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Marty_d

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Everything posted by Marty_d

  1. Marty_d
    It worked!!!!! I just popped the lower cowl out of the mould. It came straight out, no sticking, no lumps and bumps and divots. (Well maybe a couple of minor divots!) Decided not to use gel coat this time, just 4 layers of carbon fibre and equivalent weight in polyester. The difference - thanks to some excellent advice from several people, especially @nomadpete - was using PVA sprayed and brushed into the mould first, and a bead of silicone around all the opening holes and the edges. Yesterday I used a small foam roller to put on a coat of poly, followed by carbon, followed by poly, followed by... you get the picture! I am also extremely grateful to the forum member (I'm not sure if he wants to be named) who donated more than enough carbon fibre to do this cowling. Sorry about the dodgy photo, obviously taken in the dark. The piece has daggy bits of PVA hanging off it but that peels off easily. Also looks like an evil halloween pumpkin from the front, especially with those strands of CF in the "mouth" - but hey, it worked, and I'm stoked - and relieved! Will take more pics when I've trimmed everything and test fitting over the engine.
  2. Marty_d
    Bob, you show excellent workmanship in awl of your work.
  3. Marty_d
    @RFguy - if you're thinking of flying over the ditch, give Peter Reed from SkyFlyte Aviation (Devonport / Wynyard) a call. I bought my 912 off him and had a discussion about flying the Strait. He does it quite often in a Foxbat and could advise you about special equipment, best time to fly, route etc. Here's his website which includes contact details: https://flyingintasmania.com/about/
  4. Marty_d
    Brilliant. Thanks Peter. We were actually over there in 2014 (August) so just missed it. Damn, probably would have changed our travel dates if I'd known at the time!
  5. Marty_d
    Not sure if it was 2 or 3. I went to 2 I think - Chris Sperou accidentally landed his Pitts inverted right in front of me!
  6. Marty_d
    He even called it his "energy management routine". I saw him do it at Skyrace Tasmania in the 90's. Met some US airmen the next year and they wanted to go see the airfield he was at- man was a hero to them.
  7. Marty_d
    Was that Bob Hoover, Nev?
  8. Marty_d
    Whether it's allowable or not, surely the purpose of recreational aviation is to get AWAY from the kids???
  9. Marty_d
    The airlines must be ahead of the regs then. We flew to Europe when our youngest was under 2, she was given a supplementary belt that hooked on to a parents belt.
  10. Marty_d
    Heard on ABC radio yesterday of a light aircraft experiencing landing gear problems at YCBG. Emergency services were not required, apparently. Par Avion was named, their fleet includes 172, 206, Duchess, Britten Norman Islander and Navajo, so I don't know what type had the issue. Anyone hear anything? Cheers, Marty
  11. Marty_d
    Ah c'mon Nev. Have a look at this and tell me it doesn't get the blood pumping... (suspend your disbelief at the world's slowest missile, and don't look too closely at the hangar scene or you'll see the post they suspended the plane on).
  12. Marty_d
    Not to mention, James Bond made it famous!
  13. Marty_d
    Imagine the chaffing his wife would give him. He wouldn't be chuffed about the chaffing about the chafing.
  14. Marty_d
    Why, did his harness see him doing something embarrassing?
  15. Marty_d
    Fuel consumption is eye-wateringly high in turbines compared with IC. Plus they operate most efficiently at high altitude and high speed, two things that don't really apply to our type of flying. There's a bloke who fitted a Garrett JFS-100-13A turbine (I think from memory it was an APU) to a CH701. Sounds fantastic but as it says - 16 GPH for about 90 BHP at the prop shaft - that's about 60 litres per hour compared to 17ish for a 100hp 912...
  16. Marty_d
    First attempt at the top cowl. I did 6 applications of wax, then a gel coat. Unfortunately I left it too long before doing the next step and it fully cured. I did soften it with acetone before applying 3 layers of carbon fibre and poly, but I had a bloody hard time releasing it from the mould and the gel has come away in places. Regardless, I think I can use the piece still. I'm going to but in another couple of carbon strips inside to stiffen it a little, and some kevlar and fibreglass strip along the edge where it'll join to the lower cowl. I'll do some bog and sanding and see how it comes up. Weights: Gel coat:302g Carbon: 572g Poly resin: 338g Total weight (before trimming, bogging and stiffening): 1212g
  17. Marty_d
    Thanks F10. Looks like the Tasmanian library system has a copy, hold placed!
  18. Marty_d

    Winscreens?

    Marty_d replied to F10's topic in Skyfox/Gazelle

    When I got some 2mm polycarb for my windscreen I asked if it could handle the tight turn around the top fuse bar. The woman working there said that she saw the guys out the back put a 6mm piece in a bending brake and put a 90 degree bend in it with no radius - and it handled that fine!
  19. Marty_d
    In my 20's I had a ride in the front seat of a Pitts. Remember the G meter going to 4.5 at one point. I was ok during the flight but threw up about 3 hours after.
  20. Marty_d
    I guess you're always far more likely to pull excess positive than negative. Reefing it too hard into a turn or pulling out of a dive will load up positive g, whereas not many people do a severe bunt or outside loop. At -3.5g I'd be pushing around 350kg upwards against the seatbelt. Fairly unlikely unless you're in a Pitts Special or similar.
  21. Marty_d
    What if you replicated the ID plate?
  22. Marty_d
    Be the bargain of the century if the trailer came with it!
  23. Marty_d
    That's the origin, apparently. "M'aider" or "m'aidez". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayday
  24. Marty_d
    And if you don't spell it with the T, you can't rearrange the letters to form "Zenith". Sad to hear. He was obviously a bloody good designer.
  25. Marty_d
    When there's significant takeup of EV, I'd agree with you. But until then there's such a price disparity to begin with that governments should be doing everything they can to encourage it, not the opposite. At the moment EV's make such a small percentage of all vehicles that taxing them will result in negligible gain while acting to suppress demand.
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