Soleair

Hello Walrus. I fear you are right. Another aircraft-specific forum I have used for 8 years, & used to be crammed full of builders' & flyers' anecdotes has virtually dried up, with one long standing member making the same observations as you do. I grew up making model aeroplanes, like many of my generation (I'm 71), and then got into flying via hangliding, microlights, gliding, & eventually graduated to PPL. My health now prevents me flying, but I still visit forums. I do not see the same level of early interest in flying that seemed prevalent in my day. The younger guys certainly have the money to fly (unless runaway house prices have taken all their money?), but the clubs seem exclusively populated by old farts of my generation, who usually like to talk about their flying stories. Very few youngsters from what I've seen. Perhaps they prefer the instant gratification of computer games, or just prefer to use their leisure for beer & barbecue. Flying is perceived as difficult, dangerous & expensive, and few seem to get as far as even a trial flight. What fun & achievement they're missing out on! And, as you say, the omnipresent power of CASA doesn't help. In the UK in the 70's & early 80's we were exempt from any regulation. I, like others, designed, built & flew 3 microlights, before graduating to design on a fully licenced 'conventional' trainer. Without the freedom of those early days, it is doubtful I'd have finished up flying & working in aviation. Indeed, due to a re-registration issue recently, my poor little plane spent 2 years in a hangar at huge cost, unable to fly. I eventually cut my losses, sold it, and that's the last I shall fly. I don't know what the solution is. Neither of my sons in their early 40's is interested in flying. But I agree, I think the whole sport aviation scene is gradually atrophying. But I'm so grateful for the fun, pleasure & excitement flying light aeroplanes has given me. Bruce

And a healthy gliding club, too. (At least there was in the early 2000's when I spent a memorable summer learning the art).

The drag generated by the control surface deflection will tend to have a restorative influence on the diversive force generated by the lift element. Take for example a rudder deflection. As detailed above in Jabiru7252's post, deflection of the rudder generates a lateral component (lift) and a rearward component (drag), although he only shows the resultant combined vector in his diagram. The lateral force will cause the plane to yaw (which is the desired effect). The rearward drag force will act about the centre of drag (roughly on the centreline), but being displaced progressively more with increased yaw, this induced drag will represent a restorative couple, and attempt to prevent the tail from yawing. Same applies to elevator & aileron deflections: the induced drag acts counter to the lift, but the value is lower, so the lift wins. Bruce

The trouble with using digital bathroom scales is that they only display for a short period (30 secs?) then revert to zero. Not enough time to read all three. So when I weighed my MiniMax, I bought 3 old digital scales from the tip shop - $2 or $3 each. I calibrated them with my own weight, which was about the same value as 1/3 the weight of the Max. Then I set everything up and recorded each reading at my leisure. I suppose if the microlight you're weighing is 6-700 kg you could use 6 scales, with a plank across each pair. But it wouldn't be a microlight. . . Bruce

I am unclear as to what is allowed under Stage 3 restrictions in regional Victoria. Numerous government & quasi authoritative websites list ad nauseam the infamous 4 reasons to leave home. These include shopping for food & essential items. Elsewhere, often on the same site, it is stated retail shops may remain open subject to the 4sq.m density rule. What is sold by these retailers is not specified. So if any retailer is allowed to open, by extension, one is allowed to shop there. Whether for essential or non-essential items. And where is the definition of essential? What one deems essential another may say is frippery. Please note I am no relation to Karen, nor do I embrace her misguided, foolish and selfish objection to mask wearing. I just don't understand the regs, & find it difficult to see how anyone can be prosecuted breaking for such ill-defined regulations. Bruce

I was musing over my lifestyle recently. Although I'm over 70, I still run with the dog for 5 km every morning. After a cold shower and a breakfast of muesli and fruit tea, I cook 20 meals for the homeless and deliver them to the hostel. Then I work out in the gym for an hour or two. Alternate days I am rebuilding a 1939 Morgan trike, or restoring a 1944 J3 Cub. Then it's flying most evenings at sunset, coming home to work on my Phd on philosophy. Then I retire to bed with my young wife, where we make passionate love, often several times. It is usually about this point that I wake up, throw another log on the woodburner, and go back to my afternoon nap.

I'm guessing Bex is not a taildragger pilot, otherwise he would understand the appeal of a conventional undercarriage.

Thanks. CASA approved hot glue, I take it.

Great, thanks. Last question - what glue are you using?

Looks fun. Where did you get the templates to download? Keep posting your progress! Bruce

Very interesting video. Main thing I took from it was the very small vortices from the owl in glide mode - incredibly efficient. Presumably that's why their flight is so quiet. As an aside, I've often wondered why birds don't have any trace of a vertical tail surface. Fitting a fin to early flying machines was a stroke of genius by whoever first did it.

I was washing my Minimax yesterday when Machtuk came over to chat. He then wheeled out his immaculate RV8, and invited me for a trip. We had a great flight, out to Hanging Rock. We flew over my son's place, & were duly spotted by my wife. It is a great aeroplane: very light on the controls (yes, I had a stick-waggle & loved it!); great visibility; superfast & flickable. Thoroughly enjoyed it!! So thankyou very much Machtuk - made my day. Bruce

Help! I'm trying to post on the Classified, and I'm not allowed to attach photos. File size 453 kb. Logged in. Message says "you do not have permission to perform this action" How can I post one (or more?) photos on my ad?

Ian, a crie de couer: Please can you instigate/resuscitate/reanimate the Classifieds section? I know it was small, but thetre really isn't another Recreational Aircraft sales site for the lower end of the market anywhere else. Good luck with your improved site. Bruce

Here's mine. Add simplicity!

Sorry, can't see how to delete this post

Let me parade my ignorance and ask a basic question. Several posts earlier concerned the direction of circuits, with some pilots apparently flying it the wrong way. In UK, the circuit direction is indicated by a Tee board. This is usually situated near the windsock, and is a large board lying flat with a big white letter T on it. This is oriented such that the ('upright') leg of the Tee aligns with the runway in use. Approach & takeoff is along the upright towards the crossbar. In this way, when the recommended overhead join is made, joining pilots can see the wind direction, runway in use, & circuit direction from overhead before joining the circuit. This seems like a fundamental to me, at least for manned airfields. It at least allows non-radio aircraft, or those who haven't planned thoroughly, to be aware of the circuit direction. Has this system not been used in Aus, or tried & discarded?

Yes, it's a shame new pilots are not taught to recover from extreme unusual attitudes, including fully developed 2 or 3 turn spins. I believe I benefitted from such training, back in the 80's in a Cessna Aerobat. But there is a (relatively) low cost solution for any pilot, trainee or qualified, to experience spins and many other skills useful for when the donkey quits. It's called gliding. I think it would be an excellent idea for all power pilots to spend an hour or more in a glider, to experience these regimes, maybe as part of their licence requirement. They would almost certainly enjoy it, plus learn about the ultimate in power off landings (no go-arounds in a glider!). But then I also believe most car drivers would benefit from a compulsory period on a motorbike before being granted a car licence. I don't suppose that's going to happen either. Bruce

Good to see he stopped at the red light.

Nothing. That is not my point.

I built my MiniMax from drawings. I modified the design in several areas: I replaced the elevator & aileron Teleflex cable system with push rods & torque tubes; incorporated flaps; altered the empennage profile (but not the tail volume); installed an engine that has never been fitted to a Max previously; and made my own propellor. But I am not allowed to maintain my aircraft as I am "not qualified". Bruce

Some flaps do provide mostly drag and little lift at high angles of deflection. But to answer your specific question, the effective chord line for AOA reckoning is found by an imaginary line joining the T/E of the wing to the centre of the L/E nose radius. In the case of flaps, the line from the T/E of the flap to the L/E of the wing would be less than the 30º flap angle.

Plus most of the newer roads have constant radius bends, so you set your lean angle & go for it. I also found French car drivers to be very sympathetic to bikers, unlike just about every UK cage driver.

Here's a confession of the brash overconfidence of my youth. I had a small company intended to change the microlight world with a new plane of my own design. We built the prototype, and I had done the only flying on it, perhaps half a dozen hours. I decided it would be exciting for my two sons, then aged 6 & 4, to take them up one at a time for a short flight. A word on the structure. This was a rag & tube airframe, swept wing, canard. No enclosed seating area, as with trikes. The 'fuselage' was a pair of parallel tubes, with 1.25" o.d. tubing at each end, forming a rectangle. The seat was a simple hammock (made by my wife on her sewing machine) slung between the two ends. Because my children were so small, their little legs didn't reach the forward crossbar to rest upon. So I tied a piece of rope across the fore-&-aft tubes, and they rested their feet on that. No other structure between them and the ground 2500' below. The flight was uneventful, & I also took my wife up. She did not enjoy the experience, mainly, she claimed, because she kept thinking that her stitching on the hammock seat was all that stood between her and certain death on the unforgiving ground so far below. So in summary I risked the lives of my family on a brand new, unproven design, built from commercial material no airworthy standards, that had undergone no inspection other than my own, using a single ignition 2 stroke with my own reduction drive system. All this was completely legal at the time (1982 in UK), but I still cringe when I consider with the painfully acquired wisdom of my autumn years the foolhardiness of such a decision. Fortunately, my boys were unscarred mentally, & both went on to solo gliders whilst in their teens. My wife has never flown in anything smaller than a 727 since. Bruce

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/robert-murgatroyd-pilot-barton-crash-15860828