Ross

Narrandera YNAR see ERSA also has security fencing and CCTV cameras but usually no enforcers. Regards

Rob Great report & pics especially for us inlanders that do not see much of that sort of scenery around here. Regards

When I used to fly sail planes, an instructor and the pilot notes said that for a Blanik L-13 the quickest way down without damaging it, was a spin where the supposed vertical airspeed was 80 knots (If my memory serves me correctly). I did it once from 8,000 feet down to about fully recovered at 2,000 feet AGL. I would not try it in an IS28 where the ASI needle would probably rapidly approach a little white peg that I like to stay away from. Regards

Magazine arrival The Poll did not cover my case - it arrived today 16th October. Regards

16-10-2007 Rearranged a/c in carport for engine installation. Lift engine Jab 2200A from engine stand with engine crane. Attach engine to engine mounts with washers and spaces and rubber bushes arranged as per Jabiru drawing - note top & bottom mounts use the same parts but are arranged differently. Used a 7/16" socket with a nut in it to hold another nut in place while the bolt is turned by spanner in the compressed rubbers and engages the hidden nut. See the pic. Once the bolt has started in the nut the clamp can be removed and the bolt tightened normally with a socket and an open ender or an offset 7/16" ring spanner. Put more air in front tyre to increase ceiling clearance from about 50 mm to maybe 150 mm. One of the lessons from this exercise so far - build a shed first.

Thanks Geoff. Doesn't look like the same weather. Regards

Hi Matt After the limited edition barbecue there were not many empty time slots on Sunday but Robert Kirk and I managed to get just 40 minutes in Wally's J230c and a very few photos. So we headed Wagga direction to use half that and I eventually landed on 23 using full rudder for the cross wind. The other J230c syndicate ac did some flying as well. He actually had to hold on 32 taxying for 14 while we landed at about 16:00 hrs. We learnt that in the J230c you had to set the glass height while on the ground otherwise it eventually kills the electronic compass. Regards

Hi Geoff Is that DA standing behind VH-DUT? Regards

15-10-2007 Fitting cover strips to LH wing root area. Connect LH Strut to wing & fuselage & check fairings for clearance & adjust Cut top cover strip to fit & drill holes & fit self tappers Cut slot to fit flap arm & fit flap to LH wing Extend slot to suit flap rod connection. Fit & cut to match bottom cover strip' Drill & fit screws to match Check flap for full movement up & down Remove cover strips & remove flap Disconnect strut & disconnect wing from fuselage.

Hi Geoff The following may not be relevant to your situation. But I set mine up so that my fuel sight gauges are mounted on stand offs so that I can get at their fuel line connectors from inside the cabin. I think I should have drilled a new set of holes through the cab wall into the wing root area so that the hoses can have a bend in them to make it easier to hook them up. I may have done it accidently for the LH gauge because I had to move it forward to clear the flap handle area. The attached pics may explain although not taken to explain that point. I epoxied nuts on the backs of the stand offs to allow for finger size! First Pic is a "standoff" not a sight gauge![ATTACH]3966.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]3967.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3968.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3969.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3970.vB[/ATTACH] I am yet to connect the complete assembly so may have to modify it a bit yet. All designers should have to do maintenance for a couple of years before they are allowed near a design office. Regards

13-10-2007 Hi Geoff All my impressions are coloured by roughly 27 years of limited hours flying of mostly sailplanes almost exclusively at Leeton's Brobenah airstrip. I moved over to RAAust flying in August 2003 converting to the Jab LSA55 at Griffith with CFI Ben Jones. I was the first student in that particular Jabiru after a couple of years of no flying and Ben has now left Griffith and gone to REX. I only have a bit over half an hour in a J160. That was in the J160 of the two Geoffs from Red Cliffs (Mildura). There aren't any around here that I have access too as far as I know of. My impression of their J160 at this time is almost two years old now. My first impression compared to flying the previous model the LSA55 480 kg MTOW at Griffith with one person on board (I weigh about 75 Kg) was that a few more horses up front of the J160 would not go astray and would be more fun with Geoff and I on board. He pointed out the importance of keeping the air speed up on the climb out for engine longevity which results in a long flat climb. I was probably climbing out too steeply in the Griffith Jab. The next impression was of much improved pitch and roll stability over the older model but this was two up & probably about 50 litres left in the 80 litre cabin tank. They don't have wet wings in their J160. Rod did not like wet wings and mine was one of the first to have the optional wet wings at $4,500 extra at the time but I still have a six litre header tank under the passenger seat! I think their kit was #12 just two before mine. I still have very limited time in the Narrandera J230 only 4.4 hrs TT. I flew the J230c at Narrandera for an hour last weekend about 13 nm short of Carrathool one up and full tanks from 15:00 hrs till 16:00 hrs back at Narrandera. Went west at 2,500 AMSL and returned at 3,500 AMSL. I thought it would be smooth flying under a relatively solid cloud cover until I got near Carrathool. It was fairly uncomfortable going West collecting fairly strong thermals almost continuosly especially as I was trying to take a few photographs as well. I was passing over a succession of green and then brown hot paddocks along the river. I was having some trouble with the trim and it might need some tweaking but it is not my aeroplane. On landing from the return trip in one of those light variable winds I managed to do a light touch then a longish float. I may not have closed the throttle completly so I was not over-thrilled. It was a contrast to the previous flight in the same AC with a passenger on dusk in perfect conditions landing at about 45 degrees to a 5 knot steady wind. Probably the best landing of my life not counting sailplane landings. Any glider pilot who flys at a winch launch site gets plenty of landing practice if not flying time. I always feel in that J230 that I have got my legs tucked up with my knees almost touching the panel so I feel fairly uncomfortable there. I have made sure in my J160 that I can stretch out a bit. The main impression again is of adequate power loaded giving an good climb out and a more stable aeroplane but I think I would still like an auto pilot on a long trip as without transponders etc we are limited to below 5,000 AMSL which is going to have thermal activity generally whether summer or winter and the J230 is still light enough to be tossed around. But there is not the constant risk of exceeding the max rough airspeed as you do in the LSA55. The J230 and the J160 have a 10 knot increase in flap extension speed compared to the LSA55. Kit#14 Turned the aeroplane around to enable the wing root covers on the LH wing to be fitted and swept out the dust. Fitted the LH wing to the ac with inboard bolts only so far. Bought some SS worm drive hose clamps with rounded edges as the supplied clamps do not seem tight enough and are not worm drive. Narrandera barbecue tomorrow (Murrumbidgee Aero Club). Regards

10-10-2007 Fitted Pitot tube to RH wing strut 300 mm from top end of the hollow part of the strut with plastic tube attached. Left about 100 mm protruding from bottom end. Fitted the SS tied-own eyelet to the second last bolt position on RH strut, the same end as the pitot tube. No tying ropes half way down the strut! Removed wing root covers from RH wing. Removed flaps from RH wing Disconnected RH wing from A/C. [ATTACH]3940.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3941.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3942.vB[/ATTACH] Cabin area next

Hi Peter Not lights in all, only the engine gauges. Most of the engine gauge light holders can be removed by pushing vertically down on them near the end not close to the instrument and then pulling them out rather than trying to pull them out directly. Only one of them has to be pulled out. I think it was the CHT gauge. My flying instruments do not have lights. My reason for the lights is that I have a tinted windscreen and after experiencing trying to read the hours on the rev counter of the LSA55 Jab at Griffith with a clear windscreen I wanted a light on my hour meter and it gives me something to look at that works before I get to fly the J160. Also it makes it easier & quicker to to read the engine gauges. Probably eyes in daylight flying would have smaller apertures while looking out and then would have to open wide to compensate for less light in the cabin looking at the dark instruments with black faces white figures and red hands and would also have to change their focus more than they would if still operating on a smaller aperture. So changing focus and opening the iris more and then the opposite when you return to look outside all takes significant time some of which could be reduced just by lighting the gauges or better still make them look like my watch. Maybe they would be better off like the analogue watch battery powered watch that I wear. It has a white face with black numbers, a red second hand and a pale green black edged minute and hour hand (luminous). That particular watch was the only watch on display when I bought it that had a white face with black numbers. I also went to the VDO web site to get plastic nuts collars for one of the flying instruments and one or two of the engine gauges that were not supplied with them. If you do so you need to specify the diameter as there are two sizes available although only one was mentioned on their web site when I sourced mine. So now I only have one gauge that has a metal clamp on the back to hold it in the panel and I think it is the CHT gauge. It did not have provision for the large plastic nut option. Regards

Fuel pumps will not pump vapour usually and can also be a source of additional heat. The suction side of a pump could cause the fuel to boil (cavitation) reducing available fuel flow. Pumps if used need to be placed where they get the maximum available static pressure on their suction side after allowing for the losses in pressure that occur when the fuel is flowing. So an engine mounted mechanical pump often has the lowest static pressure in the system on its suction side and it can be a source of heating for the fuel. Regards

Kambalda Hi Steve Did a google search of Kambalda wa to find this Kambalda A mining town surrounded by desert. Located 56 km south-east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, 74 km from Coolgardie, 616 km east of Perth and 309 m above sea-level, Kambalda is a mining town which is divided into two very different sections - Kambalda East (built 1967-73) and Kambalda West (1969-75). Both townships have the artificial feel of mining towns which have been laid out carefully on the landscape and with the uniformity of mining town architecture. A determination to keep as much native flora as possible gives them an appeal which is lacking from many similar towns. Regards

9-10-2007 Put a couple of extra switches in the panel. Checked to ensure the circuit breakers are included in the circuits. See the switch order in the photo below. [ATTACH]3939.vB[/ATTACH]

8-10-2007 Note the panel switches in previous days pics. The labels are marked the wrong way up for conventional aircraft panel installation. So have removed the labels and turned the switches so that UP is ON or CLOSED except for the two IGN switches on the far left of the panel. The IGN switches are set with UP as OPEN circuit i.e. not earthed. Down for the IGN switches is closed circuit therefore connected to EARTH which should stop the engine if both are closed. Drilled a hole for a Grommet under the GPS Caddy as it is a HAND held and not permanently wired in. This grommet allows the external 12/24 volt power supply cable to be plugged into a socket that is within the pilots eyesight range. Slotted the Caddy holes a bit on the RH side so that the caddy can be tilted slightly towards the pilot seat - about 4 mm. Could be tilted more by lowering the LH side of the caddy into the panel but this would entail more Aluminium panel cutting. A special bracket to tilt it more is available as an option. I am a bit worried about glare on the GPS especially after flying the J230c out of Narrandera on Sunday although it had a clear windscreen and my kit one is tinted. That should help. After hearing of the failure due to excessive heat of a GPS external aerial attached to the windscreen in one of the posts that I read on Sunday night I might paint mine white and attach it in the shade near the cabin roof. After all my old Magellan 320 will work almost anywhere in a Jabiru. Refitted all instruments (some of them twice:confused:) and wiring. Inserted extra switch on left of panel. Will do another tomorrow. [ATTACH]3930.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3931.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3932.vB[/ATTACH] I actually put lights in the instruments - so I could read the hourmeter & see something working. [ATTACH]3933.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3934.vB[/ATTACH] Note blank time hours that you can read in a dim cabin[ATTACH]3935.vB[/ATTACH] Will have to check that circuit breakers are in the circuits. Panel was live in the photo with radio scanning traffic as far afield as Melbourne, Mildura, Dubbo and Mount Gambier. I don't sit in it and go brmm brmm! There is too much stuff on the seats and on the floor!

Hi Paul I have no experience of flying in the high country. I think the highest thing around here is the MTN 9 aerial at Griffith. Were you above all the surrounding terrain when your GPS failed? Regards

I have seen GA aircraft with full tanks taxying at Griffith with fuel pouring out the end of the wing as they turn sharply on the ground and that is only for a few seconds. Can an extended version of this occur in an extended side slip? I don't know how many aircraft have overflows in the outboard end of the wings. Regards

You will also be surprised at your ground speed when you touch down and also the distance it takes you to pull up. Don't try it on a short strip! Regards

Hi Neville We visit our daughter, son-in-law and their two young boys periodically in a Sydney suburb where they have a car about two years old which they drive to work and or childcare. The car when about twelve months old had probably about six or seven dents and scrapes all around it. Anyway the last time we were there the son in law quite seriously told me that my grandsons would never be allowed to fly in an ultralight let alone one that their grandfather was building. Regards

Hi a Question Can you fit my wife's golf bag and electric buggy in the boot? Regards

Hi John Your interesting description makes my pic, which is hardly unique and not very good quality, taken just 43 nm west of Narrandera on the northern edge of the Murrumbidgee River this afternoon seem pretty mundane. But it is showing some of what the drought is doing to this country. I only had Wally's J230c for an hour so turned back to Narrandera about two minutes after this photo. This part of the country would normally be about to hay off anyway after the normal spring flush of growth which would supply enough dry feed to take stock like sheep and cattle & kangaroos through to the autumn in 2008 - but this year it has not happened. [ATTACH]3900.vB[/ATTACH] I look forwards to seeing any photos of that country that you flew over. Regards

6-10-2007 Cleaned up GPSmap 296 template. Marked and drilled brackets for attachment to the panel. Cut brackets shorter to facilitate fitting. Removed template from caddy. Prepared panel for removal of instruments and wiring. Mark wires and instrument position. Remove instruments and wiring. Position template on panel ensuring it will fit. Drill holes for brackets in panel. Insert bolts to stabilise & clamp template. Mark cut position on panel using template. Drill a couple of small holes in each sharp corner so that jig saw blade can be inserted. Cut out marked position & clean up with file to suit the 296 caddy. Fit caddy & brackets. Try GPSmap 296 in Caddy - still works on internal battery power with external antenna hanging on the wooden door of the garage facing North. [ATTACH]3887.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3888.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3889.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3890.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3891.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]3892.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3893.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3894.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3895.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]3896.vB[/ATTACH] Instruments to reinstall plus wiring.

There are plenty of lasers used by earth moving contractors using "laser buckets with laser detectors & controllers fitted" of various descriptions to produce uniform slopes on surface irrigated land after the land has been grid surveyed and the figures processed by a "Land-forming" program on a computer. The rotating lasers used are set up in the paddock on a fixed platform or tripod rotating around 300 to 600 rpm and are detectable by the scraper mounted receivers up to about 600 metres radius. The height error due to the curvature of the earth is increasing rapidly once you get past those numbers and stuffs up the slope of the surface being produced and the "balance" of the cut & fill volumes. If we get it right at the end of the job there is no dirt left over or holes to fill. It balances. Those lasers are set to concentrate the beam to about 10 mm diameter at around 300 m radius and gradually increases beyond that due to scattering in the air and the way the beam is focussed or collimated. These beams start off at about 4 to 5 metres above the ground but obviously can be seen as a flash at car or person height quite some distance from the transmitter if it was in your field of view. A sighting at ten kilometres would not be unusual but the light would be of very low intensity because of the spread and the rotational speed. Regards