Mhalc

$482 in a bundle at Bunnings. If you were wiring a plane from scratch, that's quite cheap for what you get in terms of traceability of wiring. Heck, even for the 4by or something it'd be good if you are adding a bunch of accessories!

in process picture of the shrink tubing labels in use.

Hi Mhalc, I have just called them with some questions and they are definitely still in business.

Thats great, I hate to see business go under because of this.

New Zealand came out of the Lock Down into Alert Level 1 on Tuesday, three days ago. People can now go back to work so I think you'll have your Airmaster in the near future.

If they did not fold as a result of being out of business 2.5 months? I sure hope not, they have a very nice product.

Back to the original topic: As little as possible. So far I have been able to fly locally (see below) and have made several xcountry flights where the economy is open. Did cancel 2 flights due to local shutdowns at the destination. But all in all still getting flights in.

https://www.brother.com.au/en/products/all-labellers/labellers/pt-e550wvp

 

I thought that some of you might be interested in this, as there was a discussion about labling wires. They say the wrap is legible after many hours at 150 deg C.

 

Disclaimer: my engineering is I built a tree house.

I used this approach on my Lightning build. It’s a bit pricey, at about $1/ft US on eBay. Combine that with my label makers inability to control the print spacing, lots of waste. That said I really like the results.

New Zealand was put into an extreme lockdown by Saint Jacinda, probably slow due to covid restrictions.

Maybe very slow if they had to order the Sensenich blades from the USA.

Fortunately the blades I wanted, they had in stock from Sensenich. But I am sure your are correct about the “extreme lockdown” measures.

The only problem here is the inconsistencies between States with differing measures. That is a theme common to federations but it would seem to me this issue would have been a good time for them all to come together and agree on a common approach. No, too much stupid rivalry and of course different opinions from each chief medical officer so now we are almost out of the woods & still have all the different crazy rules and some State borders closed. Across the ditch the single approach reduced confusion & they are back to normal except for the borders.

Well its nice to know the southern latitudes have the same political issues the northern ones do!

As for GA/experimental flying here, mostly it depends on your destination. Here I have traveled to northern CA, AZ, and TX (mostly because business are open) and have been able to enjoy my new build. That said, I did cancel a few planned trips due to closures at the destinations. Keep you tanks topped up, and your tach time increasing :)

My reserch into Airmaster would suggest that they fit third party props (dont make their own) to their hub.

 

At the time of purchase, you can select from - Whirlwind,, Bolly ,Kiev,Sesenich, Warpdrive (may not apply to all aircraft or hubs).

 

It would also seem treat the AC Airmaster prop combination is significantly heavier than hydraulic competitors.

 

Airmaster has an enviable reputation and I can certainly vouch for their quick, comprehensive and processional responses to my enquiries.

I hope the “shutdowns world wide” don’t impact their “enviable reputation”. I ordered a new Airmaster hub/computer with Sensenich blades for my lightning the first of March. I hope to have it someday, but reply’s have be slow and dodgy. Hopefully once some of the restrictions are lifted it will improve.

But someday I hope to have some performance numbers :).

I think they also supply a POH and all the ADs and other relevant information for your chosen aircraft with updates?

How would this apply to “experimental amateur built” (EAB) or the Australian equivalent? Where the builder is the manufacturer responsible for the POH and AD’s (airframe)?

Wikipedia says that the Sling 2 weighs 370 kg empty. It seems that if you use a lot of smooth it makes the aircraft more heavy. Aeroprakt A32 weighs 320 empty and cruise is 115 kt instead of 120, and does not come as a kit in the US anyway. My mighty Foxbat A22LS weights 345 kg (with parachute, big wheels and fuel injection) and cruises at a massive 80 kt. According to Aeroprakt, the A32 with big wheels is not faster than the A22LS, and big wheels are not approved for use with the A32. Air is funny stuff.

Not sure why my kit was as fat as it turned out, equipment and landing gear selection is part of it. I should have weight the kit components prior to building.

As for the Sling 2, I flew one to get current and was one of the aircraft I considered while doing my initial research. As with most performance numbers the Sling routinely max cruised at 110kts (125mph), and operating with the LSA weight limit could only carry 16gal of fuel, no baggage. The EAB version helped but would not carry 2 people, baggage and full fuel. The Sling flew very nice, just did not meet my mission. The Esqual is similar to the Lightning and is ~100lbs lighter (typical build). As you can see from the above “Off Airport Landing (crash)” the Lightning airframe is quite durable, my friend walked away without a scratch and the desire to build a 2nd Lightning.

BTW the new carbon fiber airframes from Europe look to be both very strong, and light. I am looking forward to seeing one first hand!

Another build is allways good. I shall have to get out the maps and see where all those states are/ Mu USA geography is a bit hazy It looks like a big round trip, missing Texas.

Is the Hackman as good as they say and is it still going?

Yes still in business, and the new product has been upgraded. (Plastic parts are now brass/stainless). As for the performance, where I fly in the western US, cruising altitudes are 7500’ to 12500’ for me. I have found it to be very effective at these altitudes. (Yes on the portable OX).

Marc

An interesting crash-landing report below, involving a Lightning. The aircraft structure appears to be very durable, having incurred minimal damage in a landing in some pretty rugged terrain.

 

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2019/09/loss-of-engine-power-partial-arion.html

This was a friend of mine, and he walked away from the off-airport-landing :) without a scratch. In the end, both the builder & insurance company declared the aircraft a total loss. BTW he just finished building his 2nd lightning and should get its 1st flight in soon.

Interesting idea for experimental aircraft. I have built 2 fixed wing models using the pixhawk autopilot. The software has tons of features some of which may or may not be useful for manned aircraft. But the 2 models I built will auto-takeoff, fly gps waypoints at altitude, and auto-land. I am sure the features you want could be adapted nicely!

Welcome to the forum Mhalc. I take it from your crosscountry flight plan that home is California? Although it is a dot com, this is an Australian based forum with worldwide membership.

Thanks for the welcome, and yes CA is our home base for now. Over the years my flying friends have all scattered as we reached retirement age and forums, blogs, and email have become methods of keeping connected between the prized in person visits! :). I have been a anonymous viewer of your forum throughout my build process.

Marc

Congratulations, great achievement. Care to post some performance figures, weights, fuel burn etc?

Not sure how much detail you would like, but here are the basic’s:

Empty Weight: 926lbs - this is FAT for a classic Lightning build, with most in the 840-875 range.

Gross Weight 1650lbs - Me, Wife, 50lbs baggage, full fuel -> 1590 and with in the CG range :)

Fuel Burn: 5-6gal/hr - I tend to run at the top end of the cruise settings

Cruise: 150 mph - I expected slightly more, but FAT empty weight may be the contributing factor.

Stall Landing Config - 45 mph

CHT’s tend to run in the 250-260 deg F range - here in Southern CA you need to climb ~8000’ to go anywhere.

EGT’s well balanced and with HACman 1350 deg F easy to maintain

Oil Temp’s 190-200 deg F

Some build notes:

Electronics: dual EFIS (GRT), iPad, VerticalPower circuit breakers, AP (GRT)

LSA style landing gear

The heavy panel, and LSA style landing gear added most of the extra weight.

Arion just changed the wing spar’s from composite to carbon fiber which reduces kit weight by more than 40lbs.

Future additions:

Considering Airmaster CS prop

Engine Modifications - more to come once the test stand engine modifications are complete

Finished my first build in 12/2019 (EAB) Arion Lightning with a Gen.4 3300. With 80 hrs. complete, all was going as plan, until the COVID shutdown everything. Still plan CA->KS->FL->VA->NY->AZ->CA cross country this summer/fall.