pylon500

The airfield and surrounding acreage is for sale (see elsewhere), but as I said earlier, I don't think you will find anyone that will actually give you permission to land there. The Realestate crooks might say they can get it for you if you say you're flying in to have a look at buying, but I wouldn't hold your breath....

Really, the answer is NO. Recreational aircraft as defined by the rules now being enforced, are really just light weight GA aircraft, and will soon cost just as much to operate as Cessnas and Pipers. The concept of the 'Ultralight' aircraft had gone by the wayside once the 'get rich quick' flying schools (I know, and they know, they never did!) started following 'market' pressure, and using modern super ships, and pushing to get the rules to allow more modern, more super, ships. Add to this the later generation GA pilots coming into ultralighting, but still wanting to have the equivalent of a Mooney to fly around in! Of course the definition of super ship can vary depending where you look from; Thruster and Drifter pilots thought, "That Lightwing's not an ultralight!, look its got doors, brakes, and it's doped and painted!" I grew up with Lightwings, and looked at the Jabiru and thought "Those fly about the same as Cessna's, it should be GA!" These days, most people that get the itch to look into cheap flying are not sure what to expect, so when shown Technams, Foxbats and Jabirus, take this as the norm, and should they see a Thruster or Drifter, would probably laugh their heads off, or shy away in fear. They have no idea that this is where we all started, that these aircraft all flew, and within their class flew well. I think Instructors with around twenty years of experience, would agree with me that the Lightwing is still probably the best ultralight trainer we ever had?! Should I point out that, (to my knowledge) there has only been ONE fatality in their flying history, and that pilot may have died in flight? Now they're trying to relegate them to non training private use, and/or force users to fly them in their original 1980's form, with inefficient (and not really certified, just approved) wooden props, and questioning things like oil injected two strokes, 912 conversions, long range tanks and the like. So really, it won't be too long that when we only have super ships, and we are pretending to be, (and paying the price of) GA, should someone discover a lightweight flying machine made of aluminium tubes, with Dacron covering, a two stroke motor and a TAIL WHEEL, they wont know what it is or how to fly it, or even where to get trained to fly it. Maybe about then, a group of people will get together and start a new flying group...... And they could call it the "Australian Ultralight Federation" Flame suit ON

One word.....JATO

The 'ARM' he is talking about is the distance from a reference point, that a weight is taken for weight and balance calculations. Looking at his numbers (for an RV-4) I would say he is working from the nose somewhere, either front of spinner or maybe prop backplate. This will give him all positive numbers, which a simple app like that would prefer. However, it gives a CofG as a position with reference from that point on the nose... The paperwork I have for the Lightwing works from the leading edge of the wing, which means positive numbers behind the leading edge, and negative numbers in front of the wing. The upshot of this is that the calculations will come back as a position back from the leading edge, which is something you can visually relate to a lot easier. Check if the app runs in inches or centimetres? (Remember, centimetres are for Dress Makers !, Engineers use Millimetres) The metric coordinates for a GR582 are around; Mainwheels ~ 16mm behind Leading edge, (GR912 mains are around 150mm in front of Leading edge, so a negative number), Tailwheel ~ 3950mm behind Leading edge, Pilot seats ~ 307mm behind Leading edge, Fuel tanks ~ 180mm behind Leading edge. The published CofG range for the Lightwing varies depending on date and model, but they want the numbers to come out between 260mm (17%) and 288mm (19%) aft of the Leading edge. Numbers out side this range (like back to 300mm or 20%) are not going to be mentioned here...

I too have thought a lot about a multi engine 95:10.... Looking at the attachment below, think Lazair, and cheap four stroke lawn mower engines.. Was going to have the front open like the original; Just open up, turn around and sit in it, pull the nose shut:roflmao: ps, I have flown a four engined Lazair in the past, the sound was awesome !!

Any more news on this...?

So, how much capital do you need to invest to get that sort of return?

It appears that we will all have to buy newly made copies of the Allsize props from Howie, once they're signed off by a Reg35 engineer (or CASA's latest name change for the same person). So all of us that were using the worlds best props, will have to replace our Warps (sorry, but it's true) with lumps of wood again I wish I could figure out just what exactly proves a 'Safe History of Operation' (20,000 plus props made?) so that we can get Warps approved (if not certified), and put them back on. Below is an excerpt from a reply I got from WarpDrive; Arthur.

Many people have the idea of building their own aircraft, and then being taught to fly in it. Regardless of the various interpretations of the assorted rules, a totally different set of rules usually crop up that defeat the intended 'cost cutting' purpose, and that is that when you finish building your 19-xxxx, someone then has to fly a minimum of 25 hours in it before it can be flown dual! By the time you've insured and put 25 hours of fuel through it, plus all the 'tweaks' that go with a new aircraft, it's probably quicker to just learn at a school or club, get one of the instructors to test fly it and brief you on it, then finish the test time yourself, already as a pilot. Obviously this is not really ideal, but this is the interpretation that comes about once bureaucracy takes over and common sense disappears.

It was in the sense that it was another Bill Whitney design... Had a photo of it at a Narromine, but damned if i can find it

Interesting that no one mentioned the 'Amethyst Falcon'? A Bill Whitney design, specifically for aerobatics within the ultralight movement. The other missing aircraft is the Markey/Winton UltraBat. A fairly comprehensive history here; http://theultrabat.com/#/the-ultrabat-story/4578373011

I like a bit of 'Daring Do', and the testing of one's skills, but I could see that going horribly wrong very quickly. Any ideas of type of aircraft landing on grass field after the foxbat?

Technically, Wallis Island is private property, and the owners (some conglomerate) will not give permission to land there. What that means is, that if you land there and have an accident, IT IS YOUR FAULT, NOT THEIR'S. Moral of the story, don't have an accident! I think there is someone living on the island that flies in and out, or has a friend that does so, but at their own risk. Not sure what the deal is with getting off and on the island by boat, as I think the few people that live on the island commute via their own transport, I don't think there is any 'public' transport....?

Just a heads up of a position coming up soon.... The Manning River Aero Club (Taree), will be looking to replace their outgoing CFI mid December It's a small club with a fairly new C172s, and the ability to cross hire a couple of other local aircraft. The position would suit someone that is basically self sufficient (both in CFI qualifications, and financially, ie; semi retired) and would be happy to relocate to the Taree area. The club is not big enough to be a 'Full Time' school (currently working 4 days a week), so would suit someone not looking to create a career in flying, more someone that has done that, and would like to 'keep their hand in' in semi retirement. Taree is a reasonably sized, self sustaining (not reliant on tourism) town, with reasonably priced real estate. We have oceans, beaches, rivers and mountains to fly around, a good hard surface runway and a grass cross strip to play with, as well as numerous other grass strips in the local area. I am only one of the local ultralight pilots in the area, so further information would have to be sought from the MRAC committee to find any more info. Unfortunately it looks like the club website has been hacked by the Indonesians, but contact info can be found around the web, try (02) 6553 9301, but I think this is the clubhouse, and probably not be answered out of business hours? Website (if fixed);http://www.mrac.org.au/

Thanks for the compliment It is a bit depressing to go into the hangar everyday, knowing it's sitting over there gathering dust. Just too many things have turned up in the last few years (usually that I thought I could knock over pretty quickly), and I seem to have a problem saying NO to people. I currently have four flyable aircraft in my hangar, two that I use for training, (NONE of them mine). My Stollite got stuck mid engine change, when my Lightwing got damaged, and I'm not sure what the future is for Lightwings, so it's on hold. I don't have the room to restart the LR-2 project, and in the meantime I had agreed to rebuild and re-register an imported Petrel amphibian, which went all pear shaped. I had bought a wrecked Murphy Renegade biplane, that I thought I could quickly modify and fit a Rotec radial to, but had to put it aside to rebuild my Lightwing (see above). My 'T-Star', which ground to a halt when I retired and built a hangar and house after moving to Taree, never restarted as the LR-2 sort of made it obsolete, although I'm now looking at it and thinking of extending the wingtips and going back to the original motor glider idea. Add to that the BD-5 kits I have waiting to be re-arranged into something that will fit into 19-xxxx, then the assorted things that need to be done around the house. Planning a rear deck soon... Somehow I managed to sneak off to Oshkosh this year I do a few hours a week instructing, and now I'm assisting someone to build one of my designs in the hangar also. Good thing I'm retired 'cause I'm dammed if I know when I would find time to work! Arthur.

Think I preferred the bold BLUE layout, but not overly worried either way. However, have just made a couple of posts with links, and the links look to be the same colour as the text, meaning they tend to disappear on the page. Just saying I like links to stand out a bit..

It is interesting to note that if you try to chase up this information, through the crowd calling themselves ASTM International; http://www.astm.org/Standards/F2506.htm They expect you to pay to find out what the requirements are. Bare in mind that this 'ASTM International' is really just an American body telling everyone around the world how they should do stuff. Does this imply that all our governing bodies are letting a private company dictate what our standards are to be with no question or debate? Looking at the following .pdf; http://www.easa.europa.eu/agency-measures/docs/certification-specifications/CS-LSA/CS-LSA%20-%20Initial%20Issue.pdf On page 1-J-1 is a layout of recent changes to the original standards, but no complete original standards. There may be a glimmer of hope for people with inflight adjustable LSA's in this CASA discussion; http://www.ptaaus.com.au/2013/10/28/lsas-and-astm-f2506-13-an-email-string-from-casa/ And to a lesser degree comments made on the RAAus site; http://www.raa.asn.au/2013/09/in-flight-adjustable-props-on-lsas/ Obviously the link on the above site only takes you back to the 'pay for' site at the top. Nowhere in what you CAN actually read, is there any reference to the concept of 'Safe History of Operation'. So the search goes on...

Having just look through this, all I can say is that it is a masterpiece in Bamboozlement!! Looks like ALL the deck chairs are being moved, and most of the links within the website take you to places that don't seem to have much to do with what you're looking for?! My hobby horse is propellors, and trying to find any of the rules or changes in the new system keeps looping back on itself. Can't find anywhere to make comment on proposals and/or changes? Annoyed..

OK, working for me now..... They've changed the address again from when I bookmarked it last year. Gotta keep up I guess...

I haven't been able to get the RAAus site now for around four days on either Safari or Firefox (yes, I'm on a Mac), but haven't seen any comments here to that effect? Is it just me.....?

Why is anybody in aviation talking about kmh?

Well, I guess it proved it could fly, not sure it could prove it can climb? The undercarriage layout will make it a bitch to land! Not sure why they went with a cantilever wing when it swings from a point that could have had a strut fitted, much lighter... Maybe fold out wingtip extensions will give it that last little bit it needs, other than that, looks OK.

If the aircraft is registered, and can be flown distance, it may be worth looking at quotes over East, and flying there for the job? Happens a lot in the States..

You're probably right, it's not the RAAus that's destined for extinction, it's me. An ageing early ultralight pilot/instructor with a fondness for the old Lightwing, which I believe was the best trainer we ever produced, (I can hear the higher percentage of members trying to compare their later plastic fantastics) rough as it was... The world has moved on. Who can even remember what a taildragger was?!, let alone a two stroke engine, (even our lawnmowers are four stroke these days) The days when we flew around wondering when our engine was going to fail, as opposed to flying around not even considering if our engine could fail, are now gone.(oops, another Jabiru pilot) How many pilots practice full idle approaches (remember, we're not allowed to do dead sticks...) to the ground? I guess the truth is, if you did the statistics with regard to the levels of approval/certification compared to numbers built/hours flown against manufacturing fault fatalities between 95:25's and 101:55's, chances are the modern machines come out on top. (However, I still feel that of the original GR series Lightwings with some 200 odd built (?), there has only been ONE fatality that I know of, and there is talk that it may have been a heart attack, and nothing to do with the aircraft.) But I digress. I'll just have to hang on to instructing in the Foxbat, and try to get my Lightwing finished and training, (before it gets relegated to the 19 class) until I get classified as an anachronism, and fade away...... . . . . .

With reference to our thread topic header, 'The Future of RAAus?', well, I think the short answer is, there is no future. I guess that started with the end of the AUF. Once we ran away from our heritage as ultralight people and tried to pretend we were like GA people, well, guess what, now we have become them. All the above talk of material specs, certification, zero accident rates, world (ICAO) recognition ?!! and GA performance and privileges, has moved us so far away from our prime directive (sorry Gene) of affordable entry level basic flying. While I have nothing against LSA class aircraft, I feel that by pushing for, and attaining the implementation of LSA, ie; just copying the American version of it, we, as I said in a previous post, took about a twenty year step backwards from what we already had... If the RAAus board, and I guess more of us rank and file, had read between the lines of LSA, and negotiated with CASA to simply take 101:55 up to 600kg, as an ultralight class, none of the last 12 months of crap would have happened. Now with RPL coming (when?), I'm going to stick my head out and say 'Maybe all the LSA machines need to migrate to GA and be utilised along side the aircraft they are trying to replace'. Sure this may mean they will have to be looked after by LAME's, but truth is, any LSA aircraft currently being used in a training situation, is probably being looked after by a LAME anyway. To put not too finer point on it, most of the people that can afford to buy these sort of aircraft for use in schools, usually can't do their own maintenance anyway. I know, sounds like a generalisation, and there are a lot of guys (and gals) out there with LSA's that do their own work, but most of these are going to be eLSA's. The system we had in the original 101:55 with simply 'approved' aircraft and parts worked OK. I should point out that I still believed 101:55 to be a bit too restrictive, primarily with regard to props. Manufacturers should not have been pushed into dictating one sort of prop or another. Aircraft manufacturers make aircraft, engine manufacturers make engines and PROPELLOR manufacturers make props! I know some out there will say that, 'Yeah, but some of the prop manufacturers are a bit dodgy', and what?, none of the aircraft manufacturers are a bit dodgy?? This is where a wider community comes into play keeping an eye on product quality, and reporting suspect items, which ends up as AD's The concept that only one sort of prop is suitable for an aircraft/engine combination is rubbish. Most of the prop manufacturers out there are trying to supply a quality product to the mass market at an affordable price, obviously if they had to go through the whole certification process, their props would be too expensive, but they obviously trust their product well enough to let it loose in the wider (idiot) community hoping to not end up with a bad reputation. Once this has been achieved for any length of time, they can then look back on a 'Safe history of Operation' to justify their claims, and continue to produce without the cost of certification. This is just like car tires, how many out there have Pirelli tires on their cars? These are the best aren't they? How many have Bob Jane Specials? And to those about to complain that tires and props are nothing alike, well you're right, propellors don't endure half the torture the average car tire does! I mean if your prop touches the ground, you usually throw it away, how many throw out their tires if they touch a curb or typical NSW pot-hole? In fact the prop tire comparison is actually flawed in that most of us want to put on more expensive props than those supplied, or at least better quality for the same price.... OK, I ran off with my own personal hobby horse there...... But as I started out with, I think we (or we have allowed others) to have lost the plot. While GA have expensive maintenance problems, they only pay an initial rego, while we have nearly as many hoops to jump through (for a lesser ability aircraft), and almost as expensive maintenance situation, and the privilege of paying for it each year....... We are no longer the ultralight world (as evidence to our new name), and I feel the next step will be CASA's re-arranging of training with the implementation of the RPL, the possible closure of RAAus schools and forcing new pilots to learn at RPL GA schools before trying to fly their own ultralight! Guess what, then we will have stepped back 30 years into the dark ages before HORSCOT's !!! Need to get out of my firesuit and breathe a bit........