Avocet flys again

[AVOCET]

Just thought IDE say hello again ,

 

I've rebuilt the Avocet after my prang aug. 2011.im still waiting for my rego to come through ( it was due 7th April) .no I haven't flown it yet ,

 

I'm interested in the admin post about the advertising opportunity that's on offer ,sounds quite reasonable compared to the magazine costs . I have every intention to have a go at building a few to interested parties,although ill need some help; .a bit of feedback on how to go about advertising on the forum would be much appreciated .

 

I've made some mods on the rebuild , a single post turret instead of that ugly 4post thing ,a fatter vert. Stab. and winglets for the j250 wings .

 

I've also put a 30 amp alt.& run the jab alt.as a backup . I found the power requirements with the

 

Fuel injection SDS and the 7 amps the water pump required were a bit much for the jabiru alt ,( thanks to Jake Jensen for his help , interest and patience ,and all those folk how encouraged me to keep going and "chin up"

 

Avocet (mike Sharples)

 

 

I

 

 

[AVOCET]

Some photos of what's been happening

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark11]

Amazing work in rebuilding.... I would have thought it easier to start from scratch....

 

 

[AVOCET]

There was to many good bits that weeny that badly damaged,

 

It cost $100.000 to build the fist one and only $20,000 to rebuild

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Crickey Mike, what happened? I must have been living under a rock- I hadn't heard of your bingle. Looks nasty, but great to see you have built.

 

 

[AVOCET]

I think I was the one living under the rock , at the time I didn't really feel like talking about it .

 

I was on my way to the last wide bay air show and near Willcainia NSW one of the exhaust pipes cracked off and fell against the oil pressure sender wire , shorted it out .

 

So I heard a rattle and no oil pressure ,

 

750 hrs on the 3300 I thought a thru bolt had gone , 7500ft an old station air strip

 

below I glided down to land , got to slow turning base to final 30ft agl , kept banking to left , couldn't lift wing , it all happened that fast and bang the tree .

 

Broken sturnum , cut arm , 5days in Broken hill hospital . Anyway , all history now .

 

Took a while to get over it though .

 

 

[Guest steve-nz]

Wow, nice rebuild and good to hear you have recovered ok.

 

Looks like an interesting plane you have there.

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Interesting looking aircraft, can you give us newcomers some background? I see it's RAA registered, is it capable of four seats? Any baggage room in the nose?

 

Cheers, HH.

 

 

[AVOCET]

Thanks for the promp Howard ,

 

I think Raa registered ,well it was ! ! I'm stating think it might be time to :to:to: too ,two ; (I just carnt bring myself to say what I realy think ???!!!).still waiting, it ran out 7th April ,i paid the renual 3weeks prior !

 

Ill think ill just talk about the plane , ......

 

Nose cones for battery x2 (ballast),

 

Back doors open up for cargo , stretcher , motor bike , camping gear ect ,

 

It's got a liquid cooled multypoint fuel injection , fuel injected throttle body ,

 

Plane power 30 amp alt,(that bolts to vac attach on the 3300jab. That gives 2 of all the important stuff , (wont stop you having a prang though )

 

I originlyv had the Idea of building a single bed Ariel Ambulance type that could be used in the third word as a cheap alternative to a helli copter .

 

I had 56 hours up on it so far , easy to fly &very stable in the air , lands easy , it was really a nice surprise when I first flu it , doesn't seem to have any great pitching issues , if I can jump in and fly it , (I've only flown jabirus ) It has the same control responses as any pusher , but being biggish , it's not so pronounced .

 

Ill be getting around to the air shows this year , you could easy make a 4seater , and I've got concept drawings for an amphibious version , (See photos)

 

Cheers Mike

 

 

 

 

[Mark11]

Like the amphib and the roomy size (I'm 6' 2") and prefer not to have my passenger or CFI in my armpit ...

 

I'll have one if I can get from wollongong to hobart in one hop

 

 

[AVOCET]

By all means , although the amphibious version is still only a concept .iam looking for interested parties to develop the amphib.

 

Wollongong / Hobart in one go , maybee with a good tail wind and an empty bladder ?

 

Cheers .

 

 

[planedriver]

From the sad crash incident to where you've got now, I just want to wish you all the encouragement you need, the progress you've made is an inspiration to others, and I wish you all the best.

 

The saying goes something like "The numbers of times one trys and and has a failure, but keeps trying is surely to bring ultimate success".

 

Good onya.

 

Kind Regards

 

Planey

 

 

[AVOCET]

Thanks Planey, that really means a lot to me

 

Just hope the Raa aus gets its act together so I can fly it again , it's been nearly 2 months since the rego ran out .

 

I've just been reading some posts on "Govening bodies "that it all could fall apart ,

 

I'm starting to think it might be easier to go experimental with saaa , I'm glad I've been a member for 3years ,at least ill be able to use the MTOW of 700 kg but ill have to finish the ppl

 

Thanks again for your sentiments, it nearly bourght a tear

 

Cheers Mike:nerd:

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Hi Mike,

 

Just wanted to second Planey's words, you've done a great job!

 

Not only aren't there anywhere near enough designer/builders out there but it takes guts and determination to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and have another go. Well done indeed! And there are plenty out there very interested in your 'different from the rest' project. I'm looking forward to seeing it when you get a chance to bring it East.

 

Cheers, Alan

 

 

[Keenaviator]

All the best Mike. I know you are an excellent rebuilder having seen you and your son at work on Fr Johns J430 at Penong Station. Regards Laurie.

 

 

[AVOCET]

Gee , that brings back memories , seems such a long time ago ,

 

Give my regards to every one .

 

Cheers , Mike ,&Ncholas says hello.

 

Also thanks Alan ,encouraging words ,make a big difference. Cheers mate.

 

What do you think of this for a lightweight cheep to run ( maybe electric ) project , checkout the prop thru the fuse ,!

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

What do you think of this for a lightweight cheep to run ( maybe electric ) project , checkout the prop thru the fuse ,!

Interesting, has a bit of the Archeopteryx about it, though I'm a bit leery of the very light structures, not much room for (structural) error.

 

The prop around the boom thing is very clean aerodynamically efficient but complex to achieve. There's been a lot of discussion about it over the years, Deskpilot has a 'boomprop' design and a gentleman in Geelong has built and flown a quite powerful boomprop machine, Craig Saxon went to have a look at it and there's a detailed discussion about it on the other forum.

 

 

[Gforce]

I think I was the one living under the rock , at the time I didn't really feel like talking about it .I was on my way to the last wide bay air show and near Willcainia NSW one of the exhaust pipes cracked off and fell against the oil pressure sender wire , shorted it out .

So I heard a rattle and no oil pressure ,

 

750 hrs on the 3300 I thought a thru bolt had gone , 7500ft an old station air strip

 

below I glided down to land , got to slow turning base to final 30ft agl , kept banking to left , couldn't lift wing , it all happened that fast and bang the tree .

 

Broken sturnum , cut arm , 5days in Broken hill hospital . Anyway , all history now .

 

Took a while to get over it though .

That takes a real man to admit your mistake that could of happened to any of us. Impressing in every way and I very glad you are back up here with you bird.

 

 

[av8vfr]

Just an observation which may be incorrect (it happens), but it was originally a pusher but now in the hanger it looks like a tractor config.. if correct, is there a reason?

 

 

[Keenaviator]

Just an observation which may be incorrect (it happens), but it was originally a pusher but now in the hanger it looks like a tractor config.. if correct, is there a reason?

Might have to check your observation. Don't you notice the turret sitting above the cabin?

A difference I noticed is that the turret is now a single faired unit whereas before it was standing on four faired tubes.

 

Also, what appears to be a spinner is probably a spinner moulded into the now front of the cowling probably to mimick the shape of a standard Jabiru cowling for cooling purposes.

 

Looking very nice Mike,

 

Regards, Laurie

 

 

[av8vfr]

Might have to check your observation. Don't you notice the turret sitting above the cabin?A difference I noticed is that the turret is now a single faired unit whereas before it was standing on four faired tubes.

 

Also, what appears to be a spinner is probably a spinner moulded into the now front of the cowling probably to mimick the shape of a standard Jabiru cowling for cooling purposes.

 

Looking very nice Mike,

 

Regards, Laurie

The original accident pics shows the prop in a pusher config... To me the prop flange now appears on the front of the donk in the single faired image..(tractor config)??

 

 

[Keenaviator]

I think you're confusing a belt driven alternator for a prop flange.

 

 

[av8vfr]

Could be... just looked like a prop flange above the oil cooler....my bad...

 

 

[Jabiru7252]

I truly wanted to be able to do this without help but have failed, feeling quite crushed. How do you upload a picture? Insert Image icon doesn't work for me.

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

I truly wanted to be able to do this without help but have failed, feeling quite crushed. How do you upload a picture? Insert Image icon doesn't work for me.

Don't worry mate, it took me a while to work it out too.

 

At the bottom right of the edit box (the box you write your post in) are three buttons, use the 'Upload a file' button, then select your picture on your computer etc. When it's uploaded choose 'show thumbnails' not 'full sized images'.

 

Hope it helps, cheers, Alan