Wirraway

Is it killing it??? Hard to say, but today there are options that weren’t available previously. what do you own and/or fly, Old Man Emu?

Many good comments here, but.. i was infected with the flying bug, about 1963, as a 5 year old at the opening of the Bunbury, W,A. airstrip in 1963. Flying displays, and skydivers. I can still see the parachutist who landed off the premises walking past me, in his white overalls, with bundles of canopy in his arms . And the aircraft!!!!!!!! and the aircraft. So, I scratched the skydiving itch many yesrs ago, then discovered the AUF, In about 1990. Quicksilvers were pretty flash back then, along with Thrusters, Drifters, and many more. Along comes marriage, mortgages, many years later, 2018, start learning to fly RAAus style. to buy an aircraft, yes there are Drifters, Thrusters and Quicksilvers still available, but if I am going to pay hangarage for one of those, why not buy a much more capable aircraft that will not cost any more to keep? And That may be the answer to the question. For those that want to fly “basic”, rag and tube types, I do not believe there is any impediment. But now, aircraft capable of 90+ knots are affordable to many. So why is there a problem? yes, numbers of aircraft for sale are down, but there are still aircraft for sale at less than $15,000. today a Skyfox came on the market and was sold within 12 hours. Good luck to The buyer. Do I spend about $15,000 on a single seat Sapphire, a lot of fun I admit, or wait and spend $30,000 on a side by side 2 seater...

Sorry I may be late to this thread, but have just seen your post. Red rag, meet bull. Yes, my poor parents purchased a brand new shit box, otherwise known as a Hillman Hunter in 1971/1972. 3 days after purchase, this was a new car, it could not be started. The dealer had a mechanic on our front lawn for 4 days trying to get it started. Yep, mechanic spent 4 days working on our front lawn. Other issues, the glovebox fell into the passengers lap. Window winders fell off. and numerous other issues. Generally, a piece of excrement. As for your comment, "you can’t knock a Hilman Hunter unless you own one." No, any sane person is allowed, and encouraged, to knock a Hillman Hunter, otherwise known as a piece of shit. Anyway, back to aircraft.

Thanks. Back to the original question. Cheers.

A supplementary question, if I may. Your Rotax is, for argument’s sake, 1900 hours and 10 years old, (according to whatever the previous answer is). Do you overhaul or bin it and get a new one??? I am told there’s not a lot of difference in price between the two options.

Thanks Neil. Appreciate that.

Thanks for that. Appreciate your info.

First and foremost, any vices????? Your answer, that Ole only built about 5, partially answers another question, why is there so little info, but if he only built 5, that explains that. The next question, why only 5? Real world cruise speed??? Very little reference to the Wasp on these pages, but poster Waspot, some time ago, mentioned how he took off with only about 20% fuel on board, and on climb out the engine stopped. he said the fuel pickup was at thw front of the fuel tank, and on the climb out angle, the fuel was at thw back of the tank, not the front. is this still an issue???? And, are they a worthwhile little machine??? Thanks for any info. cheers. :)

Thanks Peter, I appreciate your suggestions, but I have already viewed those sites. I was hoping someone with first hand experience of the Wasp might share their experiences. cheers

I have heard there may be one for sale, however, I can find very little info on it. Most articles/links efer to the AAK Hornet. Does anyone have any experience, knowledge or info on the Wasp, please??? I have searched this site, and once again, more info on the Hornet as opposed to the Wasp. There was a post from Waspot, but he appears to no longer be on board. Tks in advance.

I have heard there may be one for sale, however, I can find very little info on it. Most articles/links efer to the AAK Hornet. Does anyone have any experience, knowledge or info on the Wasp, please??? I have searched this site, and once again, more info on the Hornet as opposed to the Wasp. There was a post from Waspot, but he appears to no longer be on board. Tks in advance.

TLDR, Yeah, I know, piss-poor excuse....but i did read many posts. Am willing to contribute. Wjat are the bank details??? Please???

obviously not at a major GA airfield like Jandakot or Moorabbin.

Interesting conversation. Recently attained my RPC and Pax endorsement. looking for a suitable aircraft. Can afford about 150-ish a month hangarage. Have also noticed a sudden drop in the number if aircraft fir sale .......is it because (a) people are not renewing their advert, or (b) thd aurcraft are being sold.????? Being in WASSIELAND, (Western Australia) one can add several thousand dollars to the purchase price just bringing it hime, in W.A. The SLACWA which has it’s s own sealed airstrip at Bindoon, and Greensides Flying Club at Muchea are both within Restricted airspace courtesy of the RAAF. Which means flying is restricted to weekends, by and large. So the 55 year old dream of owning, continues to be a dream......

Way back last century I was working in the electronic media, on the day the pointy end fell off an oil tanker off the W.A. coast. This link has the details. Aust. Maritime Safety Authority As the report says, Perth's 3 commercial TV stations were within a few hundred metres of each other in Tuart Hill and Dianella. The fog that day was pretty bad, it was nearly 30 years ago (faaarrrkk am I that old????) and I thought that the fog would prevent us flying. My recollection is that visibility was less than 200 metres, and that's being generous. Extremely generous. But the helicopter pilot said, "Get your gear organised, we're off." Me, "What about the fog??? And isn't the Jetranger only VFR?" Pilot, " Yep, but we have Special VFR clearance." So we take off, and after about 1 and a half seconds, can't see diddly squat. I realise the turn indicator is not level, obviously without visual reference the body can't feel the turn, don't want to distract the pilot, but don't want to die either, so I decide the safe course of action is to point to it, he nods. (Later I explained my thinking to him, and he was happy). Anyway, we finally break out of the fog and can see the A.B.C. transmitter tower at Hammersley, just above the fog. The tower is 180 metres high, sitting about 24 metres ASL, which means the top of the fog was about 650 ft ASL. Sepcial VFR. The VFR you have when you can't see a thing. CASA & Special VFR for helicopters Anyway, for some pictures of what really happened here's a Youtube link taken from inside the Channel 7 AS 350 Squirrel. No I wasn't working for Channel 7.

Was this the video taken down?????? https://www.airlive.net/alert-footage-emerging-of-the-c-130-water-tanker-crash-in-australia-killing-the-three-us-firefighters-on-board/?fbclid=IwAR1jpGgIhzBFAUiS66g3xKN08Pni7p3_WAYuoPAj98MGPcBGN09P3MEPw-g not claiming to be an expert, but in this video, have the pilots made the transition from VFR to IFR when they entered the smoke???????

Folks, I appreciate all the responses, Skippy Diesel, amongst others, raises important points which I have considered, including hangarage. To me, one of the advantages of owning is completing training for endorsements in my own aircraft, rather than paying for one. As I read the manual, 5 hours for a PAX endorsement, plus a minimum of 12 for a cross country endorsement. Another factor in my life is that I am a shift worker, and the "5 p.m. knock off on a Friday" is rarely on a Friday and never at 5 p.m. Owning my own means I can fly when it suits me, not when it suits the person hiring out the aircraft. I have considered virtually every point raised above, and I appreciate your inputs. As I have previously mentioned, taking into account speed, payload, price and maintenace, the best airframes are probably the Jab 160, followed by the Jab 170, because the 170 is more expensive. The engine is the issue. But, time is (sort of) on my side. This seed of this journey was planted in 1963, and I hope I have at least a decade or two to go. Cheers.

Thanks for the responses. Appreciated. I'm not trying to start an argument here, I respect everyone's opinion and position on the issue, proponents of the Jab engine refer to cost as a big advantage, and no "expiry date" on the engine, although as I have learnt, the Rotax can be run on condition past the use by date. Does one spend a relatively reasonable amount of money $25-35 thou on something like a J160 with reasonable payload and speed, and keep one's fingers crossed, or pay extra for a Rotax equipped engine????? I wish I had the money to not have to make this decision!!!!!! But then again, I'm lucky to be in this position anyway. ?

Greetings, and just wondering what are the costs of owning a Rotax 4 stroke??? Some might say if you have to ask the question, then you can't afford it........but...... Just wondering a ball park figure for the 5 year hose replacement, and costs involved in replacing parts at 50 hourly, 100 hourly, etc., inspections??? Or, how much an hour do you put aside for maintenace??? Answers much appreciated.

Thanks for that, appreciate your comments.

I have searched this website, found a couple of posts dating back some years, but does anyone have any recent experience using the Mercedes Smart car engine in aircraft? There was one recently at White Gum Farm, York, but I did not get the chance to chat with the owner. Just wondering pros and cons?????

Well, as others have said, there is no question in the original post. ☮️ I thought the point of the thread was to see how many tangents can be wrought in one thread!!! ? But if you were to ask me how to fly..........I've noted 4 elements. A dream, an ambition. A few decades of patience while one creates...... A fat wallet. Toss in some hard work and determination. That's my story.

What was the question again???? And perhaps the answer???? July 19, when the original post was made seems so long ago.