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Student Pilot

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Everything posted by Student Pilot

  1. Student Pilot
    Light aircraft have been using triangulated steel tube for undercarriages since the 1920's. Depends on the welding process and the welders skill as to any need for heat treating/stress relieving after welding. Chromemoly tube is very strong 1.2 mm would be ok, what thickness do the plans call for?
  2. Student Pilot
    Everything said is spot on. That's the reason why nobody bothers to make submissions, CASA will not listen.
  3. Student Pilot
    You blokes think too much 😬
  4. Student Pilot
    It's easy to get discouraged with CASA, they won't listen to experienced people. You only have to look at what they have done to businesses over the last 40 years. Doesn't matter who you are or what you say, they will not listen they know better. That's why people will not make submissions, waste of time. Admittedly CASA are just part of the problem, Federal gov, local councils, sacred military airspace have all contributed to the elimination of GA. It's just getting too hard, too expensive.
  5. Student Pilot
    Wasn't a big fan of mogas in Beavers, fuel used to have trouble feeding the carb. Mainly ground handling and part throttle, in hot weather there would be vaporisation pulling the fuel up from the low tanks. Mogas stinking stuff compared to avgas. 985 in a Stearman is a wonderful thing Nev 😁 Admittedly I have only flown a Stearman with a 985 but is was a very nice machine to fly, fast at around 110 in cruise. Docile yet responsive, ground handling a delight, aero's gentle. The stories about how hard a Stearman is to fly are wildly exaggerated. The machine I flew was a rebuilt Ag aircraft, in the hot weather you could still smell malathion wafting 🤓
  6. Student Pilot
    Nev the 985 wazza good engine, yes some would use a bit of oil. The main reason for that was maintenance and running over time. It was considered normal practice to run over 2000 hours on AG aircraft when the TBO was initially 1200 then 1400. On Ag use it was mainly topdressing or super, a load every 6 minutes or so, that's full power (36" and 2300 revs) back to max continuous a touch of cruise then landing, every 6 minutes for 2000 hours. I have seen 985's run to 3000 hours, it wasn't much good for overhaul just throw it away. At the time you could get an overhauled 985 for under 20K so some treated them as a throwaway engine which was a shame. I used to pull mine at 1400, most were burning less than a litre an hour. The worst I have flown was working for a particularly dodgy operator I had to top up the oil during flight, the oil was running very low before the the 2 hour fueling. Used to have a watering can of oil on the passenger floor. Oil tank used to hold 20 litres. The only aircraft with a worse oil burn was a Dromader, all of those used to burn/leak/throw lots of oil. The oil tank on a Beaver was inside the cabin for arctic operations you could refill the oil from the cabin after using the oil dilation function to get a quicker spinning engine in the cold temps.
  7. Student Pilot
    The one's I saw operating used to leak less oil than 985's, Alvis were a geared engine and swung a huge prop. They were around 600 HP. The engine was considered for powering the Beaver when they were designing it. There was one that flew with an AL powerplant.
  8. Student Pilot
    They had tappet covers Nev. A high power machine for the size, I vaguely remember they were similar capacity to a 985 PW but more power. They were a fuel injected engine as well.
  9. Student Pilot
    Self declaring 🤣 what a waste of time and money. How many layers of security are required? The old days everybody who help a private licence and up had an ASIO file, is it the same now with an RAA licence? Anybody with a powder ticket or firearms licence also had an ASIO file along with all number of triggers, anybody on the fringes of left politics being one. I wonder now do they monitor far right and conspiracy theory mobs now? They are by far a greater risk to Australia than international terrorism. Look at other countries for what can happen, US for instance. Red neck conspiracy theorists are the biggest threat to democracy.
  10. Student Pilot
    Sy used to be an engineer at Aerial Agriculture before he started the bike shop. He bought a Beaver wreck and repaired it over the years. A true aviation enthusiast.
  11. Student Pilot
    It's a Cresco not a Fletcher. The advantages of using something closer than a satellite is more detailed data.
  12. Student Pilot
    Orchid beach airstrip more than enough room for a trike
  13. Student Pilot
    The rather neat casting would indicate it's factory to me. Homebuilt or kits would use something a lot more basic. Stearman stick guess?
  14. Student Pilot
    Maybe try the EAA, they have a lot of keen antiquers.
  15. Student Pilot
    Cost is the main cause people aren't flying. Wages have been going backwards at 2% a year for the last 30 or 40 years compared to cost of living. For people on wages even flying in an RAA aircraft is not feasible. For a lower priced GA aircraft not including the purchase price you would be looking at between 10 and 20 thousand dollars a year depending on how many hours flown.
  16. Student Pilot
    We'll have to disagree Turbo, every airfield I've travelled to has way less traffic than years gone by. Most I talk to say GA is in a downward spiral.
  17. Student Pilot
    I'm a lazy sod so can't be bovered looking up the figures but........Bankstown is an example of the decline in GA. Now compared to 70's, 80's? I disagree with Turbo's optimistic rosy view of GA and that CASA staff are keen flying enthusiasts. (Turbo, you employed by CASA or an ex CASA employee?) I've been flying professionally for 40 years and have had my own aviation business and been chief pilot for several others, in 40 years I can only think of one positive experience with CASA. Others I fly with have the same experience. Any rural town in Eastern Oz walk outside and listen, 70's and 80's you would always hear an aircraft. I might hear one 3 times a year now. Over-complication of regs, unnecessary changes in licensing and compliance for no reason, take Part 61 licence as an example. Read the prune thread with Glenn Buckley as to an example of CASA's treatment of GA. CASA moto......"We're not happy till your not happy" is the joke line, if it wasn't so true it would be funny.
  18. Student Pilot
    Needs bigger tyres! 😁
  19. Student Pilot
    Edenhope is a good airstrip, I usually do a few loads from there each summer. The CFA boys and girls there are top notch and do a great job. You load the bombers at all Bruce?
  20. Student Pilot
    Not a lot different to threading under powerline and staying constant height above a crop only spraying it's done all day, not just for 30 seconds or so. It is now not possible to fly under or anywhere within something like 75 metres from a powerline with aerial application in Australia. So basically every pilot spraying in Australia has to brake the law to do the job. Easy to see why aerial spraying is virtually banned in the UK.
  21. Student Pilot
    The world record thing has progressed to stupid levels, yes it's first but so what? Doesn't prove anything. How many of you are "world record" holders? Longest taxi without lifting off? Most donuts/groundloops in a single go?
  22. Student Pilot
    Chinese/Taiwanese/Russian/Israeli variation on some billion dollar must have, won't be in service till 2050, whizz bang jit.
  23. Student Pilot
    The report said he stalled at 4 to 500 feet doing a slow run after flying around t height for 17 minutes, no mention of a beatup
  24. Student Pilot
    Gordon Bedson did the same thing with his 2 seat Resurgum
  25. Student Pilot
    Do you drink alcohol or smoke? Have you flown commercially in airlines? All of those have risks way in excess of the odds of any vaccine problems. Are you a risk taker?
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