Flying during Lockdown

[Thruster88]

18 minutes ago, jackc said:

For me,  I am happy as a cat with 10 tails, I have trip to make tomorrow to buy another aircraft, deal 95% done. Hope its got some wings on it!

BIG bonus is……I don’t have to run the wrath of the COVID Policemen to go look at it and get it home……It’s a bonus living in Qld.:-)

 

Good to read some recreational aviation news Jack. What aircraft type?

[jackc]

20 minutes ago, Thruster88 said:

Good to read some recreational aviation news Jack. What aircraft type?

Thruster T300 with a heap of spares…..25 rego

[BirdDog]

3 hours ago, jackc said:

For me,  I am happy as a cat with 10 tails, I have trip to make tomorrow to buy another aircraft, deal 95% done. Hope its got some wings on it!

BIG bonus is……I don’t have to run the wrath of the COVID Policemen to go look at it and get it home……It’s a bonus living in Qld.:-)

 

 

 

NICE!!  I upgraded not that long ago - what ya gettin?

 

 

[jackc]

2 hours ago, BirdDog said:

 

 

NICE!!  I upgraded not that long ago - what ya gettin?

 

 

This is the actual aircraft.

 

https://youtu.be/hGdFSAQ_Ub4

 

 

 Comes with a host of spares, radio etc. 582 rebuilt but can’t be too bad as it is being delivered on a 450km trip.

25 rego 1988 model T300 2 place Thruster.

 

[kgwilson]

You'll have some fun tearing around your property and beyond in that Jack. A mate of mine who owned the hangar next to mine loved his Thrusters. He owned 3 of them, a single seater and 2 x 2 seaters. I went for a few low level jolly's with him & he always had this broad smile on his face the entire flight. Sadly he died from Leukaemia a few years ago and there are no Thrusters at South Grafton any more.

[Flightrite]

1 hour ago, jackc said:

This is the actual aircraft.

 

https://youtu.be/hGdFSAQ_Ub4

 

 

 Comes with a host of spares, radio etc. 582 rebuilt but can’t be too bad as it is being delivered on a 450km trip.

25 rego 1988 model T300 2 place Thruster.

 

Jack you sure are brave there😁

[facthunter]

They  are pretty basic and rugged. . Nev

[jackc]

Just now, Flightrite said:

Jack you sure are brave there😁

Nothing ventured……nothing gained 🙂

[jackc]

Just now, facthunter said:

They  are pretty basic and rugged. . Nev

Should be able to pull a good pre-flight in 3 minutes, and annual might take 10 minutes? 🙂

 

[Flightrite]

Sold yr Aeropup yet Jackc? The skies around Melb are quiet these days, just the way I like it:-)

[octave]

4 minutes ago, jackc said:

Nothing ventured……nothing gained 🙂

I learned to fly in Thruster TST with a Rotax 503 back  in 1988.   Greta fun to fly.

[BirdDog]

Very cool man!  Something similar is on my list.  I have a Bristell currently which is great for zooming off into the blue to go somewhere at a decent speed, but I also wanting something fun that I can plod about in.

 

Good on you mate!  You will have a blast with it I am sure.

[jackc]

8 minutes ago, Flightrite said:

Sold yr Aeropup yet Jackc? The skies around Melb are quiet these days, just the way I like it:-)

No, keeping it……it’s been a bit of a project unfortunately, will be wheeling it out of the hangar end of this week and running it up after a whole lot of work.

[jackc]

6 minutes ago, BirdDog said:

Very cool man!  Something similar is on my list.  I have a Bristell currently which is great for zooming off into the blue to go somewhere at a decent speed, but I also wanting something fun that I can plod about in.

 

Good on you mate!  You will have a blast with it I am sure.

I want to paint it/reskin it in camouflage colours and make fake balsawood ‘rockets’   for the wing struts and make it look like a scary recon aircraft, with fake firepower.   Might  even attract some F35s for some entertainment 🙂

[Flightrite]

The Aeropup/Supapup are great little planes:-)

[kgwilson]

Back to the lockdown. Over the last 3 weeks the grass has grown at the aerodrome & along with the other bloke that jointly manages South Grafton we spent a couple of days mowing. We have 2 x Iseki SF300 mowers so got the place looking good. We have undertaken to ensure the aerodrome is always maintained for use by emergency services & have the OK from authorities even though I don't live in the LGA. It is classified as work even though I don't get paid.

 

Once mowing was complete I got the Sierra out, did my preflights & went flying, legally. A beautiful Spring day and nothing on CTAF or Coffs CTR but the odd IFR call on area. Flew over my house & then down the Northern beaches to Coffs & back. Gave them a courtesy call & was invited for some T&Gs but declined. ATC almost sounded excited to hear someone on the radio.

 

I felt completely rejuvenated after the first flight since 13th August.

[Flightrite]

Speaking of ATC inviting you in which is an oxymoron for GA normally I went for a spin around Hobsons bay during lockdown a while ago & ATC called me up asking where I was going? They have no say in what I do but i responded & they offered me a touch & go at Tulla, I passed (I think they had their noses out of joint), that's the last thing I wanna do after going there more times than most have had hot meals:-) Me thinks they where just bored!:-)

Edited September 6, 2021 by Flightrite

[KRviator]

A slightly stressful 1.1 today, stay-at-home orders notwithstanding... 🤐

The plan was to simply recalibrate my AoA sensor and update the ASI speed bands to reflect the increase in weight & stall speeds. That went fairly well, taking off and climbing on the right tank with no issues, and after a series of pitch maneuvers to setup the calibration routine & 3 stalls the calibration was successfully saved and then a minute or so later, the engine decided it had had enough, pig-rootin and carrying on refusing to spin up above 1800RPM or so, even with full throttle.

OAT was +10*C, DA around 6,500, T+P's all fine, no EMS warnings for low fuel pressure, etc and both L+R Pmags tested okay at the time cycling them off then on (their switch state is recorded on the datalog too)

I ended up changing tanks and all was well with the other side for the rest of the flight, to the extent I felt comfortable doing some circuits afterwards (plenty of places to put down in the event of an EFATO here until I can get to turnback height). I've pulled the datalog and be damned if I can see a cause. A mate who has an RV-10 suggested vapour lock, but at +10*C it wasn't really hot enough for me to consider it a problem but it's about all I can think of at the moment. The Rotec TBI has never given any indication it is susceptible to icing, but that's the only other thing I can possibly attribute it to, but doesn't explain why it didn't happen on the opposite tank during descent. That being said, I have had vapour lock several times with the Rotec, most recently being last week after a quick turnaround, but never actually in flight.

 

Both L+R vents are clear, proven by the puddle of fuel under each after refuelling last week & having it expand in the hangar a couple days ago. Fuel drains before and after the flight were clear of water & debris, I used the same batch of fuel in my ride-on with no problems and can't see it being a gascolator problem if the left tank was unaffected, my thinking being, at present, it has to be upstream of the fuel selector to the right tank, or the fuel itself.

I'm going to drain the tank and use it in the ride on, then refill with Avgas and go repeat the profile to see what happens, but if anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions as to what else to look at.

[BirdDog]

Wow. That’s a bit of an event mate. 
 

So what I do in these situations instead of looking for the issue, let’s eliminate some stuff. 
 

Carby icing. If it was icing, I’m thinking it should not matter what tank you use, as it’s all happening in the carbs. So I would rule that out. 

you say you did a fuel drain with now water. So we can rule out contamination. UNLESS what you drained was all water. I’ve seen that. 

 

Can you rule out the vent. Not yet unless you check now that it’s not blocked. So could be. 
 

One last thing is… after you swapped tanks did you go back and replicate the problem? Because it may well have been a lock that sorted itself as you coincidentally changed tanks. 
 

[skippydiesel]

Just guessing:

 

Seems to me it can only be one of the following:

 

• Blockage - filter, vent, line. Could even be a "flake off the inside of the tank, or a large insect body 
• Tank Selector - faulty, not fully selected

 

You appear to have eliminated fuel contamination/quality and carb icing.

[Thruster88]

Van's issued SB 06-2-23 for models before 2006. This would not apply in your case however some fault may have occurred with the fuel pickup. A flow test of at least 20l on both tanks will verify pickup, fuel lines and vent systems.   

[derekliston]

When Qld was in lockdown our CHO said, live on television,” A pilot getting into his aeroplane and going for a fly isn’t a threat, of course he isn’t” I was happy to take her at her word!

[skippydiesel]

3 hours ago, derekliston said:

When Qld was in lockdown our CHO said, live on television,” A pilot getting into his aeroplane and going for a fly isn’t a threat, of course he isn’t” I was happy to take her at her word!

 

I don t get it - how do you/your CHO and others not understand - in a quarantine situation, your personal risk, situation, wants & desires is not the issue.

You are either in lockdown or not, there is no grey area.

Every time the authorities make an exception or an individual decides the rules do not apply to them, the quarantine is compromised eg Sydney and its fake lockdown, now in its 12th (?) week or something, costing a squillion of dollars to the economy and almost completely ineffective, has (wilfully) exported the virus to other States and the NSW hinterland.

The act of getting into your aircraft alone has zero risk of CV 19 spread/infection HOWEVER, presumably you had to travel to/from the airfield, your vehicle/aircraft required fuel, you picked up a takeaway going to/coming from, you had a conversation with the security guard/fellow pilot/LAIM, may be your aircraft didn't start and a "jump" battery was required, your car broke down, was involved in an accident - the list of potential human contact goes on and on. In short you have increased your risk of contraction/spreading of CV19.

Even if your risk of contracting/spreading CV19 was nil - the example you set, both in your trip to/from the airfield, as you buzz around overhead, is sending the worst signal possible to the thousands/millions in lockdown, who are not so privileged. Shame on you! 

[jackc]

Me?  I take total responsibility for myself……..

Probably get banned for this….

 

[Flightrite]

Jacks there's quite a few that have flown during lockdown (me included) and like they say it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission:-)

Common sense sadly no longer applies, just fear & plenty of it:-)