Guest Guest Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 Awesome! May I ask what are the advantages (Speed? etc..) of the RG Tecnam VS the Conventional design?
Paul Willett Posted May 28, 2006 Author Posted May 28, 2006 Hi Camo. Well the book says 124 KIAS, but frankly this is a bit optimistic unless you want to run at Max continuous RPM all the time. But 110-115 is achieveable at reasonable power setting / fuel burn. There is a definite drag reduction with the gear up compared to a fixed gear version. This was actually the original design of the Echo Super before they put the fixed gear version to market - so it has a wider fuselage giving more interior room. I have flown this aircraft on some long sorties, including BN - ML and BN - SHR. My short-ish frame is happy in there for up to 3 hours.
Guest ozzie Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 was one of those photos taken at shute hbr airport in the whitsundays?
Paul Willett Posted May 28, 2006 Author Posted May 28, 2006 Correct - YSHR. This was end of Day 1 YRED-YCAB-YGLA-YSHR. The other aircraft in frame continued on to Cape York and Tindal.
Guest ozzie Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 it was easy for me to pick as i worked there for 4 yrs until it was sold.
Guest ozzie Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 there is a tecam rg owner on the strip at somersby who had a recent incident involving the nose wheel failing to lock. he mentioned corrosion in a ram and the pump thermostate had kicked in and the pump would not run. he had mentioned that he was unaware that the pump was protected and would have reset after 15minutes. if anyone is interested to know the whole story i will ask him to detail exactly what happened and post it here that is if he is there on the weekend. as pumping air produces water would it be of benifit to put a few drops of air tool oil into the system every now and then to help eliminate the corrosion and fit a water trap maybe?? ozzie
Guest Prometheus Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 Paul, that is one fantasticly clean looking aircraft you got there. Two questions for you.... What's the max you can carry (pax and luggage) with full fuel? I was under the impression from the regs that I received recently (being a new RA-Aus Member) that rectractable gear was a no-no... has this changed recently? Something like that would be great for weekends away! Cheers
TechMan Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 Hi Dave, Have a read through CAO95.55 for aircraft such as the Tecnam. You will find that retractables are allowed. LSA however is fixed gear only. Chris
Guest ozzie Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 i had a quick chat with the Tecam RG owner on the weekend. seems the problem started when the nosewheel failed to lock down due to an overtightened bolt. repeated attempts to cycle the gear overheated the compressor which is protected by a thermal overheat switch that takes about twenty minutes to cool and reset. the emergency bottle was used but was empty due to corrosion in the non return valve, jamming it open. there is no pressure gauge to indicate contents of the bottle. owner was unaware of the overheat protection device. he did not say if a incident report was lodged. recommend other owners contact the agent for a complete and accurate report on this. damge was cosmetic for the airframe, damage to propellor and a gearbox stripdown.
Paul Willett Posted May 28, 2006 Author Posted May 28, 2006 Yes, I have spoken to the other RG owner about this mishap also - the day it happened and during the 'discovery' process afterwards. RG is ok under RAA reg - currently LSA doesn't permit RG land-only airplanes. Loading details for my RG: BEW: 300.5 KG OW (Cross Country, including Headsets, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Kit,Documents, Tools,Aircraft Tie Downs and Covers): 312.5 KG Pilot 80kg Pax 80kg Extra Luggage 5 kg -------------- ZFW: 477.5kg -------------- MTOW: 544kg -------------- tf. Max Flight Fuel: 66.5 kg Max @ SG 0.72 = 92litres (Max Fuel Capacity 96l) FPL Fuel Burn @ 20l/hr = ~ 4.6 hr including reserves.
Guest Prometheus Posted May 28, 2006 Posted May 28, 2006 Yes, I have spoken to the other RG owner about this mishap also - the day it happened and during the 'discovery' process afterwards. RG is ok under RAA reg - currently LSA doesn't permit RG land-only airplanes. Loading details for my RG: BEW: 300.5 KG OW (Cross Country, including Headsets, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Kit,Documents, Tools,Aircraft Tie Downs and Covers): 312.5 KG Pilot 80kg Pax 80kg Extra Luggage 5 kg -------------- ZFW: 477.5kg -------------- MTOW: 544kg -------------- tf. Max Flight Fuel: 66.5 kg Max @ SG 0.72 = 92litres (Max Fuel Capacity 96l) FPL Fuel Burn @ 20l/hr = ~ 4.6 hr including reserves. This makes the RG a very nice Touring Aircraft. With my weight and a Passenger I could theoretically include 30kg of luggage.Hmmmmmmmmm......
Paul Willett Posted May 28, 2006 Author Posted May 28, 2006 From what I hear, the CT has more room in the cockpit, but I havent flown one yet - looking forward to it some day however. I weigh 75kg and my wife only 54kg so we never have a weight problem when loading for a trip, normally we 'cube' out first, although the Tecnam has plenty of space if you know how to pack properly. We never want to be airborne for 4 hours anyway, although it is nice ot have lots of reserves - generally 2.5 hours is the most we will stay airborne before stopping for a stretch. The high wing is great for comfort in terms of shade, and taxiiing through gates on properties. It also allows you somewhere to sit and stay dry / in the shade when on the ground, as well as allowing the doors to be opened on the ground if it is raining.
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