rgmwa

I use a couple of suction cup sunshades in my RV-12, and they work surprisingly well to provide shade and keep the sun off the iPad I also bought a Koger sunshade but have never bothered to fit it. The cheap shades are removed in cooler weather. I usually taxy with the canopy slightly open in hot weather, otherwise it gets very hot very quickly. The side vents work very well in the air and the cockpit stays comfortable, but on the ground in hot weather with the canopy closed and no shades it's a very different story. rgmwa

Marty is right. I meant it probably wouldn't cost a lot more to build one you could fly yourself, although I agree a Vulcan might be a bit ambitious, rgmwa

Hard to pick a favourite. They are all works of art and some of the flying is almost unbelievable. Still I can't help thinking that for all the effort, time and expense that must go into some of these giant models, I'd rather go the next step and build a 1:1 scale version. rgmwa

Vans Aircraft recently did that for the RV-12. Even though the 912iS seems quite similar to the 912 ULS, it still required significant firewall forward design changes, a redesigned fuel system, and a lightweight battery to compensate for the additional engine weight. Why do you want to install a bigger/different engine in the CTSW? They seem to fly very well with the 912S. rgmwa

You should ask Flight Design, but I would expect that going from a 100hp S to a 135 hp iS would at least require redesign of the engine mounts, cowls and fuel system, and probably strengthening of the airframe as well. Also the 915 weighs about 185 lbs and the 912 weighs only about 125 lbs, which will have a major effect on weight and balance, and reduce useful load capacity. The extra power would also make it much easier to exceed Vne. There is also the question of who could carry out such a modification legally. In summary, it is probably possible, but would be difficult unless you have the resources and expertise of the Flight Design factory engineers. rgmwa

You may have to try another angle of attack.

... and also "Missed Approaches". rgmwa

No, not in any on-line groups. Only this and one or two other forums. rgmwa

Nice... but this one looks like even more fun: provided you have a spare $330,000 or so burning a hole in your pocket.

By scanning the boxes along the track you should quickly get a pretty good feel for average wind speed and direction. A 500 mm stage in our small aircraft would probably be broken up into shorter legs for planning anyway, so you'd do an estimate for each leg. I daresay your estimate would be no worse and probably better than the old Arfors values we used to use.

The smaller grids may give the impression of great accuracy but the forecast winds are still just that - forecasts. For manual planning, wouldn't you just pick an average wind for the track and altitudes you wanted to fly at and use that?

A one-litre garden spray bottle from Bunnings works well. You can pressurise it which will pump the fluid automatically.

Yes. George Aldrich's Nobler I believe. Pretty famous in its day, along with Bob Palmer's Thunderbird. rgmwa

The new style gives me all the search options in one box all the time - simple. Currently there are two different boxes depending on where you are. As I don't use the search function often, I like the simplicity and consistency of the proposed change. rgmwa

You might want to have a look at this site. Works on Android phones. http://members.iinet.net.au/~ninelima/efis/ I use an iPhone and have no connection to the author but it looks pretty good. rgmwa

Impressive, although I wonder how many drones didn't survive the practice sessions. I also doubt that the railway company that owns the train would be very impressed. rgmwa

Maybe others can do that reliably, but I need to glance at the ball to make sure my pants are reacting properly.

Yes, ASI and the little black ball in the turns. rgmwa

Brought back some memories

Well designed and carefully manufactured kits like RV's are usually well built because builders typically take a lot of pride in their work and build the best aircraft they can, but you can also find plenty of examples of poor and sometimes dangerous workmanship on the forums. Sometimes the defects are obvious such as misdrilled holes and poorly set rivets, but there are often apparently minor departures from good practice that only a trained eye would spot. I would be more wary of a scratch-built aircraft, because the opportunity for deviation from the plans is greater, not necessarily because the quality of workmanship is inferior. I think the best assurance to to have the plane inspected by an experienced LAME, L2 or SAAA tech counsellor or AP familiar with the type. rgmwa

The annual September fly-in at Serpentine had to be postponed at the last minute due to bad weather. It's been re-scheduled for Sunday 5 Nov. Hopefully the weather will co-operate this time. If you're around, drop in. It's a good day out. Cheers rgmwa

Nice! You had a busy day. I did my first solo nav roughly along the same route not too many years ago. TNO, RWF, CAR and BFT are all aircraft that I flew during training. Well done! rgmwa

$35,000. That's a lot of money! Some 12" to one foot scale aircraft can be had for less. rgmwa

An old southern country preacher from Georgia had a teenage son and it was getting time the boy should give some thought to choosing a profession. Like many young men, the boy didn't have a clue what he wanted to do, and didn't seem too concerned about it. One day, while the boy was away at school, his father decided to try an experiment. He went into the boy's room and placed four objects on his desk: - A Bible - A silver dollar - A bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey - A Playboy magazine The old preacher then says to himself "I'll just hide behind the door, and when he comes home from school this afternoon, I'll see which object he picks up. If it's the Bible, he's going to be a preacher like me, and what a blessing that would be ! If he picks up the dollar, he's going to be a businessman, and that would be OK; but if picks up the bottle, he's going to be a no-good drunkard, and, Lord, what a shame that would be. And worst of all, if he picks up that horrible magazine he's gonna be a skirt-chasin' bum." The old man waited anxiously, and soon heard his son's footsteps entering the house and whistling and he headed for his room. The boy tossed his school books on the bed, and as he turned to leave spotted the objects on the desk. With curiosity in his eye, he walked over to inspect them. He picked up the Bible and placed it under his arm, dropped the silver dollar into his pocket, uncorked the bottle, and chugged a big long drink while he studied the details of this month's centerfold. "Lord have mercy," the old preacher disgustedly whispered, "he's gonna be a pilot!"

Indeed.