onetrack

The "check wheels" advice is short and simple and easy, and if permanently added to civilian ATC communications, it might just have prevented a lot of expensive stuff-ups?

.....bull's notorious aviation activities were the elephant in the room that no-one wanted to talk about.

It was bad enough, that he was carrying unregistered firearms on an RA aircraft, but when bull stated he wanted to buzz Parliament House in Victoria to see if he could take out Commy Dan, alarm bells rang in the club, and a call was made to.........

Leaks from brake systems are not uncommon, and when the fluid leaks, you get damaged paint.

Not everyone is as anal about brake fluid changes as Skippy, otherwise the brake repair places, and the stainless and chromed piston retailers would be out of business in quick-smart time, if that was the case.

In my restoration and repair work, corrosion and brake system components are constant companions.

Aeroshell 31 is the specified compatible synthetic hydraulic fluid that meets MIL PRF-087257 specs. But it's certainly not cheap. The PRF-087257 specs sounds like overkill to me, for an RA aircraft. Like -40C to 205C temperature range? And super-finely filtered? Yes, if you were putting it in military aerospace vehicles, but I don't see where it's needed in an RA-aircraft.

Have you thought about silicone brake fluid? It's not hygroscopic, doesn't react with any metal or brake component material, such as special seals, nor any natural rubber, and it is very stable. Plus, silicone brake fluid does not damage paintwork, if spilled on it. Current spec DOT 5 brake fluid is a silicone brake fluid.

https://www.flightstore.com.au/aeroshell-fluid-31-3.7ltr

Jackc - The problems with the Taipan were more far-reaching than any private enterprise operation would be able to fix. I mean, how do you fix Taipan cargo doors that are too small? That is simply a massive basic design error, that shows up the inability of the Taipan designers to even get the important priorities sorted. These things are obviously Citroen cars close cousin.

In the days when I was in business (I've been retired since 2003), the cost of PL insurance wasn't all that high. Have the premiums for PL rocketed so much in recent years, that even PL insurance is unaffordable?

At 46% availability, these things have to be the Leyland P76 of military rotorcraft! Imagine the situation if we had to fight in Vietnam with these things, instead of UH-1's! The losses, in terms of life, firstly, and financial losses secondly, would have been horrendous. 

This is one time where the Govt has made a satisfactory military purchase decision.

There are urea production facilities planned for Australia, utilising our natural gas supplies. However, with an energy-hungry world demanding nearly all our LNG at extremely high prices (LNG prices have doubled recently), the case for turning NG into urea, is now not as attractive as just selling it on the open world market, for fuel use.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-01-12/strike-energy-plans-urea-fertiliser-plant-burrup-peninsula/13051000

The outback mines in W.A. are rapidly moving over to green energy sources, solar in particular is such low cost, it's a no-brainer.

Being a diesel supplier to a remote mine is no longer a massive growth business, and it will become a business with little future.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-11-15/green-mines-a-renewable-energy-evolution/100613266

It would've only taken that tree through the cabin to be 20cm further to the right, and the rescuers would've found an impaled pilot.

I'd take the shallow water near the lake shoreline any day, over going straight down over tens of thousands of giant sharp toothpicks!

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Repairs are very cheap compared to aviation repairs......

Most mechanics charge $100-110 hr around here. It takes very little to run up $2000 bill, when vehicle repairs are undertaken. Hence the number of quite good condition, fairly late model vehicles, you regularly see heading to the scrap yard. They are deemed economically unrepairable, thanks to expensive repairs needed.

I recently purchased an ex-council 2011 Ford Ranger diesel ute (3.0L, 180,000 kms), that was a non-goer. I couldn't track down the reason for the non-goer problem/s, despite having a reasonably good OBD reader, and having downloaded the service manual (2,103 pages, no less!!). It needed a new battery which was duly installed.

I suspected the non-goer fault might lie in the fact the ute had been left sitting for possibly 9-12 mths with a flat battery, which often makes the ECU lose its memory. In this case, the ECU fired right up again with the new battery and displayed all the dash lights and the "engine fault" light.

I couldn't find any technician that had time available to work on it, for at least 3 weeks. They were all overwhelmed with work. So I took the Ranger to the local Ford dealer, who started on it 3 days later.

The first fault was a broken wire in the engine harness. Yet no fault codes had appeared on my OBD reader. Then they found the MAF sensor needed replacing (yet no MAF sensor fault appeared on my OBD reader, and the MAF sensor tested O.K. when I checked it).

Then it started and ran, but it took ages to start again. Their testing revealed a high-pressure common rail solenoid was faulty - that was replaced. The very slow starting problem remained.

The Ford dealer then said they suspected a leaky seal on the fuel priming pump, or plugged fuel filters. I told them to replace all the filters, and they said they'd do a leakdown test on the priming pump, which required the vehicle to sit overnight. They did this, and found no leakage from the priming pump.

Then they tested the injectors, and deemed them all faulty. Fair enough, with 180,000 kms use. New injectors from Ford are $800 each, but I knew I could get genuine Bosch (aftermarket) for $495.

I ended up sourcing good used, fully tested, low km injectors for $200 each. I duly acquired these, and the Ford dealer was happy enough to fit them. 

They then gave the ute back to me, telling me it was fully repaired. The Ford dealer bill came to $2750 alone - without the injectors cost.

However, the motor still took 30 seconds to start when cold, and 15 seconds when hot, which I deemed unacceptable. I revisited the injector man, and he advised me the common problem with common rail diesels, was a faulty relief valve on the rear of the common rail. The relief valve retains the rail pressure when stopped, for instant starting.

I duly acquired a genuine Bosch relief valve, and installed it myself, and it cost me $85 off eBay, and it took me all of 5 mins to install it. The ute then started like it should, almost instantly.

I have no idea why the Ford dealer couldn't find the relief valve fault, they have a large amount of Ford-issued or approved diagnostic and repair equipment - and all the Ford Service Bulletins, which I cannot access. 

After I ran the ute for a short while, my OBD reader showed up 2 faults related to EGR valve operation. EGR valves are notorious for plugging with oily carbon deposits, and are such a PIA, there's a roaring aftermarket trade in blank-off plates for EGR systems.

I purchased a can of Penrite P26 Foaming Intake Cleaner, and gave the engine the full can as instructed, and then ran the engine at 2500-3000RPM for a short time, to run it right through the intake, intercooler, turbocharger, and engine.

I then took the ute for a 20 min drive, and the performance had definitely improved, and upon reconnecting my OBD reader and deleting the EGR fault codes, they did not return. 

I haven't got much change out of $4000, just to get a poorly maintained, non-goer of an ex-council ute, operational - and that doesn't include my labour time spent on it.

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and you can ask ask the engine what's wrong and it will tell you.....

Not true, unfortunately. The engine ECU will only supply fault information that it has gathered from its sensors and CAN bus. If the fault is a broken wire in the harness, the ECU often does not record it, as with my Ford Ranger.

A mate has a late-model Hino 5 tonne truck. It stopped, and the fault was traced to a broken wire in the centre of the main wiring harness, that ran across a chassis cross-member under the radiator. How did a single wire, central in a harness holding about 20 wires, fracture? God only knows, the harness showed no signs of being struck by anything. It took the Hino dealer 3 days to find it, such is the array of electronic controls on modern engines, that are all interlinked, and interdependent.

Another problem area is if a microprocessor fails. The microprocessor is what gathers the fault information. If the microprocessor is faulty itself, you get "no fault codes found".

I had this problem with a previously-owned Falcon Stn Wgn that had Climate Control. The Climate Control simply stopped working (no A/C) and the Ford dealer service manager took great delight in showing me the correct sequence of CC buttons to push, to initiate Fault Finding Mode. The system was even programmed to partition the CC circuitry into 10 different sections, and test each one separately. But there was no fault, according to the screen on the unit.

It took the Ford dealer another 2 days to find out the microprocessor that controlled the Climate Control was faulty, thus the reason for the screen stating, "no fault found".

Luckily, this repair was under warranty (right on the 20,000km warranty limit), or the microprocessor would have cost me $947 alone - without labour. This was around 30 yrs ago, too.

..... the expected loan term, during which period cash flow would cover the interest, and the massive capital gain upon the sale of the businesses would cover the debt three times over, giving a nice little profit to the business owners.

"We're following the great financial lead set by Christopher Skase, Alan Bond, Laurie Connell, etc., said OT. "You know, churning and turning, and then burning (the company records). It's a win-win for everyone, all 'round! - of course, 'everyone' is just a cute reference to the major shareholders!"

"This bank manager will cut you to pieces when he finds out what you're doing", said Cappy. "Not a hope", said OT confidently. "You should see the private photos I have of that bank manager, doing things that he doesn't want publically aired - and as soon as I let him know what I'm holding, he'll be begging...........

Excessive levels of electronics and electrical devices is a recipe for an increased level of failure. While electronics have progressed over the last 4 decades, their reliability is still suspect simply because they work on low levels of current, very thin layers of insulation, and a nasty tendency to fail from the impact of severe temperature extremes, and vibration.

Modern road vehicles still fail to progress on a regular basis - but they fail to do so, for far different reasons, as compared to the road vehicles of 40 years ago.

Todays road vehicles suffer from an increased amount of fire events, an increased amount of electrical, and particularly electronic failure, and shutdowns caused by ECU's going into "limp home mode" when sensors report measurements outside their set parameters. I would imagine it would be highly undesirable to set a "limp home mode" in an aircraft engine, simply due to one sensor reporting a fault, that may or may not impact engine operation. 

In addition, vastly increased levels of electronics and electrics increase weight - and weight is anathema to light aircraft - or most aircraft.

Reports are that vehicle manufacturers have managed to shave an average of 140kgs of weight from the average car over the last 30 years, due to the increased use of light alloys and thinner higher tensile steel sheet in panels and even major structural members.

However, a large proportion of this weight shaved from the primary build has been added back again, via the installation of a huge amount of electrical and electronic devices - which range from engine controls, through to CAN bus architecture, wiring and onboard diagnostics, through to entertainment and safety devices.

I don't think "dreaming" is the correct word to use in the context of Embraer - a well-established and financially viable company that also has an eye to future air transport trends. I'd give them a little more street cred than an internet startup that has never sold a single product - but who can produce plenty of glitzy videos, showing "future designs".

The disclaimer in the "News" article is a standard worldwide disclaimer where statements regarding contracts and sales may affect potential and current investors perception of the companys value, and is simply a basic warning that what is projected, may or may not come to pass. As with all sales contracts, they can be cancelled on a whim, and unless there are financial penalties involved, this can hurt the company.

The aircraft sales and introduction projections are slated for 2026, so 5 years away yet. However, I'll wager the contracts involve an agreed performance and cost level, that must meet the purchasers agreed parameters. Not meeting those parameters will likely mean contract cancellation. But I'll wager Embraer have not promised any performance levels, they think they can't meet. The major hurdle will be the regulatory hurdle.

But I notice that these aircraft are not so far advanced that they don't still need a pilot, so they should slot into current aviation requirements, without too much drama.

If these eVTOL's perform as well as they look, Embraer might be onto a winner here. The Yahoo Finance information is correct. The conventional small helicopter business is looking a bit shaky with this development.

https://eveairmobility.com/  (See "News")

So, according to Geoff Goodalls "write-up", in 2013, VH-SAV was still registered, and resided in Broome, W.A., under the ownership of Brett M Nixon. The registration records state that that information is still accurate.

But how does that Saab detonation detection system perform, in relation to electrical noise issues interfering with aircraft communication devices? 

...arm, which he handed to Turbo. Which moves completely flummoxed Turbo, as he was all ready with the mulesing shears to nail the bank manager. But the bank manager was wised up to borrowers tricks, of which he'd seen many, and he was always one step ahead of the jokers.

So he rapidly departed the scene with the outstanding loan and interest problem solved, leaving Turbo holding the lamb, the rabbit - and a hair from the bank managers arm, which he could not figure out what he was going to do with it.

The lamb started bleating, and jumped out of Turbos arms, the rabbit took off down the hallway, and Turbo lost the bank managers hair in the melee. He was horrified, what was he........

There's no mention of any crash in Australia, of one of these aircraft, in the aviation safety-net database. Was the DCA crash not reported?

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/type/FN33

......the bone-sharpening grinder, and commence grinding away with the bone, which as many NES'ers know, Cappy is very good at, having had extensive experience on many of the......

I would hope that members notice, that the YouTube video posted by Waraton is merely a CGI simulation of the flight, and does not represent the actual flight.

The pilots and passengers names have been released, the pilot was John Reay, and his passenger was his wife Made (or perhaps Maddie - one can't rely on media sources for accuracy).

https://www.9news.com.au/national/perth-plane-crash-lucky-escape-serpentine-airfield-in-hopeland/c0d8a77d-d15c-4b00-bbee-89bc00e8a356

......pull out his feather-clad boots that he'd kept hidden in the back of the wardrobe, slip them on (yes, they still fitted), slap some various colours of ochre on his face, neck and chest - then go head to toe with the Medicine Man.

The Medicine Man was quite surprised at Cappy's fancy-footing skills - but it was only when Cappy did a backwards somersault and landed on his feet, that the Medicine Man stopped dancing, in awe at the skills Cappy had just displayed.

But right about then, the local Wirridtdargja elders heard of this Kadaitcha Man that was in town, and they promptly ......

It's very fortunate the emergency landing area selected was nice and clear, and that the occupants (male, 77 and female, 65) escaped with only minor injuries. Good outcome.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/270222

Tesla has a new battery design. As with any technological race, the winner is the one with the most technological improvement in the fastest time period. The new Tesla battery shows a sizeable increase in efficiency, along with lower cost manufacturing. Tesla has even managed to eliminate cobalt from their new battery and substantially improve the silicon component effectiveness.

One can't help but admire Musk in one respect, his drive to ensure electric motive power wins out, is immense, and his commitment to a constant cost reduction and simplification, is laser-sharp.

Tesla has made some major design changes in their new battery design and car construction method - utilising the battery as a structural member - and these changes mean that electric motive power is steadily coming much closer to fossil fuel power, as regards cost, efficiency and energy density.

Aircraft motive power is a unique case in itself, but perhaps some kind of hybrid power for aircraft will be the next front-runner.

I personally feel the Japanese are backing a loser in the shape of hydrogen, despite their huge investment in the fuel and the associated technology.

Unless the Japanese can produce a hydrogen storage solution that is a major leap forward in technology, they will constantly struggle with the limitations of hydrogen storage.

Teslas new 4680 battery cell - https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/22/everything-you-need-to-know-about-teslas-new-4680-battery-cell/

....serious trouble - especially when the four calls at once, all gave different callsigns. The problem came to a head (actually, multiple heads) when Cappy pulled a knife, fully intending to decapitate the three hydras - but as he did so, six more hydra heads appeared, all clamouring for attention, and all giving different callsign radio calls, repeatedly. Cappy had had enough.

He landed and promptly decided to visit a witch doctor of high repute, to see what could be done to rid himself of the hydras. He found one residing in a small country town not far from Wagga, and made an appointment. But when he arrived at the witch doctors house, he was a little unnerved to find the witch doctor greeting him with a ........

And here we have the witchdoctors sick dance, upon meeting Cappy ......