Gibbo

q. What do you call a man with no arms or legs but a 12" penis? a. Partily disabled.

Fuel burn The two aircraft I mentioned had the pin holes in both directions and was the same on both sides so therefore the breather / fuel plug could be installed in both directions. The situation occurred with one breather (lhs) being fitted in the windward direction and the RHS being fitted towards the tail. 130l of fuel was being carried (ATO) and a definite stain was found on the RHS on landing. 'It appeared that a negative pressure on the RHS breather PLUS a positive pressure on the LHS was enough to stream fuel while in flight.' The 21 lph was caused by a known factor that I won't go into any further into here other to say that I am a little on the large size and the aircraft normally cruises at around 17-18lph. G

Breathers fitted in the wrong direction? On a recent trip in a 160 I had a similar fuel burn issue of 34 lph. I started to get worried about the fuel consumption about 90 minutes into the flight. When I landed at Renmark I noticed that the breather was mounted facing the rear on the right hand side with the left hand side facing forwards. The right hand side had a telltale Avgas 'stain' over the wing extending from the breather to the rear. I reinstalled the breathers facing forwards and fuel burn reduced back to 21 lph. I have never 'tested' my theory again but one plus one equaled two at the time. I have flown seven different j-160's and have noticed on two of them that the breather can be installed facing either direction. Has anyone ever tested or experienced the above? Gibbo.

Waste The system is a complete farce... YVRD - Victoria River downs. 1200m gravel. 500km SW of Katherine and on the edge of the Tanami Desert. ASIC card needed for a airstrip with a community population of 200 but no fence's in place. Only regular passenger traffic is a six seat medical charter. Some agricultural usage. YWDH - Windorah, Pop. 60. 1500m Bituman. Fenced, ASIC required and the lock has not yet been installed. 2 years of work. 4 RPT's each week. Metroliner. Cunnamula - ASIC, Fenced, Gate code written in texta on the outside of gate. ??? 2 RPT's each week. Bourke - ASIC, Fenced, Code protected by metal flap. Airport is never manned and access is not difficult. Cobar - Large holes in the fence. Other than at Mount Isa, I have never been asked for a ASIC card and I have hardly ever worn it. A quick inspection of staff working around RPT's will find that a large number will have expired cards. The system has major holes and the requirements for these out of the way strips is just plain knee jerk. Not one fence would stop anyone climbing over them if they had any intent it just slows the legitimate users down. A door doesn't stop a Burgular. Fencing has been a blessing in one form as it has reduced the roo and emu count on the strips. Gibbo

I had a bit of a strange experiance getting my ticket. I will leave airstrip names out of it. I Started flying in September 07 averaging 4 hours per month. It took me 36 hours to go Solo. Of these hours, 10 of them were spent on a cross country to Narromine for Natfly. All these were at airfield "1" where I was starting ask "what am I doing wrong" without getting a decent answer. While at Natfly (and while enjoying a few) I started a gentle conversation with a CFI from airstrip "2". A fairly heated discussion started around the table about instructors training styles and "nasty habits". End result being that I took the CFI's offer up for a check flight and I ended up going solo during the check flight. One monkey off my back. "2" was a real eye opener and was able to effectivily to "fix" my landing problem in about 10 minutes of dual time. I suspect that many hours had been wasted at "1" as the real motive was not teaching but making money. Naturally, "1" was a bit peaved that I had "jumped" the queue and had some solo time up on my next lesson with him. I kept lessons up at both schools and within another month was sitting my Flight test at "1". I Sat my flight test at 56 hours when I had 10.5 hours of solo and had already completed 7 hours of Navs. I couldn't do much more, without the pilots certificate, as I needed to complete my solo Nav excerise. My flight test also included my PX and Radio endorsements. I then did another 7 hours of NAV's at "2" as "1" was too busy to fit my Nav exam. I failed my first attempt at my NAV flight test at "2" but was then able to pass it the very next day. $ive way to do it. I learn't more in those seven hours at "2" than I did in 20 hours at "1". An effective debrief and a understandable comminication method makes a massive differance. Since I received my ticket 2 months ago, I have managed to spend seven weeks flying around the countryside clocking up another 65 hours of very solo NAV time. My total hours are now at around 140. Lessons I have been taught... * If you have some doubt, get a second opinon. * Don't use the school unless the pre and post flight lectures are up to scratch (if they run them at all). Trying to teach yourself is not an time effective method. * "Shop around" for a style that puts you at ease. Spin recovery's on lesson four scares the crap out of most students. * "stability" flying works. * Clouds are not my friend. * A pilots certificate is a licence to learn, not to fly. Gibbo

The missing bits I saw the aircraft a few minutes after the prang. It looked like the left wing tip had clipped the leading edge of the container at a 45 degree angle and this had caused the rest of the aircraft to swing into the container at fairly square angle. The wind was a fairly constant 7-8 knots but the usual rough ride during a north cross wind was present on 04. Skid marks were present across the taxi way and grass. Both landing gear damaged. Left wing broken from mount. All plexi glass broken Engine damaged and leaking oil. Engine mount twisted and badly bent. Prop was best discribed as mulch. Deep cracks between wing roots and running down into the tail. The doors still operated and cabin was intact. The pilot and passenger had the shakes afterwards and a couple of scratches. The pilot was extremly lucky as there are two bore pipes sticking out at about bum height, just in front of where it happened. I still can't believe that 87 is not a write off. G

No longer required... Leaving today. :) Any Jabs for short - medium term dry hire? I am looking at the potential of dry hiring a J-160 and above for a work related trip to the Top end. I have estimated a total flying time of 75 hours with fuel being provided by my clients (15-20 stops along the way). Is anybody interested in hiring their aircraft out for around 45-50 days? Aircraft must be insured, airworthy to RAA standards (mmmm asking for it!) and have a GPS unit in built. Services can be arranged by LAME's in a couple of the major towns along the trip.. (Mt Isa, katherine and Alice springs) I am willing to investagate an expense's paid trip (read bloody long!) for someone who has always wanted to complete the ultimate cross country trip into some very unusual locations. Timing is expected around to be around mid june and all accomadation and food provided. Flying time would be shared. J-230 in this case would be required for tools, passenger and range. Melbourne - Roma - Birdsville - Mt Isa - Tennant creek - Arnham Land (have open contractor permits)- NT, WA border area - Alice spings area (east and west ranges) - Roxby downs - Melbourne.