danny_galaga

14 hours ago, onetrack said:

I store petrol in full jerry cans (of all types, PVC, poly and steel), inside sea containers, and the 91 ULP I use for all my equipment, keeps for 6 - 9mths with no problems. The secret is full, sealed containers.

Yes, that's my experience too. My fuel is sealed in plastic Jerry cans. Definitely seal well as you can see them swell and contract over the course of a day. Undercover, out of the sun. I think I'll keep my 98 cans for the plane then. I got a bit carried away at one stage because of the crazy price fluctuations in Brisbane, in normal times. So I ended up with four cans of 98, and two of 91 for the car. But it's been pointed out to me that I'm rooted if there's a fire in my garage because insurance will only allow for one can.

So my plan is to reduce these as I can, and just try not to have a fire in the meantime 😄

10 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

In my (limited) experince;

 

98 RON is good for at least 4 weeks in the aircraft tanks (open to atmosphere)

Can be refreshed to almost origional standard by adding fresh 98 RON (shandy)

 

Why not refresh the fuel in say 4 weeks with 98 RON, fly the aircraft to 1/4-1/2 tanks - repeat every 4 weeks until normal flying start again.

 

Or drain As much 98 RON out of tanks as possible, replace with AvGas to full tank, go flying for an hour or so, park plane.

 

Depending on how long you anticipate not flying this aircraft I would:

• Drain the tanks
• Drain the fuel lines & blow out with compressed air, if in doubt as to efficacy of drain.
• Remove & drain the carburettor flat bowls
• On the last two - I doubt that running the engine until fuel exhausted will remove all of the fuel. This then leaves small amounts in system (including float bowl) which will evaporate relativly quickly, leaving a "varnish" (gluggy mess) , which may or may not cause issues when you next fuel up & try to start the engine.
• Disconnect battery & put it on trickle charge.

The 98 Ron in the "jerrycans"

• If filled to at least 75% capacity (more is better) will last at least 6 months (likly much longer), as long as container air tight.
• For container integrity - best to store out of direct sunlight

😈

Ok, good point on the carbies. Could actually make things worse shutting the fuel off. I will shut off normally.

And why not refresh the fuel in four weeks? This is the big question. How much fuel will we have? I probably use as much fuel in my car, roughly 20 litres, going to the airfield and back as in the plane. If things are tight for a while, that seems a frivolous thing to do.

As you say, the fuel in the cans will last a long time. They are always in a cool stable environment, so I guess I won't touch them for now. If it's ok to go to the airfield again then I can still top up the plane as I usually do

😇 

1 hour ago, Blueadventures said:

All good but no good in an ED Ford 6cyl.

Honda Jazz, slightly more sophisticated engine ☺️

My plan if using the 98 in my car is to just top up the tank. Say half a tank. As far as I can tell, a modem car like mine will automatically adjust timing etc with the aid of different sensors like anti knock sensors.

Yeah, now I've written it out, I think that's the best solution. I'll try and run the tank low, it's not simple to drain. Also, on Rotax you normally just shut down via ignition, as there is no mixture control. So tomorrow I'll shut him down by turning off the fuel switch so there's virtually nothing in the carbies. I've timed how long it takes to run out of fuel. Takes 90 seconds. Longest 90 seconds I've ever sat through 😄

So tomorrow might be my last flight for a while depending on how the fuel situation pans out in Australia. I'm wondering what the best thing to do is regarding the fuel tank. The tank is 94 litres. After tomorrow's flight it will have roughly 40 litres of 98 octane. I have two Jerry cans of fuel. They are a couple of months old. They are well sealed as witnessed by the plastic cans expanding and contracting with heat. The planes fuel tank is relatively sealed, but definitely not air tight like the jerry cans. The engine is a Rotax 912uls 

Should I:

Top up the fuel tank with the two Jerry cans.

Or leave it as is, relying on really fresh fuel later to dilute the (probably if some months later) slightly stale fuel. And just use my 98 to top up my car's fuel tank every second tank or so when it gets to about half? 

What about additives? Is there something I can get from a servo that is known to be fine with Rotax? Normally shy of additives, but am open to suggestions.

A friend is visiting tomorrow, hoping to take him for a local flight tomorrow. He'll be passenger #2 .

Then fill up the fuel tank and pack it away for who knows how long 😔

1 hour ago, Moneybox said:

While we're talking warbirds I sat and watched an 1:49min about Evelyn Whitmore who brought her P47 Thunderbolt down in enemy territory. She survived for a short while but even though she'd radioed her position nobody came looking.

 

 

It's not a movie but I found it a sad but interesting story.

I'm seeing some indications this is a fake story. 

3 minutes ago, facthunter said:

I do not accept it could happen to anyone. It's a perfect example of a lack of situational awareness. IF  you make it IMPORTANT you won't miss it. 3 greens before Landing AND a clearance when required. I know OF people who have landed Gear up ( very few) but no pilot I ever knew has Landed gear up and that's 1,000 s. . Nev

Gimme a Beachcraft Bonanza or summink and you'll soon know one 😄

2 minutes ago, BurnieM said:

If the issue is the radio is medium volume and the internal intercom is loud then this is something you need to adjust in the radio.

 

https://www.mglavionics.co.za/v6.html

 

Yes, that is my problem, and I have the manual but just winding down the volume on the passengers headset sounds a lot easier than trying to figure out how to do that 😄

Just didn't even occur to me to check that during the flight, until Skippy pointed out out ☺️

7 hours ago, Kiwi said:

What Radio do you have?

 

MGL V6. It was free and people tell me it's worth every cent of that 😄

Skippy, I hadn't even thought of that! I'll see if that helps on the next flight 😇 

20 minutes ago, red750 said:

I flew Piper Arrows and Bonanzas, never had a problem.

You are not me 😄

37 minutes ago, kgwilson said:

I wonder how often this happened during WW2 not counting times when the landing gear had been damaged. Plots especially during the Battle of Britain often returned with damage to both the aircraft and themselves. The stress on the body and mind must have been extreme at that time. When the system failed and manual gear deployment was required was nicely shown in Christopher Nolans epic movie Dunkirk.

Fantastic scenes in that movie other than the fact he could have just as easily come down in friendly territory. 

Take care moneybox!

My last flight was today. With passenger #1 ☺️

I still haven't done my navs so I'm still just pootling around the area. We flew Boonah, over Moogerah dam, over Kooralbyn, Beaudesert, Lake Wyaralong and then back to Boonah. The area is a great place to be stuck 🙂

Might have to go easy depending on this fuel situation though.

Flew it today with the capacitor soldered in. MUCH better. While I'd rather fix one thing at a time to solve a problem, at least it's fixed now. I've gone from a radio ranging from bad-ok, to ok-good 🙂

I have to adjust a few things though. The intercom is really loud, but if I just turn down the volume then the transmissions are quieter too. Pretty confident there is a setting to adjust the balance to make the intercom a little quieter than the radio. Remember digital watches in the 80s? How you had to hold this button, then tongue to the right, wait three seconds, click through an indecipherable menu and then somehow the time was set? This radio reminds me of that. I sucked at these PC LOAD LETTER situations back then, and I suck at them now. Stupid radio, adjust yourself! 😄

Anyway, I've brought the instruction book home and will peruse this evening 🙂

Language warning ☺️

I will NEVER fly a retractable aircraft. I look at all these really talented and seasoned pilots screwing up, and I just know it'll happen to me.

2 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

DC3's on the ground? 😈

Yeah, what the hell?

T510, please explain!

The truck. They were very lucky it hit in the centre, and not the cabin

More information. No transponder in the firetruck.

Finally occurred to me why I wasn't comprehending the image of the damaged plane- there was enough destroyed at the front that it's tipped back from the reduced weight. Probably obvious to most, but it just wasn't computing in my head. 

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/24/us/laguardia-plane-collision-air-canada-wwk

Cctv of the impact. I'm amazed the drivers survived, and unsurprised the pilots died 

ATC radio

Both pilots deceased. I'm not sure exactly what the aircraft was doing, if it had just landed. Clearly still going quite fast. I can't get my head around what I'm seeing at the front of the plane. But I'm sure there'll be more detailed reporting soon 

16 minutes ago, Moneybox said:

HaHa.... You think she'd pass it over?

 

 

She just slipped me this one to keep my mouth shut.

Why does that picture remind me of the saying 'rolling poo in glitter'?

5 minutes ago, Moneybox said:

I haven't fitted my Chinese copy yet so it'll go into the Zenith.

 

 

It certainly looks like it's worth the $44.77 paid including freight. It has everything apart from the Ducati brand name.

 

Fingers crossed. Regulator/rectifiers aren't super complicated, so hopefully they can't skimp on parts, unlike fake iPhone chargers, some of which are lethal. 

On 01/03/2026 at 11:03 PM, BurnieM said:

I wouldn't.

 

Third party MOSFET based reg/recs have been around for motorcycles for 15-ish years and have a very good rep.

Ducati reg/recs never had a good reputation in the mc scene so I am surprised that Rotax ever used them.

It is part of a system with a difficult to replace stator (alternator).

 

Lets wait for Skippys feedback as he has been running a CAR5115 for a few hours now.

 

I'm pretty happy with my car 115. About 40 hours running so far, solid 14.4V