walrus

Bump.

I really, really wanted to see beautiful and peaceful Lawn Hill Gorge again……. ‘’I would fly into Adels Grove and stay there. The emails I had (phone was unavailable) were fair in that they warned me that the restaurant was under construction and that they hoped it would be open in a week. There we’re no tours available. There was no accommodation available (probably used by the builders). No problem, I would bring camping gear and my own food. Someone would give me a lift to the park. Then the day before, I saw a new ABC article about revised management arrangements for the park. I went looking on the web a bit deeper. Tripadvisor latest reviews were just terrible. There were further reports (google) about a month old, saying the campground amenities allegedly weren’t in any fit state - the water systems had allegedly been torn up during construction. The builders were allegedly abusive towards visitors for turning up. No problems, I could avoid them, I couldn’t find out about fuel, no problems, I could carry a reserve. I could probably live with the usual construction chaos, it might even be fun. On the day, the weather forecast gave me potentially a major cross wind (+12 knots). No email on the state of the airstrip. No advice available from anyone. They don’t answer the phone at Adels Grove. I thus had no way of managing risk except a precautionary search maneuver followed by a two hour return over tiger country in what would then be “moderate turbulence” - willie willies - dust devils in the middle of the day, as the weather forecast portrayed, if I didn’t like what I saw. I still wanted to go… Then I thought “why are you going to accept a major risk to your aircraft, let alone your time, money and potentially your life, trying to revisit a place where, on the balance of probabilities, you are not wanted and are 99% likely to be disappointed by what you are going to find?”. I went elsewhere.‘ ….and yes, I suppose I could have checked before getting this far, but somehow I didn’t think I needed to.

Thank you all for your concise and illuminating replies. I decided it was too risky.

Anyone flown in to it recently? I can’t seem to find advice and I’m wondering if the new owners are maintaining the strip? I think a precautionary search might be in order followed. by going somewhere else. Furthermore, even assuming the strip is OK, the latest reviews of the Adels Grove experience are less than stunning. Emails go unanswered…..

Electric cars and floods. Don’t go there.

CAVOK, let me share my experience. The overriding key determinant of your choice of options is TIME. It's not money, not technical sophistication, not performance. Your most precious resource is time. Consider industry statistics - allegedly only 50% of home built aircraft are completed by the original owner. No matter what you buy as a kit, you are looking at a minimum of four years before this thing flies - and that assumes you are diligent, have no sudden health problems, have a stable healthy family and job. The probability of all that decreases with age. Who are you going to be in four years? Do you really have four years? Want to bet? For that reason, your skills, age and experience are very important. Not because you can't learn to do stuff but because learning takes TIME - and you don't have as much as you think. So if you want to build, its time to first flight that counts and the older you are, the more it counts. You want the glass cockpit, electronically injected engine, flush rivets and a gorgeous paint job? Be prepared to add at least two years to the build. You want a quick build, then its a kit, pop rivets, square edges, steam gauges and a carburetted Lycoming. Understand that EVERY time you increase technical sophistication you have to slow down to learn. of course none of this matters if you are building the second airplane because you are down the learning curve by then. So think realistically about the time you have available - then add 30% contingency to the build. be aware that the airframe will go together really fast. Fitting systems will be much slower and the 'last minute" jobs will go on forever. I lost three years of build to family matters and another two to technical sophistication and over specifying things like paint - you will die of old age before most aircraft corrode if you take a little care. Time is everything.

Someone’s Lycoming farted. Happens all the time……..

Marty the Americans have been angling for this for at least ten years. They fomented the 2014 coup - we have Nuland on tape admitting it. (a) The U.S. has not encouraged Ukraine to implement Minsk II and has been silent in the face of Russian entreaties to (a) get Minsk II implemented and, (b) They told Russia to GF when the Russians twice asked for peace talks in 2021. Yes, it is a mess. There is quite enough dirt to go around for everyone. Let’s leave it at that. ‘’We are deprived of Ukrainian Aviation hardware. Spare a thought for the guys who own Russian aircraft too. Spare parts are not going to be easy to come by.

There are no clean hands in this mess. To try and understand a little of what is going on, you need to read russian or visit russian leaning websites to try and get some balance of a sort given that the western media are biased too. The real "war" is geopolitical. America has been hankering after war with Russia for at least the last ten years because the combination of Russia and its ally China will outgrow the US dominated western empire (which includes us). Ukraine is just a convenient excuse. Kazakhstan, Georgia, a Baltic state - any of them would do, they couldn't care less. America will fight to the last Ukrainian.

The website is not complete. The weight is indeed 600kg for LSA purposes, that's why it says 1320 lbs (LSA). Edition 1 of the design was indeed limited to 600 kg. Edition 2 issued July 20 2010 and subsequent editions have a design MTOW of 650 kg (1440 lb) Here is a list of the parts that were beefed up or added by edition 2: Model: STOL CH 750 “GROSS WEIGHT INCREASE” KIT PARTS LIST Parts List: 08/10 Revised Pick-List: Page 1of 1 PART NO: DESCRIPTION QTY WING KIT 75W2-6/1 WING SPAR WEB DOUBLER t=.063 l-650mm 1R+1L 75W2-5/1 WING SPAR UPPER STRUT FITTING t=.25 2 75W4-7 I/B REAR CHANNEL ANGLE t=.040 2 75W8-1/1 FRONT LOWER STRUT FITTING WELDED ASSEMBLY 2 75W8-2/1 FRONT UPPER STRUT FITTING WELDED ASSEMBLY 2 L L ANGLE 20 AN3-5A BOLT, SL NUT, WASHER (2@75W3-3) 4 AN3-7A BOLT, NUT, WASHER (75W2-7) 2 AN4-5A BOLT, SL NUT, WASHER (2 75W2-7) 4 AN4-7A BOLT, NUT, WASHER (75W2-7) 2 FUSELAGE KIT 75F3-4/1 UPRIGHT PRE-DRILLED l=983mm t=.025” 1L + 1R 75F3-7/1 REAR TOP CHANNEL PRE-DRILLED l=1009mm t=.063” 1 75F3-9 REAR TOP CHANNEL ANGLE t=.063 l=1019mm PRE-DRILL 1 75F4-2/1 SIDE CHANNEL COVER PRE-DRILLED l=1011mm t=.040” 1L + 1R 75F4-4/1 REAR WING ATTACHMENT PRE-DRILLED t=0.1875” 2 75F4-7 SIDE SKIN GUSSET t=.063 2 75F4-8 BOTTOM SKIN GUSSET t=.063 2 75F4-9 LONGERON GUSSET t=.025” PRE-DRILLED 2 75F12-2/1 FORWARD SIDE SKIN PRE-DRILLED t=.025 1L+1R 75F12-7/1 FORWARD ANGLES l=450mm t=.025” 6 75F14-1/1 LOWER ENGINE MOUNT FITTING WELDED ASSEMBLY 1L+1R 75F14-3/1 GEAR STRUT FITTING WELDED ASSEMBLY 1L+1R 75F15-1/1 CABIN FRAME WELDED ASSEMBLY PRE-DRILLED 1 75FA10-1 BAGGAGE BACK CHANNEL t=.032 2 75FA10-2 SIDE SKIN DOUBLER PRE-DRILLED t=.032 2 75FA10-3 SIDE SKIN ANGLE t=.032 2 A6 3/16 RIVETS 45 AN3-5A BOLT, SL NUT, WASHER (6@75F4-4/1) 18 AN3-3A BOLT, SL NUT, WASHER (4@75A10-2) 8 AN4-5A BOLT, SL NUT, WASHER (2@75F4-1) 4

Zenith CH750. The kit was virtually perfect. I think James at Swish projects may even have a kit or two in stock. Rotax 912 iS, Airmaster propeller and Dynon Avionics. Sweet to fly and almost Walrus proof. Just back from Arkaroola via YBHI to YBLA. Trip cut short by flooding further north. 83 knots TAS at 17 l/H, 86 at 20 l/h. It jumps off the ground. Landed on the numbers at YWTO 35 and made the first turnoff. ...And design MTOW is 650 kg for a sweetener.

The locals have advised to wait a week. They should know. End of story.

Yes Ross, I’m aware of salt lakes and the breakable crust. This is different- it’s a hard surface clay pan that has been used as a strip for generations - but I don’t know what it might be like if damp.

As some may know, it’s been raining in the outback. Dry clay pans I have experience- all good. Damp clay pans, not so much. Does anyone have experience they wish to share? My inclination is to avoid one. Yes, I am seeking local knowledge but at present it’s not yet available. A precautionary search is a possibility but I’m not sure is going to show much.

The purpose of ASIC cards is to provide a capability for control of access to aviation infrastructure. The fact that they aren't controlling much at regional airports NOW doesn't invalidate the program. Try getting and remaining airside at a major capital city airport without an ASIC. Try getting an ASIC and a job in aviation if you have a criminal record. Read the list of disqualifying conditions for an ASIC. I'm going to be travelling via Ports requiring ASICs. Some of them have three strand fences that can't even keep the kangaroos out, but that isn't the point. In future, security can be ramped up very quickly at those ports - just hire the guards and build the fences. The ASIC is the bureaucratic infrastructure that supports improved security - when we need it.

Unfortunately the SF- 1600 is vapourware - a university student paper project. Its not the grand scheme items that will kill this project, its the details that do them in: bearings and lubrication, drainage, start ers, gearboxes, little things that took 20 years of patient experiment to get right.

However that type of engine Stellantis T6 is of no use for aviation because of the duty cycle. An aircraft engine operates at greater than, say, 55% power continuously. An automotive engine does not and won't. I can already get 700hp out of a subaru - for a few minutes. There are auto conversions but they are bought for cost considerations and they are heavy. Fuel efficiency is function of compression ratio. Turbines can't match piston engines. however a turbine and airframe system together can produce a cheaper cost of ownership.

I've had both metal and plastic fail in cooling systems. The metal from corrosion and fatigue, the plastic from over temperature and mechanical failure, so you are both right. I've used automotive fittings in some areas but they are not a cure all. In my case I found wonderful fittings for teflon and braided stainless racing hose - a joy to work with and 1000psi+ rating BUT overtighten the sleeve nut on a fitting and it will split, leaving you with a potentially fatal fuel leak. Similarly plastic fittings - their strength is highly temperature dependant. What happens when the coolant temperature is 120C at switch off on a hot day how does your heat soaked plastic fitting behave when it is at 130C under associated pressure AND the fitting is misaligned and under stress, perhaps with an overtightened hose clamp as well? The joy of the old AN fitting and fastening system is that it works. The failure modes are very well known and in any case if you follow AC13b they are idiot proof (I hope!). Just because something looks the same doesn't make it the same either. having said that, there are quite a few Rotax parts that are Bosch automotive rebranded items.

The first thing it does is provide an additional stream of customers into the local economy. As turbo explains they have to eat drink and sleep somewhere. This is a straight transport operation. To this add marginal increase in tourism traffic (eg winery flights adventure tourism, hiking drop offs, parachuting, etc. etc. To this add marginal increase in business related travel. Include fire fighting, power line inspection, etc. as well. To this add aircraft operation and maintenance jobs - they would have a multiplier effect of about 8 - one full time aircraft job supports about 8 service industry jobs. You will be surprised at how fast the jobs add up. The tragedy is that we should have been doing such calculations 40 years ago and regulating accordingly on a national basis. Instead we allowed ourselves to be beaten into an anal lawyer driven cluster*&*&. Look at NZ to view a functioning aviation segment of an economy.

CTA for RAA currently requires a PPL plus BFR plus medical plus the removal of the “avoid built up areas” condition on the aircraft certificate. This is impractical for most and puts major obstacles in way of touring in an LSA type aircraft. Roadblocks at all capital cities, plus Sale, Newcastle, Coffs, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Alice Springs and Broome..

What about owner built and maintained?

https://www.skyshop.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=1189

+1 to Bert Flood at Lilydale - the Rotax agent.

ISOL SHRA and TCU after 3 pm in B1 sort of locks the front door at home for me. I don't want to have to divert or take my chances waiting for weather to clear before last light - and we have guests for dinner

Thunderstorms in weather forecast for home time, so not going. 😞