Alan

What has been peoples experiences with Fuel Flow Meters. Are they worth it? What options are available? Who supplies etc. My Jabiru is LSA so I'm probably not allowed to fit a fuel flow meter anyway. Have to investigate whether this constitutes an Aircraft mod outside the rules.

I thought the 'Jabiru Approved' Cooling mods had so far only been adopted as official recommendations for the J160 engine installations? Does not matter much up here at the moment as it has been a real long wet season and it keeps going and going.

I agree with Brentc. Our J230 likes 70kts over the fence, it give good authority. Get used to the long float it gives ample opportunity to put it down real gently on the back wheels at about 55kts followed by a controlled lowering of the nose wheel. The climb at 90kts is good for 900+fpm and it enables the temperatures to be kept down ( I have not had the Brentc cowling mods done yet, but intend to). Alan

I thought the J160 had a wider cockpit than the J230. perhaps this is the attraction for some customers wanting a six cylinder version. Alan

Had a problem with the Transponder (Microair TSL2000) on my Jab. Returned to Jabiru under warranty. They had it fixed and back to me within two weeks. Great Service Thanks. Alan

It would be good to know about rain errosion resistance. Then there is the problem of qualification for LSA. Up here - we are having our first dry day for at least four weeks? The mould is now getting mouldy. Ho-hum the joys of the tropics. Alan

Andy, Great trip. I know your Jabiru 230 from its days up here. I feel sure it will rejoice at being out of the wet weather. Hope you enjoy it. I use my 230 for some fairly long hauls and would be interested to know some details and experiences of your Trio Avionics autopilot. As you say the 230 is not hard to fly on along trip, but it would be good go hands off for more than a few seconds. Alan

BC, The temps you are looking for are I hope in the photo below. This was photo was taken when levelling out following take off climb to 1000ft - having throttled back to 2750rpm. The aircraft had started out at 570Kg and had flown three circuits prior to this climb out and this photo. The airtemp was 27°C. I climb out at 80 knots Alan

Marcus. What I poorly expressed about the slippery nature of the beast after the flare, was meant to describe how it takes to slow down. Even with full flaps it floats for much longer than expected. So you do not come in over the fence even a little too hot or you will land much longer than you planned. Directional control has never been a problem (at least not an aircraft sourced problem). Brentc. Could you wait until I sit in the A/C and look at my temp guages. I am familiar with the needle positions, but to give you accurate numerical readings from memory would be a risk. Have reached that CRAFT age. My J230 also has guages in the wing root, along with the dash mounted LED ones. I found it a bit alarming at first at how unstable they are. The LED reading seems to be a damped response, while the needles on the guages move quickly. Now I'm used to them, I find they reflect two things; a) the fuel can transfer quite rapidly between wing tanks - do not fly unbalanced (even then when doing circuits it seems easy to end up with much more fuel in one tank than the other) and; b) in anything but very smooth air or stationary on level ground the fuel slops around in the tank and so the guages try to follow. All the wise knowledge indicates to use a stick to verify what you are starting with and calculate fuel burn; use the guages/levels as a rough guide only. The J160 is indeed a much bigger aircraft internally. There is one here at Innisfail that I have sat in only but I am told that is realy nice to fly and is by far the preferred Aircraft of the two for training. I got the 230 because I use it for quite long journeys and it has room in the back for some light items. Geoff. Only time will tell re-bore corrosion. The plane gets started up at least once every ten days. One of our processes at work is to analyse oil samples - a techniique called Ferrography extracts all the wear particles down to fractions of a micron. The first oil sample showed typical running in particles and some minor corrosion traces - typical for a new four stroke. Subsequent oil samples have been largely clear, so while this is not proven technique on a Jabiru, I think it is alright so far. Alan

I have about 60 hours up in my J230c (LSA factory Built, delivered October 06 has header tank in the rear cabin) and it has been a very pleasant experience to own. However, does anybody else think the throttle knobs look agricultural (no offence intended to farmers)? The LSA rules are very tight on what can be added or changed including the throttle knobs. There is no doubting their functionality, but personally I think they look poor. The 230 seating has no adjustment and when my wife flies she has to sit on a large booster cushion - we fabricated one out of different density foam and covered it. Now like a car race driver she swaps the cushion from side to side depending on her role during that flight. The main wheel spats were inclined to come loose at first. The screws then got loctited which fixed the problem untill the brakes had to be adjusted (55 hrs) when they were a devil of a job to undo. The hot soldering iron on the head of the screw trick helped but not much. During the ordering procedure I was not made of what options were available. eg My Dynon EFIS can display AOA, but the special pitot was an extra option. The level warning light in the header tank is also an option (only approx a few minutes of fuel left - power off now, but a few usefull bursts of power left to help with that outlanding. If you are ever silly enough to runout of fuel that is. But I believe it happens) is also an option. A Landing light option (CASA recommendation please leave landing light on below 10,000 I believe) was available but never mentioned. All these things can be retro fitted as they are LSA approved. But the hassle factor involved........ I regard the above items really only minor gripes. Once I got used to the slippery nature of the beast espcially after the flare and the speed (is this really an ultralight?), it has been a real pleasure to fly this all Australian product. NB. We have just had four dry days, but I was busy with work. - It is raining again today - No flying. It has rained more or less solidly since mid January. The weather station at our lab showed we have exceeded 2m of rain ( I have not looked recently it is too depressing). So we are not getting much flying in. I have great sympathy with those in drought, but at least you can fly. Alan

Very interesting point "BrentC". Cross feed and draining out the tank vent is something I would not have considered. Another valued experience shared by this forum. In my case though, the cross feed and draining would render the stick method and fuel burn calc subject to the same doubts. But I think I will stick to the stick as my starting point every time. In comparison to a fuel flow meter, it is cheaper, lighter and I don't have to find panel space, nor do I have to go to the trouble of seeing if I can get one put in under LSA regs. However, this bring to light another point though (scuse me I am new to the Jabiru), the tank vents. I thought these had a one way valve in them to prevent liquid fuel venting. This of course then begs the question what happens if the fuel tanks are full and fuel expands as it warms up. With a one way valve in the vent it creates images of the wings bulging. Take mental note "never fill Jab up completely with cool fuel and leave in the sun" until I know more. Regards Alan

The J230c has wing root guages and LED bar levels on the instrument panel and these are still only a very rough guide during flight. The fuel slops around in the tanks and flows from one side to the other quite quickly. So if the fuel is unstable then expect the readout to follow it. As several previous posts have said when parked wings level then the readouts can be believed. Dip tank to know exactly how much is there and calculate duration based on an overestimated fuel burn. Having said that I must admit that on a journey knowing what fuel is left is a natural desire. I have considered fitting a 'Mizer' type fuel flow meter, but don't think the regs would allow it in an LSA registered aircraft. Alan

Thank you all for your comments and advice. Especially advice about the traps of loose fluids in windy conditions (No I told you over the leeward side!). On a more serious note, I am really impressed how little oil the Jabiru does use once run in. Following ancient and gnarled local LAME 2 advice (and I believe the Jabiru manual {have to read that bit again}) I use the bottom level for short local flights and the top level for the long hauls. Seems to burn more the higher the level. I must be a messy topper-upper-er, because despite using the run it down the dip stick method, it seems to be ages before I can establish what new level I have achieved; the dip stick seems to pic up oil from the side of the tube. Never mind it seems 100ml = approx 3mm, so I now have good starting point for guidance. Thanks again Alan

Has any body worked out approx how much oil to add to make say a 1mm change in level at the dipstick of a horizontal (non tail dragger) six cylinder Jabiru? I realise this would probably be only valid for a limited range on the dip stick. After adding oil it takes a long time until the dipstick oil tube is clear and another reading can be taken. So there is always some doubt in my mind when adding extra oil for a long trip to lift the level from the normal circuit/short flight oil level. I will have to spend a few hours with the Jabiru in the near future, avoiding the temptation to go flying, adding known volumes of oil and being patient and measure the level change. Alan

Changing props I thought Jabiru recommended wooden props because of their vibration absorption; how do composite props do in this regard? My aircraft is LSA so I cannot consider a change anyway. However, operating in FNQ, small showers can appear out of nowhere and all the stories you read of the problems with the Jabiru prop and rain make me very cautious. Regards Alan

Thanks for the information you confirmed all the paperwork I had found so far. The PPL on board was PIC and RAA licensed. Part of the process of moving to the 230 was to take a PPL course, but I was being told that this was not now neccessary and I could avoid my awkward route around the CTA. So it will continue to be the awkward route until I find time for the PPL course. Thanks Alan

G'day all. I fly an RAA registered Jabiru 230c, fitted with two Radios and a (Recently calibrated) Transponder. I have an RAA license with radio and cross country etc. endorsments. Operating out of Innisfail, I mostly fly South transitting around Townsville controlled airspace. I have been through Townsville using the the VFR routes after contacting ATC, but I was "being shown the ropes" with a PPL on board. I have been told that with the above aircraft I am OK to fly into controlled airspace (with prior ATC contact for clearance of course). What I am looking for is the actual references to documents defining this action as within the rules. Can anybody help? I was about to purchase a Flightcell mobile phone adaptor for my Jabiru (I just made a 7 hour round trip in lumpy air uneccessarily after missing a telephone call 15 mins after takes off). However, I now note that the Transponder manual says " Do not operate mobile phones at the same time as the transponder". Any knowledgable chap able to comment on this dilema; it must have also effected others? Alan