Ultralights

if the aircraft POH doesn't recommend flight in temps above 40, so for that reason, we ground our jabirus when atis temp is 40 deg.

 

 

and not to mention, extremely difficult to work with! 1 drill bit =1 hole. thats it. 1 countersing bit will do about 5 holes, thats it. oh, and tinsnips! arrghhhh

 

 

yesterday was pretty bad, 40deg on the ATIS, so taking the Jabi was out, decided to go and have a look in the tecnam, got just into the training area, and an emergency was declared, and Bankstown would be closing in 15 mins, so in we came, only this time, temp was now 41, and wind was mean crosswind 15 gusting to 25, guess what it was doing as we approached short final, yep, it gusted to at least 25. the tecnam is easy in any crosswind using wing down technique, but it felt like i was at 45 deg bank just to keep it on the centre line...

 

just think, would not have been a problem if runway 18/36 still existed at Bankstown..... not happy mr Macquarie bank!

 

oh, not only that, 41 deg in a low wing tecnam is the most plesent environment to fly in.. which raises the real possibility of suffering the effects of heat stroke in flight... so after today, if temps reach 40deg, we will not be flying in either the Jab or tecnam,

 

 

i know, im a bit of a hussy, i have 3 pits i regularly see.

 

 

first is my trusty and fast Vampire.

 

 

next is the ever reliable and trusty steed, the Jabiru LSA! GA panel option.

 

Here should be a pic of the Tecnam Golf 96 cocpit, unfortunately i cant find a decent one of it...

 

so in lie of that, here are some that are a little different..

 

 

This is VH-IMX, the only historic aircraft i have flown, a Piper Warrior.. sadly these things are almost 40 yrs old.!

 

and guess this one..

 

 

 

certainly hope not, i plan on placing an order in the next 2/4 months.

 

 

the first photo pretty much describes the fun at bankstown, a RAAus registered tecnam in mid take off roll, at the exact same time a Cessna Citation is landing beside us, you can see the Citation that just landed about to get to the end of the runway. in front of us a C182 departed , and behind us was a Beechcraft Kingair.

 

 

cant wait for this year, i am still undecided as to fly in, or drive in... though the fly in is looking better...

 

 

i love trip reports like this, great shots! beautiful aircraft! How welcoming are they to recreational aircraft dropping in for a chat and a round?

 

 

well, the trip was short, Departing Bankstown, for Bankstown, then a few circuits..

 

 

32 deg, and surprisingly calm. Departing runway 11L

 

 

Inbound for circuits, line approach to runway 11R for touch n well ummm yeah..

 

 

No words necessary.. well, we are 90deg across the strip, we had a quick go at trying to push it back to the nearest taxiway, but the US tyre wasn't letting us go anywhere.

 

I better make it as educational as i can, the tyre rolled off the rim some time after landing, due to a slow leak. fortunately the huge amount of drag and vibration made sure we didnt add full power for the touch n go, so i made the call.

 

Us "Bankstown tower, Tecnam **** we have lost a tyre and unable to taxi"

 

Twr "**** stand by, ABC go around. all aircraft runway 11R is closed due to striken aircraft, runway centre now in use"

 

all other aicraft in the circuit were redirected to runway centre,

 

Twr "tecnam **** shut down and await the ground vehicle. and follow their instruction"

 

Us " **** Shutting down and will await vehicle."

 

about 15 mins later the airport ops vehicle came out, with our engineer, basically we got the under car work trolly, placed it under the deflated wheel, and pushed the aircraft off to the taxiway. about an hr later, the runway was open, and we taxied back to the hanger with a new right hand tyre and tube.

 

the lesson to be learned, especially with the CTA endorsment coming up, if something goes wrong, call the tower and let them know! in plain english, they WILL help you.

 

 

 

the 8 cyl in the J230/450 would make it a fantastic performer!

 

 

YSBK has a even mix of White and Yellow socks, a good example today, wind was reported on the ATIS at 25-30kts, the white socks were almost horizontal, and the yellow, about 15 deg from horizontal

 

 

i will never forget the Iron Maiden gig here i Syd opening with Aces High..

 

 

this has been a shocking year, first it was Col Pay, then my Instuctor, though he passed away as a result of natural causes, and now Mr Moon....

 

 

sounds like nothing has changed with the RAAF and RAN painters, even today, the hornets, hawks and the RAN choppers are all different markings, funnily enough, it was only just recently i discovered there are no qualified painters in the paint shops at Nowra and Williamtown, and after working some overtime on repainting a seahawk recently, all the markings are measured and masked up by eye and tape measure only. basically there is a location drawing in the manual, no real accurate way of measuring, and you basically look at where the roundel should be, and get the masking tape out and mask out a circle. thats it. it no more detailed than the decal location pics on glue together models.

 

 

ive had 2, one in an LSA jab on mid final, pulled throttle back to idle, engine stopped, hit the starter and nothing happened, just continued approach as normal, and rolled to a stop on the taxiway exit, problem turned out to be a broken throttle stop bracket, allowing the throttle to go to shut off position, and not allow it to open again.

 

second was when my instructor during my instructor rating, my instructor asked if i had ever had a real engine failure, i said sort of (refer above incident) and then he said, well, your having another one, and killed the ignition, we were in a J230. fortunatly we were at 4000 ft, and about 5 miles from the field. no problem with a glide that far out.

 

key to a good glide is keep the speed at the best lift/drag ratio speed, and keep all turns balanced. remember AVIATE, NAVIGATE AND COMMUNICATE. in that order.

 

 

actually i just looked at the dates of the posts, how did the lease renewal go? i take it that it all went well, seeing as there was a bit of circuit activity there last weekend in a Jab, as i was overhead enroute to Mudgee.

 

 

dont ever fly with a head cold, sure you feel alright on the gound, but get to a few thousand feet, and with no way to release pressure blocked in your sinuses, you will be in a world of hurt.. i know, i flew over katoomba at 8000 ft with a bad cold. apart from the extreme pain in my head, it was the bleeding from my eyes that worried me. it quite literally felt like my head was going to explode, and with the air trapped in your sinuses at sea level pressure, and the outside pressure, or lack of it at 8000ft, it literally was trying to explode..

 

take a bag of chips up to 5000 ft and higher and see what happens.

 

 

but he has to remain objective for the needs of the community etc etc

this is NSW, plenty of money will ensure he puts the communities best interests first, after his..

and love how greenies want to rejuvenate the area, and the other 500,000km of dirt tracks everywhere.

 

dont forget to play the emergency card, especially with bushfire season here..

 

 

 

YHOX as it is now, and if you fly at less than 500ft, you will be prosecuted.

 

 

It was a Busby Mustang, aparently it was a very well known aviator, i dont know who it is yet. its been a sad day for me, just found out today my flying instructor Jack Curtis, passed away recently:crying:

 

 

When the aircraft veered left and corrective action being application of right rudder failed to regain directional control

sounds to me like there is an issue with the nose wheel, maybe a structural failure, i had a similar incident in my vampire, where upon touchdown, the link rod between the rudder pedals and the nose wheel failed, allowing the nose-wheel to spin freely shopping trolley style, and the aircraft departed stage left at about 30 kts, and rolled to a stop in the grass beside the strip. sounds like a similar thing has happened to you, another possibility is the tyre deflated, either in flight, or upon touchdown. either way, a good inspection of the nose-wheel and steering is in order. dont discount the possibility of FOD either, carpet or other object jamming up behind the rudder pedals themselves? water bottles are renowned for finding such hiding places.

 

 

I have never flown the 170, thats the model i am thinking of purchasing if i cant get a 230 cheap enough.

 

What were the tyre pressures like?

 

 

they are CHEAP! and hence, selling thousands! i have flown numerous types of Jabs, some fly brilliantly, some are dogs, seams to be luck of the draw on how its put together. fortunately i have not had a veering problem with the jabs, but it could be down to simple wheel alignment, at the fatory, the parts come together, and get bolted to th airframe, thats it. so a little aligning after you get it home will make a world of difference if its out a bit. funnily enough, our early LSA fly very well, and we are very happy with them, even after 5000 hrs! yet some of the newer built ones, well, i have heard a few horror stories around the traps, mainly with the J160 though.

 

Our main training jab LSA, has No wheel spats, no U/C fairings old square front cowl, and cruises at a genuine 100kts at 2800. yet another LSA we cross hire, has spats, had U/C fairing, rounded cowl, hidden air intakes, and will only do 90 kts at 2800, and will always drop a wing when it stalls, and it stalls 4 kts faster than the rougher one.

 

The main and only problem with Jabirus is they are built to a price, and a very cheap one at that! where else will you get a 2/4 seat aircraft, that will cruise at 120Kts carry 135 ltr of fuel with a range of 800NM, for under $100K Brand new. for that kind of money, a bulletproof reliable airframe, you can overlook their rough points.

 

personally, i think they are as Ugly as Hell. yet love them for what they can do at such a low price.

 

 

dont forget the simple option of calling up Mel or Bris centre and asking for the area QNH? or when enroute, look up the AWIS or ATIS of nearby airports and get the QNH that way. its the best way to ensure you will be on the same QNH subscale as similar IFR and VFR GA traffic in the area

 

 

the reason i am in the habit of giving the engine a quick rev then killing the ignition stems from my 2 stroke jet ski days, many friends had engine failures, yet mine and others who were in the same habit never had a failure. though we did preventative maintenance religiously, and seeing as my vampire hasnt flown for over a year now, i will not fly it again on this engine, in my mind it has been sitting to long without an inspection, so a new 503 will go in, and the old will be stripped down, inspected and rebuilt to 0 hours.

 

as for oils, i had only used castrol 2t i thik it was called. but the previous owner used a mix of all sorts of brands.

 

from what i have read, a well maintained 503/447 is just as reliable as a 4 stroke engine.