onetrack

Skippy, did you do any failure analysis on your two failed actuators to determine the exact cause of failure? You seem to blame it on cheap Chinese construction, but it may have been caused by excessive loading, or a design fault in the actuation movement, that can only be discovered by careful examination, and a reconstruction of the failure sequence. Failure analysis is an entire field in itself.

Nope, nothing. He probably got overwhelmed with feedback. I did note the article was edited very soon after I sent my email to him.

By my estimation, the aircraft was taking off in a South Easterly direction, into a SW/SSW strong afternoon wind (typical of Rottnest in the afternoon), running at 25-27kts, and gusting to 31-34 kts around 1600 HRS. The wind was coming across the Island onto the aircrafts starboard bow. Thomson Bay and Phillip Rock are on the East side of the Island.

Yeah, the ABC knows exactly what all you backyarders have been building and flying! - they've seen the videos!! (check out the best part - between 4:40 and 5:30 in the video).

Someone took a grainy video of the takeoff. It's difficult to see good detail, such as control surfaces. Now, I'm no aircrash investigation expert - but - to me, it appears the, "hit a rock" story, is not correct. The aircraft got airborne, then seems to develop a pitch up, that is obviously a major increase in AoA. The aircraft appears to level out a bit as it reaches about 30-40 feet of altitude, then the starboard wing drops a little, correction is applied, then the port wing drops viciously (certainly looks like a stall to me), and the port wingtip hits the water, and it's all over, red rover. I'm wondering if W&B was out (tail heavy) on takeoff? Rottnest seaplane crash video 7NEWS.COM.AU Rottnest seaplane crash video

W.A. Police are now confirming that 3 people from the aircraft are still missing. This is looking really bad.

Yeah, but isn't the one you fly now, made from the same materials? The ABC journos seem to think so!

It's the ABC's term for the toys you drill holes in the sky with! Questions over hobby plane safety | ABC News

The aircraft in the crash event above was written off? They must have acquired a replacement, and kept the rego? EDIT: Aircraft in above crash that was written off, was C/N: 20800552, ex N1027V. Crashed aircraft off Rottnest is C/N: 20800586, ex N7129S. I just realised, two different companies are involved, although both are registered in FNQ.

Hey, at least it's 100mph tape!! 😄

Witnesses are saying it was a failed takeoff, the aircraft just barely got airborne, and then nosedived into the ocean. Police are indicating the aircraft hit Phillip Rock at the entrance to Thompson Bay, on takeoff. Multiple numbers of people injured, four at last count. There's a huge level of confusion over how many were on board, some sources stating 6 or 7 on board. That's not good, the pax numbers should be immediately available to authorities and rescue groups.

Well, 2025 is starting off on a bad footing, aviation-wise. The latest bad news is someone has crashed their seaplane into the Indian Ocean off Rottnest Island, W.A. Not much information to hand at present, the only indication is a VH registration visible, updates to come. EDIT - I suspect it's VH-WTY, a turboprop Cessna Caravan 208 on floats. Major rescue operation underway as plane crashes off Rottnest Island - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU Emergency services are currently attending the scene of a plane crash off Rottnest Island.

That's great for corporate clients, but a bit outside the budget for people flying recreationally. I would think that Soar is going to make access to imagery and mapping a bit more affordable for the average Joe. I was quite surprised to see how just much historical mapping was freely available in Soar, they've done a lot of scanning of old maps and documents. The integration of so many sources of maps and imagery and information, is what intrigued me. Soar | The New Atlas SOAR.EARTH Explore view and share maps and imagery of the Earth.

Your turbo is not likely to be creating pools of oil in the intake hose, I'd suggest it's coming from your engine blowby, and also a possible faulty PCV valve. A faulty PCV valve (clogged or stuck shut) will vent excessive blowby into the intake, and in well-worn engines, that blowby is carrying oil as well. A faulty PCV valve will also prevent proper oil return to the sump (or crankcase) from the turbo. Your enclosed engine oil system should contain negative (vacuum) or zero pressure, thanks to a properly-working PCV system. Small 4 cylinder engines don't develop a lot of negative sump pressure, but it should be zero pressure at least. Bigger engines (V8's, V6's and L6's) have strong negative sump pressure, you can measure this quickly by removing the dipstick and holding a small piece of paper flat against the dipstick tube. If there's good vacuum in the sump, the paper will be sucked flat against the dipstick tube. If blowby pressure is immediately very obvious, or if the paper is blown away from the dipstick tube, your engine is very well worn, or your PCV valve is faulty or plugged, and needs replacing. New PCV valves are not expensive. Below is a good Danish website, with a more extensive explanation of the PCV/turbo problem. https://support.nissens.com/en/material/engine-crankcase-ventilation

News is slow in the holiday season, aircraft crashes make for great news headlines. Especially when you add "horror", "terror", "shocking", "screaming in fear", to the article headings.

If toxic fumes are entering your cabin, then they will coming from the other (open and in use) ducts as well, so your reasoning that a single plug of non-aviation PVC failing, is going to poison the cabin, doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Besides, you should have a working CO monitor in any aircraft cabin to ensure you don't get accidentally poisoned by toxic fumes.

Does this mean then, that tricycle undercarriage aircraft are "unconventional"? 😄

Shipping small items from the U.S. has never been costlier. USPS has raised its postal rates to astronomical levels over the last 10-15 years, which makes it prohibitive to ship small items from the U.S., individually. Air freight companies are still rorting us, to make up for pandemic losses. The best you can do is to keep looking for companies doing free shipping within the continental U.S., and arrange to agglomerate your purchases into one shipment using a trans-shipping agency such as Planet Express. Trans-shippers will combine your packages into one lot for international shipping, and thus lower your shipping costs overall. If you can find the item you seek here in Australia, you will often find it's just as economic to buy it here. There are occasional examples of local price-gouging, though, you just have to avoid them.

You're drawing a long bow there, Skippy. When you find Home Depot hardware items being recommended for use as critical flight components, let us know! 🙂 There's a world of difference between the terms, critical, and non-critical, in aircraft parts/components.

The announcement by Australian drone mapping company Aerologix that they are integrating with the SOAR digital mapping platform, is going to mean our mapping is going to rapidly become so comprehensive, it will blow your mind. The integration of mapping by thousands of drone operators, with aerial imaging, satellite imagery, and current maps is going to be revolutionary, and on a par with the invention of the mobile phone. Maps and imagery will all become integrated and easily searchable, and will provide all the information you need on an integrated platform, that will likely also include up to date weather and pilot information at your fingertips. Drones truly are the 21st century device that will feature much more in our information search requirements, from now on. I just trust the system stays affordable for low-end users. Aerologix partners with Soar for drone mapping - Asian Aviation ASIANAVIATION.COM Australian drone technology pioneer Aerologix announced a strategic partnership with digital mapping platform Soar for drone mapping Soar - Home ABOUT.SOAR.EARTH Soar is a digital atlas of all the world's maps and imagery. Examples of content include — satellite imagery, aerial imagery, remote sensing data, drone images, orthomosaics, community content, and more.‍...

......the huge Turbine Inc conglomerate being formed, with its primary source of endless income being selling the rights to make blueprints for rag and tube aircraft. Yes, dear NES readers, it's a little-known fact, that no matter what type of rag and tube aircraft you purchase, design or build - the giant global corporation, Turbine Inc, with its tentacles reaching into every corner of the globe - gets a kickback, artfully hidden in the build costs of your terrific rag and tube flying machine. This unending source of income is what has propelled Turbo to reach the same level of obscene wealth as the mining robber barons of W.A. Disturbingly, in amongst the Turbine Inc future plans are schemes designed to ensure Turbine Inc gets a share of flying school fees, airstrip car parking charges, a hidden surcharge on ASIC cards, royalties on coffee purchases at airports, and even a.................

I had to research what a Norton AE 100R engine was. It's a twin-rotor Wankel-inspired rotary, first produced by Norton as an air-cooled motorcycle engine. It appears it was less than successful and the design appears to have been purchased by a company called Midwest Engines Ltd in the U.K. Midwest AE did some further development on the engine, then sold the whole box and dice to Austro. Austro list the engine as still being in development and its not certified, so I don't if any have actually been produced. Austro claim 1,600 smaller versions of the engine have been produced (a 50HP version), and I'll wager they've all gone into military drones. The very idea of a Tiger Moth being powered by a Wankel would make de Havilland spin in his grave! MidWest AE series - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG https://www.diamondaircraft.com/fileadmin/diamondaircraft/products/austro-engine/AE_R_Series_Factsheet.pdf

Ballistic 'chute fitted, but not deployed? With 2 highly experienced flying instructors on board, one can only surmise catastrophic structural failure, and inadequate height/time to deploy the 'chute. Very sad event - made even more concerning, that blokes with their level of experience could not avoid the devastating crash.

The media reports about this crash are full of garbage, mostly because there were a very low number of witnesses, and the crash was far out to sea. The media is throwing in any unassociated aviation crash rubbish, trying to garner clicks. The facts at this point are that the pilot and passenger involved were two males aged 67 and 69, and they have been reported as both being flying instructors. They took off from a private airstrip near Coffs Harbour at around 3:30PM. The small amount of wreckage retrieved, points to a recreational-type aircraft, and I doubt whether the ATSB will become involved in an investigation. Two bodies recovered after light plane crash off NSW Mid North Coast - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU Authorities recover the bodies of two men who died in a plane crash off Nambucca Heads on the Coffs Harbour coast yesterday.

But Juan Brownes video is only 12:26 long? I found his "runway design" section starts at 8:45 in the video.