onetrack

That's excellent news. Now the real learning starts.

.......totally unaware of what all the words to the Hymn were, anyway - because he'd lost his Hymn book on the way in to the Strip Club. Now, it's not generally known that Cappy regularly carries a Hymn book and a clerical collar stuffed inside his shirt. This is because he managed to escape a very, VERY, sticky situation many years ago, whereby he was almost certainly going to be pounded to a pulp by a gang of threatening thugs - when he suddenly realised he was carrying the Hymn book and the clerical collar, purely by accident. So, as the thugs were advancing on him, Cappy promptly donned the clerical collar, and held out the Hymn book towards the thugs, saying, "I come in Peace, brothers, and may the Lord look............

A body has been retrieved from the aircraft wreckage at around 3:00PM EST today, and it is believed that it is the body of the pilot, David Stephens. The body is currently being examined to produce formal identification. The crash appears to be a high speed impact with terrain, an unsurvivable crash, and with wreckage spread over a sizeable area. Body found in Snowy Mountains amid search for missing pilot David Stephens - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU A body believed to be that of a missing pilot has been located in the wreckage of a plane in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains.

.....immediately, as always when things were hotting up, Cappy couldn't be found. But Turbo knew of his weakness for Wahinis, and went looking for him, at the hard-to-find, Wahini Strip Club and Poker Joint. You must all know of the place, it has a discreet small sign, saying, "Liquour in the front, Poker in the Rear". The club and its entrance were extremely well hidden, and this was because of the local leaders disapproval of such a decadent place in Tahiti, due to their Missionary upbringings. But Cappy, as always, was right into decadence and outrageous behaviour - and as soon as Turbo gained entrance to the Club (having garnered the secret entrance password by raking through Cappys wardrobe), he immediately spotted Cappy in the throes of.........

They are a big bird, for sure, but nowhere near 20 kgs. The references all state around 6kg as a maximum body weight. Their sheer size does make them look like they weigh 20kgs, though. I've raised a wedgetail eagle from a hen-sized chick to full adult size, after we unintentionally knocked its nest down during clearing operations. This was 50 years ago, when there were no laws on keeping or raising wildlife. We called him Samson, but it's quite possible he was a she, because we never sexed the bird. When Samson was full grown, his wingspan was huge, easily 2.4M. Their talons are massively powerful, and razor sharp. They're utterly fearless, as most aviators would know, they see light aircraft simply as intruders onto their territory, and are often quite prepared to confront them. They love attacking and destroying drones. Samson kept every dog that sighted him, utterly cowed. But even a 6kg bird hitting your aircraft when you're travelling at 90kts, is enough to do a lot of damage. Wedge-tailed eagle - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

More expansive information from the ABC ... Wreckage of missing plane located in Snowy Mountains, no update yet on pilot David Stephens - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU The wreckage of the plane was located on Thursday afternoon by a rescue helicopter, with NSW Police yet to provide an update on the pilot.

Well that report diverges in a major fashion from the preliminary report, which stated that one pilot asked "Why did you cut off fuel?" - and a reply was recorded as, "I didn't".

The aircraft is indeed, the Beech 35-C33, rego VH-KZK. It's a 1966 model originally registered in Oklahoma, then it was imported to W.A. in 1967 and put on Australian registration as VH-KZK. Powered by a Conty IO-470. The search resumed again this morning, reported heavy snowfalls in the region - with very rugged terrain, it must be a slog for search crews. No updates at this time. Ed Coates information about the aircraft is pretty good, but not entirely correct, it wasn't new when it came into W.A. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/N2045W.html https://airport-data.com/aircraft/VH-KZK.html /graphics/ICAOtype/BE33.gif Incident Beechcraft 35-C33 Debonair VH-KZK, Tuesday 15 July 2025 ASN.FLIGHTSAFETY.ORG A Beechcraft 35-C33 Debonair, carrying one occupant is missing in the area of Snowy Mountains, New South Wales. <br />Search operations are being conducted. VH-KZK WWW.EDCOATESCOLLECTION.COM

Nev, the 10 seconds is being taken out of context, because there's no timeline on the voices in the cockpit, and no full record of cockpit conversation - and no audio record produced, of cockpit noises. I'm reliably informed the clicking of switches and controls is picked up by the CVR, despite the noise of the engines. I suppose, if a devious criminal act was being carried out on the fuel cutoff switches, it would be possible to switch them relatively silently, by keeping hold of the spring-loaded locking collars, and lowering them slowly onto the notched locking ring. That would certainly darken the picture for investigators. The ball is in the Indian crash investigators court, there is a need for a lot more CVR and FDR information.

Check the dimensions of your old o-ring. MS29513-007 is listed as a fuel drain valve seal with the following specs. I've even included the metric dimensions, as you appear to be challenged by imperial/inch dimensions. 😄 O-ring ID: 0.145" (3.683mm) Thickness: 0.070" (1.778mm) Preformed packing Hydrocarbon fuel resistant MS29513 Series o-ring (The last numbers after the dash, are the size indicator. i.e., MS29513-008 is the next size up, in that fuel resistant o-ring style) This a military-grade o-ring, so should be highly satisfactory for your use - even suitable for when you go gunning for someone. 😄

Highly unlikely, as the thread sizes vary, so the o-rings would vary accordingly.

I second Area-51, the brown and green Viton o-rings are exceptionally durable. I keep them in a PVC ziplock bag in the top sliding drawer of my toolbox - where you always know where they are, because you have to shove them aside, to get the tools out. 😄

Clinton, I posted a link to the ABC News article just as you were posting.

News media are reporting a light aircraft with only the pilot on board, has failed to arrive at its planned destination at Moruya after leaving Wangaratta earlier yesterday. Emergency services were notified at 4:30PM yesterday and AMSA have been searching with their Challenger jet, and the Victorian ambulance emergency medical helicopter, and a Toll rescue helicopter from Bankstown are assisting. The search was suspended at 4:00PM today due to poor weather conditions. AMSA has reported they suspect the aircraft has crashed in rugged terrain E of Khancoban in NSW. Police are saying their search area is in the region of Dargal Trails in the Jugungal Wilderness area. Overall, the scenario outcome doesn't look good. Search for missing plane underway in NSW Snowy Mountains - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU The search was launched after aircraft, with one occupant aboard, failed to arrive at its destination on the state's Far South Coast.

Thanks Ian, for all your good work. I'd just like to add, to all websites users - Please ensure you assist Ian with the website running costs - it's only $50 a year to become a full member, and even if you're cash-strapped, I'm sure he'd appreciate any level of donation to help offset website running costs, which run into many hundreds of dollars a year. With this site, you get free classifieds, free valuable aviation information, aviation camaraderie, plenty of opinions, and many aviation contact opportunities, so I believe the small annual donation requested is pretty good value.

Garfly, the timeline is definitive, there's no place for ASSUMING any action. The fuel cutoff switches were moved to OFF, and then returned to ON, between 10 and 14 seconds later. That's not cycling the switches to reset the engine EEC's, as recommended in the POH checklist, you would expect a cycling of the switches would be much faster - and the timeline says the engine thrust ceased AFTER the switches were moved. Take a look at the above video I linked to, starting at 27:33, and stop the video at 29:19 when the timeline appears. Capt Sam Thomas' assumption is, that a double engine failure can happen spontaneously, but nothing in the B787 design, nor in the timeline, support his assumption. In fact, his assumption is based on a conspiracy to blame the crew. Conspiracy theories are easy to promote, but far harder to prove, as they rely on multiple actions in concert, in a planned path, by multiple agencies or persons, and all with a common supposed agenda. As a result, conspiracy theories should get short shrift in any professional investigation.

The blokes in the video below are very, very good. They're aircraft maintainers and crash investigators, and they're three proper experts sitting around having a clinical discussion of the facts. They're not scripted, as are many of the YooToob "crash experts". They savage a lot of the airline captains who present as crash experts, but lack maintainer and crash investigation knowledge. They absolutely slam the wild theorists, the conspiracy merchants and the outright loonies who propose answers with little logical reasoning and even less technical knowledge. They point out that the lag in providing information by the Indians was a factor that has led to stupid opinions on the reasons for the crash. They also point out the preliminary report information is deficient, and hope that further AAIB information will be more enlightening. But they come to the logical conclusion that no matter what the potential for computer or data glitches, the simple fact remains that the switches were physically moved, they were moved by one of the crew, they were physically returned to run by one of the crew, and that the fuel shutoff valves functioned precisely as designed - from off and back to on, on instructions from the physical movement of the cutoff switches. A software glitch must be eliminated in this conclusion, as it is basically impossible for it to happen in the above defined events timeline. The conclusion can only be that the cutoff switches were moved in a criminal act, or in a "brain fart" action that seems incredible, but which as we know, can happen, because humans are humans, and they do stupid things. This video is a little long-winded, and you can skip the few minutes in the centre where they talk to an underwriter in an "infomercial" - but overall, it is a worthy watch.

......relegate both himself and Turbo to history as minor players, on a par with Capt James Cooks crew, who fell under the spell of the Wahinis, and who had to be physically dragged back on board the Endeavour. In fact, to this very day (as Cappy is one of Capt Cooks direct descendants), Cappy immediately turns into a dribbling incoherent shell of his normal self, immediately he sights a Wahini in a traditional costume (that's topless, of course). Cappys displays of socially unacceptable and uninhibited behaviour in this arena, have led to him being...........

As with all investigations trying to discover all the facts, the timeline, the motives, and to examine all the potential scenarios, the worst approach is to rapidly come to a conclusion, and to then make the facts fit the conclusion one has come to. Many Police forces have failed dismally when trying to solve major crimes with limited evidence, damaged crime scenes, lies, and often, seemingly no motive - because they approached the cases with preformed ideas, and ignored seemingly small pieces of information, instantly considering them as having no value, and dismissing them from the investigation. In essence, despite air crash investigations being based on avoiding the placement of blame on any one party, the principles of crime investigation should also be applied to air crash investigations, to ensure that even the tiniest piece of evidence of the crash cause or causes, is not ignored, or dismissed out of hand. There is sufficient power pressures at play in this major crash (almost on a par with the Erebus crash), that suspicion is harboured in many quarters, that political or corporate pressure will be applied to ensure that either Air India, Boeing, or even the Indian Aviation regulator come out of the investigation, squeaky clean. An interesting factor now is that a U.K. based law firm, intent on placing blame on a particular party involved in the crash, has commenced its own separate crash investigation, utilising the skills and knowledge of a very senior commander from the IAF. I do feel that this law firms investigation may be skewed from day one - and they are still reliant on the AAIB providing them with information, whereupon the AAIB may withhold critical information if it reflects badly on Air India or Indian aviation training, or the Indian Aviation regulator. However, it's perhaps not a bad thing to have another investigation running alongside the primary AAIB one, to maybe uncover facts or issues that the AAIB may overlook, or ignore. I've seen one of the victims relatives describe the preliminary report as "reading like a product review", rather than placing all the facts on the table. The preliminary reports failure to address the timing of the crew voices on the CVR, and to identify those particular voices, is something that seems to be a major failure in the report and has numerous aviation experts carrying on at length about the 10 second delay in returning the fuel cutoff switches to run. That 10 second delay could easily be explained if the voice records had been given a precise timeline in the preliminary report. There would almost certainly be a "WTF" few seconds in the cockpit as the engines spooled down, power to the displays flickered (as it does in the switching from the primary generators to backup power), and a visual check of thrust control positions was carried out, immediately after major thrust failure.

Aircraft Spruce says they should be replaced, not repaired. Curtis Pipe Thread Drain Valve - CCA-1650 | Aircraft Spruce Australia WWW.AIRCRAFTSPRUCE.COM.AU Curtis Pipe Thread Drain Valve - CCA-1650 Quick opening brass drain valve for aircraft oil or fuel systems. A slight twist opens valve.

Litespeed - No, the B787 has one FADEC for each engine, and each engine FADEC has totally separate electrical/electronic systems. On the B787, the primary engine control device is termed the EEC, Electronic Engine Control. If there's a B787 weakness anywhere, it could be in the electronic components that switch between the various signal formats, to the ARINC 664 electronic messaging format, that many Boeing aircraft operate on. "The Boeing 787-8 utilizes the Common Core System (CCS) to support the operation of multiple airplane systems, enhancing reliability, and reducing costs and weight. This system shifts from the traditional approach of dedicated units for each airplane system, to centralized processing. At the heart of the CCS (Common Core System) are software applications that calculate data for most airplane systems. Components of the CCS include: Two Common Computing Resource (CCR) cabinets, named left and right. Each houses: 2 Power Conditioning Modules (PCM) which provide power for other modules. 8 General Processor Modules (GPM) which run software applications, manage databases, and handle system calculations. 2 ARINC 664 network Cabinet Switches (ACS). 2 Fibre Optic translator Modules (FOX), vital for data conversion between electrical and fibre optic formats. 2 Graphics Generators (GG), not part of the CCS but rather the Primary Display System. Six ARINC 664 network Remote Switches (ARS) and 21 Remote Data Concentrators (RDC). The ARS and ACS switches ensure that data gets to the correct destinations, changing between fibre optic and electrical signal formats. RDCs act as intermediaries between the network switches and most airplane systems that don’t use ARINC 664. They convert data from various formats like analogue, ARINC 429, and CAN bus data to ARINC 664 format, and vice versa. The CCR cabinets are in the forward electronic equipment bay, with positions defined by program pins. The system powers up automatically when the airplane is powered, with two startup modes: Uninhibited, involving a full power-up built-in test, and inhibited, where the system is ready in about 50 seconds under specific conditions. The Common Data Network (CDN) facilitates data transfer between various aircraft systems and within the CCS. Many cockpit panel switches interface with the CDN through Panel Interface Pod (PIP) logic circuit card assemblies. The PIPs digitize panel switch position data, sending it to the CDN and receiving indication data from the CDN. In summary, the CCS and CDN are integral parts of the Boeing 787, centralizing data processing and communication among airplane systems to optimize functionality and efficiency." The B787 Thrust Management System graphics:

Gee, that must have been some decent sized bird. Poor bugger, how unlucky could you be? I can recall a pilot operating a Cessna twin from the W.A. mainland to Koolan Island, way back in the early 80's, or perhaps even the late 70's, hitting a Sea Eagle (Osprey) that came through the windscreen on him. It hit him smack in the face, knocked two of his front teeth out, and actually knocked him unconscious for a short period. The worst part was the bird carcass partly shredded and the cockpit filled with feathers and blood and guts. He managed to keep control of the aircraft, he then turned back to the mainland and landed it successfully. It must have been a very stressful experience.

The people who dream up these scenarios have obviously never studied up on the actual design and construction of the B787 systems. The HPSOV's are solenoid-actuated valves, held in their last-actuated position by spring-pressure detents. It's not possible for a "cracked solder joint" to shut off the fuel to the engines. It requires ELECTRICAL actuation for the HPSOV's to move from any one position to the other. If the electrical current flow ceases, the HPSOV stays in its previous position. This is what Roundsounds is talking about, the amount of "what-ifs" that go into the design of these systems, before they can be certified to be used in commercial, passenger transport aircraft. I would opine it's likely not even possible for a short-circuit in the fuel cutoff switching circuitry to activate a HPSOV from open to shut. The engine ECU logic would examine the electrical messaging and determine whether the signal was false or true, by matching the actual fuel cutoff switch position. Of course, if the circuitry close to the HPSOV was shorted (between the ECU and the HPSOV), then I would imagine there COULD be an unintended valve actuation. But I'll wager the Boeing engineers considered that angle as well, and have done all they could to prevent that happening. This is UNINTENDED, INSTANT engine shutdown we are talking here, it is something that the entire aircraft design would centre around, not happening. But an INTENDED, HPSOV actuation, is going to go through to the engine instantly, it is not designed to be intercepted by either the FADEC or the engine ECU.

There's a FB page called PNG Balus, which contains reels of film footage from the 1940's, including footage of the Junkers operating into Bulolo. I've got a old video (around 35 years old) at home, simply called "Balus", and it has good stories on aviation in PNG. I'm not at home at present (I'm in Broome, on holidays), so I can't dig out the fine details on it right now. https://www.facebook.com/PNGBalus

An Indian pilot demonstrates the operation of the B787 fuel cutoff switches.....