Jabiru Radio refit causes landing problems. . .

[Phil Perry]

Was at the Airfield today on volunteer radio duty. . . well, somebody has to try and prevent these loonies from bumping into each other. . .

 

My Mate had three attempts to land his Jabiru. . . . and each time, it 'Seemed' to me ( I have less than 6 hours on Jabberwockies spread over nine years - so not an exponent ) that he was landing, or trying to,. . a little on the fast side. I asked him after the second go around, "Have you got a problem mate ? " ( Our radio procedure is amongst the best in the UK )

 

He said , "Sort of. . . I can't select full flap " The wind at the time was light and variable, with a tiny bit of Northern bias, 5 Kt or less, our Rwy 34L has a useable length of 340 m. . . .

 

When he finally managed to stop the beastie,. . .I ambled down to the hangars to have a chat.

 

He said that he'd re-routed a coaxial cable to the radio antenna following replacement of the rig for a different type. , and somehow it had fouled the flap control, restricting full travel so that full flap was not available. . .

 

Just goes to show that sometimes,. . . radios can be a hindrance. . . . There were very few people about, so no other pilots to take the mickey. ( Common thing here. . . all good natured though. . . )

 

I've promised that I won't tell anyone about it ( in the UK anyhow. . )

 

Which is fair enough I guess , as, before he learned to fly, many years back, he was sitting behind me in a Trike, when I switched to a fuel tank which I'd forgotten to install under the rear seat during rigging. . . . and we ended up in a farmer's paddock. . . .

 

 

[KRviator]

There's a catch with most RV's out there whereby your outboard seatbelt can be tangled around the rudder cable causing restricted travel. An again with the rudder cable, if you're not careful during installation and install the flap pushrods bolt backwards with the nut on the outboard end, it can snag The cable so when you drop the flaps, you get full rudder too!

 

 

[Phil Perry]

There's a catch with most RV's out there whereby your outboard seatbelt can be tangled around the rudder cable causing restricted travel. An again with the rudder cable, if you're not careful during installation and install the flap pushrods bolt backwards with the nut on the outboard end, it can snag The cable so when you drop the flaps, you get full rudder too!

Jeeze ! That WOULD be fun. . . . Just goes to show why it's rather a good idea to carry out a complete preflight checklist I guess !

 

The old adage applies though. . ."Let he who is bereft of sin, cast the first briquette. . . ."

 

Phil.

 

 

[cooperplace]

preflight check of flap operation?

 

 

[Aldo]

I guess this is why the new tech manual requires the additional inspections!

 

 

[fly_tornado]

What? you are wanting inspections on repairs now?

 

Could it just be the curse of the Jabiru?

 

 

[Phil Perry]

What? you are wanting inspections on repairs now?Could it just be the curse of the Jabiru?

This was a cable replacement re-routing 'Modification' . . Curse of the abberant Coax ? I have not read the LAA rules on minor mods; but as Cooperplace says, it should have been noticed in the Pre- takeoff checks.

 

 

[onetrack]

Whatever happened to the pre-flight, full control-surfaces-deflection test, before takeoff?

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Actually the chap SAID. . .he'd checked the flaps prior to takeoff. . .but on approach, he could not select full flap . . . I have his, and the accompanying pilot's word for that, so no reason to assume otherwise.

 

However, I personally, being a coward when it comes to pain. . .don't trust ad hoc mods to flying machines, unless they are documented and approved by the permit issuing authority. Not being over cautious here, but where do you draw the line between some innocuous bit of kit hanging around the cabin somewhere, and something potentially dangerous ? Had that aircraft flipped and burned after over running the runway, how would anyone have been able to reliably assess the cause ? . . . and would this have simply been put down to the 'Curse of the Jabiru' as FT colourfully put it ?

 

Just chunterin' . . . .

 

 

[Yenn]

Phil. I don't know what documentation the permit issuing body would look for. As I see it we would need to have complete oversight by someone authorised to maintain the aircraft. I would assume the person who did the mod would have that authority and all he didn't do was fill in forms and make drawings of what was done.

 

The big problem was that the person who did the mods didn't think it all through and check everything after completion.

 

On another theme, what is volounteer radio duty. I Aus we cannot use the radio as an advisory service unless the whole set up is approved and the operators are trained. We are in effect breaking the law if we call an incoming plane to advise that there is a baby on the runway. Don't ask me why, but the letters C,A,S and A have something to do with it.

 

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

Thanks for the story Phil, we ( well me I mean ) need these reminders to keep our alertness up.

 

It doesn't sound all that serious though. I don't normally use full flap for landing and neither does Rod Still.

 

One notch as for take-off is what we use unless going for a short landing run.

 

How long was the field? Maybe all your pommy fields are real short on account of the price of land over there.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Phil. I don't know what documentation the permit issuing body would look for. As I see it we would need to have complete oversight by someone authorised to maintain the aircraft. I would assume the person who did the mod would have that authority and all he didn't do was fill in forms and make drawings of what was done.The big problem was that the person who did the mods didn't think it all through and check everything after completion.

On another theme, what is volounteer radio duty. I Aus we cannot use the radio as an advisory service unless the whole set up is approved and the operators are trained. We are in effect breaking the law if we call an incoming plane to advise that there is a baby on the runway. Don't ask me why, but the letters C,A,S and A have something to do with it.

Any modification to a 'Permit to fly' aircraft in the UK, whether it be under either fof the two umbrella organizations, ie, the Light Aircraft Association, or the BMAA, Brit Microlight Aircraft Assoc. . . have rules with regard to any mods. Having been invlved in building three permit types over the last 2 decades, I have some experience in this. If you 'Invent' a clever mod of some sort, it must be submitted to the engineering section of whichever control authority is covering the build, for consideration. There is a LOT of paperwork involved in this process, as an instance, I designed a simple cabin heating system for the X-Air Mk 1, and this took 18 months to get approved, even though it was approved as originally designed. The final mod had to be signed off by a BMAA eng. inspector, and the aircraft had to be Re-Weighed.

 

Whether this would apply to altering the route of a coaxial antenna feed cable, I'm not sure, but in the light of what ocurred, it might have been wise.

 

On the subject of Radio, the third and lowliest level of aviation radio communications in the UK is the AIR/GROUND service. The operator must already have a FRTO - Flight Radio Operator Certificate of Proficiency which must be current. In the early days - up until around then years back, anyone with a flight radio ticket could fill in a form, send it to the CAA with licence number, and receive a Ground operator ticket, without further training, as it was assumed that if you use an aircraft radio, you ought to have an understanding of the workings from the 'Other end' These tickets were originally for life, but are now restricted to five years.

 

Nowadays, a training course is required, followed by a written and a practical examination. ( with a large fee for both ! )

 

Being an old fart, I have the earlier type, which is still legal. We have three operators at our site, all licensed and experienced. I am allowed to operate at a licensed airfield also, following a short familiarisation, providing it has an Air/Ground Comms Licence. I also have to obtain a dated signature from the person holding the licence. There are LOADS of ground stations on the 'Leisure' channel. on 129.825 all over the UK These are restricted to low power transmitters, and are not allowed to Intentionally communicate with an aeronautical station greater than ten NM away from the site.

 

If we organize a large event anywhere else where a station licence does not exist ( we sometimes do a 'Wings and Wheels' weekend elsewhere ) we have to apply for a temporary licence, 2,3, 4 days or whatever, and are issued a different A/G frequency for that period. . this costs £75.00 .

 

Air /Ground is purely Advisory, and no instructions can be issued. Runway in use, Temp, QFE and surface wind are about all we can report. The pilot in command can ignore anything as HE has the final say. Purely advisory.

 

We also have a service known as SAFETYCOM on 135.475. This is for sites which have no ground station, and may only be used Aircraft to aircraft for safety and infomation purposes where you might have a site with 3 or 4 aircraft sharing a farmer's paddock. . .

 

All equipment employed must be type approved and legal, but the radio set itself does not have to be licensed, as this licence refers to the 'Station' itself. ( £75 per annum for our site )

 

Have not had to report a baby on the runway yet, but we did have a rare birds nest with chicks in it on the Eastern grass taxiway. . . which we put cones around, until they buggered orf. . . .

 

Phil.

 

 

[Yenn]

And that is the difference between the UK and Australia.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Same Jabiru aircraft as thread title,. . .Thursday 18th Aug,. . .Aircraft flying approx 5 nm North of base @3,000 ft. sudden power reduction and engine became mechanically 'noisy'

 

Returned to base, safe landing, Zero compression on one cylinder. ( Which cylinder not reported )

 

Jab engineer booked to arrive on tues. 23rd. No other info at the moment.

 

Phil.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

the curse continues...

 

 

[Robbo]

Another reason to only let avionics techs do the job.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

the curse continues...

The 'Bar room' aviators have concluded that the Jab has 'Dropped a valve' unquote. ( ? ) we have four Jab engined aircraft on the site,. . . none of these owners were in the 'Bar' !

 

It's a good job we have so many armchair experts around to assist with useful advice. . .

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Spoke to my Jab owner mate at the airfield today. . .( Nowt much else going on ), he was cleaning the airframe and wiping the tears from the interior of his Jab,. . .( Apparently, saltwater stains the upholstery )

 

I asked if he and his Son had looked at the engine, but apparently, the Jab engineer told him in no uncertain terms to leave the cowlings on, and that if he found that they'd been effing around with it he'd walk away. . . So I'll have to wait a few days to get the full sp on this one. . .