techie49

Hi Luke, Contact the EAA -experimental aircraft association. I'd bet there's a group near you. You'll probably find someone who'd take you up for a flight. Don't worry about your health problems at this point. Just see if you can get into the air and enjoy it. Even if you are not able to fly commercially, there's always the chance you might fly for a hobby, depending on how your conditions develop. Good luck mate and let us know how it's going. Paul

If you need fuel flow sensors, have a look at Futurlec Electronics. They sell a variety of flow sensors for under $20. They are generally a three wire device, open collector and you will need to calibrate them yourself but it's quite easy. You end up with a 'k factor' which reflects the number of pulses output from the flow sensor when you pass 1 litre through it. I use one on a MGL fuel gauge. Paul

On closer inspection ( first read on my phone) I can now see a rather better set up having completely missed the copper strips in the pic ! ! ! So I didn't pass first time ! One point however. What is the material used for the 'washer'? I'd have gone for tinplate and soldered the copper strips to the washer. If it's aly, you are setting up for future problems with dissimilar metals in contact. Paul

Well a little narrative would be good ! The pics seem to show a comms antenna inside a structure with an enlarged washer beneath it. If it's a normal VHF antenna, I'd be interested to know what sort of a match was achieved in s.w.r terms. I'm fairly sure you could transmit and receive using it, but the performance could probably be improved. Do I pass? Paul

Buttons definitely pushed I'd say...........! Skips reply illustrates what I said about not stressing over the size of a ground PLANE (!). Whatever works for you is ok. Decent wiring and antenna connections are as important. Paul

I too was going to comment on how gliders have become so advanced they have ejection capabilities. When I did some gliding with the kids when they were in the Scouts in the UK, the instructor briefed me by saying " If I say out, don't say what because I won't be there" . I prefer an engine ..........! Paul

Hey Skip, I was brought up on feet and inches but since some look at you blankly when you mention those units I thought I ought to put measurements in terms some would understand! BTW If you do want to be pedantic, it's a ground 'plane' .........(!) Paul

I think I got my copy years ago from Abebooks. If they're still around it may be worth a try. The book was to accompany the BBC series of the same name, which you can watch on 'YouTube'.

Ok Nev. So based on your comment we shouldn't report murders in case someone copies it ! I'm interested to learn from where the alleged offender obtained the means to commit the offences. Paul

Be interesting to find out what kit he was using. Base station and external antenna or hand-held? Paul

The article in the first post misses the great quote supposedly from a wartime report which states ' .....deploying a parachute as they departed which enabled him to descend into the sea still seated in the simple tubular fuselage. He then released his seat straps and drowned in the normal way'. That was quoted from the brilliant book, now sadly out of print I'd guess, 'The Secret War' by Brian Johnston (BBC). Paul

Hi Tim, Glad to see you're using a 'proper' engine ! My cowling came from Zenith and is listed for a Rotax 912. Depending on the mount, you may have to fibre glass two bulges for the rocker covers. I didn't need to but as I've used a Weber carb I had to put a bulge in the top instead. Paul

I perhaps should have added, my engine is an auto conversion, a Subaru EA 81, so no magnetos involved. Suppressed leads aside, the principles are the same. Look up Occam's Razor.......... Paul

This may be of some help to anyone struggling to cure residual radio interference on an aircraft. I'm at the 'about to fly' stage in my build but was not happy about the ignition interference on the radio, which is a Flightline 760, very similar to a Microair. I've got suppressed plug leads and even went to the extent of building a filtered input socket ( 15 way D type) for the radio. Still no joy. The antenna is well earthed to the aluminium fuselage and the connections are good on both ends of the coax cable. What I had forgotten to check was where the interference was getting into the radio ! Yes blindingly obvious I know, from someone who is supposed to be very experienced with radio from HF to Microwave ! I quickly established that that filters aside, the interference was getting in via the antenna. I was getting into band pass filters on the antenna, etc, when the thought struck me. The cowling is fibre glass and thus transparent to RF. Imagine a car bonnet - metal (usually anyway ). So what to do? I had similar screening problems years ago on noisy switched mode power units in plastic cases and had cured it by the use of nickel screening spray. I carefully sprayed the upper cowling and used copper flashing to create a connection to the frame of the aircraft via the cowling fixing screws. The result - silence apart from normal radio traffic. The moral of the story - don't be too clever. Look for the glaringly obvious. Paul

Hi Biggles, There's something no one has touched on. You mention hum in the headset. Is the aircraft antenna ok? I know you said you changed the coax to the antenna but it might be worth getting a SWR meter on the antenna. If for some reason it's poorly matched, you can get RF feeding back into the radio which can distort the audio. If you've changed the radio, it's obviously the installation at some point. Just a thought....... Paul