A pilot has had a lucky escape after his light plane crashed in western Queensland.

[Geoff]

People please read post #5

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Ooops, thanks Geoff, had forgotten that fact.

 

 

[terrymc]

i have just joined raa and working on a license in innisfail nq under instructor ron watson in his jabiru . a mate and i have dragged home a lightwing with no engine, intend fitting a2200 jab ,regards terrymc

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Recently fitted a new Peirburg rotary fuel-boost pump to the Lightwing. It's pretty quiet and you can't hear it run in flight. I will also fit a fuel pressure guage when I get time, as it is a guage I like to have on the panel.

 

In the interim I have fitted two small LED indicator lights to the dash right in front of me, one for the boost pump, and the other for the fuel transfer pump, when I am pumping fuel from auxulary to mains. They are bright green (other colours avail) and you can't miss them. Leaving a boost pump on after takeoff for an extended period of time, can overpower the floats and pump fuel overboard.

 

There is a max boost pressure that is stated in the rotax operators manual, that shouldn't be exceeded for the above reason. The pierberg is a low pressure pump and the max is only about 6 psi or so. Just enough to back up the mechanical on takeoff/landing etc.

 

 

[Skyhog]

a mate and i have dragged home a lightwing with no engine, intend fitting a2200 jab

Terry,just spend a bit extra and fit a Rotax engine.If you go for a cheap alternative you may well end up with "a lightwing with no engine" at 100' agl after takeoff.

The only problem I've personally had was the flywheel bolts shearing on startup (I was lucky,one bloke I know had it happen at altitude).It was a saw blade spinning at 2800rpm and made a mess.There have been other problems with our 2 club Jabirus including cylinder through bolt failure,dropped valve,broken conrod,excessive oil use caused by overheating/excessive wear from factory economy kit.Our club sold its last Jab just over 2 years ago and bought a Foxbat.The Foxbat has done over 700 hours in our ownership with a 100hp Rotax 912S and has never had a spanner on it apart from scheduled maintenance.The actual time on the engine is 1080 hours and it runs like new.TBO of 1500 hours looks very acheivable.I have NOT seen a Jabiru engine reach TBO without major maintenance.

 

 

[bilby54]

Finally got the Jab back in the air on the weekend after an extensive rebuild of which a lot was not caused by the accident - poor constructional workmanship plain and simple!

 

Flew beautifully first time so the long ground time was worth it.

 

The original switches for both the fuel pump and the strobe were located under the instrument panel and could not be seen from the pilot's normal position. I relocated these to the centre of the panel and stuck large red indicator lamps above them so as there is no ambiguity when they are on.

 

I also fitted a a new fuel flow meter and level transmitter in the fuel tank. Good thing with the meter is that it has a switched output for low fuel level that is now connected to a bright light in front of the PIC. The light is set to come on at 12 litres fuel remaining so the pilot has ample time to get the thing on the ground.

 

There is now no excuse for the PIC to run out of fuel even if the fuel is being pumped overboard or burning at a higher rate or the PIC not bothering to turn his head to look at the fuel contents.

 

A disturbing fault was found with the clamp on the elevator cable not fitted correctly. This came adrift during the landing roll and caused the aircraft to nose over on its back. There is an AD out about it and I would strongly recommend that all Jabs be inspected before next flight.

 

Cheers,

 

 

[rick-p]

Terry,just spend a bit extra and fit a Rotax engine.If you go for a cheap alternative you may well end up with "a lightwing with no engine" at 100' agl after takeoff.The only problem I've personally had was the flywheel bolts shearing on startup (I was lucky,one bloke I know had it happen at altitude).It was a saw blade spinning at 2800rpm and made a mess.There have been other problems with our 2 club Jabirus including cylinder through bolt failure,dropped valve,broken conrod,excessive oil use caused by overheating/excessive wear from factory economy kit.Our club sold its last Jab just over 2 years ago and bought a Foxbat.The Foxbat has done over 700 hours in our ownership with a 100hp Rotax 912S and has never had a spanner on it apart from scheduled maintenance.The actual time on the engine is 1080 hours and it runs like new.TBO of 1500 hours looks very acheivable.I have NOT seen a Jabiru engine reach TBO without major maintenance.

Here we go again the return of the night of the long knives.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Yes rick-p, I wonder what the sample numbers are this time, and what the standard of maintenance is.

 

 

[Skyhog]

Yes rick-p, I wonder what the sample numbers are this time, and what the standard of maintenance is.

Here's some numbers,none of our Jabiru engines even got to 400tt before needing major attention.The man doing the L2 job is a motorcycle mechanic with 40+ years up his sleeve.All sheduled maitenance was carried out every 25 hours.What are your qualifications Turboplanner?

 

 

[turboplanner]

Race engine builder Skyhog.

 

All the failures your refer to are in a common location

 

I'm not pointing a finger at the L2, there could easily be another common denominator.

 

(eg the majority of truck cab failures these days occur between Gympie and Townsville)

 

To get real numbers, engine manufactures need a sample of at least 1000, and quote (not to you as car buyers though) a failure rate per 100, 3 per hundred being pretty good.

 

 

[Captain]

Here's some numbers,none of our Jabiru engines even got to 400tt before needing major attention.The man doing the L2 job is a motorcycle mechanic with 40+ years up his sleeve.All sheduled maitenance was carried out every 25 hours.What are your qualifications Turboplanner?

Wow, Skyhog.

 

A Motorcycle Mechanic with 40 + years experience.

 

Now that's a stunning qualification.

 

Where can I get his number?

 

He must be a real whizzzz ............... whose J engines, that are in his L2 care & maintenance, can't get to 400 hrs ............ and you say none of them got there?.

 

I'd stick with him if I were you.

 

You are right. He must be a really great mechanic, and this wouldn't have anything to do with him .............. but maybe you should get him to call one of the non L2's and non geriatric bike spanner-men who have their J engines well past that number without issues.

 

 

[Skyhog]

I don't think the age of the bloke really matters and I wouldn't describe him as a geriatric.Name calling is childish!The engines came from Bundaberg in a box with 0 time,so how is it the L2's fault if all scheduled maintenance was carried out and the thing needed a top end rebuild after 400hrs?Maybe some people are happy to just keep pouring oil into them.I have seen what happens to people on this forum that don't like Jabirus so I'm expecting to cop it.A few engines might get to TBO but I'll bet that most don't.If you think most will,you're possibly living a fantasy.

 

 

[turboplanner]

I have seen what happens to people on this forum that don't like Jabirus so I'm expecting to cop it

Bit of a memory lapse? Let's go back a few posts