Moneybox

For jobs like this we'd just supply a CAD drawing of the entire dash and the engraver would cut the holes as well.

I guess the days of engraving have gone. We used to use an engraver in Balcatta WA. The machine just followed whatever image/text we supplied but worked like a milling machine and mechanically cut it out. For jobs like this they used a triplex plastic where they cut through the top layer exposing the text colour layer underneath. No paint or anything else.

There must have been a connection there somewhere? Perhaps in the process of going for a medical, some will go nuts and others choose to bolt.

That sounds like their speed of travel.

Anything you alter could upset your structural warranty and even a potential insurance payout.

I didn't build it Nev and I'm not allowed to modify it. This is a Type Certified aircraft.

They are relying on the sheet steel to give it the diagonal bracing and that might work with enough tek screws fastening it.

Unfortunately common sense is not a requirement to get a job these days. They can train just about anybody to do a simple task where the rules and specifications are within reach of a computer key. If what you need is not clearly written it either doesn't exist or is unobtainable. A few weeks back I called a company that claim to be the biggest fastener supplier in Australia. I was ordering a variety of regular sized nuts and bolts, it was a struggle but we were getting there. That was until I ordered 20 x 1/2" UNC stainless steel nuts. The young lady said "We don't have 1/2", will 1" do?" After giving her my address she said "Are you local?" I said yes I Cue I am so she charged me $9.95 freight. After a few days I called to see how my order was going. The guy said "We can't get it to Cue for $9.95, I'll have to charge another $20." I said no problem and gave him my CC details. A week later I called back and got the same girl, I asked how my order was going. She asked who she could send it with, I said Star Track or Toll would be best. I called back in a few days and she asked "What's the number for Star Track?" I said 132345, I think she wanted my account number but they'd already taken money for freight so I gave her the phone number. My bolts and nuts ordered on 2nd January turned up yesterday all correct. Imagine the trouble you'd have employing somebody if the job required mechanical aptitude, technical skills or just common sense.

Tying down? Slip of the tongue.... what is going on here?

I think it might be advisable to test the rate of climb of an Evektor Sportstar while still on the ground 😏

Nothing tubular means they are relying on the sheets of iron to give it torsional strength. Perhaps the one with the caravan had lots of roof fastenings but not enough in the walls or very light sheeting. The box type structure has to be rigid enough and the frame is just keeping the box in shape.

Yes the sea containers are the most sturdy but we don't buy much from Geraldton because there's no regular freight service. Most things come from Perth.

Looks like you made the trusses. I can do all that work but there are only so many jobs I can get through and I seem to work at half the pace I did twenty years ago. I have a couple of forklifts too but they are on solid tyres and not suitable for off-road. I could get away with a jib on the loader for this sort of thing. We'll see, after I do some groundwork.

I don't know who owns it. It's surely on crown land as there's very little freehold land in Western Australia outside the town boundaries. When I told the owner of the current hanger that I was considering putting something up out there he said that it has to be a CASA approved structure because they don't want anything loose floating about the airstrip in bad weather. The shire operate it.

Skippy, I just took a look at the airbox setup. I think the heavy hose from the carburettors helps give them support. Without that they only have the reasonably loose fitting sleeve back to the manifold. My engine mounting frame has a small tube running across from the rear mounts. It's a bit hard to see in my lousy photo but there's a strap up to the rubber mount supporting the rear of the airbox and in turn the rear of the carburettors.

Here I think I can get away with anything but at YCUE the structure has to meet regulations because CASA have their bit to say about it. The one hanger at the airport is made up of two shipping containers heavily weighed down with concrete blocks, a solid steel roof spanning between and a chain between for aircraft anchorages. The ends are open which means it gives no protection from the wind or what it's carrying. I'll look into the farm shed but it'd need some modifications on the entry but it would work out cheaper than the containers considering freight and crane hire.

Mmm... That wasn't in the budget either. Building anything up here is difficult and expensive. Materials are expensive and contractors are almost impossible to get. I can buy a kit but it still has to erected.

And mine is 100kg lighter than that.

To start with I can't fly anywhere. I don't have a license and my plane is unregistered although since Tuesday last week it is at least unregistered in my name. I'm trying to get a LAME here to inspect it and issue a Form-13 and Form-14. I asked RAAus how long after inspection until I can get it in the air, Nicola said "I'll do it right away" so then I'm ready to have a little more training and familiarisation to my aircraft and I'm going solo. As soon as I can I'll be clocking up hours and at this stage YCUE is the only option around here. My airstrip is going to take a bit of work but at least I've started. In official terms I'm doing rehabilitation on an old mining lease. At lease this 1.5Ha strip should be nicely leveled and free of old mining debris. It might even get a nice patch of artificial lawn at atleast one end to make it look like I'm growing grass 😀 Today I brought home new sparkplugs (I have a tube of Wacker P12). They are sitting on the other end of the table waiting for Mrs M to etch their cylinder number and position, 1,1B,2,2B etc. The last time I ran it up it ran uneven when selecting Mag-1 and Mag-2. It could be carburettor balance but I think I have that pretty close using Mercury in the Slack Tube Manometer however I can recheck that too. My tubular insulation for the oil and coolant hoses turned up too so I'll fit that before fitting the cowl for perhaps the final time before registration. It's a 900km drive to the engineer so I'll call him and see if I can put it back on the trailer and get it down to him rather than wait for him to come up. It's no time to visit the desert goldfields.

Sounds like good timing for the current conversation subject....

The most striking thing I got from this whole conversation was the lack of an acronym for the above comment. 🤣

711km if we take the shortcut but I don't think the fuel would last the distance. It has a top speed of 60km/h.

We have a bitumen parking/runup bay. When speaking to the shire CEO he said there was some talk of running a heavy chain right through the area for tiedowns but so far nothing has been done. If I push it I have no doubt they'll help do something here in Cue. We get wild gusts of wind quite often because we have extreme temperatures and no hills or trees to break the wind. No plane would be safe left untethered. Mine is still in the back yard.

I’ve always wanted a dozer or grader for scrape and detect but couldn’t justify the price. Now I’ve sold the big lease where I needed it so that I could finance my flying. I’ve got other ground I’d like to use it on but moving it around is expensive. Just getting it home is more than $6000. To pay freight moving it to a gold lease I have to sum up the cost of freight, fuel and return freight. I’d need to be sure to find a lot more gold. For now Ripper is going to be busy building an airstrip 😅

Yesterday we took possession of Ripper and left it in a vacant paddock waiting for transport. I hope it doesn’t have to wait too long. The temperature here is pretty much unbearable. We’re not finding much gold so if it doesn’t improve we’re heading home tomorrow.