sseeker

He's done us proud once again and it was a spectacular performance by all as usual. May I also add that he's one of us! However the race circuit was done in an MXS-R

Hey everyone, I'm thinking into the future now, I'm a fairly new pilot 23.8hrs almost got my pilot cert. My brother is an experienced GA pilot and could be the person accompanying me on my trip (or my mum, who isn't a very experienced pilot, or a pilot at all ) I'm looking at my options for a trip to Newcastle in NSW. By August (which is when I plan to undertake the trip) I should have roughly 70-100 hours (combined dual and solo - I fly quite regulary, and navs build hours quickly I take it?) Some of the things I've been considering are: Where to stay? - I've done the Nullarbor trip by road and I know quite a few roadhouses on the Eyre Highway have airstrips. What aircraft I can take? - J160C would take way to long with crew & light luggage. I was actually thinking of a Tecnam or J230? Approximately how long it will take one way. - I'm guessing a few days to 1 week? Of course the return journey to WA will take longer because of strong headwinds. Cost. - It isn't much of a problem, flying costs money & it's worth every penny. Some family lives in Pt. Augusta & Adelaide (and I hear Parafield is pretty friendly with ultralights as well! :big_grin:) so it'll be worth visiting them on the way across. I also realise that Newcastle's main airport is RAAF Williamtown which is a controlled aerodrome. Can anyone suggest a local country strip? It's a bit of a plunge for some who at the time will have approx 70-100hrs but you have to take it eventually I guess, and I think a trip across the Nullarbor is ideal. It'll build loads of experience and will be worth it! Reason I wanna take the whole trip is because there's a conference in Newcastle in August & I really want to make a presentation for me and my brothers business. Hopefully it'll pay my return trip Anything else I should consider or take note of? I appreciate your help, Andrew

Thank you all for your input. Cfi, good point! The airspeed indicator is usually clearly visable and should have a white arc in it, really you have no excuse to fly outside of it with flaps deployed.

You've got a good point there BlackRod, I think the J170 is an alternative to the J160 with bigger tanks etc... but in return you pay that price of lower usable load and lower climb performance? -Andrew

BlackRod, I'd say the Va has something to do with the modified airframe (expanded wings + winglets maybe? Not sure...) most ultralights have a Va lower than there cruise. Like the J230 can apparently cruise at 120kts, yet its Va is 90... I think it's just in case something goes wrong. I know of one GA aircraft, the Diamond 40 infact that does the same thing, you *can* cruise is above Va and it's very capable of achieving it but it's Va is lower. My response to the OP is pretty much covered in BlackRods post, the J170 is just another upgrade from the J160 which is an upgrade from the LSA all of which have the same powerplant.

Good stuff. Welcome to the forum, I look forward to reading some of your topics. -Andrew

I know a fair few airports have video cameras on the runway but they're ones that take a photo every 30 minutes or something, so kinda useless in this situation. But you're right, in this day in age someone will invent something.

Simple solution in my opinion, 1. Get his callsign 2. Get the time it happened. 3. Ring CASA/RA-Aus and report it. That's totally unacceptable especially from a GA pilot flying a C210.

A lot of students don't realise that owning a plane is expensive. It's not just a matter of buying one and keeping it in your backyard and having it cost nothing after that. Hangarage Maintenance (spare parts, 50hourlys, 100hourlys, overhauls etc...) Fuel Insurance Registration A load of responsibilities (for us young ones!) I've spoken to some people at my aerodrome about it and they recommend purchasing a fully built aircraft at first and learning to maintain that and seeing if you can afford it. No point building an aircraft unless someone with experience can help you. I've thought about buying a Thruster T85 (can pick a second hand one up for something like $7k?) but there's no way I'd be able to afford the ongoing costs on my own.

No worries Tomo, I mounted the camera I purchased near the flaps bar but it fell down during takeoff (first time that's happened) but it gave an excellent view of the instrument panel/rudders so I can upload the video if you like. Thanks, Andrew

Well it's not all that 'important' but I can see it being an issue for some pilots and students, especially those who train in or own a hire and reward Jabiru. During my preflight inspection I noticed, what appeared to me as wear on the rubber boot where the undercarriage leg connects to the aircraft (underneath door). Turns out it was just some paint peeling and it was normal... Instructor showed me what I should be looking for and most of it was on the flaps. Where the control horn connects to the actual flap on the underside of the wing, the laminate was coming off quite a bit (still safe to fly however because it's just laminate) but this is because students & pilots are deploying the flaps above 80kts (I think the specific speed is 84kts) this can apparently lead to cracking in the flaps and a nice bill for the flying school, not all that fair is it? BUT that's just a minor problem out of whats unfolding, not only was it damaging the laminate on the flaps it's also damaging the control horn sticking up out of the wing on the inboard section (right above the doors) and this means the flaps are coming loose! For example in our aircraft (J160C) the left wing flap is fine and sturdy, however the right wing flap is coming loose and rattles around quite a bit (once again still safe to fly... or is it?) So what happens when you have air flowing under the wing and into the flaps? Of course because the right flap is loose, it pushes out a little bit meaning the right wing has a lower angle than the left wing meaning the left wing is generating more lift than the right wing so you bank to the right... Right? Well I thought the flaps were fine and there was nothing wrong with them, surely being a little loose can't cause that much damage right? Wrong... Instructor threw an activity at me that I've never done before, late downwind he said, "Right your controls are locked, fly the plane..." My first reaction was to keep the attitude good and the speed alive, so I monitored that with power (more power = nose up and loss of speed etc... etc...) next thought was, right I need to keep the wings level but my ailerons are locked, rudder works good in a situation like this... (For anyone that doesn't understand, when you push the right rudder pedal the outside wing (left) accelerates and generates more lift, therefore you roll to the right as well as yaw. & visa versa) But of course our little flap issue comes into account now. I had my flaps stage 1 due to being on late downwind (about to turn base) so of course as stated above, the left wing was generating more lift than the right. This caused us to bank to the right, at first it was controllable and I was able to maintain flight but it got much worse. It got to a stage where me nor the instructor could control the bank to the right using FULL left rudder. At that stage we were at atleast 30 degrees bank so the exercise was aborted and I levelled out and went out, turned around and rejoined the circuit. Obviously it could be avoided by raising the flaps, but that wasn't the point of the activity. Your engine has failed, the last thing you're thinking about is a control lock, and your flaps are damaged, but you've already put them down and some how your electrics/flaps fail (possible fire). I can assure you, you wouldn't walk away from the crash. It's something everyone should take into account, look after your flaps. They're brilliant and make landing a fair bit easier, but they're also very dangerous if damaged. I just thought I'd share my story and hopefully everyone can learn something from it. Thanks, Andrew From the way I explained things in this article, it seemed like a crash. It wasn't a crash, just a simple training exercise.

Hi country kid, I was one of the lucky ones, nothing of mine was damaged. Good luck with the repairs.

Yeah the reason I ask is just out of pure curiosity. I have no intention of flying overseas in a single engine aircraft, especially an ultralight. Sounds to complex and I wouldn't want to risk crashing an aircraft and possibly killing myself just for the thrill of flying internationally.

Yes I mean flying it to an international destination, for example Darwin, NT to Kupang, Indonesia (it's the smallest international leg I could find.) or Melbourne, Vic. to Devonport, Tas. There's actually some photos on the Jabiru website of a trip from Sydney, NSW to Tas. Link: http://jabiru.net.au/Photopage/Magazine%20Articles/Aust%20to%20NZ%20flight/J230%20flight%20to%20NZ.pdf << But they've registered it in GA registration... So is something like this possible under RA-Aus?

I'm going to agree 100% with this statement. I use flight sim quite a bit (I've got around 160hrs on VATSIM logged. Yeah it's what I do when I'm bored ) Stalling/Spinning is very unrealistic in my opinion, in FSX/FS2004 you won't stay stalled in the spin therefore you won't hold a constant airspeed so it's pretty much a very steep spiral dive. If you wanna practice some instrument work it's ideal, circuit work, VOR/NDB is all good (not that you use it in RA-Aus), it's also a lot of fun and a great way to kill some time while improving *some* skills. I build computers for a living and with those specs I would probably go with FS2004 (if you really want FSX go for it, it will definitely run.) but FS2004 has a lot of free add ons (a Jab even!) and you can pump the graphics/settings up quite high with minimal strain on your PC. Don't let this fool you, a lot of people complain about FS2004 scenery, there is crap loads of free add ons for scenery in Australia that you can download that will make it equal to or better than FSX. With FSX most add ons you have to pay for and require a high computer spec BUT if you do have a good computer the graphics are the best. So really it's up to you. Hope that helped! Feel free to PM me if you're interested in some PC help or your concerned with your decision. P.S I went full on and purchased the Saitek yoke, rudder and throttle add on. Well worth it! -Andrew

Hi everyone, Not sure if this has been asked before, but what are the regulations regarding RA-Aus registered aircraft overseas? I would've thought that it would be prohibited but I've heard of some RA-Aus aircraft flying to New Zealand. Don't have my operations manual on me so I can't check, anyone care to share your opinion/fact? Thanks, Andrew

That's fine pradeep, I was just unsure whether my explanation was correct. When you plug your headset into the aircraft you actually plug it into the intercom, not the radio (for a 2 seater aircraft).

I don't know whether this has anything to do with what you're after, but keep in mind you don't actually plug your headset into the radio, you plug it into the intercom. Unless you're flying a single seater or an AC with no intercom of course...

Flaps as required, you don't *have* to use them. I've done flapless landings and they're not a problem, nothing to hard but I've always used flaps for glide approaches especially stage 1 because it generates the most amount of lift and gives you a nice nose down attitude. I generally apply the final stage of flaps when I'm sure I'm going to make it. If you've read my other posts you'll see that the Jabiru POH isn't all that reliable, I think you'll find that most pilots that have flown Jabirus for a long time operate them on an experience side of things and don't really pay any attention to what's in the POH (which isn't the smartest thing to do). Perfect example: Fuel pump should be left on when starting the engine, most people leave it on for 5 seconds then switch it off (which is exactly what I do.) But that's a little off topic, sorry about that.

Hi everyone, Not sure if someone has mentioned it yet, but a couple of days ago in Perth we had a pretty bad thunderstorm (with huge hail!) Here's a special report my mate picked up: SPECI YPPH 220912Z 34022G32KT 1500 +TSRA FEW003 SCT018 BKN048CB 20/20 Q1015 RMK INTER 0920/1212 VRB25G55KT 2000 TSGR BKN020 FEW050CB Just interested to know if anyone's aircraft was damaged by hail/wind? Regards, Andrew

Well I really wish I could make it (being a SLAC WA hosted event and all) but I'm off on a 1 week golf trip across the Nullarbor!

Hi Bill, Nah they don't give an actual day it's just whatever month it was issued to the next year (same month). For example what I said above: April 2009 - April 2011. Regards, Andrew

Yeah I'd also like to know when it's on. Flown to Wongan Hills before and the tar strip is in ace condition. Can't say much for the cross strip but

Yes I'd definitely complain to someone, my ASIC is exactly 24 months. APR 2009 - APR 2011.

What gets me is why do you need 'plain language' weather? What's the fun in reading a boring old forecast? ;)