Jump to content

bushcaddy105

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    335

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

 Content Type 

Everything posted by bushcaddy105

  1. bushcaddy105
    Restoring and exhibiting old cars, stationary engines, generating sets. Electronic control design and manufacture. Heritage native vegetation preservation and maintenance on our property. Machining and welding for family and community. Active local SES member including primary response Road Crash Rescue. And I'm supposed to be retired and avoiding Covid due to to age restrictions! To quote my maternal grandparents -" I'll wear out, not rust out." Wouldn't have it any other way.
  2. bushcaddy105
    So what am I doing wrong? My Subaru EA81 out of a Brumby ute has been propelling me around Oz (including outback Oz) for 800+ hours over the past 14 years. It all comes down to the details of the conversion, particularly cooling. Done properly they are just as reliable as any other properly installed and maintained engine, aviation or auto origin. The only downside is that , in my case, the total firewall forward weight is 20 Kg more than a Rotax. The plus side is that up-front and scheduled maintenance costs are minimal and there is no calendar time-out to plan for. When (and if) a rebuild is ever needed, parts are common and relatively very cheap. If I was to build again the current crop of auto engines ripe for conversion is inspirational. It does seem that I am one of a dying breed - the number of newly built aircraft with auto conversions appears to be very small indeed.
  3. bushcaddy105
    I still use a Ferguson FE-35 petrol/kero tractor from the mid-1950's. The workshop manual gives specs for 3 different fuel versions:- Petrol, Vaporising oil and lamp oil. Petrol turned out 38.0 BHP on a compression ratio of 6.6 to 1 Vaporising oil 30.5 BHP on CR of 5.0 to 1 Lamp oil 29.0 BHP on CR of 4.3 to 1 I assume that mine is the 5.0 CR and it starts, runs and idles faultlessly on 91 unleaded petrol. I confess that I can't recall having removed the spark plugs in at least 15 years because there's never been the need! So there's 3 possibilities for what's in the drum.
  4. bushcaddy105
    And a good news story! Thursday 10 am Ordered a small spool of transformer winding wire from RS components in Sydney, no charge for "postage". Friday 8 am Received phone call from Toll depot - "there's a parcel here for you." Sure was, packed in a box which could easily hold 20 spools. I am, however, waiting on car parts from Brisbane picked up by courier on April 28th. They were sent by a courier broking setup called "Sendle". Have a look at customer reviews - 52% of the reviews canned them, particularly about missing shipments where they blamed the contract couriers and dismissed the customer complaint. I tried to find a phone number for them, but they only accept email! Shonky? You bet! DON"T USE SENDLE
  5. bushcaddy105
    If you or a friend are in to DIY electronics it's easy to add a voice operated relay to the intercom mic input. When I installed an A200 years ago I added a $15 kit from Jaycar which worked well. I still have one of these made up kits in my come-in-handy corner. PM me if interested.
  6. bushcaddy105
    I'm late to this thread, but my experience was that when building, if everything was working out well in the first hour, I could find myself still hard at it 12 hours later. If things didn't seem to go as desired in the first hour I would walk away and do other jobs until the urge to do more took over, even days or weeks later.. The only other hint is to plan the next session's work by going through the plans/instructions the night before so that the task is fresh in mind. Hope this helps keep you going - believe me, the end result will be an achievement that will will stay with you forever.
  7. bushcaddy105
    Back to the topic - Apparently not enough airport watchers in SA. ABC radio this afternoon broadcast the official announcement that baggage handlers at Adelaide Airport were testing positive and the health authorities were trying to trace potentially affected travellers.
  8. bushcaddy105
    Was GME until 7yr battery expiry date approached. Would have cost more than a new one to have replacement battery fitted. Bought a 10yr battery KTI for less, still meets the same regulatory requirements. Go figure?
  9. bushcaddy105
    Marty, if you are driving from Adelaide to Alice Springs you will be passing close to Port Pirie, my home airfield. You are welcome to have a squiz at the BushCaddy I built and weather permitting, experience our great flying over the Southern Flinders Ranges and Spencer Gulf. PM me for contact details.
  10. bushcaddy105
    I picked up the iPad on Saturday morning to plan a short trip and found the new route planning page quite confusing. When I brought up the old-style one leg-one line plan and imported the winds, the wind direction imported made no sense and was contrary to that shown on Windy. When I left the iPad home and flew the route from memory it confirmed that Windy was spot-on. Anyone else had this happen? As another "old fart" (or at least aging), and a VFR only flier, I also am feeling that OzRunways is going the way of Windows 10 - Lots of whiz-bang stuff that is 80+% unused and only confuses the core role of flight planning and flight following. I support the call for an OzRunways Lite.
  11. bushcaddy105
    Thanks KG Yes, I must have fallen through the cracks, and yes, I have been continuously paid-up since 1992. I have also just done the survey and added my comments at the end in the hope that they will be taken on board. I agree that the options on many questions were insufficient to allow an accurate response.
  12. bushcaddy105
    What survey?? Has it been sent to ALL members, or just a sample, selected by means unknown? I certainly haven't received it, nor have I been able to find it on the RaAus website. I used to receive e-news emails, but haven't seen them for months. Now that there is no longer a monthly magazine I am the classic mushroom! And no, none of my contact details have changed in years. Where is this RaAus that I read about on this forum?
  13. bushcaddy105
    Sport Aviation, the monthly magazine of the Experimental Aviation Association has just concluded a 3-part tutorial on this very subject. Carol and Brian Carpenter write a regular monthly column titled "Technically Speaking" and the August, September and October 2019 editions have addressed this topic in great detail. The magazines are available online, but I don't know if they are only available to members. As an aside, I joined to get cheaper tickets to Oshkosh back in 2009 but have maintained my membership for the wealth of technical info online, and to get the monthly magazine which I rate as the best I have ever seen. My choice of fuel? Nearly always Avgas - mainly because I only have to push the plane out of the hangar to the card swipe pump. I also consider the price premium cheap insurance in that I am buying a known, safe product. I have used 98 Premium Mogas when travelling, but am wary of what it might contain. My 1980's Subaru engine was originally built for leaded fuel and I haven't had any trouble with Avgas. Oil and filter every 50 hours, and check the platinum tipped spark plugs. Never had a fouling issue in over 800 hours.
  14. bushcaddy105
    I stumbled upon this news item in "The Chronicle", August 16, 1962 "6 Pilots Die MELBOURNE --- Six RAAF pilots were killed yesterday afternoon when four Vampire jet aircraft crashed in formation near the RAAF base, East Sale. They were practising formation aerobatics and it is believed were doing a barrel roll when the planes hit the ground and exploded. Two were being flown solo and two carried a passenger." Does anyone remember this accident? I'm not old enough!
  15. bushcaddy105
    At a Cessnock forum I sought confirmation that currently 19- registered 600kg MTOW aircraft would continue with the L1 maintenance AND modification conditions that currently apply, ie anything goes but the owner/builder takes FULL responsibility. This was clearly confirmed. The factory approval (or MARAP) for repairs and/or modifications only applies to aircraft registered under the LSA provisions.
  16. bushcaddy105
    I flew in from Rylstone on Thursday morning (just before the deluge), having camped there overnight due to the strong westerlies on Wednesday and the one N/S strip at Cessnock. Yes, there is no way I'd want to be flying direct. As one local told me - there's good reason why it took 2 centuries to discover the Wollemi pine in that area! Tracking over the Northern end of the tiger country gives many opportunities to duck out down valleys running out to the North. After clearing the Dochra restricted area it's only a 10 nm run down to Cessnock. I reversed the route on Sunday to fly out via Mudgee. It's still a b...... long way from South Oz at 80-85 kts!
  17. bushcaddy105
    As previously posted, I think your expectations for an EA81 are too high, both in weight reduction and power output. I personally prefer a bit more weight and a bit less power for the sake of reliability. This formula has worked well for the 12 years and 750+ hours I have been flying behind my EA81. (This is my conversion, not a commercial one).
  18. bushcaddy105
    If this amount of weight reduction was possible, I would have done it long ago. Even without an alternator and using exhaust stubs and with an aluminium flywheel (not recommended IMHO) I can't see that 165lbs is possible.
  19. bushcaddy105
    No problem getting mine I didn't go last year, but appreciate the efforts to make this year more about pilots and aircraft flying in, so will support it. If I can't get there from SA (weather dependent as usual) I'll be glad to donate the quite reasonable admission and camping fees to the cause.
  20. bushcaddy105
    Thanks Ian I forgot how much better the old site was (is) until it returned! I'm only speaking from the users end - it may well be more difficult for you, so I thank you for your efforts.
  21. bushcaddy105
    I have recently looked at 2 different seven stage, computer controlled, "smart chargers", one I bought new and the smart bit didn't work - it charged flat out no matter what. I returned it for a refund, grudgingly given. The second one was an up-market (expensive) brand 15 amp unit owned by a friend. Same story, no smarts, only full charge. So I still use an old (probably 20+ years) Caddymate charger from a golf cart. All it does is charge at 2.8 amps until the battery is full charge and then reverts to constant voltage float charge suitable for long term maintenance. It isn't "smart", but just works well without the fancy add-ons -i.e. no computer! Just tried and proven analogue control.
  22. bushcaddy105
    We are in the Midnorth of South Australia, where windfarms are growing like weeds. (And we have the highest retail prices in the world). Plans have just been lodged for yet another one in the Southern Flinders Ranges, the nearest turbine being only 3.5 Km from the main street of Crystal Brook and 2 Km from the edge of town. The development application calls for 4.8 Megawatt turbines, 240 metres from ground to top of blade arc. They are approx. 3 times taller than the hills they will sit on. If this goes ahead we will not be out of sight of wind turbines for the first 100 Km of our drive to Adelaide. Sure, we need renewable energy but where will it all end? General Electric have already developed a 12 Megawatt turbine for offshore use, but about 5 years ago their 4.8 Mw turbine was the largest offshore unit - now used on land. I routinely overfly turbines, but want at least 500 feet clearance. Looks like I'll have to fly higher in future! Interestingly, the Snowtown windfarm often has low cloud downwind, reaching to ground level of the hills. Does the turbulence cause precipitation of moisture? The low cloud only extends to the end of the row of turbines.
  23. bushcaddy105
    Thanks Blueadventures for your reply I don't have the room in my panel for a round or square radio as the Icoms are only about 35mm high. I also find that reading those tiny radios is difficult with my aging eyes - hence the appeal of the much larger readout of the Icom I'm used to using. If all else fails I'll just keep using old faithful until (or if) it dies.
  24. bushcaddy105
    Thanks Mark There's still the question of whether the non-TSO version is actually approved for use in Australia. As you have said, the rules are rather muddy (if able to be found anywhere) and authorative interpretation of them is hidden in the mud!
  25. bushcaddy105
    Picking up on this thread:- I'm considering replacing my faithful Icom A200 with a new radio with dual watch capability, seeing that Icom now list the A200 as no longer able to be serviced. I'm committed to the format of the Icom as my panel was originally designed around that profile without much room for change. The Icom A220 would obviously fit my needs, but there doesn't seem to be any reliable info as to whether it is Australian approved in a non-TSO'd version. These are available for less than half the cost of the TSO'd one, and I haven't been able to find out just what is the technical difference between them. The old A200 is non-TSO and has performed admirably for the last 12 years. Can anyone please enlighten me?
×
×
  • Create New...