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kgwilson

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Everything posted by kgwilson

  1. kgwilson
    Our neighbours had one as a family car in the late 50s. It was the flashest car in the neighbourhood at the time. I thought it was pretty cool.
  2. kgwilson
    What was the weather like in the area yesterday afternoon?
  3. kgwilson
    I hope that they managed to put down somewhere. This is why carry a Spot Tracker with me. It provides a lat/long location via satellite every 5 minutes and allows me to send a message to predetermined email addresses if I have a forced landing & am OK as well as being a PLB to SOS emergency services if necessary.
  4. kgwilson
    Charging landing fees on the basis of radio calls is flawed as 1, it encourages piloots not to call and 2, pilots can provide any call sign other than their own. Cameras on the taxiway or runway will get the correct rego. Still not perfect but better.
  5. kgwilson
    Any more than a second and you'd be toast. I went for a ride with a Cresco pilot from my neighbours strip in NZ. The skill and concentration almost unbelievable. Takeoff downwind down a 30 deg slope, under high tension 300 kva power lines with a tonne or more of Super, up & over the ridge, go almost weightless, nose down about 30 ft altitude spread the load, 90 deg bank turn, back under the power lines, land up the hill, turn around & open the hatch for the next load. Total time 2.5 minutes.
  6. kgwilson
    Even if you correct the murdoch tabloid media on their poor, incorrect, sensationalist and even defamatory comments you will never get an apology or retraction unless you file a suit in court. They are just a bunch of scum dirtbags only interested in money, not reporting facts and reality.
  7. kgwilson
    He must have managed to get it round as it looks like it was facing South on impact. I guess he just ran out of altitude.
  8. kgwilson
    Too much money and a gung ho attitude is not a good combination for a budding pilot. And Yes the PIC is the Instructor. From Google Earth there seems to be a tree that overhangs the runway near the threshold on 18 L where the crash occurred. ERSA states "Tall trees in close proximity to THR of RWY 36 L/R and 18L" How they managed to drift to the right and hit the tree about 50 metres from the end of the runway should come out in the report. Straight ahead and off the end of the runway there are also trees but they appear not to be too tall & aiming between a couple (if possible) would be the best option to rip the wings off & absorb a lot of the energy.
  9. kgwilson
    The latest damage has seen its flying days over I think. Maybe it's an optical illusion but the prop looks bigger than it should be.
  10. kgwilson
    The aerial shot from the ABC News showed the crash site right next the the end of the runway. That may be the runway in the upper right of the photo. Another excellent example of the strenght of the Jabiru cabin. It will be intersting to find out what happened.
  11. kgwilson
    So what is a giant key tag doing there?
  12. kgwilson
    Why was it even done the first time? Big risk there.
  13. kgwilson
    I have a Facet 4-6 PSI pump to transfer fuel from the 2 wing tanks to the main fuselage tank via a Left/Right/Off fuel selector. The aircraft is low wing so fuel must be pumped uphill via the selector on the lower part of the panel. Each wing tank holds 35 litres and the delivery line is connected to the bottom of the fuselage tank. When I did the test it took 56 minutes to transfer 35 litres into the main tanks that was already half full with 50 litres in it through 1/4 inch fuel line. That works out to 37.5 litres per hour. At the time I thought that was ridiculously slow but in reality when flying I run the pump for 10 minutes on each tank to put about 15 litres into the main tank and in that time the engine consumes about 7.5 litres in normal cruise so I am adding 7.5 litres in 20 minutes or about 23 litres an hour. I watch the fuel guage going up as I fly. Facet cube pumps get quite clattery when they begin to pump air and I can hear that over the noise of the engine so I know when the tank is empty. At full power delivery would barely keep up with fuel consumption but that is not a concern and is what fuel management is all about. Facet have models from 1 - 15 PSI and deliver 26 - 150 litres per hour depending on the model. I have never had a problem with either of my facet pumps.
  14. kgwilson
    The serial No indicates it is a Gen 1 or 2 engine. Based on the contact comment, I assume the piston was the early flat head piston without the valve relief indents so if the valve became stuck and was pushed back by the piston, that may have been enough to drop an already weakened valve seat.
  15. kgwilson
    Fire sleeve includes insulation so both are not required. Stainless safety tie wire is a good as anything and cheap. Easy to get off with side cutters & replace with new.
  16. kgwilson
    I can't see many people retrofitting BRS systems due to the ridiculous cost, difficulty in installation in an airframe not designed for them and the low risk factor of it ever having to be used. I built my aircraft and I know how strong it is so the likelihood of having a structural failure especially with ensuring all preventative maintenance and servicing is done by the book is very low. This would be the only reason to deploy a BRS as far as I am concerned. Even over Tiger country I'd far rather take my chances with a forced landing wherever it may be. I have landed in a tree before but then I was flying a Hang Glider.
  17. kgwilson
    Unless I had a structural failure I'd always take my chances with a forced landing.
  18. kgwilson
    Personally I think that the SE2 is a better buy even at twice the price of the Ping USB as there is no mucking around with cables as you may have your tablet connected or need dual USB power outlets etc & ADSB Out is there if your Mode S ADSB Out fails for any reason & if you have another aircraft without ADSB Out you can use it in that. Enroute software filters out all the RPT more than 5000 feet above and everything more than 20NM horizontally so as to reduce clutter on the screen which I think is a good idea. I don't care about other traffic if it has no potential threat.
  19. kgwilson
    It was hot at South Grafton on Friday (36 deg at 3pm). It was about 28 deg when I took off at 9am. Max height I got to was 5000 feet at around 10.15 & I noted the OAT was 29.5 deg. I had a SE tailwind at the time of around 20 knots as my ground speed was 136 knots. Oil & CHT temps were a bit higher than normal but still well within acceptable range.
  20. kgwilson
    The reality is that ADSB in will only be fully effective when every other aircraft is broadcasting ADSB out. It would be interesting to know what the uptake has been since rebate scheme has been in place & how much of the $5 million allocated is left. There have been quite a few forumites who have got them now. On our airfield there have been about 10 new SE2s purchased since the scheme began. One GA pilot who spent 5-6k getting his Modes S transponder upgraded to ADSB out has now got a SE2 for ADSB in. ADSB out is disabled in the SE2 and at $550.00 it was way cheaper than getting an installation integrated with his mode S transponder.
  21. kgwilson
    I was only about 12 NM from Coffs Tower when I got confirmation of visibility the second time & I could clearly see the airport. I did see an inbound aircraft about 20 NM away but that is the limit of the software I use as it filters out anything further away than 20 NM or more than 5000 feet above my altitude. Of course receiving ADSB will depend on the power of the broadcast. If it was from a mode S equipped transponder I would assume power output would be much greater than 20 Watts.
  22. kgwilson
    The SE2 ADSB transmits at 1090 Mhz. This is the same as all ADSB broadcasts from every aircraft. Airservices has had the capability of receiving and displaying this information for years. It transmits a squawk code of 1200 which is in a different downlink code to that coming from a transponder which ATC recognises as coming from an EC device and it cannot be interrogated. ATC had the ability to filter these out which probably was the case but the software has now been modified so EC devices are displayed on the screen differently. It would have been pretty stupid to filter EC broadcasts out as you can imagine what the investigators would put in their report if there was a fatal accident because they had filtered out the broadcast from a mid air collision where one aircraft had a transponder & the other had an EC device. The transmit power from the SE2 is 20 watts which is line of sight so they should see you at least 20NM away if you are high enough and where you position the unit is not shielded by any part of the aircraft. I am pretty sure ATC everywhere can see EC broadcasts. It must display the callsign as when ATC saw me he called me "Romeo 8664" to confirm visibility and should also display GPS location & altitude. I'll ask the Controller I know what detail they see next time I see him.
  23. kgwilson
    No mention of any radio calls made from either aircraft.
  24. kgwilson
    Yesterday was hot and I decided to go for an early morning flight. For me that means about 9am before I get going. I decided to head South from South Grafton around the back of Coffs close to CTR & check my visibility with the SE2 with the Tower. I set Coramba as a Waypoint which is 8 NM from the Tower & called 2 NM North at 2,500 feet. I was invisible on radar & ADSB as there are hills between me at that height & the tower. Once South of Coramba I could see the Airport & ATC called & said he had me on his display. I was within 500 metres of the zone boundary & climbed to 3500 feet to get over the ridge to my next waypoint of Bellingen. I called at 11NM from Bellingen & gave a position report. I got affirm & G'day. It's good to know you can be seen & identified. SE2 squawks 1200 but can't be interrogated. It also broadcasts your Rego so they don't need to interrogate you anyway by providing a code & then requesting an Ident which they then have to key into the system. So from a workload perspective ADSB reduces that load from ATC. Once it is in universal use they won't need to provide squawk codes or request idents at all but I suspect that is a fair way off yet. It was pretty hot by the time i got home. My maximum altitude was 5000 feet at about 10.15 am & the OAT was 29.5 deg.
  25. kgwilson
    It took about 6 weeks at the beginning of the scheme so they have got the process sorted just before it ends. That probably means there are not many applications coming at present. The announcement of the finish date may see a flurry of new applications.
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