boingk

Top marks, Maj hahahaha! I just like those squat cans as they are easier to hold/shoulder and pour from a raised position. Cheers - boingk

When working on any vessel used to store gasoline, try to remove ALL traces of vapor before working. I'm highly of the opinion that you should flush with water and then give an air flush for at least 5 minutes prior to working. All that entails is letting a blower-vac or compressed air hose blast into the thing for 5 minutes, pushing air into and then out of the vessel and hopefully taking any explosive vapors with it. Personally, I like fuelling using a funnel and one of the squat looking jerry cans like this: If need be I would also recommend the use of a small stepladder to raise yourself. - boingk

Thats what brought about modern air law after World War II isn't it? If its what I'm thinking of (think its actually called the Convention for International Aviation or similar) then it established the International Civial Aviation Organisation, or ICAO. Its been revised several times, most recently in 2006. If I'm right then big thanks to my PPL and CPL studies! - boingk

Getting a strange sense of dejavu there, Nev

Thats the catch - you'd probably be wanting the 'Holiday' version to try and get your stall under the required speed, as the Imperial stalls at a quoted 50mph/43kt and the holiday at a somewhat more sedate 45mph/39kt. It might be worth trying to get into contact with the fellow in the last RAA magazine who built one. He did a short column/story and had a picture of his SIlver Imperial KT inset. It'd also bear in mind that this was a 'despression' design and intended to be built by the amateur working from home - longest piece of metal tube you need is just over 5ft and the wings themselves are no longer than 19.5ft for the Holiday, or 17.5ft for the Imperial. Going by their quoted horsepower (125~150hp) I reckon you'd do well with either a Rotax 912 up front or an auto conversion. The big advantage of the Micro Mong and Easy Eagle is that they are designed to fly on less power so you could use a (potentially) cheaper engine. Also bear in mind that cruises are stated in mph TAS - I convert back to knot and then subtract 10% to find something near reality in general... as we all know that cruising along at 8000ft will give you around 10% increased TAS over your IAS! The 145mph TAS cruise then becomes a 125kt TAS cruise, which then becomes around 113kt IAS cruise. Still darn good, especially so for a biplane. Fudging with those figures on the 'Holiday' variant you'll see 130mph TAS drop to 112kt TAS, which then drops to 100kt indicated. Cheers - boingk

You'll get there mate. One advangtage I've probably overlooked during my flight training is that I was doing several hours a week, so was always current and fresh on procedures. Couldn't imagine flying only one or two hours a month, it'd be hard to get back into the groove. All the best, great weather this weekend! - boingk

My choice would most likely be a Knight Twister: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Twister http://www.steenaero.com/KnightTwister/ Light, fast, fully cantilevered wing design (no struts or wires necessary) and comes in well under 600kg. Well designed, even though its an old design, and well proven. Several designs to choose from depending on your taste - long, short (racing) or standard wings and even a two-place. Cheers - boingk

You're spot on with the Conti, it can average quite good economy if I time things right. I budget 15L/hr for the engine and generally get between 12 and 14 per hour - that 12/hr figure is usually only if I cruise at over 6,000ft though. It'll maintain an 80kt indicated cruise at 8,000ft - equal to roughly 90kt TAS. - boingk

That'd indeed be one of the ones on the list, Nev. Theres a lot of nice broken country around here you can explore, especially heading towards Mossvale and Mittagong if you follow the trainline. Only thing I'd say to anyone reading this is to be *very careful* of doing what I'm describing as the air currents in and around gorges can be very unpredictable, and also very strong. If you are flying a craft with less than stellar performance you may find yourself in a situation where you cannot outclimb the downdraught thats pulling you into the gorge. Obviously never descend below the sides of a gorge and always keep appropriate clearance from terrain. I would highly recommend not doing low altitude work around gorges in particular. Other than that, they really are a grand thing to see from the air and are a must-do in my book! Cheers - boingk

We might be grounded at the moment but I reckon we've got a good system as far as all this is concerned. Yes, you can fly on FAR103 without a licence and build it yourself... but unless you've flown before its a bit of a catch 22! Incidentally, I'm also grounded due to waiting for leading edge tape from the Yanks. I'm guessing its been caught up in bad weather of late. - boingk

That is freaking awesome mate, opening the full version to read right now! Would love to do that sort of flying - may do a gorge run around here when the weather gets better and try and get a few photos. May also put the good old Sensenich prop back on the Minicab for a bit better vertical punch. Cheers - boingk EDIT: Very good read and some great photos, must have been a blast. Thanks for sharing.

You're all wrong: - boingk

Bingo. Personally though, if you stall an aeroplane... eyes go on the altimeter, artifical horizon and indicated airspeed. Stick pushes forward until those instruments - airspeed in particular - start giving flyable readings. A good demonstration of a similar phenomenon is given in the Aircrash Investigations 'The Plane That Flew Too High' episode. Essentially this plane was piloted above its safe altitude for that flight and its weight. Autopilot gave increasing nose-up attitude to try and maintain altitude and eventually the airplane was stalled. The pilots failed to recover it. - boingk

I don't find car space an issue with anything up to about 1600mm wingspan. Favourite at the moment is a VQ Models 1500 Stick on .46 glow power. Wing comes off easily and then just put the fuse and wing across the back seat. Stick 1500 EP/GP 46 size (Sport version) 1540mm (ARF) (AR Warehouse) Biggest model I've got is permanently housed at the field - its a 2.5m wingspan glider with a *one piece* wing! Cheers - boingk EDIT: I'm uncomfortable flying anything over about a meter in public spaces anyway, as you don't get liability cover should something happen. I always try and fly out at the model club, although its convenient for me here in Goulburn as its literally 5min down the road on the Yass turnoff. Even got a standing NOTAM for any lowflying aircraft. Obviously anything nitro powered ONLY gets fired up at the club... apart from my little Cox .049's which don't make much more noise in the air than a decent, small electric plane anyway.

Looks like they also have a Cri-Cri... might not be able to own a real one but the model sure looks good! - boingk

Awesome news on the regos being reinstated

PM sent. - boingk

Drifter Ultralight 950mm EPO RTF (Mode 2) Looks alright to me! - boingk

I believe this effect is also true for long range shooters and snipers - they must take into account the apparent drift of the bullet due to the rotation of the earth during its flight time. Normally it is not of any significant effect, but if you start stretching ranges out over a kilometer, and especially to those extreme ranges (1500~2000m) you sometimes hear for military snipers, then the effect becomes more pronounced. Believe it or not, at 2000m you must compensate around 10" or so! Cheers - boingk

100% power can generally only be used for 2 minutes or some other very marginal figure, and is for emergencies only. Maximum cruise is what they set to during flight, and many do not even go above 75% throttle for takeoff as it increases service loads on the engines to a point where maintenance must be increased. Modern runways and wing enhancement technology (ie slats and flaps) are generally very accomodating, and allow even large jets to get away with this. My father recently had a flight delayed taking off by almost 2 and a half hours, from Sydney to Hawaii. They arrived on time! We discussed this and he mentioned seeing speeds over 100km/h faster than he is used to seeing on such trips, displayed via the seatback flight data channel. I mentioned they would have almost certainly delayed the flight to take advantage of those very tailwinds that got them there so quickly. Jets can indeed make up a lot of time, but not using their engines alone. - boingk

Agree with all above, especially Captain's post and red responses - thanks for not quoting a long post and replying to all of it underneath... I hate that and its hard to follow, your solution is elegant. I would say that the very fact that I am sitting here with a coffee, after being on the RAA site, reading up on the 'current state of things' is a pretty strong indication that the RAA board and executive are/have been going about things the wrong way. No, wait, that'd also include the fact that we're being MASSIVELY F***ING AUDITED and have our registrations unable to be renewed. - boingk PS: I highly regard any board member who takes the time to respond to us as you have done, Gavin. Well done for taking on a position of responsibility and trying to make a difference for the better.

Meh... the landings are all the same regardless of the strip. Its whats around the airport that causes danger, and I'd much rather a specialised approach than a tricky takeoff! If anyones keen, check out the 'highest airport in the world' - side of a mountain in the Himalayas! - boingk

Simple plan: Participation in elections is compulsary for ALL members. If you miss one you MUST vote in the next or have your membership restricted or revoked until such time as a fine is paid. That'd sure get people voting. - boingk

"Coming up next... on 'You Should Probably Change The Channel'... I'll introduce you to some weird-looking 'experts' and have them give their opinion on some inane, poorly filmed stock footage. Coming up next on... 'You Should Probably Change The Channel'." I hate inane shows like that, got stuck with it on the bigscreen at work as there was literally almost nothing else on. Don't get me wrong, I like Aircrash Investigation, but that 10 Worst Landings was awful. Repeated stock footage, 'experts' I've never heard of and who probably don't hold authoritative positions, no drama or real investigation. Just bad flying and worse yakking. Incidentally, most 'Aircrash Investigations' episodes are all on YouTube in unbroken segments. Cheers - boingk

I'm a stickler for the name 'Veronica', so usually name all my worthy vehicles as such. I like it because it seems like the right kind of name for a personable, outgoing, tad crazy vehicle which, performance notwithstanding, is aging and ageing well. Think of that crazy girl you used to know who loved tight leopard-print dresses and you get the idea. Valiant? Veronica. VTR1000F? Veronica. Minicab? Not sure yet. Not sure I want to give my plane a name if I'm selling it soon :( - boingk