walrus

Looking at the YMMB ERSA entry and Moorabbin Airport website, it appears that outside tower hours the area is covered by class G airspace. Is there anything that would stop an RAA aircraft from using the airport out of tower hours? I may have a passenger to drop off. Has anyone done this ?

If you try this, wear a parachute and good luck with your insurance policy. You have no way of knowing what the effect will be. The big one for me would be altered airflow over the tail in a critical phase of flight but it could be anything from nothing through to catastrophic flutter.

No synthetics, they melt onto/into your skin. To get anywhere I must fly over tiger country. So.... Leather shoes or boots. Definately never thongs or sandals because they offer no upper foot protection at all. Shorts or jeans. Shirt with collar. In winter a Nomex jacket with knife, matches, phone, keys, wallet etc. and most importantly my PLB. In summer a fishing vest instead. ....And most importantly, especially....don't forget a HAT! Be aware that if you are forced down, all you may have is what you stand up in.

If the aircraft is approved to fly with doors removed then the manufacturer will say so. If it doesn't, it isn't.

what is your engine? Read up on what other propellers 701's with your engine use and go with the herd. No need to stress about it

Be aware that taking matters into your own hands is dangerous. A person got 9 years for manslaughter after a raid by him and his kids to repossess some stolen stuff that they traced via ebay. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-21/melbourne-dj-equipment-manslaughter-tony-panagiotou-jailed/100772808

Yes, KG, that will work. In my case I cant guarantee I wont have negative line pressure at some time and the consequences of air in the fuel injection circuit are potentially catastrophic. Hence an isolation valve behind the dry break.

RF, yes, something like that but with an important addition......... Where I need to place the fitting in the fuel line, I cannot absolutely guarantee that there will never be negative pressure (ie a little vacuum) in the line. Its a gravity feed to the fuel pumps but they are EFI pumps and they suck, if you know what I mean. I have yet to find a dry break coupling that will guarantee that it remains leak proof under vacuum. As you can guess, I don't want any air to leak into the fuel system ever! The solution, I think, is a mini ball valve behind the dry break fitting that remains closed unless the fitting is in use.

I have finally formed a plan for refuelling my high wing aircraft: 1. Insert AN6 dry break socket in fuel line between tank and shutoff valve. 2. Bosch 044 electric pump or equivalent with suitable fuel hose attached. 3 Dry break plugs on either end of hoses, also a 100 micron or less filter with dry break coupling. ‘’To refuel - insert suction end with filter into jerry can and pump. ‘’To defuel reverse direction of hoses and suck. ‘’Pump can be powered either from jumper pack or aircraft battery. No mess, reduced fuel spillage opportunities. I have big vents on the tanks that will handle an overfilling incident. No step ladders, climbing, balancing, funnels, etc. What is not to like?

Turbo, yes, you are right. our fuels are bought on the spot market, I understand mainly from SIngapore. Individual oil companies MIGHT sometimes add their own "secret sauce" of additives, but anyway that doesn't guarantee you anything either because oil companies operate a "borrow and loan" slate throughout Australia so what comes out of a BP pump in Melbourne may well be exactly the same as the Shell product. We have no way of knowing. Your safety net is that through the tank farms and terminals and the borrow and loan slate, you get a fair amount of blending. I am also aware of Rotax experience in the Third world and the fuels supplied there have been horrendously poor quality with no ill effects. My understanding is that the engine is reasonably tolerant about what it is being fed in the way of fuel. As for vapor lock, that's an airframe issue. Its the airframe manufacturers job to get reasonably cool fuel to the mechanical pump (or the EFI pumps in a 912 iS). I've had exactly one fuel contamination/substitution event in fifty years of driving, and that was a dodgy operator at Peak Hill on the Newall Highway. If the engine was not reasonably tolerant of its diet, it wouldn't have the reliability record it already has. As for oils - thats the reverse. Stick strictly to Aeroshell Sport Plus 4

Rotax has a current Service instruction - SI-912 i-001 that details what is required. Anything else, including web posts is hearsay and possibly out of date or just plain wrong - and that comes from a certified Rotax engineer. Rotax requires a minimum RON of 95. up to 10% ethanol is permissible. The SI list various complying national specifications. Avgas reduces your maintenance periods and possibly increases fuel consumption (mogas has about 3% more energy). Vapor lock is a known issue that is a matter for the airframe manufacturer, not Rotax. I use brand name UL95 fuel from a busy service station. Ends.

We call it vapour lock. I would call it a slug of fuel that was so hot when it reached either the electric pump, mechanical pump or carb float bowls that it boiled. Even on the injected (812 iS) engine, when you switch on one of the pumps, you can hear it stutter at high revs for a few seconds before it clears the fuel rail of vapour and settles down to the usual rpm as the fuel pressure comes up.

Some Zenith kits already have a design MTOW of 650 kg and documented that upgrade from 600 kg when they did it. CG is in limits at 650 kg and the stall is a not an issue as it’s advertised as3 30 kt at 1320 lb.

Thanks , Turbo, I’ve done some “recovery from unusual attitudes” training as part of some aerobatic work. I did that because demonstration spins, etc. scared the crap out of me during PPL training. ‘I recommend unusual attitudes work to everybody. The first loops and rolls did my head in but later we finished every lesson with a spin from 6000 ft down to 3000.

I note that there is a low level endorsement in the RAA Operations manual. Anyone know who does training for this? I find that, although it is legal to fly at 500 ft AGL in open country, I am not comfortable doing it, particularly if the terrain is undulating. It is disconcerting to be looking UP at terrain around you.

KR, I agree with you, I was a student at the time and my newly minted grade 3 instructor didn't know any better. She now flies for Qantas....

KRAviator, the C150 POH is mute on the subject of climb with 40(?) degrees of flaps and meets the FA specs in force circa 1960. As for that CAR, who would know and how old is 7.1 regarding climb in landing configuration?? In any case 3.2% is marginal and doesn't get you over a gum tree in front of you. The POH calls for ZERO flaps on takeoff and if you don't have zero and sufficient runway you are SOL. Hence my warning: do not practice touch and go on small STOL strips like YCEM. Do a full stop. Backtrack. Reconfigure and go again. Otherwise you are one error from being in the trees.

It means that any man made flying object is going to have to have a compulsory electronic tag of some sort, period. Without that, we cannot automate collision avoidance. However, what is NOT said is that such a system requirement also provides Government with opportunities for surveillance, control and ......taxation of aviators. As I've said before, it is a trivial task to code and build an ADSB based "Automatic infringement generator" - a virtual universal three dimensional speed and red light camera, that compares everything you do with a regulatory template and flags non-compliance.. Government, via AsA and CASA, will not be able to resist that temptation. Example: .........Not flying hemispherical levels above 3000 ft and when area forecast CAVOK and greater than 1500 ft AGL- PING! ........... Infringing controlled or restricted airspace without lawful authority - PING! The CASA fine notice will be in your email inbox before you have even landed.

Guys, the wonderful world of Uber air taxis and Amazon delivery drones is not going to work without fully automated ATC/Collision avoidance. That will require ubiquitous ADSB. There is no way ATC can manually control traffic of such volume. Think ATC: "QF1, line up and wait, Uber2345 cleared to 4 Privet Drive".

Methusala, a Cessna electric flap switch almost killed me. It failed as we attempted to retract to half flap during a STOL touch and go. With full flap a fully loaded C150 WILL NOT climb out of ground effect and we only escaped by a low level (30 feet) 180 turn with stall warning blaring. So when I hear about your problem I am aroused to post this. First of all, will a fully loaded Thruster (MTOW) easily climb at better than 3% out of ground effect with full flaps out? If the answer is yes then have at it with your electric switch because all you are going to do if the switch fails or you have finger trouble is embarrass yourself. If the answer is no, then please, please follow Roundsounds advice above and DO NOT practice Touch and go's involving retracting to half flap while moving because you are asking to become a statistic. Whatever you do, DO NOT practice any form of STOL work with a touch and go procedure. Always make a full stop, backtrack and configure the aircraft while stationary. Yes, I know about go arounds, but that is a different procedure mentally.

I must admit having ADSB - In is highly addictive. In addition to helping yourself with see and avoid, it also allows you to assist others with theirs. However for full blown ADSB that ATC can rely on, I need to add a higher performance GPS that meets TSO performance requirements. That is not cheap.

Yes, super stuff. You are looking a the distillation of 60+ years work at the cutting edge of technology.

this is the sort of in depth technical information China would love. It shouldn't be on the web.

You may find you cannot hire an aircraft without an ASIC. That was the final straw for me at a certain club that had been taking my annual subscriptions for years.