cscotthendry

I would suggest to talk to the original builder if that is possible. If you're buying it from the original builder, you can often get a good idea of how much care and attention they put into building it. Another clue is the finish and appearance of the plane. Even a superficial look at a poorly built plane will show signs. Look for things not fitting or operating correctly. Did the builder take the time to decorate the plane nicely? That shows that they took some pride in the project and were prepared to invest some extra time and money on it. The finish says a lot about the builder. By the time a builder reaches the end of the physical construction, there is a strong urge to get it into the air. It may have been built to a very high standard, but if the builder was prepared to take the extra time to make it also look nice, that suggests that they are thorough and patient, two very important attributes of a good builder. I think that how the builder finished the plane suggests how they built the plane. Also, if you are buying from the original builder, ask to have a look at the build log. If it is almost or completely non-existent then I'd run a mile... in the opposite direction. In contrast, a builder that trots out something the size of a dictionary, with lots of pictures and drawings and explanations, and then bores the sox off you describing how he solved the tricky door latch issue, has probably built a good, safe plane. Also, if you're buying from the builder, you can ask them whether they varied anything from the original build instructions and if so, why. Ask about compliance with ADs and SBs on the airframe and engine. Have a look at the maintenance log and other documentation. Look specifically for documentation of builder-initiated mods made after the first registration. Ask about damage history and look for signs of any repairs made to the plane. If the builder/owner admits there is any damage history, look for it in the logs. Damage is not necessarily a show stopper, but it must be properly repaired and documented. Also it should be factored into the sale price. Ask other people who might know anything about the plane. Ask at the airport where the plane is based and ask here on the forums. I'll probably be stoking the hornets nest with this, but did the builder put a new or second hand engine in the plane when they first built it? If they put a second hand engine in, that suggests to me that they were building on a tight budget and there might be other areas where they went for the "cheap" option. Would you buy a car that had a half-life or near-end-of-life engine installed when the car was new? I wouldn't. All of these things will be checked by a competent L2 or LAME, but a lot of them are things you can check before you start throwing money at professional inspectors. Finally, if you're buying from the builder and they show any hesitation to be completely honest about any aspect of the build or maintenance of the plane, run a mile in the opposite direction. Your life could depend on it. EDIT: One last thing, take your time buying a plane and be prepared to walk away if you're not completely comfortable with any aspect of the purchase.

Around the local area the EKP works as advertised. On long trips is where things start to go wnorg. After 1-1/2 - 2 hrs, the update of the heading line starts to slow down. It gets to where it updates about every 2-3 minutes! In two minutes I can do a standard rate 360 and the poor old GPS is none the wiser. At this point the heading appears frozen and shows why you shouldn't rely on GPS for navigation cross country. I never had problems like this with my previous GPS. I've had other problems with this GPS also, where it allows settings that either conflict with other parameters and settings or that shouldn't cause problems. One of those is the WAAS/EGNOS setting. If you set this to ON in Australia, it causes the GPS to lose lock on the satellites all the time as it searches the signal for the correction info, that is not available here. WAAS/EGNOS relies on ground stations transmitting correction data to the GPS satellites, which then send a corrected signal to your GPS. We don't have them in Oz (to the best of my knowledge) and so the GPS should ignore or not allow that setting here ... but it doesn't. Another minor annoyance is that in parts of Europe (where these GPS are made) airport codes start with "L". So when you do a search for an airport, to set up a flight plan, the default starting letter is "L" so you have to scroll the thumbwheel around to "Y" which our airfields start with every time! I haven't found a way to change this default behavior yet. It's just stuff like that, that bug me with this thing. When I'm concentrating on flying the plane, little irritations like these get magnified and they add up.

I've now been working with the AvMap tech support people for about 18 months and they still haven't sorted out the heading freeze issue. It appears to me that the AvMap EKP is just a program running on Windows CE and using third party external antennas. The system is buggy and doesn't work particularly well. They seem to be trying to pin the problem on the external antenna, but they don't seem to know what it is. Do yourself a favor, don't buy an AvMap GPS.

Well, it's possible you might be in that picture or this one. I took it at Airventure in July. Yeehaw! What a show. Did you stay for the fireworks on Saturday night?

This is probably not an obscure plane, but I didn't recognize it when I saw one at Oshkosh. What is it?

Here's a circuit of what I think is wired up in the plane. Or at least it's what I think it should be. Even if the diode shorts out, you would still only have 12V on both sides of the solenoid coil. In that case, the engine might not start at all and you'd likely get a little spark in the start switch every time you tried to start the engine. The back EMF across the coil of the solenoid can become quite high as one end is open circuit when the start switch is released. That's why you should use a diode with a high PIV rating. With the diode in place, that back EMF across the diode should only get up to about 0.7V (the forward voltage drop across a silicon diode), but the coil of the solenoid could generate quite a bit of current through the diode depending on the number of turns and the voltage it tries to generate, so a diode capable of withstanding a high current is best for this application. Even then, being periodically zapped with a high current pulse, and living in a high temperature environment, it's not unreasonable to expect occasional failures of the diode. In a pinch if the diode fails at a remote place where it can't be replaced, it would be OK to just remove it temporarily to get you home. Just don't have any sensitive electronics switched on while starting the engine (if you can avoid it). In fact, this last point is important with or without the diode.

Derek: The diode is a "snubber" device used to shunt back EMF from the solenoid coil to ground when you release the start switch (or button). The actual value of the diode is not too important and if your diode has failed, try one with a higher PIV and current rating. The 1000V rating that you mentioned is the PIV (Peak Inverse Voltage) rating. All the diode really does is to stop arcing in the start switch (or button) after you release it by shunting the pulse generated by the collapsing magnetic field in the solenoid, back to ground.

As you said, it's any airport where RPT operate. As for enforcement? That can be a bit "inconsistent" shall we say? I wasn't carded at Bundy, but was pulled up at Thangool! Go figure. Was at Dubbo, but not at Moree. I wouldn't guarantee those results though.

Heath: Depending on your transport arrangements down there, Bob McIntyre sometimes has casual hangar space available. He's just outside of Yamba. We based ourselves out of there a couple of times when we had the trike. McIntyres Airfield

One of my flying instructors has a saying; "I don't do low flying because I have a back problem ... I have a big yellow stripe down it." Same applies to me.

Yep, a bit of a buff out and she'll be right! I'd say he was very, very lucky to find that tree when he did. It looked to me like the left wing had stalled and if the tree hadn't broken his (and the plane's) fall, the outcome could have been significantly worse. I'd guess that the ground rushing up at him would not have been as flexible as the tree he flew into.

Just watched this today. I thought they did a great job at keeping the tension up throughout the movie. Sure you could pick holes in the movie details, but name a movie that you can't. I think they portrayed the bravery that it must have taken to be involved there, quite well. The biggest letdown for me was Kenneth Branagh. I think he is one of the most overrated actors in the industry. People like to compare him to Olivier, but he's not a pimple on Olivier's bum. The flying sequences were reasonable, but the CGI wasn't all that great. Get beyond the details and soak up the dramatic tension and IMO, it's a good movie.

This is not specific knowledge, just thoughts. We flew out to Ayers Rock via Birdsville in early May. The weather was a little changeable but the temps were good. My feeling is that late October would be starting to get warm out there, especially this year as it has already started to get unseasonably warm here in Qld. Happy flying.

Thanks Bob. Do you know who has them and whether they will let other people use them?

Short answer is "Yes" a 912 can be hand propped, but it takes a bit of doing. There is a video on YouTube showing a guy doing it.

G'Day all: I have a very small project that I've made for my plane, but to finish it I need to bend a piece of sheet metal. Is there anyone on the southside of Brisbane that has a sheet metal brake that I could use for about 10 minutes? Cheers

Update: There are now 5 videos in this collection. 6 and 7 are uploading today.

And if all else fails, try ringing RA Aus and get the ops manager on the phone and ask the question directly. They're not dragons down there, they're just people like us and will answer questions. Then once you have a direct answer from the horse's mouth (so to speak) you have an authority to quote if something goes awry.

This is for the airplane tragics, like me. On the way to EAA Airventure (Oshkosh) we stopped in Dayton Ohio and visited the National Museum of the United States Airforce. All warbird tragics should know about this place. The extent and scale of the museum cannot be described in words or even pictures or video. You have to visit the place to take it in. We spent two days there and my wife thought it would be boring so she thought she would sit in the cafeteria with her laptop to pass the time. She didn't spend much time in the cafeteria! I videoed a walkthrough of all eight galleries as well as the rocket gallery. I will post the walkthroughs (mostly) unedited rather than select which aircraft people might be interested in. As I write this, there is one (of nine) galleries posted. Keep an eye out for more as I upload them in the next few days. If you enjoy these videos, please share the links with your friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries

Do you think that all cars should be fitted with turn signals and brake lights? Oh wait, they are! Aircraft radio is the aeronautical equivalent of turn signals and brake lights. Why anyone would want to fly without a radio is beyond me. Many's the time I've been approaching a field and heard someone in the circuit and looked and looked for them, and not been able to spot them among the clouds or ground clutter, but at least I was aware they were there and could stay away from the circuit until I was sure it was safe. Don't want to have a radio in your plane? It's OK to gamble with your own life, but don't gamble with mine thanks!

This was my second last flight (my last one was 13 hours in a 747) In the first pic, if you look closely, you can see EAA Airventure out the front windows. It was a birthday present from my wife.

Narromine is within easy walking distance to town. Lightning Ridge is interesting, but you may need to book some transport into town. The Bowls club may be willing to come out and pick you up. There are some interesting art galleries in town.

Also, to be legal, you must have done at least three landings in the previous 90 days. This is normally an easy box to tick, but if your flying is infrequent, it may come into play.

Interesting, I wasn't aware that pipistrel do kits.

Hmm, saw some pics of the Pelican on floats. V.Interesting!!!