Jim Stone

Sorry to here you are having difficulty with your J160. If the problem is that they are really spaced out to far, you could probably shim them in with a couple washers. In my case, the issue was they overheated and fadded terribly, pumping just ground the pad down quicker. The USA distributors offer upgrade kits to Matco axles, rotors, wheels, etc. I don't see them listed seperately on their web sites. The Macto URL is http://www.matcomfg.com/ . Aircraft Spruce and Chief both sell them. I would prefer either Grove or Clevelands myself, but I think that would require an adapter plate like I used. I haven't worked on or studied the J160/J170 aircraft. I remember a comment from Andy at Suncoast Sport Planes that the J170 console is to thin to allow mounting dual cylinder steering brakes.

I have a J450 and gave up on the standard brakes after about 20 hours and 3 sets of pads. I now have Grove model 56-2 brakes with standard aircraft axles and tires. No significant wear isses or problems holding the AC at full power on the ground.

When we tested the Sensenich carbon fiber prop, one of the design criteria was to maintain the same rotating moment of inertia as a standard Jabiru wood with FG coating prop. The flight tests confirmed that the vibration modes are all within the specifications set by Jabiru. I understand the factory has recieved and flown the Sensenich carbon fiber prop and has approved their use. The prop I tested, and the production unit I now have, also have the nickel leading edge so showers will not be an issue, during the frequent summer cells that pop up in Florida. When it get to cumulo-nimbusing I'm long gone and on the ground.

See my reply under 'Just Landed'. I like my Sensenich W64ZK51G. Jim Stone N450SJ Clearwater FL USA

Ian, The equipment behind the started is a Toyota Camry alternator on custom mounts, and now a custom power takeoff shaft (PTO). The standard Jabiru vacuum socket lasted about 100 hrs before the teeth shelled out from ware by a metal vacuum pump drive plug. I just installed a solid steel PTO shaft with double bearings to drive the alternator with a toothed belt. This also addresses the JSB 12 action. I'm doing my annual condition inspection this week and will probably get some flight test results next week.

Peter, I like the Sensenich prop. My Jabiru prop lasted about 3.1 hours/2 flights. I then broke 4 of the 6 prop bolts and destroyed the prop during an extended 2 flight test. The first was just around the pattern. Failure mode was probably due to under torquing the AN4 bolts. I was probably reading more side well surface drag then clamping torque. Net result was severe vibration leading to fatigue fractures of the mounting bolts, burned surfaces on prop, elongated drive socket holes, and a pair of soild shorts. At least it stay attached till I got back to the hanger. I didn't really fly that much with the Jabiru prop to have a clear recollection for comparison. I flew a J400 for 18 hours with an electric Air Master prop and performance with the Sensenich is just as good. I replaced the Jabiru prop with a Sensenich W64ZK51G which works very well. I also did the first flight tests with the Sensenich carbon fiber ground adjustable prop. We recorded 24 channels of vibration data and went through about 4 configurations before they settled on the current product. There was no significant rework required to switch to the Sensenich. I do have a new Carbon fiber prop to install but am refining the cooling before I make another significant configuration change. I also have a new Jabiru cowel set to test on my list of things to do. Jim Stone N450SJ Clearwater FL USA

List of customizations N450SJ I am attaching the list of customizations I've done to my J450. Feel free to ask questions or make comments. Customization N450SJ Rev C.txt Customization N450SJ Rev C.txt Customization N450SJ Rev C.txt

Yes, I'm on the second set of rubber bushings. I found that the engine sagged and distorted the top bushings if they didn't have the clamps. I also tried turning the top bushings around per the latest Jabiru instructions, but still had more sag then I liked. I have a rather tight fit between the cowl and spinner, so sag is not a good thing.

Attach N450SJ Photos Here is a second try to provide a couple photos of N450SJ. I did the attachment icon and selected 5 shorts, then hit the upload button. It looks like they are listed correctly below. #1 is my PCFlight Systems MFD based instrument panel powered up.#2 is a short of the plane I use as a business card. #3 & #4 are of my Toyota Camry belt driven 90 A alternator. #5 is the wing quick disconnect latch mechanism I added. I have a list of about 35 customizations, excluding then the avionics, that I'll attach to another message.

Sabre, Here is a URL for a couple of photos. And I'll try to attach a couple more here. I haven't exploder how to use this site yet. It doesn't look like the icon above can sucessfully retrieve the shots via the link. http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/jabiruengines/photos/browse/2096 [url=http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/jabiruengines/photos/browse/2096][/url]

Greetings, I just registered after finding a link to this site on the Yahoo Jabiru Engines group messages board. I fly a Jabiru J450 (N450SJ) from St Petersberg-Clearwater Int airport (KPIE). We are on the west coast of Florida on Tampa Bay. I have about 160 hr on N450SJ, after building it over a period of 14 months. I have also perviously owned a Piper Cherokee 140, and a Cessna 172L. My background is 30 years of aerospace manufacturing with Honeywell Space Systems Division. My J450 took 503 hrs for standard features and 702 hrs of customization before the first flight. It continues to evolve as I revise my objectives. I am a biased Jabiru owner and volunteer at the Jabiur boothes at the Oshkosh and Sun-N-Fun airshows, discussing the build experience and aircraft operation. I have posted photos on the Yahoo user group site of some of my customizations.