J230 @ YSWG

[blueshed]

Looks Great Geoff

 

Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh!

 

The photo taken at the airport, looking under a wing, is the wing a Kingair or similar? it looks like it has been left abandoned in the grass!

 

Cheers Guy

 

 

[Captain]

G'day Guy

 

 

 

Still have the Jamestown shindig (or is it a knees-up?) in the diary, so look forward to having a chat face-to-face. Am also trying to find out more about that strip at Mallala, so I can drop into the Aussie Superbike round too that weekend.

 

 

 

But before that, are you blokes coming over to Natfly?

 

 

 

That photo shows one of REX's Saabs which has been pushed back there. Not sure how long it has been there, but the grass is growing while you look at it here, after the 1st decent rains (over a couple of weeks) in years.

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

[blueshed]

Hi Geoff

 

Have just emailed someone a little closer, who may have some idea if there is still a strip about Mallala.

 

Am planning to get to natfly, at least for the instructor forums! Will be attempting to a student who would like to do a nav! You never know. Had organised a student to do the nav over to Echuca, however this has been Cancelled, the Flyin I mean!

 

Cheers Guy

 

 

[Captain]

What do you mean when you say have BEEN a real pleasure :;)4: - you are staying around in between your flights aren't you Cap't :big_grin:

 

Too right Ian. I'm a bit like the (un)holy ghost. It has been a pleasure, it is a pleasure and it forever will be a pleasure ..... mucking around as part of these forums.

 

 

 

Thanks also Guy for chasing up re Mallala.

 

 

 

Progress has been a bit slower than I wanted. Let me tell you that any little jobs that need doing out on the grass as the airport take about 5 times longer than when in the shed at home, particularly when you forget something simple ...... however the aircraft has lots of new friends to talk to.

 

 

 

But final assembly & inspections went well Monday and yesterday. [ATTACH]5036.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5037.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Weight and Balance has been done today and CG calcs all look good although she is a tad heavier than some due to the paint prep and instrumentation. I've started a diet today to cancel that out.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]5038.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Hopefully we will get fuel tank calibration and final compass calibrations completed tomorrow, and be able to knock over the paperwork soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest brentc]

How heavy Captain? Would 386 be near the mark?

 

 

[Captain]

How heavy Captain? Would 386 be near the mark?

 

No. It's lighter than that Brent ......... but not a lot.

 

 

 

Whose is 386?

 

 

 

And what are they coming out of the factory at? Have you seen figures on recent ones? What was your new one Guy?

 

 

 

I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours, BC. How heavy was your 400?

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

[blueshed]

Hi Geoff

 

we have the povety pack (basic no extras), and it is a 360 BEW, what a Great Aeroplane. We even have a man coming over in his Tecnam next week course he is looking to update! and wants to go for a flyin a real aeroplane! Zinggggggggg.

 

No wheel spats for the mains or are they for later?

 

Cheers Guy

 

 

[Captain]

No wheel spats for the mains or are they for later?

Thanks for the weight, Guy. I have a set of main spats but will be operating off a farm strip and after debating it with a few forum members in a thread on spats in the Jabiru section of the forum, mainly with answers coming from 200/230 & 160 owners the consensus seemed to be that it is much easier when operating on other than smooooth strips without them on the mains and the loss in speed is only marginal.

 

 

 

But even if I was going to install the spats I'd have them off for the test flying, just to keep an easy eye on the mains and brakes.

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

[Guest brentc]

I'll show you mine! and I'll give you my aircraft weight too.

 

It was 347 without the stereo, 4 speakers and car alarm that I put in later.

 

I am aware of a Melbourne one at 386kg that was meticulously built and the weight was a huge surprise to the builder (as it would be), however he used a heck of a lot of filler, but ended up with a brilliant result.

 

I'm not sure what the 430 versus the 400 wing weight is.

 

 

[blueshed]

Hi Geoff

 

Flew to Mallala yesterday and looked at the spot where it show's an ALA, however we were unable to see where it might have been, maybe the circle on the map is in the wrong spot!

 

Will do a bit more fossicking, if that is how you spell it, you could just about land in any paddock there at the moment. However by April we will have had some openning rains down that way and it will be all ploughed up!

 

How close to flying are you? Excitment building!

 

Cheers Guy

 

 

[blueshed]

Hi Geoff

 

Flew over Mallala yesterday, nothing obvious, will keep looking.

 

You must be close to flying!

 

Cheers Guy

 

Not Sure what is happening with these posts, lost the first and now it is back, must be the milking cow!

 

 

[Captain]

Thanks for going to that much trouble Guy. Someone said that they could see aircraft from the race track so I might give the track a call and see whether it is maybe on their land.

 

 

 

Regards & thanks again Geoff

 

 

[Captain]

Satisfaction

 

I was cleaning up the shed late last week ......... and for all of you budding or present kitbuilders, you have no idea (or maybe you do know) how satisfying it is to see the parts board looking like this.

 

 

 

[ATTACH]5069.vB[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

[Captain]

Update

 

Well .................

 

 

 

I'm sure that some of you think that the culmination at YSWG has taken an eternity, however for those interested in what happens here at the vinegar stroke end of the business, the story over the last week goes like this.

 

 

 

But in amongst the following, somewhere was living a normal life and doing a little business too.

 

 

 

Monday was transport day, as per my previous post, then initial partial assembly.

 

 

 

Tuesday was more assembly and checking of my work by Peter Middleton here.

 

 

 

Wednesday was weight and balance day.

 

 

 

Thursday was final assembly and commissioning of most items, and fuel gauge calibration.

 

 

 

Friday involved final inspections of all items and faxing the paperwork over to the RAA.

 

 

 

Compliments are due to the RAA here as I faxed all items in on Friday ...... and the Rego Card was in my mail box in Wagga this morning. Well done to Chris (Techman) and his team.

 

 

 

Saturday and Sunday I spent getting to know the coffee club at YSWG and it was blowing a gale so I spent those days checking and re-checking all items, then did a taxi, engine run-up and fast taxi test when it calmed down a little on Sunday.

 

 

 

Then EURECKA ..... she flies.

 

 

 

With the arrival of the Rego label, and a nice calm weather window this morning, Fred Bourke did the test flying and the 1st flight went off without a hitch.

 

 

 

Engine run-up at the holding point of YSWG 05. [ATTACH]5070.vB[/ATTACH]

 

And she is flying. [ATTACH]5071.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5072.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5073.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Fred did 45 minutes of testing, then gave her the thumbs up and handed her over to me. We didn't need to make any adjustments to any controls and everything is working perfectly. [ATTACH]5074.vB[/ATTACH]

 

I then did 1.5 hours around the district and am pretty happy as she flies beautifully.

 

 

 

Will go out again for another flight this evening.

 

 

 

Bugger me, this is good fun.

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[slartibartfast]

Fantastic Geoff!

 

Congratulations . After all this time, to see it fly perfectly first go must be a top feeling. Well done.

 

I look forward to getting together somewhere.

 

Ross

 

 

[Guest AusDarren]

Congratulations!!!!!!!

 

and no adjustments! now that is now doubt a great testiment to all the time you spent "getting it right"

 

now you need to post a schedule of which fly ins your going to so we can have a peek in the flesh:smiley4:

 

No doubt your pleased.. I know I'd be over the moon..

 

Great Job! a few of us have turned green..

 

Regards,

 

AusDarren

 

 

[Guest Beno]

Fantastic read... With an equally fantastic ending...

 

I only joined the forum on saturday.. I spent my whole saturday reading all about your build and looking over the progress in the piccies:thumb_up: Have to say i was a little disappointed when i got to the end and she was just sitting their with her wings on and still hadnt flown. So to come home today to see her fly was a great ending to an informative read!

 

Cheers!

 

Beno

 

 

[Guest brentc]

Nice work Captain Geoff, I'm most impressed that you pulled your finger out.

 

Are you gonna post us with all the relevant numbers or were you too busy holding on for your life to look at your massively over-equipped dash? (sarcasm intended)

 

 

[BigPete]

Congratulations Geoff - one more Jabiru in the air has to be a good thing! :thumb_up:

 

regards

 

 

[Guest Decca]

Congratulations Geoff!! I'm a bit late posting as I just returned from the Echuca fly-in. You should see all the new posts in 3 days! (Welcome back Big Pete).

 

Regards, Decca.

 

 

[ahlocks]

So how'd it go this evening Geoff?

 

Last I heard from you was tracking inbound from the North and then the circuit got a bit busy... It seems I wasn't the only one out for a 'drive' in the calm conditions after the weekend's 'orrible wind. I'm used to having the area to myself late in the arvo. 'cept for dodging the usual Saabs that is.:confused:

 

Love the photo with Fred! I don't think you could get a better endorsment for your work.

 

Cheers,

 

Steven B.

 

 

[Ross]

Hi Geoff

 

 

 

Congratulations on getting that beautiful aircraft into the air for the first time. It must be a great feeling of satisfaction when she lifts off the runway after all the effort and research that you have put into it!

 

 

 

I am one of the ones getting greener after those flights of yours yesterday.

 

 

 

I shall have to listen out on your frequency while working on the J160 in the garage.

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

[Captain]

Thanks Fellas.

 

 

 

And in order of your posts I advise the following:

 

 

 

Slarti - thanks. I look forward to meeting up in Tumut.

 

 

 

AusDarren - thanks. I was just lucky that all was adjusted OK.

 

 

 

Beno - Welcome to the forums and glad that you found this thread to be of interest. Ross will be continuing on now, so I'm sure that you'll also get some goodies from his efforts on his 160 in Leeton.

 

 

 

Brent - Have been concentrating on flying the thing, getting to "know" it, and have not been doing too much on absolute numbers, but what follows are a few of them that I recall:

 

 

 

ASI - Am seeing something like 110 - 115 knots at about 2800 rpm.

 

 

 

VSI - Getting about 700 fpm (up) at 90 knots climb after putting the flaps away.

 

 

 

Oil Temp - 90 C is the max I have seen.

 

 

 

CHT - 125 or 130 to about 155 with cylinders 3 & 4 being the highest at cruise.

 

 

 

EGT - High 600's.

 

 

 

But the exhaust is pretty dark and I think that fuel flow is high. What L/HR do some of you other 3300 drivers see on full throttle climbout?

 

 

 

Above temps were achieved at 29 C OAT at 3000 ft.

 

 

 

BIGPete & Decca - thanks for your notes.

 

 

 

ahlocks - Thanks and nice to chat briefly on the radio. I stayed north over Patterson's Road for a little while then went around the hills to the east and dodged a Saab by circling over Ladysmith for a couple of minutes. As a matter of interest, Peter was up in the tower at the unicom and mentioned this morning that our radio practices (you, me and the student in the J160) were terrific and put many of the local GA blokes to shame. He commented that it must be RAA training that makes our practice appropriate & well applied. So that is good, eh?

 

 

 

Ross - Also thanks. And I'm sure that we all look forward to following the rest of your build. Keep keeping us posted.

 

 

 

As an overall update, 19-4913 was flown over to the farm strip today between Uranquinty and The Rock and is tucked away in the hangar there with it's newest friend, a Victa Airtourer 115.

 

 

 

I'll update this thread if any issues arise during the test flying period (5 hours gone and 20 to go).

 

 

 

Best regards and I'll now get ready to bugger off to the Island on Thursday for the World Superbike races.

 

 

 

Geoff

 

 

[Captain]

Postscript No 1

 

Just a small update as postscript #1.

 

 

 

Have just clicked through 10 hours of local flying within the Wagga/Tumut/Temora/Holbrook/Galore area and there have been no issues with any aspect of the aircraft so far.

 

 

 

At 2850 rpm the engine is burning 25 lph which is what Jabiru advise for the new carby tuning.

 

 

 

Those revs give 110 knots or perhaps a couple of knots more, but realistically it has trouble showing 115 knots constantly at those revs.

 

 

 

Oil temps @ cruise are in the high 80's with 25 C OAT, with EGT's in the high 600's & CHT's ranging about 125 - 148 C. These appear to be right in the middle of what is specified in the 3300's Instruction and Maintenance Manual, so I guess that is good ..... but geeeez EGT's and CHT's must have been interesting when the previous jetting kits burnt just 20 - 22 lph at 2850.

 

 

 

Oil pressure is 3.6 - 4.0 Bar.

 

 

 

How do the numbers in the above 4 paras compare with what other 230 owners are seeing???

 

 

 

Am having a great time off the 900 m farm strip ..... apart from cleaning off the occasional spot of moo poo.

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[blueshed]

Hi Geoff

 

am a bit behind the times, Congradulations, absolutely fantastic! Better late than never. Haven't seen Fred for years and please say hello to Peter M, he will remember me from my Tumut Aeroclub days, not to many bad stories I hope!

 

Have you been dropping in and saying hello at Tumut? Have a few old mates there if they still frquant the place!

 

Once again Well done, have not managed to find any more info about Mallala yet!

 

Cheers Guy