eastmeg2

The progress continues, though there's not a lot to show for it at the moment. Have removed the motor and put it back in it's Rotax box again. Have rubbed back and painted the rear suspension swing arms and front seat mount. Have ordered from Airborne: 1. A new Edge-X mast which will be much easier to fit with the engine absent. 2. Bits for mounting the new exhaust, plus powdercoating of the exhaust. 3. Tundra Forks. 4. New seat cushion and pilots backrest to fill the big hole inside the red rectangle seat frame. And Quicksilver Ultralights has a replacement fuel tank available. I was going to visit Airborne this Friday, but they don't have all of the parts available this week, plus the trip to Taree (where the Tundra Tyres and the Wizard Wing I might be buying are) has been postponed to the following weekend. So the next couple of weeks will be focussed on getting the Trike Base structure finalised with a new Mast, the Seat and Seat Belts fited, the Engine and Exhaust System mounted, the Tundra Undercarriage fitted, New fuel tank fitted and plumbed, and the Instrument Binnacle propoerly mounted to be ready to accept instruments. Once all that's done it should be ready for another visit to Airborne to get the instruments & gauges fitted and the wiring done. I can't think what else would need to be done after that before its inspection apart from bolting a wing on top. Cheers, Glen

Any updates on this front? I was amongst those running to secure my aircraft at Natfly as a storm front approached while Mick Poole was supposed to giving a talk about CTA. Also particularly interested about 95.10 being revised to encompass single place weight-shift aeroplanes as I'm presently restoring one and will be looking to get it re-registered in a few months.

Hi Brent, It sounds as you you got a much closer look at Forbes than I did as I watched it take off from the Aeroclub clubhouse verandah. I don't think it was the same individual machine as in my photo, but was the same overall design and had a more completely enclosed white pod.

Brent, Here's the photo I promised.:star: Cheers, Glen

Hi Brent, I landed at Forbes yesterday and saw what you're talking about and I've seen it up close on the ground and taken photo's before. It's a 3-axis self launching rigid-wing hang glider. Will send you a photo or two when I get on my other PC tomorrow. I only saw the one at Forbes from 100m away but I'm pretty sure it was the same machine. Cheers, Glen

Thank goodness the weather came good on Sunday morning. Like many others I was then able to fly back from Narromine, rather than having to tackle the logistics of de-rigging in the rain and squeezing it onto the back of my mate's F250 and trying to lash my wing to his on his trike trailer. So, I had all of today to tinker with the Buzzard. 1. Fitted the new 503 onto the engine mount, but still want to get new engine mount rubbers even though the rubbers are probably still useable but I'll be happier with new ones. 2. Re-Pitched the 3-bladed Ivo propellor, increasing the pitch by 2 shims. Previously it was set for use with a 532 with a 2.58 gearbox whereas I'll be using it with a 503 and a 3.47 gearbox. I don't want my brand-spankers-new 503 being over-revved so I'll be keeping an eagle eye on on the tacho during the run-in procedure and if it reaches 6800rpm on anything less than full throttle there are still another 2 pitch adjustment shims I can move. If my new pitch setting is too coarse there are up to 4 pitch shims I can use to reduce pitch. Things that still need doing: 1. Buy new fuel tank. (Same as on Quicksilver MX) 2. Fuel Plumming. 3. Wiring. ( Have an Airborne Redback wiring harness and bought a 2nd hand Powermate regulator/rectifier and the Natfly Fly-Market, so I can fit a battery to run things like a radio, GPS and landing light) 4. Procure and fit Instruments. Cheers, Glen

I spent all of last Friday outside the Airborne factory replacing all the bolts in the trike base. All the holes were round, which is good. The Buzzard generated a bit of interest. I went home with a new Rotax 503 engine package and a Redback instrument binacle, minus the instruments. (Perhaps well timed to see what can be bought at Narromine a few days from now.) Tried the 503 on the trike base over the weekend, only to realise that the engine mounting brackets are still attached to the Buzzard's old 532 motor at a different location and some other seat frame mounting bolts had to be re-ordered at the correct length and should be arriving before the weekend. This coming weekend I'll be checking all the seat frame parts with a dry assembly, though it will all have to come apart again for some painting. Will also mount the engine as I should have all the brackets, rubbers and bolts. Then, planning the hand the old seat cushion to Punkinhead and agree on a new seat cushion design I hope will be ready by early May. It was starting to look a bit like a trike base with all the shiny new bolts and the old seat cushion and shiny new intrument binacle in place. Will get some more photo's this weekend, when I'm not at Natfly. Cheers, Glen

Biggles Jr, I can understand your thinking this if you've only ever sailed a rental cat at the local beach. They have sails that, frankly you could do better than a garbage bag and the hulls are built sooo heavy to take the kind of beating a novice sailor would dish out. But, if you've ever sailed a boat with a nice new, unstretched, unfaded well-cut sail on a light and stiff hull with fine edged boards and rudders, then you would have felt a sailboat accelerate like a car and turn like a go-cart. Aaarrrggghhh, trying to explan it to a non-sailor.

Well, Back in the late 70's my old man went halves with my uncle and bought a maricat 4.3, sail No. 100. It had only the mainsail and was a fun boat but he sold it a year or 2 later. 1984 he bought a new Sundance 16 sloop rigged cat. Bigger and faster andwith 2 trapezes it was the boat we started racing on and had some of our best holidays racing in national titles at Adelaide (Glenelg sailing club is sadly no more and has been replaced with an apartment block), Port Phillip Bay and even at our home club at Kurnell on Botany Bay where we ended up lacing 3rd despite breaking a mast while leading the 3rd race of 7. 1988 we swapped the Sundance 16 for a Stingray Mk-II which was a nice, flighty responsive plywood cat but it had too much of a tendency for mast breaking, especially as spinakers on cats were coming into fashion, more like reachers really (less billowy and fltter than spinakers). Suddenly cats were flying hulls while sailing downwind as well as on the reaching and beating legs (sailing jargon) and the mono ("Half-Boat") skiffs previous downwind advantage with their acreage of sail area suddenly evaporated. 1992 we bought a Nacra 5.8 and raced that for a few years before I had to give it up to focus on my final years at Uni. That Nacra was phenomenal in strong winds and rough water. It's hull design allowed it to put the nose 2ft under the crest of a wave without slowing it down when beating upwind. I still remember chasing a Crowther 37 cat on a beam reach with so much blinding spray that while I was clear of spray on trapeze at the windward stern, I had to direct my skipper detailed steering instructions and he was also sailing by feel. The skipper of the Crowther 37 cat later told us he was doing 27 kts during the lulls when his hull dropped intot he water to give a reading. He wasn't getting away from us either. Phillipnz - you know how to make an old cat sailor droooooool.:thumb_up: So going to trikes was fairly natural. They're not that different to rigging a boat. Airborne keep telling that the Streak-2 wing is better than the Streak-1, but I keep telling them that, being an old sailor I can't do without the reflex trim adjustment on the right down tube. Cheers, Glen

Lets make it even simpler. Multiply the average velocity you push the air dowwards at (meters per second, 1m/s is approx 2 kts) by the number of kilograms (roughly equal to cubic meters) of air you push down in one second and you will get the lift force in Newtons. (Approx 0.1kg) Eg, You're flying at 50m/s (100kts) and with a lift coefficient of 0.1 are pushing air down at 5m/s and your wingspan is 10m. Bugger, what depth of air is the wing pushing down.:faint:Tomo's formula probably accounts for this. Must be 2 metres deep to give the right answer for a 500kg aircraft. 50m/s x 10m (span) x 2m (depth) x 5m/s = 5,000 Newtons.

The strip beside the Hume Hwy is Marulan. Plenty long at about 1000m estimated, but undulating.

3 degrees is a 19:1 glide slope. Can your average GA aircraft actually achieve this without power or is it a slightly powered approach?

Manufacturers - No. Sales agents - Yes. You could try Aircreation wings. Air Creation Australia - Tanarg Or, Try importing a Part-103 trike wing from the USA. North Wing Design · Quality Light Sport Aircraft, Ultralight Trikes & Wings, Hang Gliders

I have to admit I was too vague in my description. What we've been taught as fire wardens in the office environment is that Emergency Services, namely Fire Brigade and Police can legally use force to remove persons from a hazardous situation, whereas us regular Joe's could face assault charges for attempting the same.

What happened to the Emergency Powers that the Emergency Services possess? My understanding if that they're legally indemnified against assault and property damage they cause while responding reasonably to an emergency . . . and they're usually equipped to break or cut their way in. Though they may have already determined there wasn't any life or property hanging in the balance (occupants already clear of fire and Jab already well alight) to justify that approach.

Hi Bill, As the Buzzard will very likely come under 95.10 there will be a 300kg MTOW limit. And since I'm not planning on getting into politic's (Lack of hot air) I can't make up for a heavy engine. Even 1200cc converted VW motor is struck off my list as it's nearly 90kg I'm told.

Now we'll just sit back and watch until somebodies aviation career is ended just because they gargled some mouthwash one morning . . .

Am hoping to fly there again this year and hoping for better conditions than last year, when: 1. Managed to take off from our private strip at dawn before the wind reached the ground and immediately found 20kt NW headwind at 200ft AGL. 2. Due to the headwind had to divert to Parkes for some Avgas for the 912. That's the only time I've fed it that stuff. 3. Rain got into the tent at Narromine, wetting my GPS which thankfully lasted for the 200Nm flight home but died promptly afterwards. 4. Dodged a whole lot of bad weather on the way back to Goulburn. It was like flying through a cloud-lined tunnel of sunshine. LUCKY 5. At least my Punkinhead covers kept the cockpit of the trike dry and the Screwit Tie-Downs did their job. Can't wait to do it all again !!!

Hirth have an interesting motor in the F23. 50hp 2 stroke 2 cylinder boxer. But it will always be Rotax for me when it comes down to choosing between Rotax and Hirth. In this comparison I consider that the Rotax 503 would be the better option.

Thanks for the quick response guys. . . Bob, I think you're referring to these guys, VW Engines experimental aircraft engines, I've not contacted them yet as they don't advertise any 1/2 engines on their website but it wouldn't hurt to ask them now would it, or they might even be able to do a version of the very first VW engines which I think were around 1200 or 1300cc, so long as the weight doesn't go too high over 50kg. That would be preferable to a 2 cyl 1/2 VW motor since it appears the crankcase has to be heavily vented to accomodate both pistons sweeping their volumes at the same time like a well balance single cylinder motor. Brent, thanks for the offer, I'll keep that in mind but as my main bird is an XT-912 tourer and I'm looking for a different experience with this mistress, after much umming and ah'ing, I've decided to follow the Redback path and leave this one completely open and naked. Will most likly purchase a Redback instrument pod from Airborne to stick up front. Have also had fantasies about installing a new XT engine mount & mast from Airborne but strongly suspect that cost will be the limiting factor. John, $$$$$'s. I have checked HKS700E prices and they're upwards of USD 9k. (Plus freight & GST). With BMW bike boxer engines, do you know of any Oz distributors or pricing? Have seen some European articles on these though only for 2 seater trikes, so I'd probably be looking for something slightly smaller than the R100 motor, more like an R80 I suppose. Cheers, Glen

I'm just weighing up the engine options for the Buzzard: New Rotax 503 + Gearbox approx $6k Overhall of Rotax 532 by 'Floods $5k (With a warning from Floods that the 532's had weak cranks, plus the gearbox would probably need an overhall) Any other options out there? I've been Googling "1/2 VW" engines like those used on the Minimax and Hummelbird Ultralights but can't seem to find any Australian distributors for 1/2 VW engines, only for whole VW aero engines and USA distributors of kits for 1/2 VW engines. Now If I could get a nice 1/2 VW engine producing 40-50hp with forced air cooling like a Rotax 503 - and I think some VW engine did have this, that woud be a serious option to consider . . . Cheers, Glen

Speed in metres per second, 600km/h = 166.66 turn radius = 50 metres Acceleration = 166.66 x 166.66 / 50 = 555 metres per second squared. 1G = 9.8 metres per second squared. 555/9.8 = 57 G's. Slightly Lethal acceleration.

Hate to rain on your party, but there's a 250kt speed limit up to 10,000ft and RAA aren't allowed above 10,000ft. Do you think you can put up with slowing it down that much. ;-)

John, HGFA mandated inspections are when the aircraft reaches 5 years of age, then every 2 years after that and the owner (L1) can do them and must sign the inspection papers. Not sure about now, but back in 2001 as a student pilot was told 200 hours as PIC was required before one could apply for a TIF rating. Cheers, Glen

If I read the report correctly, the aircraft was not even registered at the time of the accident. Yes there were questionable practises during the previous ownership transfers of the aircraft which shows that there were gaps in the process, but people don't go attacking the RTA (or other state road authority) when people drive and crash unregistered unroadworthy cars now do they? Of course not, the driver is the one who is held liable.