Riddells Creek (Melb) to Port Macquarie

[Admin]

Trip Report Riddells Creek to Port Macquarie and Return

 

(Riddells - Shepparton - Temora - Mudgee - Scone - Maitland - Taree - Port Mac - 5.9hrs)

 

(Port Mac - Scone - Mudgee - Temora - Shepparton - Riddells - 5.5hrs)

 

The alarm clock is on Corrine's side of the bed so Corrine manages that first most important part of any trip. It was dark when I got the elbow in the ribs indicating that it was time to get up thinking that it was 5:00am which would give me enough time to get ready and out to the CTsw by 7:00am. I staggered to the kettle via my office to turn the PC on as I always do, made myself that all important first boost of caffeine, went out onto the patio for the 2nd most important part of my morning - the wake up cigarette. Sitting down with coffee and smoke the trees in the back yard were almost bending over 90 degrees with the wind. Darn it, there goes the day - or so I thought.

 

Onto the website to check the weather and it wasn't looking crash hot so I posted in my planning thread the weather report and if anyone has clicked yet then you will see that I posted it just after 3:00am - WHAT, time to buy Corrine some new glasses. I was wide awake by this stage with my caffeine and nicotine boost but nevertheless I went back to bed hoping for a miracle and that the weather would change for me.

 

Up at 6:00am now, already an hour late from my first plan but the weather was now looking good so I got out to Riddells Creek at about 8:00am and got everything ready. Taxiing out the radio was playing up again with a lot of crackle. Half way to Shepparton the RHS EHT was staggering all over the place, I mean it was showing anywhere between -5 to 80 deg half a dozen times a second, it was obvious there was a problem with the electrical contact to the sender which I would have a look at when I arrive at Shepp. The air was magnificent, nice and crisp, no bumps just beautiful flying conditions.

 

Arrived at Shepp and fuelled up with Mogas as I usually just put 44 litres (2 jerry cans) in her at Riddells and then fully fuel her up at Shepp. Now ready to fully commence my days flying I turned the key - the prop was going around but she just isn’t running - FLOODED. Strange I thought as I hadn't done anything different but the smell of fuel was overwhelming. Out of peripheral vision I saw a guy pointing to underneath the aircraft and with his other hand giving "Cut Throat" sign - STOP NOW in other words. I got out and there was fuel pouring out from underneath my beautiful and trusted friend - my companion in the air.

 

Now I am the type of guy that doesn't like touching anything on my girl - I don't know whether I just don't have the confidence or I just like to be able to blame someone else as I am crashing down to the ground forcing me to pull the chute but I took her bonnet off to have a squiz and saw the plate under the left carby full of fuel. Mike (pelorus32) strolled up to me to see if he could lend a hand but we were both unsure exactly what to do. Bert Floods wouldn't be open today so I rang Shaun the distributor who suggested taking the bowl off and try reseating it. Whilst I was thinking about taking my life into my own hands for a change I saw Neil Lord in the hangar and told him my plight. Neil is one those great blokes in our industry that we don't often give enough credit to. He is a life member at Shepp and he is always there only willing to lend a hand for absolutely nothing in return - one of life's great blokes! He jumped in and took the bowl off, cleaned it up and put it back on, washed the engine down, test run her and everything was great again - well at least I thought!

 

The Darwin Award!!!

 

Taxiing out from Shepp my radio was playing up again, I could hear myself through the intercom and I could hear everyone else in the circuit but it didn't sound like I was transmitting. Knowing that this happened once before when I was flying with Leo, a Singapore Airlines Capt, down to Avalon to which we found out we were in fact transmitting but after playing with the Intercom and radio controls it came good so I thought that I would still take off as with the radio problem history I always carry a charged up Vertex 210 as a backup. On way to Temora the CHT was playing up again so obviously I hadn't fixed that properly. After playing with the radio and intercom it still wasn't right, flicking over to 123.45 for testing, I decided to use the passenger headset and plug it into the Vertex. Stretching back I unplugged the pax headset from the points and then suddenly everything in my headset went dead - Crikey what now - hmmm, time to turn back me thinks - BUT BUT BUT, and here is the Darwin award, I suddenly found that I had been wearing the bloody passenger's headset - DAH, I must have put the wrong headset on. I put the other headset on and all was ok apart from the crackle still in there. I then picked up my flight plan board and where it says Notes I wrote in there:

 

NOTE TO SELF: On return to Melb take log book with both hands and throw into rubbish bin - then ring up flight school and book flying lessons to start learning to fly all over again!!!

 

Now it was time to settle back and enjoy the flight although there was nothing I could do about the RHS EHT gauge problem till I got down at Temora - I knew it was just the terminal as it was temporarily fixed at Shepp.

 

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At Temora I lifted the bonnet to fix the terminal and to check the carby problem. The carby plate was bone dry with no evidence of fuel stain etc so I got my trusty Gerber out and fixed the EHT terminal - hopefully properly this time. After taking off from Temora to Mudgee the EHT gauge was perfect and low and behold the crackle was gone in the radio as well so they must have been connected.

 

Landed at Mudgee and it was too late to make it all the way to Port Mac by now so the options were to stop at Maitland or just head up to Scone and fly over the top straight to Port the next morning - Scone was the choice. Great guys at Scone, they gave me a lift into town and organised fuel for me the next morning. Note to all - if you find yourself stuck in Scone on a Sat night whatever you do don't stay at the Royal Hotel - only $22 for the night but the disco going on down stairs just about eliminates the use of the bed because you won't get any sleep.

 

The next morning I was thinking again about going up over the top and something just told me not to and take the original route across to Maitland and up the lane as the Willy tower would be closed so why not for fun. After I decided that I walked out of my room and on the floor in the hallway were the keys to the CT, they must have fallen out of my pocket the night before - now I am not one for believing in scary things like this but I wonder if I had have chosen to go over the top and straight to Port would I have found my keys??? - Hmmm, funny thoughts I was starting to have - must be sleep deprivation or lack of fun in joining in the disco.

 

I was picked up from one of the Scone aero club guys at the Royal and driven out to the airfield and was fuelled up to the brim. Saw Cazza's old Gazelle, beautiful condition and a fantastic example of this great type of aircraft. Off I went down to Muswellbrook, missing the towers of smoke from the chimney stacks and the open cut mines.

 

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Onto Maitland and dropped altitude down to 1,000ft ready to follow the train line up the lane. Boy, am I lucky I chose this route. Going up the lane is a fantastic experience - a sight and flying experience that I would recommend to anyone. I had mentally noted the possibility of some rotor from the mountains but I didn't get one bump all the way up. The scenery is magnificent and being so low that whilst you need to be aware of landing areas in case of the unexpected you just can't let those thoughts spoil the experience so yes always keep a spot in mind as you are going but sit back and enjoy the flight.

 

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At the end of the lane I kept to the far left as there were some peaks coming up on the right and I wanted some room to start my climb from 1,500ft up and over them to 3,500ft and across to Taree. A few peaks between Taree and Port but with the beaches on the right, the lush green countryside - I really felt I was alive and enjoying this great flight. Passed over Camden Haven where our flyin is going to be held in a few weeks and onto to Port Macquarie.

 

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Landed at Port in still air and a beautiful day. The Hastings District Flying Club were having a working bee and there was my gazelle getting a once over with the sponge bringing her up all nice and shiny clean - when they heard my radio call on final did they all jump over and start washing the Gazelle for my benefit - well, that was my first thought but no, their Foxbat and their 172 had been their focus earlier on. I had to park the CT in front of this strange looking aircraft - it had this huge bubble canopy and stars all over it. The aerodynamic additions to the wings took my interest - there was a dimple effect that I thought the owner must have paid a lot of money to be able to achieve and I wondered exactly what the effect of this dimpled coating had on the aerodynamics - had the experiment paid off, hmmmmmmmm, I wondered - but hey wait a minute, this aircraft seemed to ring a bell and then it all suddenly came back to me - it had some resemblance to a baby CT4 but was a Sportstar - this head popped up into view and it was .....

 

Part 2 to follow:

 

Up at Port Macquarie

 

Camden Haven

 

and the return somewhat eventful trip home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ultralights]

popcorn at the ready waiting for part 2! this Friday i will be taking Once Bitten for a run up the Lane to Taree and back. funnily enough i havnt flown this route before, i have always taken the coastal route up past Stockton beach.

 

 

[Matt]

I had to park the CT in front of this strange looking aircraft - it had this huge bubble canopy and stars all over it. The aerodynamic additions to the wings took my interest - there was a dimple effect that I thought the owner must have paid a lot of money to be able to achieve and I wondered exactly what the effect of this dimpled coating had on the aerodynamics - had the experiment paid off, hmmmmmmmm, I wondered - but hey wait a minute, this aircraft seemed to ring a bell and then it all suddenly came back to me - it had some resemblance to a baby CT4 but was a Sportstar - this head popped up into view and it was .....

Strange looking?!?!?!?...beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess :) It kinda does resemble a baby CT4, probably explains the attraction to the Sportstar in the first place. Surprisingly the CT4 actually has a smaller wingspan - approx 7m compared to approx 8m on the Sportstar...the high wing loading and glide (if you can call 1000fpm at 80kts a glide) are evidence of that.

 

Hmmm...guessing that head belongs to proud new owner...Mr F.

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

The Best, just the Very Best, description I've ever heard for a Sportstar...

 

The Pope Mobile!

 

Love it.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Ben Longden]

popcorn at the ready waiting for part 2! this Friday i will be taking Once Bitten for a run up the Lane to Taree and back. funnily enough i havnt flown this route before, i have always taken the coastal route up past Stockton beach.

In the Hornet, perhaps?? ;)

 

Seriously, what happened with the Insurance?

 

Ben

 

 

[Ultralights]

basics of the case , i was driving a loaded van, reversed completely from a driveway after picking up a delivery, myself, and 2 witnesses saw the road was clear when i reversed, in the course of stopping then beginning to drive forward, as you do, the plaintiff drove into the back corner of the my van.

 

from the court proceedings.

 

the quote from the ruling magistrate was " Quote:

 

Mr Rob XXXXX i find 100 negligent in failing to close the road to ensure it was completely safe to reverse the vehicle into the street."

 

upon questioning by my solicitor, the Magistrate deamed it would be a most appropriate to close the road when reversing any vehicle from a drive into a roadway., ( now could you imagine the chaos on the roads if every vehicle reversing from a driveway was required to close a road so they could reverse? would you do it? place barriers with lights, erect signs warning of the road closure, just so you could reverse from your driveway to go to work?)

 

the barrister for the plaintiff suggested because the vehicle reversed from a side driveway that it wasn't necessary for his client to look for anything on either side of the road. (this brings into question a vast array of issues, looking out for children? )

 

i dont know about you, but when i drive i am aware of all dangers, especially vehicles entering from side streets! driveways etc! and most importantly, children on push bikes or whatever!

 

and the interesting twist in the case was, that the plaintiffs insurance company, who were suing me, could not supply ANY evidence of the accident actually happening!! no damage pictures from the plaintiff, none from their repairers, their own claim response form even stated the vehicle was repaired Unsighted by an insurance company assessor!!. NOTHING! the driver couldn't recall having the accident ! her initial claim form didn't include details of any other vehicle whatsoever!

 

The entire case was over an accident that could not be proven actually Happened!

 

the result, i have much higher insurance premiums, and the lawyers walk away $32,000 of My money.

 

the reason it went to court is when i requested the vehicle to be inspected by my chosen repairer, as allowed by my Insurance, they could not produce the vehicle! (as it was repaired sight unseen by the plaintiffs insurance) and hence, MY insurance company refused to pay for the claim when the plaintiffs vehicle and its damage couldn't be provided by her insurance company. All we received was a bill for the cost of repairs to her vehicle from the plaintiff (approx $12000). we refused to pay until we saw the damage for ourselves. so it went to court. judge ruled i was negligent, and i am a total of $53,893 poorer. (cost of damage that didn't happen plus their legal costs and $8000 for my own legal costs)

 

Im not a happy camper....

 

Here is a pic of the damage done to My van... note the left side of the hoop part of the rear bull bar, its slightly bent forwards, about 10deg. at the time of the accident, i saw no damage to her vehicle... but her insurance company paid up $32,000 for it! with no evidence from anyone it was actually damaged.

 

 

as my sig says... the victim of a court ordered insurance scam.....

 

edit, this has got me to thinking, Allianz insurance are willing to pay Huge sums of cash! all you have to do is file a claim form, dont worry about actually having an accident! just fill in the claim form, with your details only, and Whalla! they pay up...

 

sad thing is, if i denied the accident even happened, or i was even there, we would have won.... fantastic justice system in this country where telling the truth will get you done over!

 

 

[PaulN]

I feel for you Rob. It's no wonder so many have a deep disrespect for our legal system. It's true, "The law is an ass".

 

I remember the days of the Goons on ABC radio (that's telling of my age :confused:) and particularly remember an episode entitled "Insurance - The White Man's Curse". Ain't that a fact !!

 

Paul

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

On the off-topic of insurance companies: It's interesting to note that in one recent year Australian insurance companies paid out more in legal fees than they did in payouts!

 

Put another way that means that they could:

 

• Substantially reduce their premiums whilst retaining or increasing their payout levels;
   
   
  
• Hold their premiums but have more generous payouts whilst reducing their litigation
   
   
  
• .....
   
  

 

You get the picture.

 

The legal system DOES NOT deliver justice. The legal system delivers an outcome based on a set of rules. These rules may or may not have anything to do with a commonsense definition of achieving a "just" outcome. Increasingly they are strongly related to the notion that he who has the most cash wins!!

 

The important thing is firstly not to expect a "right" outcome; and secondly not to invest any of your sense of self worth (or any of your net worth either) in fighting the big guy. Even if you "win" you often lose.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

PS: Ian we need part two to get us off this subject :;)3:

 

 

[Ultralights]

yes going over all that again is making me angry again! Bring on part 2!!!

 

ps, after the case, which finished last week after 4 yrs, everything i now own is Insured by Allianz..... if you get my drift..

 

opps, i think i just knocked over the heater in the lounge room!!!! :devil:

 

now wheres my popcorn!!! more pics of flight needed to cheer me up!

 

 

[Admin]

Part 2 - Riddells Creek - Port Macquarie - Riddells Creek

 

Gregg (known as GreggF here in the forums) popped his head up from around the Sportstar now known as "Dimples" at Port Mac - that is, the aircraft is now known as Dimples, not Gregg - hmmm, maybe on 2nd thoughts.

 

Said hi to a lot of people that I hadn't seen since I was last up there in Jan this year plus even saw Chris's (Techman) dad roaming around the hangar. Port Mac is a very nice large regional airport (ASIC required) with QANTAS Dash 8's and the Brindabella Metro airlines using the long and wide strip. The local council has just approved a second strip to be built next to the existing bitumen one (they also have a grass cross strip) that will be heavier for the jets of Virgin and Jetstar to start using.

 

Adam, one of the instructors at Port and I jumped in the CT for the short trip down to Camden Haven to have a good look for the upcoming Recreational Flying Flyin. Coming in on final over the river there are some trees that look as if they are leaning over the strip a bit but it is more of an optical illusion then anything - when the wheels felt the ground beneath them I thought that both of them needed a bit of air as it was so soft. The grass strip is like velvet but as we found out keeping to the left of the centre line that there is a couple of bumps that I must remember about when I get up there next time.

 

We taxied up to the house where Bob was waiting for us as I had phoned him before I left Port to make sure all was well with going there and his wife promptly asked us if a cuppa would be welcomed. Sitting on the veranda overlooking the property I thought to myself gee I wish I had a cool 1.5 million as Camden Haven is up for sale. The surroundings are just magic, birds including a kookaburra being the only noise. Bob's wife brought the car around and Bob took Adam and me for a drive around the property. Big green parking areas, ideal for the tent under the wing, a barby area and tables with a toilet off to the side and the backdrop of the river made the many walking tracks very inviting to try. The two on-site vans have beds for four, kitchenette and a small bathroom which we will use for showers on the flyin days but can be booked for anyone attending the flyin on the condition the showers can be used by others. Bob took us into his hangars and showed us over his Hatz Biplane - the only one in Australia and he will throw it in if anyone wanted to buy the property - I might pass the hat around at the flyin and see what we come up with.

 

Back to Port flying over the magnificent scenery - it really is one of the great areas for flying with some rugged hills, rivers, the beaches and everything else thrown in. I let Adam land the CT although I did have my hand on the stick and feet firmly planted on the pedals just in case a bender was going to happen but glad to say with the huge strip at port it is pretty easy to pick a spot, any spot, perhaps even with 40deg flaps you could land across the strip. Adam had a BAK theory class to run so Gregg and I tossed a coin to see which aircraft we would go up in first, the CT or Dimples. As usual the CT won so up we went North to the training area and along the beaches. Gregg took the stick and quickly got use to the performance and handling of the delightful CTsw. I brought her back in and we swapped over to the Sportstar. I forgot that with low wing bubbled canopies it is advisable to wear a hat but after we took off the air coming in made it more pleasant. I took the stick this time and was very impressed with the Sportstar and the way she handled - a pure delight. I am thoroughly convinced that ALL our aircraft are brilliant; they are just different to match our own individual needs. The visibility of the sportstar is great with everything around you in clear view.

 

We got back to Port and into the club room for a drink and the important part of the trip - discussing the flyin arrangements. Back to Adam's place for the night and dinner at the local club. The next morning up at 6:00am to get out to the strip by 7 as Adam had a lesson and just in case I was going to be able to leave and beat the weather coming back as there was a huge front with loads of rain coming in down South later that day and if it wasn't going to look to crash hot then I would be forced to stay in Port for a few days - now that would be a pity wouldn't it?

 

I checked the weather and there would be a healthy 20 knot wind blowing which would give me about a 10 knot tail wind and the rest of the weather was looking ok for most of the day so I thought great let's go. I was about to jump in when one of the guys there told me about an old 1930's Mark 3 Auster in his hangar that is affectionately known as the Aussie Shed as it was built out of corrugated metal. I had to see this so in his hangar we went:

 

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Every panel of the aircraft has a tag on it showing that it is the original part.

 

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I jumped back in the CT started her up and whilst I was waiting for the oil temp to get to 50 deg my phone rang - it was the guy I worked with at Country Energy in Port Mac. I said to him to hang on and I will turn the engine off - little did I know the response I would get from that simple statement - OH NO DON'T - you could hear the tremble in his voice as he thought I was actually flying at the time. Once I assured him that I was just warming the engine up he calmed down saying I nearly gave him a heart attack. We spoke for a while and when I started the engine again I had already lost an hour so I thought instead of going the planned route of down the coast and then across to Maitland - I did the lane coming up so the coast was to be another experience - I decided to hop over the top at 7,000ft to Scone and then down to Mudgee, Temora, Shepparton and home.

 

Part 3 - the trip home to follow including fuel problems, computers and I don’t match and a lesson learnt. (my keyboard fingers are tired at the moment)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest David C]

Easily the best trip report ever ;)....And its not even finished yet .. Looking forward to part 3 . Thanks

 

Dave C

 

 

[Admin]

Riddells to Port Macquarie to Riddells

 

Part 3 - the trip home

 

Lined up on 03 with a healthy head wind I knew that it won't take much to get airborne so I pushed the throttle all the way forward and what seemed only a couple of seconds I gave a gentle pull back on the stick to raise the front wheel. I knew that the wings would have to get use to this angle of attack for some time as I had to climb to about 6,000ft if I were to clear the mountains to the west on my way to Scone.

 

When I turned crosswind of 03 and saw the mountains lurking I had second thoughts about going over them and instead maybe I should just continue from downwind and keep going South and either go back via the Willy Lane or even hang to the coast and fly the beaches for the fun of it. The wind was pushing me from the side but I kept my climb up to 6,000ft and levelled out but it still looked that although I would clear the tops comfortably an extra 1,000ft would be nice. The CT has a 17 to 1 glide ratio so that extra 1,000 would give me just over an extra 5km of glide should the unexpected ever happen so I commenced a further climb to gain that extra height just after I checked that everything - temps ok - oil ok - fuel ok - rpm 5,350 ok - flaps at -12deg. The fuel flow was reading 23.5 litres per hour which is far too much but this with the performance characteristics of my new CT are something that I have been talking to the distributor about as when compared to my first CT that was an absolute rocket on the smell of an oily rag things just don't seem to be quit right yet. It's all teething problems when you get a new aircraft and the distributor has been very helpful in sorting my concerns out for me. Basically there is a fuel use issue, an intermittent electrical interference problem with the radio, the prop angle needs to be checked as this new CT runs so smooth with no vibrations it is possible the prop is set for the USA limit of 120 knots so it isn't taking as much bite and it has been known that the -12 degrees flap setting may not exactly be -12 so this angle also needs to be checked. As I said just minor teething problems that we all get with brand new aircraft.

 

Flying over the tops I always kept one eye (not the blind one) on a spot for an emergency landing should I need it and I know I shouldn't think like this but I have gained an enormous amount of comfort since getting this new CT with a ballistic parachute just in case but I am aware that if I ever pull that chute that it will destroy my beautiful cruising machine that I am starting to feel that together we have become a close knit team. Surprisingly though as I flew over the mountains there is just about always a place that you could land if needed to although I would hate to think what the wind would be doing down there in the valleys if I had to go down there.

 

Flying over Scone I didn't need to stop as I checked my tanks before I left Port and I had a comfortable 110 litres on board and Port to Scone to Mudgee is 178 mile so fuel use would only be a maximum of around 35 litres give or take a few. I was getting a comfortable 115 knots ground speed over the top at about 5,250 ~ 5,300 rpm so I turned and headed for Mudgee. Ground speed increased to 120 knots with the ASI telling me I was doing 110 so a comfortable 10 knot tail wind put a smile on my face. I came down to 4,500 feet as there were still the odd mountain/hill to go over tracking straight to Mudgee.

 

Landing at Mudgee to a deserted airstrip I turned the engine off and headed straight for the toilets. Omn the airside of the new whiz bang security fence the numbers for the push button lock of the gate are painted on with a warning not to forget these numbers to get back in. After my release of the conduit that supplied my morning caffeine needs I came back to the gate and now what did that message say about not forgetting the numbers to get back onto the apron. Darn this new security features that we have to abide by - as if I would fly my new girl into a high rise building - the insurance excess puts me off even thinking about it. being 6ft tall I just climbed up on the first railing and leaned over and read the numbers again and entered airside like a potential terrorist.

 

before I get going again I thought I would dip my tanks to make sure all was well on the fuel side of things - I should have enough to get me all the way back down to Shepparton again where I normally refuel. SHRIEK, HOLLY COW and everything else you can think off - 40 litres. Hang on a sec - 70 litres to go 178 mile which took roughly 1.75 hours THAT'S 40 litres AN HOUR - and I only have 2 seats, it's not a darn 172 or Warrior. My mind started getting filled with dangerous but thoughts of a lesson learnt - I had been losing fuel, that's the only explanation, what if I had have been losing more especially over those mountains between Port and Scone. I was trembling with the thoughts of 'what could have been" as I unscrewed the quick releases of the bonnet to hopefully expose the answer. Sure enough, the tray under the left carby was full of fuel - I had in deed been losing fuel as i was flying and again I shuddered with the thought that whilst the running out of fuel in mid air could have been a shall we say serious problem but what was more of a danger was the potential of an in-flight fire. I suddenly remembered the note that I made to myself on the way up "Take log book with both hands and throw into the rubbish bin".

 

I am now even more thoroughly convinced that every time we fly, every post that we read here in the forums, all help us to learn something new and THAT is the power of these forums - I am sure that whilst we may not know it at the time we may be reading something that will save our life one day. This is why I get upset when people refer to this site as being commercial or get upset when I moderate posts to keep it professional, friendly and above all a helpful environment to everyone - I believe this site achieves it's objectives of giving all this to everyone in our industry.

 

Now the problem will be do I decide to keep going, what can I do to fix this, can I get fuel??? No matter what happens I had to get fuel and not having a fuel card I rang the phone numbers on the bowser but all three separate phone numbers went to answering machines. From the noise I was hearing there was someone in a hangar close by so I asked him about getting some fuel. he just shrugged his shoulders and said try the phone numbers. Over the way there was a council worker so I went over and asked him. he was very helpful and said one of the numbers belonged to a girl that worked at the council so he got on to the switchboard and was put through to her. Unfortunately the reply was that I would have to wait about 1.5 to 2 hours for her to come over during her break.

 

So with time on my hands I removed the bowl of the left carby, cleaned everything up and replaced it. Wiped down the plate and started her up. After about 10 mins at various throttle settings the plate was still bone dry so I thought that perhaps things were starting to go my way. I wanted to have more information from the Dynon on constant display in regards to the fuel use so I started playing around with that but being mindful that I didn't want to make my situation any worse by ending up with a flat battery. I then started her up again as I had a thought about using the choke as well and trying to force the engine to flood. After all my playing around the plate was sti9ll bone dry so again I was feeling more comfortable when the lady turned up to refuel my girl. The only thing, well the I thought the only thing I was unhappy about now was the fact that I was going to put poison into my girl with Avgas instead of Mogas which I prefer to use. But then after refuelling and just over 90 litres later - I filled her right up - she told me the price - $1.65 a litre, that's $150 out of my wallet.

 

I left for Temora, grin on my face as I had full tanks but I will be watching very carefully those manual hard to read clear tubes above my head that indicate the fuel level in each tank. In my playing around with the Dynon I realised that I am not a computer whiz after all - after spending years in the IT industry I couldn't even set the Dynon right as I now had a fuel gauge being displayed for Fuel Tank No 4 - now where did that come from but what is more important is where the hell is that darn tank located because it was showing empty and I could have filled that up as well - no, wait a minute, at $1.65 a litre perhaps not. Mental note to self, the brain hard disk is now getting full with mental notes to self, when I get back hook up a spare battery and get the Dynon right.

 

Has the drought broken?

 

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Travelling down to Temora I still had a healthy 10 knot tail wind so it was looking like I might beat the front that was coming over. Again at Temora I dipped the tanks and fuel usage was not a problem. I removed the bonnet and the carby tray was still bone dry. had a coffee with some guys there with one of them a forum member but with that front coming over and not wanting to be in a similar situation that I was once before with last light I headed off to Shepparton.

 

Got to Shepp and was feeling really good so i just over flew and continued on to Riddells. The track to Riddells was more south so the tail wind picked up to about 20 knots. I roughly did my figures on what sort of wind i would have for landing at Riddells and with a 02 runway I worked out I would be fine from a crosswind point of view.

 

[ATTACH]2205[/ATTACH]

 

Turned an early base as I knew the wind would give me some extra distance if I kept her at 90 degrees to the runway, turned final and felt the full effect of the wind on the nose, the wheels made a gentle touch to the runway as my girl knew she was finally home.

 

I pushed her into the hangar and took my things out of the storage area just as the rain started coming down making a racket on the tin roof - I was feeling good, I learnt a lot again like I do with every single flight I do and proceeded to ring Corrine as I have done with every stop - Corrine is my Flight watch - and she said "so you will be home for tea then"!

 

Aftermath - I have spoken to Chris (Techman) and reported the carby problem. I have spoken to the CT distributor as well and have contacted Wally at Bert Flood's so now my CT is grounded until Wally has a good look at the Rotax engine to give her a clean bill of health before I fly again.

 

I hope you have enjoyed the trip report!

 

 

 

 

[Guest David C]

As I said previously , a great report Ian . Many thanks , and many lessons learned both for you and us , the readers . I hope you get her fixed up to enable you to get up to Camden Haven . See you there ;)

 

Dave C

 

 

[hfrensch]

Ian reallly injoyed your three part trip report, but I have come to the conclusion that you need one of two things.

 

Swap the CT for a Jabiru or hire a flight engineer to sit in the other seat ( only kidding)

 

Helmut.

 

 

[Jabby]

Hi Ian I did 4 hrs in the AT3 yesterday and only returned 25ltrs an hour, So Ill be having a look at what I can do to improve it Its a 912 All help appreciated Thanks Mike

 

 

[Guest brentc]

over an extra 5km of glide should the unexpected ever happen so I commenced a further climb to gain that extra height just after I checked that everything - temps ok - oil ok - fuel ok - rpm 5,350 ok - flaps at -12deg. The fuel flow was reading 23.5 litres per hour which is far too much but this with the performance characteristics of my new

Ian, I was thinking about your fuel flow figures. 23.5 litres it exactly what you should be expecting at 5,350 rpm for 100hp. Incidentally a GA Sportstar is off on a trip with a J430 from down our way and it's burning 23 litres per hour at 5,300 rpm. The J430 is throttled back to 2,700 and is keeping up with him at around 105 knots. 5,300+ is driving it pretty hard so I would expect that fuel burn.