hi all from Debbie

[Guest debra stewart]

well I did my second solo, this time 2 circuits on my own and went really well. Copped some terrible bumps on the downwind leg ( right over a big hillside) but the rest was glorious. On Tuesday I'll do 3 circuits and keep going from there. Very exciting, bit scary, exhilarating and glad to be back on the ground - too much adrenaline can make you a bit sick on the tummy. I will get used to it and all will be well. Just getting used to not having someone next to me, who was my safety net. Quite daunting to know that you and you alone are now responsible for anything that happens and watching these silly programs about planes crashing isn't helping. Must stop doing that, although this morning was about Pitch cables and how they can erode and corrode, so I will be checking all my cables next time out. I don't even know what my cables are made from which is terrible really. Steel of course but what type of steel? Skyfox Gazelle, for anyone out there who may know. I also need some new Tappet cover gaskets ( little oil leak ) so will do that this week. After 60 hours of flying though that's not too bad. I've done 3 oil changes, replaced the nose wheel rubbers, which didn't need replacing ( wrong call by someone else) and that's about it over the 60 hours. I am so proud of my plane. So rugged and reliable.

 

I do very comprehensive checks before each flight so I keep a good eye on things.

 

OK, everyone, have a lovely Sunday and get out and have a fly. The weather is gorgeous here in Tassie. Bit cool but perfect.

 

see you all later, Debbie

 

 

[IBob]

That's great, Debbie, and well done!

 

And do stop watching the crash programs. Yes they're fascinating in a voyeuristic sort of way, but there are 1001 ways to die and while we need to be careful and disciplined up there, for almost everyone it won't be in an aeroplane!

 

When I was skydiving in my early life, we used to say you were more likely to meet your end driving to the dropzone.

 

I wouldn't mind betting the same applies to flying.

 

 

[Cal Air 63]

Congratulations Debbie, Good luck for your future Solo Flights

 

Brent

 

 

[Nightmare]

Well done Debbie, just follow your checklists when adrenaline wants to take over, for me, it reminds me to remember my training and do the right thing. I'm looking at buying my first plane after I complete my cross country endorsement, and Skyfox Gazelle's are in my sights! Still a little way off, studying the material and saving for the 12hrs dual training required.

 

 

[Yenn]

Well done Debbie. I think you should be getting someone with the correct knowledge to look after your maintenance. By pitch cables I assume you mean control cables to the elevator. There is a directive from CASA about stainless steel control cables. CASA are saying that they must be replaced at 15 years, or if of unknown age I believe it is within about a year from now. The problem is corrosion of the S.S. end fittings which are swaged on. This corrosion is just about impossible to spot with the eye. Recognition of the fittings. They are smooth, shiny and run back along the wire for about 50 or more mm. They are a couple of mm or so thicker than the wire and you can usually see where they were compressed into the wire, leaving a fairly abrupt change of thickness.

 

 

[planedriver]

Congratulations on your 2nd solo Debbie. You must be happy with the progress you've made, after all it's not a race, more of a milestone. Well done!

 

 

[billwoodmason]

Hi Deb, congratulations on your 2nd solo flight, it will get easier and you will relax more with experience I'm sure.

 

Re your Gazelle there is a poster on here who has offered advice to anyone who needs to know anything about Skyfox's/ Gazelles - he used to make them.

 

He posts as "foxworker". He started a thread called "Skyfox wings 21 through 25 N". (It's on the second page of thread titles). Good luck.

 

 

[DWF]

G'day Debbie

 

 

 

I think I may be the original owner of your Gazelle aircraft.

 

If so, it was registered as VH-DAJ (David And Jen) in about 1995 or 96 - I will have to see if I have any of the old paperwork on it.

 

It was my third Skyfox. The others were VH-DWF, a CA25 Impala tail dragger, and VH-JND (Jen aNd David) a CA25N Gazelle.

 

All three were used for flying training at Jandakot and Pearce/GinGin.

 

I sold DAJ to a pastoral station owner who, I think, re-registered it with RAAus. It was eventually purchased (in a fairly sorry state ) by Preston Boley who refurbished it and sold it to you.

 

You do not have to worry about elevator control cables in the Gazelle as the elevator and aileron controls are by pushrods. It may pay to check the rod ends though.

 

Only the rudder is connected by (2) steel cables - which will probably require replacement soon under the AD.

 

Congratulations on your solo(s). The Gazelle is a great little aircraft.

 

 

 

DWF

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

That's great, Debbie, and well done!And do stop watching the crash programs. Yes they're fascinating in a voyeuristic sort of way, but there are 1001 ways to die and while we need to be careful and disciplined up there, for almost everyone it won't be in an aeroplane!

When I was skydiving in my early life, we used to say you were more likely to meet your end driving to the dropzone.

 

I wouldn't mind betting the same applies to flying.

yes, I know you are right, but sometimes I do learn a lot. I don't watch TV often at all. The news in the morning and that's about it, so I'm not seeing much of it, but every now and then is probably too much and does scare you !

 

I have a question if anyone can help.

 

I need Tappet Cover Gaskets on all four covers. A tiny oil leak in 3 of them ( very tiny) ( Rotax 912a).

 

Would it be Ok to have an hours lesson before I fix them or should I cancel the lesson and fix them first, any ideas are welcome. thankyou, Debb

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

G'day Debbie 

 

I think I may be the original owner of your Gazelle aircraft.

 

If so, it was registered as VH-DAJ (David And Jen) in about 1995 or 96 - I will have to see if I have any of the old paperwork on it.

 

It was my third Skyfox. The others were VH-DWF, a CA25 Impala tail dragger, and VH-JND (Jen aNd David) a CA25N Gazelle.

 

All three were used for flying training at Jandakot and Pearce/GinGin.

 

I sold DAJ to a pastoral station owner who, I think, re-registered it with RAAus. It was eventually purchased (in a fairly sorry state ) by Preston Boley who refurbished it and sold it to you.

 

You do not have to worry about elevator control cables in the Gazelle as the elevator and aileron controls are by pushrods. It may pay to check the rod ends though.

 

Only the rudder is connected by (2) steel cables - which will probably require replacement soon under the AD.

 

Congratulations on your solo(s). The Gazelle is a great little aircraft.

 

 

 

DWF

OH How wonderful !!!!!! I am so excited. Please, please, please write to me or ring me. I so want to hear everything about it. It is the most magic plane I've ever been in and I love it to bits. I feel so safe in it and I can do anything in it. It is so placid, reassuring and a true friend. My number is 0363262898 and my email is [email protected]. I desperately want to hear everything !!!! Yes,I would love the paperwork. I have tried to get in touch with Preston but he hasn't answered lately.

I will be waiting for your phone call, luv Debb

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

Hi Deb, congratulations on your 2nd solo flight, it will get easier and you will relax more with experience I'm sure.Re your Gazelle there is a poster on here who has offered advice to anyone who needs to know anything about Skyfox's/ Gazelles - he used to make them.

He posts as "foxworker". He started a thread called "Skyfox wings 21 through 25 N". (It's on the second page of thread titles). Good luck.

thankyou very much, I will look that up. Yes I was more nervous on this go round than my first solo but it should get easier. It was a lot windier this time and the lack of instructor weight was more pronounced than the first time.

 

I only did two circuits and came down. I'll do one extra each week and get better that way.

 

Thanks for the support, really need it. I will only ever be a fair weather pilot but I am pretty good. I wish I had the courage to be more adventurous but maybe that will come. I'll stay and do circuits for at least 6 months after solo until I really feel ready to face the world. No point rushing out and getting killed. I think I could land that Gazelle anywhere though. I love landing and it is my best skill, so that's good.

 

Thanks a lot, luv Debb

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

Well done Debbie, just follow your checklists when adrenaline wants to take over, for me, it reminds me to remember my training and do the right thing. I'm looking at buying my first plane after I complete my cross country endorsement, and Skyfox Gazelle's are in my sights! Still a little way off, studying the material and saving for the 12hrs dual training required.

Do not think, do not hesitate, do not pass go, go straight to the nearest Skyfox Gazelle and buy it , after you have checked it out of course. What a magnificent plane. I cannot praise it enough. I have flown in about a half dozen aircraft which is not many, but not one touched me like the Gazelle. I WENT UP in a friends to see if I'd like it and came down with a grin on my face a mile wide, and that was in a gale wind.

 

Now that I have owned one for 3 years I am more impressed if that's possible. No, they don't have speed but if that's all you are looking for then so be it. The gazelle has everything else and more. I'll tell you just a couple of wonderful things. If you come in to land and you are a bit quick or a bit slow say 5 knots either way, the gazelle will fly gently over the fence without a worry and land beautifully. If you bump down a bit hard and the plane rises up again as if to take-off, just let it bleed off speed, manipulate the stick very gently, and it will sit down comfortably on the strip, no need to push the power on and have to go round again, it is not necessary in the gazelle. You can be really gentle with the stick as it is super responsive.

 

When you are landing, and you are coming down for the flare, you get the stick back for a second then gently manipulate it back and forth until you are almost on the ground, then take it right back and let the plane slowly drop down, otherwise it tends to want to take off again but you get used to that and it makes landing a real thrill learning how to gently do your manipulations until you feel it is right. Doing a tight turn requires only a light touch on the rudder pedals and the brake. Don't push it down hard and rough. I have had one toe on the brake and it has spun around on a dime. Gazelles are great for women, nervous pilots, students and anyone. I like it because I am very gentle by nature and don't like being rough with machinery. The men who have flown my plane tended to be quite rough but I handle it very differently. I can spare that extra second to think a bit more as you do not have to react as quickly as in some planes. It gives you a reprieve every time, which is so comforting. There are a million great testimonials about the Skyfox Gazelle but Honestly, it is even better.

 

Ask me anytime about the plane as I'd be only too happy to let you know all its idiosyncrasies etc.

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

Well done Debbie. I think you should be getting someone with the correct knowledge to look after your maintenance. By pitch cables I assume you mean control cables to the elevator. There is a directive from CASA about stainless steel control cables. CASA are saying that they must be replaced at 15 years, or if of unknown age I believe it is within about a year from now. The problem is corrosion of the S.S. end fittings which are swaged on. This corrosion is just about impossible to spot with the eye. Recognition of the fittings. They are smooth, shiny and run back along the wire for about 50 or more mm. They are a couple of mm or so thicker than the wire and you can usually see where they were compressed into the wire, leaving a fairly abrupt change of thickness.

thankyou very much for all that. I am going out tomorrow to do my tappet cover gaskets so I will have a look then. Yes, pitch cable is American I think. I meant the cables running to the rudder and elevator. It is all very worrying for me and I am constantly thinking "am I doing enough", "Have I checked everything enough" and I am becoming obsessed. Unlike most of you men I cant just have a look every time I want something checked, I have to arrange for someone competent to come to the airfield ( hard enough) then usually pay them ( hard again as I only work 2 days per week now, not by choice, age discrimination) and all the worry it causes me in lost time and not being able to rectify things immediately, causes more strain. I sometimes think I should not have bought the plane but it gives me so much pleasure that I try the very best with what I have. Tassie is renowned for being short on mechanics and engineers and these days people don't want to help just to be friendly, so it is extremely difficult. I think I'm going to cry !!! See, it gets me really emotional. I want to maintain the plane as best I can but everything else conspires to make that hard sometimes. Maybe I should sell my house and move closer to an L2.

 

I stress over the situation all the time but I can only do my best. I do oil changes every 15 hours or so instead of the required 50, use fresh good fuel and all that sort of stuff, hoping that being diligent in that respect, will help a bit.

 

Anyway, this is why I am so appreciative of any and all information and advice. Thankyou again, Debb

 

 

[Yenn]

As I said before Debbie, you need someone with the ability to control maintenance. Your oil changes at 15 instead of 50 hours show up this problem. Why spend money when it is not necessary, get help making the decisions, read the manufacturers recommendations and be sensible.

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

As I said before Debbie, you need someone with the ability to control maintenance. Your oil changes at 15 instead of 50 hours show up this problem. Why spend money when it is not necessary, get help making the decisions, read the manufacturers recommendations and be sensible.

yeah, but being a panel beater/mechanics daughter I am very conscious of dirty oil and I don't like it when it starts to go really dark brown. Yes, it could wait probably another 20 hours but it doesn't cost much and I like to have good fuel and good oil as I feel I can a least control these things. So much about aviation makes me feel a little bit overwhelmed. I like to stick to a routine that works and has worked for 3 years. It definitely makes a difference in performance as well. I'm not silly and do know what I am doing and think things through quite carefully before doing anything. I think a standard 50 hours for any maintenance check may be Ok, but some planes may go l0nger than that, and some may not. I go by look, feel and intuition and the knowledge I have picked up over the years and it has always stood me in good stead. My car runs beautifully and I treat it the same. What is a small amount of money when your life could be at stake. Maybe Gazelles are prone to dirtying the oil quickly, I don't know, I haven't spoken to a lot of Gazelle owners, but I know my own plane very well. When I need help I will ask, and be very grateful for the help, but I maintain my plane really well and have been told as much by a lot of people who see the plane all the time so I will continue to go with it. My instructor knows everything I do and has no problems with me, or my plane, and he is one of the best pilots in Australia. So thankyou for any help you may give in the future but please be assured I know my plane and after 3 years of checking it every week, sometimes twice or three times a week a week, I am right with the basics.

 

Being a female, I might explain things which can be taken the wrong way, like how I feel at any given time about a certain situation, and all that sort of stuff. That is being called honest. If I have doubts, or fears or whatever, I talk about them, that is how I learn. Plus it is cathartic. Maybe men are different. Try to sort out the emotion from the facts in my writing and take it from there or don't read my posts if you think I am incapable of looking after my plane. I have been flying for a reasonable amount of time now and would not be here if I was ignorant, stupid, egotistic etc. Please give me some credit.

 

 

[facthunter]

The oil will probably run 50 hours with a school . With avgas some change it earlier 25. The motor likes mogas. The plane is very forgiving to fly as you point out. I always check the elevator bell crank welds and move the elevator full travel on the preflight. If you have someone putting a load (not too much) on the column at the same time, It's a more valid check. There's some checks to perform on the ailerons too.

 

If it's not leaking much at the rocker covers, just check they are tight enough (don't overdo it). get someone there to do a thorough preflight who has good familiarity with the Gazelle to do it with you watching.'

 

Radiator cap sealing and screws on wheel spats check too. Relax a bit, but stay aware of what's happening around you always. Hills, trees and hangars play games with the winds around aerodromes. Nev

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

thanks Nev, good advice and yes, I do most of that. It is hard to relax though when you are relatively new but I am sure that will come. Females are usually greater worriers than men, I have found, sometimes unnecessarily but that's our natures isn't it? I have checked that the covers are tight enough, and they seemed fine, but three leaking covers suggests they need new gaskets. Yes, I do my aileron checks but I haven't done an elevator check as you have said but will give it a go. I only have one spat on the nose wheel as they are more trouble than they are worth on a grass strip. I am working on the plane tomorrow so most things will be checked and righted then. The engine is in remarkably good nick, and as I said, I have tried to maintain it well, especially the basics, which I know how to do effectively now. Its just as each new thing crops up, which I have not dealt with before, that I get worried, but after research and understanding I realise that it wasn't as bad as I had first thought, usually. If I didn't worry, I'd worry !!!!!

 

My worries are actually about things I have yet to discover. We cant know everything especially as learners and I realise that, but that doesn't stop me from wishing I did know everything so that I'd be aware of anything that went wrong. As humans though we come upon things as we learn and grow. I always ask a million questions of anyone within earshot but Tassie is a small place and out of the 30 pilots at my airfield I may only come across one or two every now and then . It is not like a city. But I have my instructor still, which is good.

 

Thanks for the help, Debb

 

 

[facthunter]

Without fretting over it, just remember , you can't control a plane without an operating pitch control. You can without yaw and roll. Nev

 

 

[IBob]

Without fretting over it, just remember , you can't control a plane without an operating pitch control. You can without yaw and roll. Nev

Thanks Nev.

I'm putting together stabiliser and elevator here, and you just gave me that extra bit of focus!

 

 

[Hargraves]

Congatulations Debra. (Now you know why birds sing)

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

Congatulations Debra. (Now you know why birds sing)

yes, I suppose I do !!~!! Wonderful feeling. More to come, Debb

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Late night or early morn Debbie?

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

Late night or early morn Debbie?

early morn, Debb

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

early morn, Debb

I get up at 3am, yes, believe it, and there is nothing I can do about it. Once i'm up I cant go back to bed. I do go to bed of a night, early though. It is cold in Tassie so why stay up and waste power when you can snuggle up in a warm bed and read for a couple of hours ( or study) before you drop off. They say ( the infamous 'they') that as we age we revert back to waking at our birth time. I was born at 3 in the morning so who knows. Stay well and happy, Debb