rgmwa

If it was my choice I’d prefer something with floats but unfortunately you’ve got to work with what you’ve got. He did pretty well in the circumstances.

Losing one life is bad enough but losing three is a tragedy under any circumstances. That’s one reason I generally prefer to fly alone, especially if the passenger is a trusting non-pilot who is relying on your skill and your aircraft to get them home safely.

Well equipped instrument panel. Not the typical RV12 setup.

A bit long-winded but what an achievement.

I got mine from Liquid Containment in Qld.

Completely full would be OK because the liquid won't expand. When partially full, I just squeeze the bladder a bit before putting the cap on to reduce the volume of air in it. Even without doing that, I'm quite confident the bladder would easily handle any pressure differential at the altitudes we fly, and probably a lot higher. I can recall seeing a video of a full bladder being drop tested onto concrete from something like 30m from memory, so they are pretty tough.

I have two of the foldable bladders and have carried fuel in the plane but don’t like doing that. In my experience they can leak if the threads on the cap are dry. I didn’t have a problem after I put some lube (Inox) on them, but I only use them now to carry fuel to the plane. They are great for that because they pack away easily. I would use them to carry fuel in the plane if I had no other option. Because they are flexible, they can cope with air pressure fluctuations. I wouldn’t carry fuel in a plastic jerrycan in the cabin.

Makes sense.

Practising ground loops?

I get mine pre-pasted from Bert Floods as well. NGK is good enough for me.

... and a jet truck cranking out 36,000 tons of horsepower?? Confusing but sounds impressive!

Removing the wings is quick but re-installing them is a lot slower and is a two-person job because the tolerances for the two retaining pins are very tight. Using a pipe expander is the best way to align them and pull them up tight against the pressure created by the wing root seals. I would not trailer an RV-12.

An autopilot is great for long trips, however as the turbulence gets worse the autopilot wants to fight the plane by trying to hold altitude and heading, so you are often better off hand flying if it gets rough. Hand flying long distances is tiring though.

I do agree. I wouldn't wear wings either, even if I had them. But that's not what the original post was about.

That's irrelevant. If someone puts in the time and effort and qualifies as a pilot and the aero club wants to award wings to acknowledge that, then why not? Nobody says you have to wear it or buy a uniform or epaulettes, unless you're planning to fly your weedhopper overseas in which case it's probably a good idea.