icebob

Hi Guys, Thanks for the help, the server time out was set to 1 minute, I increased it to 5 minutes and it looks like that has fixed the issue, he also informed me that from time to time he looses the mouse icon on his screen and the only way to get it back is to restart the computer - yes I know find the box and send it back:laugh: Bob.

Hi, I have one for you, a mate sends me a fair number of emails, over the last week evey one is duplicated so i get two of everything. He is not very computer savy, he knows how to turn it on and do his emails thats it. Any help would be appreciated. Oh he uses IE7 with XP Pro and Microsoft Office2000. Bob.

Hi Ian, know where you are coming from, been there, done that, bought the tee shirt. In all of the your list you forgot the one important ingredient just to top up all the woes WIFE PREGNANT TOO?????? Bob.

final report on crash. Hi Guys, Well after some deep and meaningfulls and a few liquid refreshments with the Crash investigators there are a few points that i am more than happy to publish here. Basically I stuffed up in two areas. 1. Aircraft maintenance. a) Fibreglass battery box manufactured in 1976 was never checked for deteriorating or security. b) flight controls below the battery box had no protection from miscellaneous items falling into the flight controls. c) aileron and elevator trim friction stops did not work. d) airworthiness directive to strengthen the tail wheel area not complied with. e)Main battery and the auxillary motorcycle battery did not have a fusable link or some sort of over voltage cut out. 2. Flying. a) In an attemp to Establish a constant rate of decent the VP usual practice is to reduce power to around 2000rpm giving about 300-500fpm decent, however the "normal" engine off practice is to maintain about 50 kts to near touch down and use the aircrafts inherent drag to slow up to a semi flair and touchdown,using ground effect, the aircraft speed was logged as 37-38 kts, this establishes a high drag situation and therefore steeper approch- too steep for engine failure, stopped propeller situation. b) In an attemp to provide a flair, elevator trim was set to full up. c) There was some small movement(about 10%) of all flight controls for ailerons and elevator and about 1/3 range of movement for the rudder. d) the attempt to "get home" at the time was flawed as the paddock adjacent to the strip was sufficant to land in, if a bit rough. e) the over engineered flight control bell cranks were sufficantly strong enough to brake the fiberglass shards stopping or greatly reducing flight control movement if more vigorous movements had been used. There was sufficant space under the bell cranks to allow the broken fibreglass to fall and not effect the controls.Residue from the battery had minimal effects on the control bell cranks in the short time of exposure. f) It was felt that directly the engine started missing a turn for home should have be initiated giving approxamatly 2 minutes of full power at 2900ft before engine total failure. This would give around 1.7 kms extra range more than sufficant to glide to the "home" paddock. Assesing the engine problems while returning to the home padock could have been performed and not on engine total failure. g) The auxillary battery was designed to be able to be switched to provide power to the magneto but was not used. The magneto also has provision for a pulse start of the motor. Bob.

A man had just settled into his seat next to the window on the plane when another man sat down in the aisle seat and put his black Labrador Retriever in the middle seat next to the man. The first man looked very quizzically at the dog and asked why the dog was allowed on the plane. The second man explained that he was a DEA agent and that the dog was a 'sniffing dog'. 'His name is Sniffer and he's the best there is. I'll show you once we get airborne, when I put him to work.' The plane took off , and once it has levelled out, the agent said, 'Watch this.' He told Sniffer to 'search.' Sniffer jumped down, walked along the aisle, and finally sat very purposefully next to a woman for several seconds. Sniffer then returned to his seat and put one paw on the agent's arm. The agent said, 'Good boy', and he turned to the man and said, 'That woman is in possession of marijuana, so I'm making a note of her seat number and the authorities will apprehend her when we land. 'Say, that's pretty neat,' replied the first man. Once again, the agent sent Sniffer to search the aisles. The lab sniffed about, sat down beside a man for a few seconds, returned to its seat, and this time he placed two paws on the agent's arm. The agent said, 'That man is carrying cocaine, so again, I'm making a note of his seat number for the police.' I like it!' said his seat mate. The agent then told Sniffer to 'search' again. Sniffer walked up and down the aisles for a little while, sat down for a moment, and then came racing back to the agent, jumped into the middle seat and proceeded to poop all over the place. The first man was really grossed out by this behaviour and couldn't figure out how or why a well-trained dog would behave like that, so he asked the agent, 'What's going on?' The agent nervously replied, 'He just found a bomb.' Bob.

Welcome back, hope the scooter drivers didn't scare you. Hay whats this drinking Tiger beer, gutsy play mate. Bob.

Welcome Jamie, You will find lots of help here. I am a VP man, built mine in 1976 a VP1, fun to fly and cheap to run. Want assistance any time PM me. Bob.

Hi Yenn, maybe I didn't fully explain myself, sorry,I was talking about the mob I got involved with in the mid 1970's, they pushed GA down everyones throat, there were a few of us that just sat on the outer rim of this(excluded), did our thing, had fun and kept in touch. I see that drive to GA not now happening which I think is great. I like the fact that changes to the regulations are made available fairly quickly and not as i had problems with at an AGM. Yes I am a grass roots flier and I will support anyone who is as best i can, I also recognise those who do indeed purchase a flash machine, good on them and to be fair none has rammed down my throat "you must" and "you will" like i experienced in the past, in that respect the/our type of aviation has come a long way. I still am concerned about the increasing costs of the items that support my flying, fuel,oil and maintenance/parts. Bob.

Hi Flyer, when I joined the association it was all about the members, what the governing body could do to make our flying better for us, then a sudden change in management and all of a sudden we were being pushed in to GA, we could do noting right but the holy grail of GA was the way to go, better aircraft for us, safer, more regulations proposed anyway it spiralled down into what was becoming a paperwork nightmare, that was not what i joined for and i said how i felt and was put down by the very Representative i had voted in. This happened on a number of occasions so i walked away and behind my back i was knifed as a know it all and a b..it artist. At this time i had just got my LAME's and was just promoted to a Petty Officer in the RAN as an aircraft maintenance manager looking after 8 helicopters, so according to this Rep i knew nothing? hope this gives you a picture of what was going on and the conservative number of loosing 3000 members on the AUF collapse i would say more like 4000. I wonder where they are now? So I am apprehensive of RAA now, I guess past unresolved hurts are still there, I now need proof, to some degree John's response in another thread has settled some of those doubts but he is only one voice of how many who represent us, where are the others and what do they think? is it possible we are repeating history or are we just learning from past errors to make the flying as less expensive as we can in the current climate of rising costs? Bob.

I must agree with farri, a name change is like a coat of paint, what is important is the organisation as a whole and its direction and the intent to go in that direction. I was one of those lost soles from AUF, the meetings at Bankstown bring back unhappy memories for me. Sure it is "nice" to see all these expensive and modern machines and I would just love one - eventually - not now I am having too much fun - cheap constructive, pleasurable fun and after all that is what we all are here for, fun, fellowship and a bloody good time? Bob.

Thanks for the photos Don. RLP - this is the VP2, my VP1 had the same wings as these photos. Don, I will indeed post photos but in a few weeks, I am doing a scrap book of all my photos of my aircaft as a way of saying goodbye, I am indeed proud of her and we have had a longer association than my wife and I, my aircraft was my second girl(better say that the wife is looking;)) Bob.

Hi Guys, i use the crab method, slightly higher approach speed, no flaps and on landing,wind side aileron fully up all the way to engine shut down. Bob.

Hi all, I agree with a lot of what you all have to say. The main reasons I built my VP1 was low cost and fun. From its first flight 17th June 1977 until last week that is exactly what it gave me, FUN, just 40 bucks of fuel per fortnight gave me about an hour and a half flying per week, magic, come and go as i like, no making appointments, that to me was recreational flying. Sure we are developing different aircraft and sure we all should be in the same group but maybe do we need different classes of aircraft with rules unique to that class? The them and us feeling can also be one generated through isolation are we isolationists by default? just a few thought provoking items. my 2Bob's worth. Bob.

Welcolm to the forum:welcome: Bob

Hi RPL, when i made the aircraft in 1976/7 i also got the from the UK and starter,altinator and fuel pump kit for the rear of the VW motor,wing fold option, that made the wings 7 inches longer(extra wing rib) and the elevator and rudder were also increased in size about 15% more than the original plan. I had no problems with pitch and yaw. The only issue i did have was with even that small an increase in flying surfaces it became a real floater. they are easy to build and now you can get the complete kits from the US, and the VW engine is one of the easiest to modify, i was getting about 1200 hours of service before overhaul. Bob.

Oh well done Ian, What can I say, this forum is world class I like many others no doubt are proud of what you have achieved please take a big bow - just not the whole tree, ha, ha. Bob.

Hi Yenn, yes very therapeutic, my wife has gathered all of the aircraft photos and construction photos and given me a large photo album/scrapbook and i will do up the book with all the photos and add pages of "memories" too, she figured that would give me some closure, i think she is correct. I am even starting to look forward to listing some contenders as the replacement. Bob.

Hi Flyer, That box of claret sounds good but at the moment i do not think i could handle the head the next day:loopy: Bob.

Hi Mazda, No the other side of Riverstone, well the Backtown side, about 2kms outside the military zone as the crow flies. A mate has a farm there and a big shed and he has a new S2. The strip is one paddock with a section 1800 mts long and 20 mts wide used as the strip but the whole padock could be used if needed. Bob.

Hi Mozartmerv, I guess we all try to fly like an angle? Yes I must admit i have done a lot of drills and training over the years, the military showed me the value of that. A couple of people have asked me why the "yellow pill" well in this case the word pill means "Pilot Inserted at Lunatic Level" an in joke with Navy helo pilots pre 1980. one of the pilots had some complaints against him for low flying and when asked by the Commanding Officer how low did he fly "oh only to the lunatic level sir", he got away with it. Bob.

Hi Teenie2, Yup did all that, no broken bones, little brusing, no fatalities no one appeared intrested, the hospital kept me 4 hours and was only visited by a doctor just prior to discharge. The Police said they would call me sometime next week???? Bob

Hi old man emu, well i am lucky i guess lots of contacts still in the military or just left but we all keep in touch. I think it has a lot to do with the bigger the organisation the slower the responce. quite often paperwork passes through so many hands that in its self is slowing the system. Bob

Hi Teenie2, That flow is good, so it is not that as an issue. So from the tank to carbie is not a problem of fuel flow as a static test. My engine at idle with the mechanical pump was giving me 12-14 lts per 15 min so the differences between our fuel flow rates are not that great. I just have a bigger volume of fuel to the carbie. What actually happened in the first place to concern you?

Hi Ben, Thanks for that, yes i have x-rays on Monday because the tech: is not funded for weekends for anything but urgent or life threatening????? The hospitals words not mine. I firmly believe i had some help from my guardian angle. I have tried the claret approach as was recommended, bloody bottle has a hole in it???? Bob.

deep sorrow part 2 Hi Everyone, just to let you all know I am OK sore and stiff with a really bad back at the moment, x-rays Monday afternoon. A friend who is an expert in the crash investigation field has looked at my aircraft(the wonders of a case of beer), he has been there from six am this morning and has pin pointed what he sees as the cause. 1. The fibreglass battery box is the original made in 1976, over time the base of it weakened allowing the gel filled battery to fall through, doing so caused the swagged ends of the wiring to be exposed and shorting out, there is also evidence at the starter and alternator of high current and burnt insulation and on two saddles attaching the starter cabling to the airframe, charring underneath on the fusalage plywood covering and no insulation on the wire. 2. with the excessive load and being free to impact the sharp edges of the broken box, the casing of the battery failed and the gel dribbled onto the flight control quadrants. 3. the three flight control quadrants are separated by a white nylon bushing with a brass washer on either side. The gel from the battery had a reaction with washers and the white nylon and this reaction caused all movement at the bushings to stop. 4. there was evidence that the battery gel had leaked under the floor - most likely during decent and had compromised the plywood skin.The gel flowing out of the battery case and forward would also slightly change the CofG. 5. the aircraft came to rest on the port wing stub, nose and roll bar in a slightly inverted position, there was evidence of battery gel leaking in that direction. 6. Although the fire was substantial the whole aircraft was not consumed and the reminance were taken away in a Ford Ute for further investigation. 7. The engine which parted company with the aircraft on impact is now in the shed and will be stripped down, sometime, when i can bear to go back to it. Conclusion. Routine maintenance was not carried out on the battery box it self from initial build(1976) that was the major cause of the accident. The control quadrants were directly below the battery and should have had some sort of cover over them, that would have lessened the impact of the battery gel on them. the motor cycle battery that was the back up should have had a fusible link in it as this was the direct cause of the fire post impact. I would like to thank all of you for your kind words, and yes i am still shaking and going over the whole incident, i firmly believe that i did the right thing in the right way and used my own beliefs that you fly to the end of an accident. Will i re build? At this time i do not know, it is too soon, will i fly again YOU BET even if i have to use my wifes broom. Bob.