"Oh, by the way, . . . . what's in the other bag?"

 

 

The little old Lady replied. . .

 

>

 

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"They don’t ALL wanna PAY . . . ."

 

 

this is why i have a strict rule about by standers and DOGS when the props turning......... but cats?

Cats ? A friend force landed in a field in his trike a few years ago,. . ., and rapidly discovered that he was inside the West Midlands Safari Park, and the "Cats" were rather large, with long manes and tawny coloured,. . . but they didn't seem interested apparently,. . .must have already been fed. . . . ( He never mentioned it. . .but I'll bet that the monkeys ripped off his windscreen wipers,. . . .they certainly did when I went there. . . .)

 

Phil

 

 

Hi Phil, OK. Have had my Tiger for 28 yrs and still enjoy flying. the Maule is great for trips where we enjoy more comfort to Flyins further away and can take a couple of friends. Still a tricky plane to handle but enjoy the challenge.

Tricky Plane to Handle ? Isn't that half the fun ? ? ? It keeps yer sharp.. . . .. ( ! ) If it has a tailwheel, then it's pure fun anyway matey.

 

Phil

 

*** Edited to add, We have a Jackaroo visiting over the weekend ( for the pilot to revalidate his display authority cert ) so I'll be having a word about a ride,. . . that WILL be a first ! !

 

 

What we did in the Australian transport industry when we are able to split out the number of truck driver deaths from fatigue (going to sleep at the wheel and driving off the road) was to be proactive and get in ahead of the governments who had never addressed the problem and were likely to over-react. Then when the government legislated, the Act was very precise and addressed the causes, and we are now over the moon at a steadily falling death statistics, drivers coming home to their families etc - a great success story.

Turbo, . . .that was a darned GOOD result, and more power to those who made it happen. My cynicism is directed at those in Europe who now run this country lock stock and barrel,. . . who have neither ( apparently ) the intelligence or interest to weigh the evidence presented in ANY particular case, or even if it exsits, . . . return with legislation which is so convoluted that no one understands it, and moreover, it is very rarely fit for the purpose that the proponent intended. Regrettable but a fact.

 

It is nice to hear that something sensible happened in the case you illustrated.

 

Typical example, . . . an instrument of transport policy was proposed by the delegate from Italy. My friend was asked to vote on this, alongside several hundred other minor votes in the European Parliament. He could not possibly atend all of the meetings where all of these things were individually discussed, not sufficient hours in a day. . . SO. . . . .he had to ask his team of "Advisors" what was the best way to vote on each individual issue. . . . you see the problem ??

 

 

I don't dare even watch it...Seen another shocking one before - a guy gets out of his new helicopter and is so happy he raises his arms!!!

I think there was one of those in the UK a few years ago near Cambridge, where a guy landed his R22 behind his house, and his little lad ( 4yrs old. . .) ran out and he grabbed the child and picked him up, only to chuck his head up into the rotor disc,. . . . .? I don't think the child died, but it was a bit of an odd thing to do . . . ? I REFUSE to exit a rotorcraft until those blades have stopped turning. . . .until then, it's a potential death trap, especially on sloping ground, as the previous story was apparently. . . . This is civilian flying, It certainly AIN'T Vietnam. . . .

 

 

VFR, my point was that the people whose property has been damaged, who've been injured, or have been killed because of negligence have grown to such a proportion that the laws were changed to protect them.For example, from memory 40,000 Australians a year are hospitalised because of food poisoning - where someone who has cooked and given them or sold them food, but has been negligent in it's preparation.

 

The problem with the new laws is that they only kick in when there's an accident, and it's hard to prove you were not negligent when there's someone lying on the ground.

 

The "I fly by myself and the risks are mine" story comes up quite a lot, but I was pointing out that even then you could be unlucky enough for a part of the aircraft to fall on a house or a person, or to collide with a fully loaded Dash 8.

 

So any allegation that age reduces the safe operation of an aircraft below the Industry's cutting edge standard needs to be addressed if we are not to finish up with an over-reaction.

YES YES YES,. . . . but my point in this would have to be that where does this stop ? . . . . YOU SIMPLY CANNOT protect everyone from everything. So, as long as regulations are SENSIBLE and reasonably thought out, I would have no problem or argument, nor would any reasonably thinking person. . . . . but, whe it comes to Goverment committees. . . . , ? usually, this is not the case, they ( so it occasionally appears anyway ) try to introduce legislation which covers every eventuality. The natural result of this will almost certainly result in EVERYTHING being banned, as it's all far too risky. ?

 

Things do appear to be going this way certainly in the UK, with Health and Safety now being extremely powerful and all pervasive, instead of being a sensible, well considered brake on dangerous, or perhaps sensibly questionable practices, whether these be in industry ( typical example ) or our beloved aviation, . . . the default decision almost always seems to be BAN IT, RESTRICT IT,. . . . OVER-REGULATE IT. . . CURTAIL IT. . . . etc. . . . .

 

So where do we go from there ? Any ideas, ?

 

Philip

 

 

The precedent case for all of this comes from a snail in a bottle of soft drink in Scotland.

But. . . . . . Isn't it true that they actually put a WORM. . . . in bottles of Tequila made in Mexico, . . .and that you are not expected to actually drink the worm as well as the product ?? . . . ( Discounting war movies starring Tom Cruise ) Yes . . I've heard that story too, but I'LL bet a months pay that the European Parliament rule makers ( Approximately one thousand one hundred new "Rules" formulated every month. . .) have never heard about it, otherwise we'd have a LOT more regulations to contend with . . . . .

 

Phil

 

 

Hi all, I'm a fairly new ultralight pilot, based on Santa Fe - Argentina.I own a Flightstar 2 seater with an old Rotax 532 that's giving me some headaches, I'll be surely posting some questions about it. I'm planning on replacing it with a HKS 700E in the near future :)

 

Best regards

Hi Idipenti,. . . . That's not a bad engine you've got there, . . . .I am sorry to hear that you are having problems with it. I've always found it to be a good powerplant,. . OK, it's only got single ignition, but it has plenty of power, and is usually fairly reliable.

 

I wonder what problems you are having,. . . I've had 3 aircraft using that engine, and so long as you look after it,. . . it SHOULD treat you kindly.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Phil

 

 

One of Winston's saving graces,. . . . was that, at the time, there was no one else around to run the country, . . .Chamberlain was a waste of space, so that,. . .if I were to say anything positive about the man,. . . it would be, that if it hadn't been for him and his arrogance, political guile, and forthright energy then we could well be conducting this conversation in a slightly differerent First Language,. . . . .

 

Guten Nacht.

 

Nuff said.

 

Phil

 

 

The years go by and we forget that Gallipoli was the brain child of Winston Churchill, First Sea Lord, and the Supreme Commander was British as always. In this case it was General Sir Ian Hamilton.http://www.militaryhistorytours.com.au/site/About_Gallipoli.asp

 

Initially Churchill, who at the time was First Lord of the Admiralty, convinced the British and French governments that the naval passageway could be taken by a naval force unsupported by soldiers on the ground. On 18 March 1915, Admiral de Robeck led a flotilla of ships into the gap between Cape Heles and Kum Kale. The Turkish artillery set up in the previous century to dominate the narrow (2 kilometres wide) stretch of water was not quite up to the task. The small Turkish minelayer Nusrat, however, was. The allied flotilla bombarded the shore batteries, and they soon fell silent, the mines, however, did their deadly work. The Turks, never ones to give up, soon used what shore based artillery they could to drive the ships back. de Robeck his nose bloodied withdrew.

 

Churchill too was also not one to give up. The man whose intransigence was to save his nation 40 years on, convinced others to have another go but this time with land forces. The nearest land forces were those of the Dominions, Australia and New Zealand. They were training in Egypt; to that point no decision had been made as to wether they would be used to defend the Suez Canal and Egypt from a thrust by the Ottoman Empire through Palestine, or to be sent to France.

 

25 April 1915 saw the infantry divisions of the Australian and New Zealand expeditionary forces landing on the west of the Gallipoli peninsula to realise Churchill's dream. Commanded by the British General Sir Ian Hamilton, there were no native born or even Australian or New Zealand residents with a rank higher than Brigadier General. They landed in the darkness just before dawn and forced their way inland against little resistance, the ridges were steep; the Turks did not expect a landing there. They were, however facing the Turkish 19th Division commanded by the most brilliant of all commanders in this field Mustafa Kemal. It was not long before the movement stopped, and the kind of stalemate that reigned in Europe prevailed. Our troops had reached the first un-broken ridge line, about 2 kilometres inland, and there they would stay.

 

Sixty thousand Australians fought there, 26,000 were casualties and 8000 died.

 

Kaz

The Quotation "LIONS LED BY DONKEYS" is very appropriate with lots of policies formulated by Mr. Winston Churchill I think you'll find,. . . . I have a lot of friends in Ireland who have dark memories of the "Black and Tans" a collection of motley British Army personnel, who must have been recruited according to their level of stupid sadism, one friend of mine told me that her Father was stopped by these "People" and asked where he was going at the time of night it was,. . .He replied that he was going home from his job at a factory,. . .which, just incidentally made munitions for the British and Irish Armies. . . they then beat him so badly he died of his injuries two days thereafter,. . . NO ACTION WAS TAKEN against the soldiers who perpetrated this act. . . there are a lot more of these tales. Winston was an absolute ( in the view of many historians ) Arzehole, who did a lot worse, and fought tooth and nail against votes for Women also in his earlier political career. He is only remembered (narrowly) for his performance during the second world war, even though some of his gaffes during THAT conflict also cost the lives of thousands of military personnel unnecessarily, in ill devised schemes. And PLEASE don't get me started on Alexander Haig. . . . . that particular arrogant plutocratic barstard should have been drowned at birth, in which happy event, there would have been a lot more nice blokes who lived to raise families in Australia as well as England. . . .This idiot believed firmly that if we had 20,000 soldiers, and threw them willy nilly against 15,000 of the other side's soldiers, then the arithmetic was GOOD, and we could not fail to prevail. . . . . !

 

Just my opinion, I don't mind if you disagree. . . . One thing I am REALLY ANGRY ABOUT is that The authorities are planning to put a picture of Winston Churchill on the back of the planned new five pound note, to be released shortly. . . . with one of his infamous WW2 quotes printed thereon. the rationale being that "Not enough children in this country are aware of what a wonderful person he was, and how the country is a far far better place thanks to him. . . . ." gimme a break. . . . . . Most of the children at inner city schools in the UK at the moment speak Urdu, Hindi, Gujurati, Bengali, Somali, Pashtun, Albanian, Bulgarian, and probably a lot more that I've forgotten, who do not have English as their first language. . . . .

 

So the smart money would be on the fact that British, stroke Commonweath History isn't going to mean a lot to these kids. . . . and they won't learn it in our "Trendy" schools, as they teach strange subjects here, and don't bother with history much, as it's all in the past. . . . . .

 

When they release this ridiculous FIVER. . ., I will scan one and upload a pic, so you can have it reprinted a plenty and hung in YOUR dunny as well as mine.

 

Phil

 

 

VFR is not taking current public liability laws into consideration; they are what's driving this - prohibiting the CWA from selling cakes unless they have completed a food handling course etc.Even if you fly by yourself and only kill yourself, property may be destroyed, other people may be injured, and your estate will be sued - so loved ones could finish up destitute.

Negligence has to be proved in a Court, so the cases driving this aren't frivolous.

Where do you draw the line indeed. . . .? A recent edict from our much maligned European Parliament criticised the many "Womens' Institute" groups countrywide for making their own JAM,. . . . ( I'm being serious here. . . AND I used to adore "Mrs Trewrens Jams" much advertised on the TV, when I was in Austrailia,. . . .I wonder if she used secondhand jars as well ? ? ? ) and putting the product into PRE-USED jars. The new law states that, only NEW jars may be used, as there may be bacteria in secondhand glass receptacles if they are not scrupulously cleansed to EUROPEAN HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS prior to the insertion of the jam, or other preserve product. . . . this, on the surface of it, sounds mildly reasonable BUT. . . .the W.I. have been making jam and other preserves since time immemorial, and no one seems to be able to produce any statistics, nor ANY evidence at all . . . .that ANYONE has EVER been adversely medically affected by a jar of jam supplied by the aforementioned organisation. I personally think that the "LINES" are being drawn far too hastily in some circumstances, and that we are rapidly going down a road which will inevitably result in nobody ever doing anything,. . . just in case it ends up with a lawsuit or worse. . . . ?

 

Just one oblique way of looking at it. . .?

 

Phil

 

 

Is there any cognitive testing currently for getting a drivers license over a certain age? Or are those sorts of things more of a judgement call by the medico?I would be very concerned to see cognitive testing introduced. For it to mean anything at all, there would have to be considerable research which identifies which areas of cognition are important, more research into whether areas of deficit can be compensated for in other ways, and a strong correlational link demonstrated between cognitive deficits and a significantly higher level of risk (because you can't get causal links in this sort of research).

 

As Poteroo pointed out, there would probably be some sort of arbitrary level set which would turn out completely inappropriate. You just have to look at the full scale IQ cutoff of 70 for intellectual disability funding to see how they already use such nonsense. At this time it is pretty much impossible to measure cognitive abilities with a less than +/- 3 point accuracy anyway, and it is expensive (~$600 for a bare bones assessment, up to triple that for a comprehensive one) and is unable to be repeated at less than 2 yearly intervals. And lets not forget that some people who may have a lower ability in a certain area may not have so due to age related decline - they may always have had a low ability in that area and learned to compensate.

Hiya Bandit,

 

My mate Lou popped in to the studio this afternoon ( She's a sheila driving instructor for a crust ) She said that she'd had an old Lass referred to her by DVLA ( that's the governing aUthority for drivers in the Uk ) The lady she had to assess was over 80 yrs old, but she said that the woman was fine, apart from the fact that she had a highly developed sense of "Road Rage" swearing mildly at other drivers who were obviously not as good as she was. . . .! ! ! She had been involved in a minor "fender bender" a few moths previously, and the magistrate had ruled that she had a couple of driving lessons to see if she was in fact capable of driving a car safely.. . .anyway, Lou said she was really good at all the excercises, and put her in for a test next week, so we'll see. . . .! !

 

You may wonder why an attractive female driving instructor would pop in to see an old guy like me ? Well,. . . I'm NOT going to tell you, so there.

 

Phil

 

 

It seems to me that there is a lot of people out there that are so far in thought that they don't know where they have been, or where they are going.If I don't fly in controlled airspace or over built up areas then leave me alone to enjoy my life the way I want to.

 

If I can't live my live then you might as well kill me at 50 for everybody else's protection.

Hey VFR. . .

 

I KNOW what you are saying,. . . . I've spoken to people who are so fed up with officialdom in the UK, tha they are talking about "Going Bush" and flying illegally,. . . .ie, without a permit or anything else. Whilst I can't agree with this philosopy, I can see where they are coming from. In the " Old days" when we taught ourselves to fly these new microlight thingies, . . .there were NO regulations, No insurance available, No annual permit inspections,. . .no rules no nothing, and a lot of people have been working towards ( Rearwards ? ) to restore those halcyon days. They HAVE, . . well, sort of,. . .got their wish to a point, with the relatively new S.S.D.R. ( Single Seat De-Regulated) aircraft, which, whilst requiring a PILOT LICENCE of some sort ( what a good idea. . .! ) they don't have to have a Permit to fly, and the owner has to carry out all repairs and maintenance off his own bat. There are several types available, both three axis and flexwing, ( have a look on the web for SSDR in the UK and you'll see the range available )

 

These guys want to get back to brass tacks and the early days, and have no wish to fly in Controlled Airspace either. . . . HOWEVER,. . . . I'm not advocating that YOU do this,. . . a bit of Controlled airspace flying now and again keeps you sharp., . . .but that's just MY opinion .

 

Fly safely, ( or at least,.. . . try to. . .)

 

Phil

 

 

Just an adjunct to my previous post,. . . my business partner is afflicted with a form of Diabetes, and is using metaformin tablets taken orally, but. . .If he forgets to take his pills at the right time, . . .he can not only NOT DRIVE, he can barely hold a cognitive conversation, and I really Wouldn't like him to give me a "Lift Home" in that condition, much less attempt to fly an aeroplane. Some types of diabetes appear to affect different people in different ways,. . . and YES,. . . I am aware that statisically, two out of every five persons in Europe ( approximately ) will get diabetes at some time in their life,. . . this must be a worry to anyone wishing to set a standard as to who can fly and who can't,. . . . peopleARE affected DIFFERENTLY by this condition. My partner has been told that, should his condition become more severe, then his firearms license could be withdrawn, ( he is an award winning clay pigeon shooter ) and he is obviously concerned by this, although, he won't be stopped from shooting, it will simply mean that he will have to get rid of his own expensive and accurate guns, and use the hire stuff at the club . . . . .. ( he's horrified about that bit. . .! ) Bit like losing a pilot licence ??

 

Anyway. . . .I don't wish to hijack this very interesting discussion, but wanted to comment on that particular bit of it.

 

I'm an OLD flier, and, regrettably, no one has told me yet during a flight Re-Val that my skills have deteriorated. . . . . maybe the instructors just are not psychologically trained for OLD PEOPLE testing ? ? ? ? Dunno.

 

MIND YOU,. . . . I have NOT had any nasty shocks whilst flying recently, so I have no IDEA how I'd cope.

 

Phil

 

 

Diabetes restrictionsIt looks like this has just been changed in March 2013. I'm not familiar with the levels, so don't know whether the latest version is good or bad.

 

Embedded in this link is a link to the Austroads site detailing the changes from the March 2012 version

 

http://www.diabetesvic.org.au/living-with-diabetes/driving-and-diabetes

That link contains some quite interesting information Turbo . . . ., In the UK, pilots with "Mild" Diabetes, are allowed to fly Microlight / Ultralight / Permit type aircraft on the N.P.P.L. regime, ( National PPL ) but NOT G.A. aircraft, ( even though the NPPL Single Engine Piston rating covers aircraft with MTOW up to 2,000 Kgs. . . . ) providing that their particular form of Diabetes is controlled by tablets, ( metaformin, etc. . .) taken orally. If they have to change to INJECTING insulin at some point, then they are not allowed any flying privileges at all. Although. . . . this may well change within the next three years, due to questions which have been asked in the European Parliament. (probably) to the detriment of member state mild diabetic pilots. . . . . We shall watch this with interest. . . . there are a quite a few people flying from my local airfield who may be directly affected by any change in European legislation when the E.A.S.A. rules become fully effective in the UK. . . .

 

I'll keep you posted on this one, it's interesting.

 

Phil

 

 

Turbo.

 

I am not going to adopt the coward's way and start a private converstion with you.

 

But may I please just put something straight, as I have no desire to upset ANYONE.

 

I deeply regret that you were offended by my post, I KNOW that Australians are extremely defensive of ANY criticism of that country. I was the only person around my town who rang a local radio station to remind everyone what day it was. There was little interest. People forget, or don't get educated about it any longer.

 

A close friend had just returned from a three month roving stay in Australia ( based in Adelaide ) and being an ex commercial and now G.A. pilot had told me of various conversations he had regarding "Investigation" which appear to crop up at varous airfields and Clubs, which prompted that particular post. The political comment regarding voting was irrelevant, as Our system is quite possibly worse and this, as I'm sure you KNOW . . .was just a joke. Simply that. When I retire, I intend to buy a plot somewhere in Queensland, and spend my time reading books and annoying everyone on the internet with my, perhaps to some people, warped sense of humour.

 

I have FOUR relatives who died in WW2, fighting in France, North Africa, and on the Burma railway as a P.O.W. ( and I'm REALLY sorry too about all the ANZACS who died fighting for ENGLAND and freedom in BOTH world wars as well|) . . .I wasn't around then, but their loss is still very sad, as I never got to meet any of them, although I still have and treasure the photo albums and aero engineering books of one of these, my Mother's elder Brother, who was shot down over the North Sea in 1941 and the Wellington Bomber, nor any part thereof was never found.

 

However, I have never taken umbrage in my life when anyone denigrates Bomber Command. . . ( as they do nowadays ) and tell me it was all wrong and cruel.

 

Thank you for your kind advice regarding "Having a longer look" at older posts on a similar vein to the thread we were operating within. . . . I will try to look more carefully in future.

 

I truly hope that we may remain friends.

 

Kind regards,

 

Phil Perry

 

 

Hey Thanks Phil for stirring up my memory.OK some names while I think of them.

Bill Campbell-Hicks - my main instructor when I started and sent me on 1st solo

 

Kevin Moore that you mentioned above Flew with Kev, Bit military in his technique, but a damned good instructor.

 

John Hewitt - married Helen Didn't know they married, good news, both very nice people.

 

Lofty Mason Brilliant Bloke. . . the best NAV instructor I've ever met !

 

Bruce Wilson - no relation

 

Harold Bell Was he the guy who punched a DCA examiner for pulling the power on the Apache just before the power lines on approach to runway 30 one day ? ? ?

 

Reg Ross

 

Dick Humphrey Knew Dick. . .

 

Peter Murphy

 

David Brookes "Brooksy " . . . was Helen's partner, but I guess it dodn't work out. . .

 

Alan Baskett What MORE can I say about that man . . .? Lovely chap, sent me solo in 6.5 hours ( crazy ! )

 

John Lyndsey - examiner of airmen I remember John, but he wasn't an instructor when I was at Berwick. . .

 

Barry Coutts - since passed away BARRY. . . I did a lot of business with him,. . . .and his company "Volkspower" he had a heart bypass whilst I was still in OZ ( sadly missed )

 

Nat Joseph

 

Tim Ridge

 

Mike Bayne

 

Peter Dow

 

Albert Mulhauser

 

Rob "Bugsy" Payne

 

If you can add anything to any of them or any more names.

I really don't remember the rest of the names Eric,. . . . some may well have arrived after I departed. . . .

 

Thanks for the list though,. . . . I just love the memories, ( not much left at my age [ cue violin background music. . . ! ] )

 

How about Gerry,. . . . damn,. . .can't remember his surname, I helped him restore an Auster, and he chopped most of his fingers off in a circular saw in the maintenance hangar during the time we did that. . . . English bloke with long blonde hair and an "Oxford" university accent. . . . ? I've got a photo of him somewhere, when we flew "It Will Kill" . . .Keith's C-210 VH-IWK for weekends away a few times. . .you know. . .the one with the dodgy undercarriage solenoid. . . ?? 105 pumps on the damn handle to lower the gear ? ?

 

Phil

 

 

Front page of the newspapers the next day - from memory reports of loops and barrel rolls too. It was from Essendon - I saw the aeroplane afterwards - bent wing.Last saw John instructing at RVAC a few years ago.

Thanks for that DJP,. . . . The bloke had been checking me out for a night rating at Moorabbin the week before the incident,. . . I remember now that he was flying from Essendon that night, I was there quite often visiting Alan Baskett, who was instructing from there at the time. I'm wracking my brain to recall the name of the flying school he had, I actually MADE the signage for it . . . ! got a photo somewhere in the archives, but ( and this has been posted on this forum in the past ) I saw him on the evening that he was going to check someone out on a Partenavia P68 twin, but after dark. He offered me a passenger ride if I wanted it, but I had to get back to work. I was pushing hacks at the time to try and save some extra dollars for my instrument rating course.

 

This was lucky for ME,. . . as you probably remember the accident where the P68 trim developed a fault and went fully nose down. I can't remember whether this was during a planned go around, or a normal takeoff, but the aircraft crashed into the roof of a house on the other side of the Tullamarine freeway across the road from the airfield boundary fence,. . . and the whole family in the house, apart from Dad, were killed as a result. Alan luckily survived, and I think the student did also,, not sure about the one passenger in the aircraft, I seem to remember that one of the crew got brain damage as a result of the accident. . . . Desperately sad story anyway.

 

Was RVAC at Moorabbin,. . . ? . ( grey matter failure. . .)

 

Thanks for the memories anyway.

 

Phil

 

 

G'day, Phil Regards, Eric

BARON VON ERIC. . . . . Have you changed your handle ? ? ? ?

 

If not, . . . then G'day sport.

 

Phil

 

 

Small countires with small budgets can do great jobs - let's look over the Tasman to wee New Zealand.Fatal accidents for all types of aviation are investigated and reports published online for all to read and learn from any location on this planet - many of these aircraft types are worldwide, common types, common concerns, common errors - earning doesn't need to be confined to one national boundary.

 

Here you will find gyros, gliders, helicopters, GA, ultralights - take a look at an example - excellent reports in the public domain- congrats to NZ CAA

 

http://www.caa.govt.nz/safety_info/fatal_accident_reports.htm

 

More minor incidents are given brief summaries

 

http://www.caa.govt.nz/Script/Accident_List.asp

 

NZ has less aircraft than Australia, but also less population and therefore less tax revenue - so with limited resources a quality service can be provided. The UK and the US have similar reporting in the public domain as NZ.

 

Unfortunately incidents and accdients of light aviation types overseen by RAAus and ASRA are not in the public domain, so little is learnt or shared - who knows if the trend is up or down.

 

Regards

 

Steve

OK Steve,. . . but I wonder what it costs to run an aircraft of any sort per capita in New Zealand, when compared to total aircraft on the register ? Most people I know are runni g their flying on a tight shoestring, apart from the odd few who are blessed witha monstrous annual income, thereby haveing a lot more "Disposable" to spend on toys and hobbies. . . . If it DOES cost a lot more in NZ, then that might be why the investigation regime is different . . . .? I don't have much information regarding the way that RAAus works, other than that it appears to be totally different to the way things operate with the CAA, BMAA and LAA in this country and so it's difficult to compare, if indeed, a comparison would be fair in any event AND,. . . I've noticed in the last couple of days that if someone questions what's going on, especially implying any sort of criticism, ( Of Anything. . . whether jokey or otherwise. . .) then the wagons are circled, and a proverbial cricket bat strikes the proponent very hard on the back of the neck. And this is a sad state of affairs.

 

Phil