farri

Hi Shane, Are you suggesting there should be a lock off valve in the fuel line of the Drifter, if so, why do you think there should be?

The Bing 54 carburetor on the Rotax 582 and 503 DCDI does not have a choke, it has an enricher valve. When the valve is lifted at start-up, it allows additional fuel into the engine... By the way! At start-up, the throttle needs to be completely closed for the enricher valve to supply the correct amount of fuel.

Except for the smoke haze, good flying conditions here today so I took my favorite passenger, Trish, for her first flight over the Babinda Boulders and Broken Nose area of Mt. Bartle Frere. Franco, Ps, At all times within gliding distance of a suitable, safe landing site!

Jp Krucker 16 October at 08:27 · Located in Sudbury Ontario Canada.Built by JP Krucker 2018.Powered by 582 R ,24' by 8'' blades.Weight 450 lbs.Controls same as a weight shift trike,can be converted to typical gyro controls.

On facebook! Paul Lindamood shared a post. 1 hr Sad to hear this news. Chris Lord and flying companion were lost in a fatal gyro crash, Florida. Tony Sweet He told me a story of him flying back from the west coast in his Gyro. It was really hot out so to get out of the heat he climbed. He asked for flight following and he said ATC came back and asked you are flying what and how high are you and why. He said 9000' to get out of the heat in a Gyro. ATC never said another thing. Franco... I apologise if this is inappropriate to this thread.

Absolutely! Now that you pointed it out...LOL.

G`day Mike, Not really that far! I`ve flown up over the Gillis Range many times over the years, just don`t feel the need to do it much anymore, I basically did it yesterday to show Trish what the Mulgrave Valley and some of the Atherton Tablelands looks like, from the air. I`ve also done the circuit up over the Gillis to Atherton, Malanda, Milla Milla, down the Palmerston to Innisfail and back home to Deeral, more than a couple of times over the years but I`m not keen to do that anymore! The terrain around Malanda and down the Palmerston, is mostly cattle grazing country with extremely steep hills and valleys, for safety, you need to stay high and it becomes difficult to judge a safe landing area, not the type of country I want to have an engine failure over, so these days, I avoid it. The place to see Cassowaries, these days, is, Etty Bay! One day I saw someone offer one a fairly large apple, it just gulped it straight down. Yeah! That`s Me! My wife, Frances and our Daughter Susan... Not too sure about this big bird. Franco.

This mornings flight to the Atherton Tablelands, in the Drifter, with one of my neighbours, Patricia (Trish) Albert as my passenger...It`s a real pleasure taking Trish flying, as she`s so keen, it`s amazing!!! Franco.

Just me getting high in the Drifter, this morning!... It doesn`t get any better than this!!! Franco, Ps, Within gliding distance of a safe landing area and home, at all times.

CorrosionX

Thanks Nev, Found this! Boeing Corrosion Protection | Boeshield T-9 Sealant someone else might be interested. Franco.

Has anyone here used Surfboard Wax also known as Surfwax or any other type of Wax on their stainless wire cables and does anyone know if Wax on the cables will protect them in a salt air environment?... Franco.

I`ve tried various products to stop surface corrosion on the Rotax engines I`ve had, all of them left the engines oily, dust stuck to them and eventually, I`d have a hell of a job cleaning them up... For about 6 months, I`ve been regularly lightly applying Diesel with a paintbrush over the whole 503 DCDI I`m currently running and at this stage, I`m very pleased with the result and will continue doing what I`m doing.

Thanks, Guys, you`ve given me a bit of a chuckle! .....

I`ve been flying my Drifter in a high salt air environment since 1988. I`m on my second set of wire cables that I made up, using 316 stainless, at the last refurbishment, which was 10 years ago. When I first started noticing tea staining on the original cables I decided to keep all the cables and swages lubricated. I tried gear oil, then grease and I applied it by putting it on a cloth and sliding the cloth along the cables, this would also pick up any broken strands if there were any, it was a bit messy but it did stop the tea staining. I`ve always kept my second set of cables and swages lubricated and recently I decided to try Diesel, to date there`s been no signs of tea stain, rust or any ill effect from these products. Something else to be aware of is the effect of a Hornet`s (mud wasp) nest. For those who don`t know! It`s made up of mud which the Hornet uses to attach to some object and it has an incredible corrosive effect when attached to a metal, especially aluminium...A guy who flew from here and kept his Kit Fox in the shed here found a large Hornet`s nest built on one of the rudder cables, in an area that was not noticeable on a normal preflight inspection. The mud had corroded the cable right through to just a couple of strands which could have snapped at a most critical moment. Franco.

I still remember my exact words to the guy, which were, " If you don`t have enough respect for your own life, think about your son`s life", brutal I know, but it worked! Franco.

‎David Mason‎ to Drifter Aircraft Appreciation Society 11 October at 13:58 · tagAdd topics · Expressions of interest: I have a Maxair XP503 project, all ready for assembly including low hr DCDI 503, new sails. Ceconite tail and ailerons just need painting. New tyres, brakes, exhaust, spar brackets, pod, wheel spats, radio etc. Will sell for right price or pay to have it assembled. Franco.

A while back two guys from down south ( names withheld ) flying to the top of cape york, in their Drifter, landed on my strip to take a break as the weather was turning nasty! one guy was flying solo and the other had his young son and a lot of gear on board...As I always do I went down to the strip to say G`Day and as I walked around the AC of the guy with his son on board, I looked at the wires and saw what I suspected was rust, so I said to the guy, "Do you realise that`s rust on those wires" he replied, "No that`s red dirt", again, I said it was rust and he came back with the same answer. A friend of mine, also a Drifter owner/pilot who was there with me at the time, overheard what I`d said, took hold of the wire, gave it a bit of a pull and the wire snapped, he pulled on another wire and it snapped, the owner of the Drifter couldn`t believe what had just happened and couldn`t stop thanking me, for possibly saving his and his son`s life. Both of these guys intending to fly to the top end were experienced pilots, one was a respected member of this Forum, yet, neither had noticed what turned out to be rust, it also turned out that the guy had fitted new wires just two years ago. I lent the guy my car and sent him to Cairns to buy new good quality wire and swages then using my swaging tool we made up all new wing wires... The guy didn`t want to do the tail wires but I convinced him on why he should so we did and then I test flew it for him... The weather never improved and by this time, both Drifter pilots were more than grateful just to be able to fly back to where they`d come from. Moral of the story. If you`re not sure of the safety of the wires or any other part of the aircraft, get advice from someone who does know... Fortunately! this story does have a happy ending. Franco (Frank)

Taking Antonien Rosseau, from France, Drifter flying this morning! Near perfect flying conditions, made it an absolute, Magic Carpet ride! Another young guy, very impressed and going back home, with fond memories. Franco.

I met these two lovely young ladies and their mother, Louise, at a gathering of family and friends here at home yesterday! They were up here on holiday and as I`d previously taken Louise`s sister, Tanya, (Tanya is a local) flying, they were keen to see what Drifter flying is all about!!! Franco.

G`Day Neil, Would be nice to see your pics posted here!

G`Day Don! I flew again today! Took up two lovely young ladies and their Mum for their first Ultralight flight...

Franco.