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microman

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Everything posted by microman

  1. microman
    Ok as it happened, and the test flight didn't throw up any problems in that area. I have fitted a trim tab, but on the first short flight didn't get a chance to see what effect it might have. Stick pressure was light with no obvious tendency to pitch up.
  2. microman
    Finally flew my 95.10 Sapphire today for the first time after a total restoration - its fitted with a twin-carb 503, and even with the Ivoprop on full coarse it revs out at 6800 static so I can see that I will need to get the 2.24 gear ratio rather than the 2.58 on it currently as prop diameter is limited to 50 inches which is a bit small. Otherwise, plenty of power available and I even managed to 3-point it on landing.
  3. microman
    There are wooden props and wooden props. My Alpi has a Brent Thompson prop that is very smooth, never needs balancing or tracking, and performs as well as the Alpis with C/S Idrovario props. Ground roll is a little longer, but once in the air, climb rate is close to 1000 ft/min - 2-up. Cruise is 100kts at 4750 rpm. It just needs the occasional retorquing. Also, I use 3 litres p/hr less fuel than the C/S units. I am aware of a number of Jabiru owners who have fitted one of his props and they have found that performance has improved, both climb and cruise.
  4. microman
    I am based at Rangiora airfield ( near Christchurch) - ideally situated for some great flying north south and west. Our club, the Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club has approx 180 members and there are around 80 aircraft hangared on the field. Call in any day and there will always be someting happening. PM me if you would like some contact details. Queenstown is a great area, but all GA types there and microlights are basically banned from Queenstown airport which to be fair is very buy with commercial traffic. Otherwise the Soiuth Island is quite sparsely populated although Omaka airfield near Blenheim is worth a look - there is an excellent museum, also one at Ashburton.
  5. microman
    Typical GA attitude to microlights(ultralights) - although here in NZ it is slowly changing as GA pilots become aware of the capabilities of the lighter machines, and they are moving over to microlights in droves. I would much rather crashland my Alpi in tiger country at 30kts than a Cessna weighing twice as much at twice the speed. There was a recent case of a Zenith 601 which crashlanded in a canopy of trees where the terrain was so rough it could only be reached by helicopter - only very minor injuries resulted. As for the "should never have been there in the first place" comment - what garbage - we have confidence in the maintenance of our aircraft (and our engines) and for many in NZ if they never flew over tiger country they would simply never fly! Forexjohnny has obviously never visited the West Coast of the South Island. We have a bunch of Zenith 701's in our club - they routinely land on strips (so called) that only Alaskan bush pilots would consider.
  6. microman
    I understand many P300's have an issue with oil temps on extended full-power climbs - funnily enough my P200 with the same oil-cooler setup wont even get to optimum temp (100 deg C) under the same circumstances, and in fact at cruise the temp sits around 80 degC which is a little cool. The Rotax book says that all 912's should reach 100 deg C at some stage during each flight - in order to burn off any moisture. Actually I generally cruise-climb my P200 at around 5000 rpm - it will still climb at over 500 fpm at MTOW. Great design these Alpis! Even with a fixed-pitch prop (mind you it is a Brent Thompson special!), I cruise at 100 kts at 4700 rpm - 12-15 litres per/hr.
  7. microman
    And of course if you use diesel in an aircraft there are no Road User Charges - add that to the economy of a diesel and its a no-brainer - provided you can fit a diesel engine and still stay under the weight limits - eh Charlie?
  8. microman
    Many thanks for that pylon500 - I didn't know about the sweepback - that certainly explains why the later models could handle the 503. I have also fitted a trim tab and hope that I can overcome any slight tail-heavy tendency with that. Of course if its majorly tail-heavy I will have to think again. And I will check the top rudder pivot.
  9. microman

    Tyre choices

    microman replied to Lyndon's topic in Savannah

    The operation is called YouShop and it is brilliant - not only does it solve the problem of traders who wont ship overseas - it also means that you can often take advantage of "free postage in the continental United States" which is often available. You also avoid the huge shipping costs charged by many US traders as YouShop only charges nominal fees to ship to NZ. If the value of your goods is over $400 YouShop will charge GST which means that you dont then have the problem of customs clearance when the goods arrive in NZ. All in all a very good solution and one I have used many times. Especially good for importing aircraft parts which seems to be a regular occurrence!
  10. microman
    Well a few months ago I managed to get my Sapphire back - its an original 95.10 model - short wings with part fabric, fuel tank behind the seat, no flaps etc etc. Almost finished restoring it, and have fitted a twin-carb 503. Just have a couple of concerns and wonder if any other Sapphire owners or previous owners can offer advice - the 503 is quite a bit heavier than the original one I had on it 20 years ago what with electric start, twin carbs, fan cooling etc. I seem to recall that all Sapphires tended to have an aft C of G and wonder whether mine might now be too far aft - I guess the only way to know will be to do a W & B. Also, the 503 has a gearbox with the 2.58:1 ratio - I imagine the 2:1 or 2.24:1 would be preferable, especially as the 3-blade Ivoprop has had to be cut back to just under 50 in diameter to clear the tail-boom. Any advice appreciated.
  11. microman
    Couldn't agree more! Finally some common sense!
  12. microman
    My sentiments exactly - why does an aviation site have to be ruined by god-botherers and pointless discussions about politics by people pushing their way-out views?
  13. microman
    Hi Nobody - the third pic in this group - what is it? I want one!
  14. microman
    Actually the Simonini (92 hp) was in a couple of Skyrangers, also one in a Pulsar, one in a Baby Lakes, and another in a Rans S10 currently under construction. I owned one of the Skyrangers, and although there was tons of power, there was also a lot of vibration which I could never cure, and the fuel consumption was nothing like what was claimed (9 litres p/hr - actually more like 18) When I was in the UK in 2004, the Skyranger agent laughed when I told him about the Simonini - their experiences with the engine had apparently not been good. Pity really because the idea was ok - copy the Rotax 582, add well-tuned pipes to give it more power, and sell it for a lot less. My understanding is that the factory out-sourced a lot of the work involved in putting the engine together and there was very poor quality control. Just two examples of that were the rubber donut in the gearbox bolted in off-centre and rubbing on the case, and the cylinder head bolts not torqued properly.
  15. microman
    This is becoming a real problem - even here in NZ where our aviation activities generally appear to be much more lightly regulated than in Oz. Some years ago our local council produced a draft District Plan which banned flying off your own property (there are already a couple of places in NZ where such is prohibited). Fortunately the greenies who wrote the District Plan overstretched themselves by trying to ban many other activities also (jet-boating, chainsaws etc) and after 1200 submissions were received opposing the Plan, the Council realised it would take some years to hear them all, and scrapped the Plan. A replacement Plan omitted most of the really mad restrictions, however in the meantime some private pilots flying off their own properties had taken legal action against the council and managed to get a negotiated compromise by-law which restricts the numbers of takeoffs & landing in any 14 day period but is nevertheless manageable. Of course no-one is monitoring them and so the whole process has become a farce. I am afraid this sort of nonsense will only get worse as time goes by.....
  16. microman
    Not strictly true - you can elect to have your details suppressed on the register and a number of owners have done so.
  17. microman
    Perhaps I should have been a bit more specific in my sweeping assertion (slightly tongue in cheek) about Jabs climb rates - to be fair the ones I have seen have mostly been the earlier short-wing models with the 4 cylinder engine. - the later ones with the 6 cylinder engine are clearly very much improved - however Oscar's suggestion that pilot ability (or lack of it) is a factor is nothing more than a red herring - all the skill in the world cant overcome a lack of performance!
  18. microman
    Well it was a Jabiru - what would you expect- a short take-off? Most of them I've seen seem to need a mile of runway before they manage to slip the surly bonds!
  19. microman
    I am currently restoring an old 95.10 Sapphire and need a muffler for the 503 engine which incorporates the 180 deg expansion chamber. I actually have two other mufflers - one with a 45 deg chamber and the other with a 90 deg chamber. I guess if all else fails I might be able to get a welder to modify one of these but would prefer the real thing. Problem is the old 503's are becoming a bit scarce! - any advice or help would be appreciated
  20. microman
    Hi Chas - good to see you on board - its about time we had a flight report on the Governor now that its finally flown - how about it? Graeme
  21. microman
    Well obviously if the aircraft is equipped with a constant-speed prop and that produces enhanced performance you would naturally advertise it as such!
  22. microman
    Nong is right on the money - we have a P2004 Bravo on the field - he gets 115-120kts cruise with an Airmaster constant-speed prop - and just as important - great climb rate at the full 5800 rpm and the ability on full fine to come in to short strips at a steep angle of descent without gaining excessive speed. The owner couldn't believe the difference when he fitted the Airmaster. Not cheap (around NZ$10,000 all up?) but well worth it in his view.
  23. microman
    I also googled Otherton airfield (see Post #6) as I will be in the UK next May and hope to visit some microlight/homebuilt airfields - Otherton looks ideal. Also, the MW8 noted in Post 8 looks very Sapphire-like to me - as I own an early Sapphire which I am presently restoring, it looks to me like an improved version with the engine on top of the rear of the fuselage rather than further back under a cowl, which severely restricts the type of engine you can fit, not to mention making the aircraft somewhat tail-heavy! Incidentally you describe the MW8 as a tandem-seated pusher, but it looks very much to me like a single-seater? The engine is described in the blog as a Rotax 508 (4-stroke). Seems to me such an engine (if I knew where to obtain one) would also be ideal for the Sapphire. Are there any microlight events programmed for your neck of the woods next May? Graeme
  24. microman
    All good stuff Phil - I enjoy reading the BMAA magazine when I can manage to get my hands on a copy. Can it be accessed via their website? I assume you need a password etc. Mike Whittaker's designs seem to have stood the test of time - I didn't realise he was up to MK10! Cheers Graeme
  25. microman
    The blokes name is Charlie Kenny - he has built a Jodel which he calls the Governor - it is basically a stretched D18 with a Peugeot diesel engine - he plans to fly it as a single-seater as he likes plenty of room (he is a fairly big fellow). Haven't caught up with performance figures yet but I'll bet they are good!
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