icebob

Hi, I think i was sooo lucky. My mate called someone we both know who is a pilot in the RAAF he said it may have been a battery failure and to be fair i usually check it at an auto electricians every six months but have not got around to doing it. If the battery failed and the insides fell toward the front of the box can leak onto the flying control quadrants. quite frankly i am still in shock and am just now starting to get sore, i think tomorrow will be a very long day, i plan to go out and look at the remains on Sunday. Bob.

Hi All, it is with deep sorrow and regret that i have to announce my wonderful VP1- the yellow pill- is deceased. At about 3.50pm today at 2100 feet i had a total electrical failure and an attempt to restart the engine failed. I turned to the paddock i normally use and as this was about 1km away i felt i had sufficient altitude to make it. As it turned out i had more hight than needed, allowing me to turn into wind i experienced some elevator/aileron restrictions, at this time only minor resistance, i could not see any reason for this so continued my decent. At 200 feet and about 300 feet from the boundary fence i experienced more stiffening of the controls where substantial force was needed to move the controls and then total lock up, but i had the trim tab and more than 2000 mts to land in i felt confident i could get in even with a hard landing. I was set up on a firm path that had touch down about 1/3 of the way into the paddock, with little wind and lots of space i felt confident. I hit the top wire of the fence at about 35kts with the left main landing gear and somersaulted. The cockpit started to disintegrate and i remember flying through the air in slow motion and the judo lessons of my youth then became paramount as i broke the fall into a roll. My aircraft travailed about 60 meters and i could smell fuel. My mate arrived with a small tank on the back of his tractor and we attempted to wash away the fuel but we had no success and the aircraft was fully enveloped in flame, we withdrew and i was driven to hospital where after four hours i was allowed to go home. i am OK but my pride and joy is just a heap of ash. my mate did say that before the fire claimed the starboard wing he thought the control wires had jumped the pulley, i had checked the tension on them some six months ago and do so every 12 months and only done about 45 hours of flying from that time, the accident could of done that too?

Hi Teenie2, I have my VP1 at a friends farm near Riverstone, once i get it registered i will indeed fly to the oaks. you may not have an air issue as such, with my engine running flat out the penny filter is between 50-60% full but i do have the VW mechanical fuel pump fitted. The whole kit(starter and fuel pump) of the better quality comes from the US at about $700(US). I also changed my whole fuel line size from 1/4 inch to 3/8inch and got rid of a lot of problems. What size motor do you use? Bob.

Hi Mathew, Yes I remember the piano that one was the second used as the first had a "fall" in practice. Yes indeed most of the Christmas picnics were at Greenwall Point although i seem to remember some at the "green patch" or was that the BBQ's? Do you remember the car dropped from the Wessex on the open day? I was hoping to be up your way but had to change plans as my VP1 needed an engine and port wing rebuild and it took longer than i had thought. As i have just "officially" joined RAA(the last week) i am considering maybe selling my beloved yellow pill(VP1) and getting something that does not have some body parts in the wind. I have done 25.5 hours on my aircraft to date this year and right from it's first flight in 1976 to now i love it, so much fun! I was planing to register with RAA the aircraft and sling the plane on its trailer and visit friends in North Townsville and knock around the area for three weeks or so but the weather and the engine rebuild and making another port wing stopped that, maybe next year. Bob.

Hi All, I would like to make an apology to Mathew Ker and his father. When i first joined the forum i said it was Mathews father that helped me build my VP1 and get through the LAME exams. I have found the only photo i have of the VP1 construction and on the back gave all the details it was in fact a Petty Officer Penny who helped me, sorry Mathew, I can only blame poor memory for this. Bob.

Hi All, I wish yo make an apology to Mathew Ker and his father. I can blame poor memory here it was a Petty Officer Penny who helped me build the VP1 and helped with the LAME exam studies as per the only construction photo I have the back of which details all the relevent information. Sorry Mathew. Bob.

Hi Teenie, I have run the VP1 and with engine stopped the penny filter is full, at idle it is at about 80-90% full and at 1500rpm it is about 70-80% full. I set up a small camera, actually a reversing camra in flight at max rpm the penny filter is still over 50% full. I hope this helps you to pin point the problem.

Well done Alan, a memorable day for you. Bob.

Hi Teenie2, You are correct my VP1 had the 1800cc VW engine and on engine stopage would not turn over to restart in flight. However at around normal cruse speed it was a very short spurt on the starter to get it going again. Have you seen the VW engines on the US site with starters and mechanical fuel pumps? Bob.

Hi Ian, Well the thought of "great minds" I and a small group of interested people have started the exact same thing within St.John Ambulance in NSW for our cadets. We currently have seven confirmed applicants and when we reach our funding target will be operating out of The Oaks to train all candidates for the pilots certificate and all endorsements as well as the Education Department approved Aviation Technology course and enrolling them in the basic aircraft construction course at Sydney University so they will be building a or maybe two Jab 160c's AND giving them the opportunity to enter University without an academic scour needed as entry. We also plan to point them to cadet pilots applications with the various airlines. We are currently $200000 short of our $500000 but working on it. If anyone knows of some company/person that would sponsor us,I would be most grateful for the information. Bob.

Hi Teenie2, I just had one of those AHHH moments, are you using 1/4 inch fuel line? If so have a look at the US web site, they are all using 3/8 or bigger? I increased the fuel line size with my VP1 and it fixed the fuel starvation problem below half a tank of fuel especially in turns and with my previous post that fixed the vapor lock issue. I noticed that on the US web site that a lot of the VW motors were fitted with the standard VW mechanical fuel pump and some with the VW 40 amp alternator bolted on the rear of the motor(my VP1 had both) Bob.

Hi Teenie2, I had a similar problem with my Volkplane1 in the 70's I changed the fuel line location and had the plastic filter on the end of a sort of U shaped solid fuel line away from the engine as far as i could without snagging stuff, i also spent a day silver soldering about twenty brass washers on the fuel line on each side of the fuel filter, it worked ok. Bob.

OH, I'll have you know that belly bulge is just wind! ;) ha,ha, although someone told me once that when you brain gets full it goes to the belly:thumb_up:. Actually I would try to fly it all the way.

I agree with ozzie, my background in parachutes is military and I have the slim pack he talked about, a very good unit however after about four hours of flying you tend to walk funny for a short while after. I would be hard pressed to exit an aircraft at altitdude if the airframe was relativly in tact. Ballistic chute by their nature have a shelf life and as by the international explosive standards are classed as 1.4 they have at least a 5 year shelf life from date of manufacture, which may not be the same as date of assembly. This class of explosive is fairly safe and the projectors(the explosive bit and the chute bit combined) themselves have two safety devices that are obvious, the first is some sort of safety bolt or interrupter between the pull handle and the main propellant/s, the other is the safety pin at the handle. There are also two more safety devices built in that may not be documented. The first is the grab handle pull weight may be set to 9,12,18 or 20 lbs pull and the other is bursting disc's or bursting areas within the projector. The busting disc's or bursting area are there should the projector be subject to intense heat. The heat causes the solid explosive to turn to liquid(at its most dangerous) the liquid expands and either pushes out the chute or bursts the in built disc's or bursting area and all you get is a Roman Candle like effect. one safety aspect not talked about is the enermy of all explosives, static electricity. In the litriture i have seen on these devices there is no or minimal information on this subject, it is critical more so than re-fueling. I too am concerned that this device will be used in preference to flying the aircraft to the end.

Hi Motzartmerv, I will take you up on that offer, once we get started we are going to be as busy as an octopus with ten hot pies! There will be three streams working together, the flying, building two J160's and Aviation Technology studies for our first group of ten students. We will be offering first choice to cadets within St.John in NSW but if we do not get the numbers we intend to throw it open to family of forum members too. However we do not at this time intend offering accommodation too. Bob.

Hi Motzartmerv, Yes i have found the same, leaving the instruction times too long. The Seaking is a bit of a beast and i think you will find the biggest hold up in take off especally away from a home base is the electronics "up the back". When they first came to Australia some of the engineering staff were authorised to run single engine and spread blades for emergancy flights/work(SAR). With all the training given it was basiclly an easy job, you had a very thouough check list and the speed of start up was more to do with how fast you could read the check list than anything else.

Hi all, I had the opportunity to have some in depth discussions with a cousin who at one time was a Commander in the RAN and CO of two helicopter squadrons in that time. As a new aviator he was also my Commanding Officer on the old Wessex. Anyway enough of the history lesson, we were talking about the RAN and pilots staying current and the hours were and i believe now still are a minimum of 20 hours per month. As a recreational flier that figure would be hard to maintain if not impossible. Our discussion went to look at what key areas do you really need to stay current in and duration/practice time/s necessary. We also spoke about emergencies and landings away, engine failures and the like. we did agree that most pilots still have the eyes out the windows looking for a soft place to land and decided that that in its self was not a practice session but good airman ship. We also spoke about do you really need to land in a paddock just to prove your engine out skills, we thought not, if it is certain you would land without incident then good enough. My cousin did point out he used to practice all the way down to 200 feet on many occasions. As a student my hours would need to be relatively high to have some form of quality improvement. One hour a month or less we felt is ineffectual. So i am now thinking on what hours would be appropriate for me and secondly the costs and balancing both to get a satisfactory outcome,I have come up with 3 hours per fortnight. What do the forum members think about their hours, what would keep you on the ball, what could you feel comfortable with what could you afford in financial and time consumed in flying? Should the RAA have a minimum recommended flying time to stay current per license/aircraft type per year or go like GA plus check flight? I was also speaking to one pilot who said he felt 1 hour per month for practicing was reasonable and practical for him with all his other commitments as he is in it for the fun and does not do cross country anyway, although I did note he made a point to point 46km trip last year in his unregistered sub 60kts craft- with two landings.(sub note - yes i have spoken to him of the virtues of joining RAA, even gave him the forms):black_eye: Hope to see him in Rockhampton in July(wifes school reunion - its a his wife my wife thing)???? Bob.

Hi Southeast, someone from this forum recommended i superglue my credit card to the other seat, bound to get herself up flying,ha, ha. Well sad to report that failed, she got her own - hay maybe glue hers to the seat, hummmm??? Bob.

Hi motzartmerv, Thanks, these young people are an inspiration, they did fund raising just for the Tiff's and to pay for the BBQ and fuel for the bus too. The hardest part is getting Corporate sponsorships. We have the instructors and the aircraft already, so if any forum member knows of someone/ some company that would like to sponsor us please let me know. Once we have our own aircraft we can do advertising for sponsors on that too. Bob

Hi Moz, I am learning in an older Jab LSA of Dave's but hope to change to a new J160c or J230/430 before the end of the year (my own). I tried to get the wife intrested in flying, happy for me to but for her pigs will fly first, ha, ha. Anyway i still may talk her into it???? Bob.

On the 3rd and 17th of February this year a small group of cadets from Penrith Cadet Division St.John Ambulance went out to The Oaks for TIF's with Dave from Dave's flying school. This was so successfully we have another bigger group start flying and they want more, which we plan to do. The picture is of the whole group that took to the air. Our intention is to get at least twenty of these cadets their pilots certificate with pax and xcountry endorsements. Fund raising is now in full swing and we also will be approaching next year Sydney University for places in their Aviation Construction course 1400, so we will have builders as well as fliers in our group. We also intend to eventually purchase a kit for them to build then fly. Most of our initial group are too young(15-16) for entry into any of the cadet pilot schemes at this time but if we can get them into the air and trained, we hope we are giving them a leg into the aviation world be that pilots or engineers and at the same time expanding the virtues of being St.John cadets. Our plan is to expand this to the whole of NSW and eventually win support from each State and the National HQ of St. John for this to be a National incentive with National or Corporate funding/sponsorships. We would also like to thank the instructors for poseing for many photos, like photo two, during the day and for the many explanations and theroy of flight talks.:thumb_up:

Welcome Left Rudder. Hope you enjoy this forum Bob.

Hi Moz, welcome to the forum, I have only been here a short while and just re-entered flying again after many years away from GA after a stint in the Navy(FAA). I am learning, out at The Oaks, a great bunch of guys out there. Bob.

Hi Guys, while this jacket looks good it has some drawbacks, like your arm joints are not protected, it has no flexable or rotatable plates for that and what ever you do do not run away, your back is only 50% covered. I had the opertunity last year to look at this and three other jackets, none of them give more protection than for a .22 bullet at short range, a .32 at 3 meters just penetrated the jackets. How many people carry .32's these days?

My ops was an eye opener. We used to fly from Devonport(Tas) to the East coast every few weekends and a farmer we got friendly with allowed us to hanger the C172 in his machine shed with strict instructions to "shut the bloody gate". We had spent a great weekend and was about to leave so i did the pre flight powered up and headed for the strip. Then the penny dropped, I killed the engine and stood on the brakes, you guest it "OPEN THE BLOODY GATE". In those days i resembled a bean pole and i could not fit between the prop and the gate, no damage except the pride.:confused: