Steve L

Aeropup were originally from here in SA ( Victor Harbour I think ) now in Spain, they mustav purchased the rights.

Don’t see too many Kitfoxes around anymore eh Nev, I guess there could be a few sitting at the back of hangars. Flew a dark blue mk4 582 down your neck of the woods about 6 years ago, very nice and fun aircraft, don’t know where it is now. Naish, an Aeropup has folding wings and was originally built here in SA. Similar to a Kitfox/Skyfox. The Bushbaby/Explorer is another, once again not many here in OZ. I have a Explorer. ( not for sale though)

Yenn, you WILL hear my 500hp E9 pass. can even hear it 15 - 20ks away out in the bush

My 912 has soft start on it. I believe it retards the timing until a few seconds after start. Surely it could be adapted to most engines.

This is what Airbus should be copying . . Ornithopter Take Off . . at YouTube

Had my Fast Find PLB re-batteried and date stamped till 2026. $110 which is near 1/3 of the price of a new battery. Much better than throwing a perfectly good PLB away. He’s in SA so pm me if you want his number, not sure if im breaking rules posting his number here. BTW he ships them all over OZ so postage shouldn’t be a problem.

Akro, I have the same fast find 220 and I am going to see a guy who claims to repack with Panasonic cells and provide a new official date tag at a fraction of the cost. Mine has a removable battery on the back, new Mcmurdo replacement around 300+. I’ll keep you posted.

AV8 I guess you wouldn’t have the assembly cost especially the wings, the Bulldogs wings needed new special aluminium washers and locknuts and there’s heaps of them, certified from LAS AERO in the uk cost £1600......... strange how the bolts could be reused tho . . . . NOT THAT I WANTED TO BUY THEM TOO !

Most costs have been covered well by Skippy and Smakko. I purchased the Bulldog from UK. flew there inspected, packed it myself with the help of experienced pilots, an engineer and the ex owner. Not knocking a couple of the guys but they were very Blazae in their packing expertise. Fortunately I was there to oversee. Being green the next problem I encountered was not getting an export C of A.. the Aussie C of A cost me aprox 4 times than it would have if it was done in the UK, being the only one of type here in OZ could have impacted this. Next problem: AQIS tried to charge me luxury tax because it was for private use, we argued for days on this but eventually our local engineer ( Gawler airfield ) got me out of it, all this while my 2 days free unloading time slot slipped away ( another added charge ) they also insisted pressure washing $2400 once out the container. We argued this too due to later possible internal corrosion and requested all authorisation personnel to supply me all their full lifelong contact details should the Bulldog suffer a inflight breakup, they declined authorising me to pick it up. AQIS were there while unloading and run an unpressurised water hose over the wheels $2400 thank you very much. BTW I did use an experienced F/ F, that aircraft near cost me double the purchase price by the time I got it flying. Will I do it again? Not if I can purchase in Oz the savings may not be savings at the end of the day, unless it’s something different/ special or not available here. I can’t speak of an RA-Aus.

If they were sold and not leased I would like to know what they went for.

In the Bulldog, IO360 and CSU I kept full rich until passing 5000 which didn’t take long, then leaned it out till temps climbed in the upper green arc. Leaning any further till lean of peak only saved me about 3 litres out of 40 so I stayed rich. I figured it’s not worth risking an engine to save 3 litres. The Bulldog only had a temp gauge on one cylinder and you would expect an injected engine would have fairly constant temps, had gauges been fitted on each cylinder I would have more game

I’ll have to ask Neil for some as I’m sure it’s flying again. I get the sads on whenever I think of it, would be even worse seeing pictures. I think myself fortunate to have owned the Bulldog for 9 years. Im looking forward to RA- AUS now.

I have the sister kit of SBP I’m still building, 95% done 95% to go.

My Bulldog has a fatigue life with an index of 114 which is calculated annually from 8 individual windows displayed on an installed fatigue meter. I sent the readings every year to De Havilland UK, they then calculated the remaining airframe life. I purchased the Bulldog 2012 with 85.4 on the index, it now only has 86.7 in 8 years flying with occasional aeros. One year when de Havs received the calcs they called me and told me go fly and chuck it around as the calcs hadn’t changed since last year. I did and that re affirmed them the meter is still working, went on accusing me of flying like a granny :yikes:Anyway point of my post is, don’t be deferred with an ex military aircraft with a fatigue meter, it’s still possible to get a lot of remaining life.

Oh would I love one of these. Unfortunately not many in Oz

I do exactly that Yenn with my IO 360. taxi lean then richen up just before applying power. Few years ago I experienced misfiring on two occasions, both were fixed by running up, leaning while alternating between mags, never tried intake heat. since then I taxi lean and haven't had a problem.

no . . . use nail polish it does the same as Torque Seal.

nail polish

ahhhhh spacesailor you have been using the wrong grease

Sure way to attract the kids Turbs .................................................. paint an Ipad on the side. That new paint scheme is unattractive, doesn't portray military and not sure if easy to see in the sky especially what these guys do. My Bulldog (ex UK RAF and original to the tee ) is still modern looking and I'm often told it stands out well.

you got out of that one quite nicely Biggles

Hi Mike and welcome, you have some nice scenery to fly in over there.

I believe Its an illusion astroguy. . . . your in a parcel of air and travelling with it. Imagine a balloon, party or manned it doesn't matter, once off the ground it moves with that parcel of air with no forces in either direction (some argue there's minimal forces) With an airplane one tries to maintain a heading which now relates to to ground speed and/or compass heading. flying into wind only affects ground speed and there's no more forces on the airplane than if you were to conduct a 180 deg and fly with a tailwind, just ground speed changes. Gusting winds are a whole different ballgame. Its best to talk to an instructor which I am not. Hope this helps and if anyone can add to it or even correct me would be much appreciated. cheers Steve

does that mean short back and sides are on the way out John

haha! would you need an off sider