docjell

Thanks for the info Mick - much appreciated. I was unaware of the LSA embargo on repairs etc and its onboard! I'll also contact Peter again as my last email probably gave the impression I was about to take panels off the wing (which I was) Hope Bundy is going well for you both - we both miss BAC a lot but from what I hear its not as 'cosy' as it once was (ahh~! but what is) Thanks again Chris

My 138hrs TTIS Sportstar has developed a leak in the Starboard fuel tank. A LAME has confirmed the leak is structural, and not from a union/gasket. Options to reseal involving the usual fluid sealers and "sloshing it around" like a motorbike tank aren't an option. Anyone else had this problem? I've attempted to visualise the problem with an industrial endoscope but the ribs in the tank preclude scope advancement. I can only see two options Remove wing and repair via the removed fuel sender port, but not under direct vision Remove the riveted tank cover, re-seal tank, re-seal cover, rivet and re-paint. Neither are appealing. Any thoughts appreciated!

Discovered a pool of avgas under the starboard wingroot of my pristine 130hr Sportstar Plus. Stripped back the covers to reveal a significant leak in the front inboard corner of the tank. (Estimated about 10 litres in 24 hrs). Duly drained the tank and was able to just see an area in the front inboard corner an area that looked as though the sealant had separated from the aluminium revealing a small defect. Will borrow an industrial endoscope to look clearly - the tank is integral so not removable. There is, to my mind, no other possible explanation for this defect in a young, well maintained aircraft, other than a manufacturing error which is upsetting since I've no doubt such suggestion will be strongly resisted.. Have any other owners of this otherwise awesome aircraft had a similar problem? Is it a one off? How may I reasonably resolve it? I'm awaiting a call from the importer, but any other input would be gratefully received! Attempts to email Evektor have in the past been severally and remarkably unsucessful - perhaps they only want me to talk through Peter Harlow or perhaps they want me to speak Czech which I can't! I need to know if this is common, what can be done to resolve the issue, and in particular what sealants can I or can I not use that would be compatible with the manufacturers selant?

Thank you Pembs - nice to be back - I was bad boy and was sent to the corner! I'll certainly contact the Secretary as you suggest - the 'black hole of apathy' as you so eruditely describe it is powerfully attractive so it would seem. Our local board member Steve Runciman has been noticeably absent from these discussions - is he under any form of constraints as an RAAus rep do you know? His input would be most welcome and useful. No - I'm not into giving up either - let's press on!

Thanks facthunter- you'd posted as I was writing. I too have rejoined AOPA as I think the current trends within the RAAus are worrying to say the very least. I am continuously surprised by the widespread apathy and naivety within our community - the ostrich syndrome I think!

Pud - certainly no beating - I agree two hundred percent - I just want to wander out to my hangar whenever the mood takes me and head off into the wild blue yonder - thats what its all about. Trouble is that the RAAus is the licensing authority to allow you and I to do this at the moment - and they were not prepared to let me know what thay are doing with my money - and even more worryingly- what they are saying to, for example, CASA, claiming to be my representatives. If the RAAus implodes, as I think it could,then our freedom to fly as we do at the moment may well dissapear completely. Perhap then the silent apathetic majority will become less silent - but it will all be too late.

Hi All After the last weeks trying to involve other recreational flyers in forums and being censored for stating the obvious to anyone with a modicum of intelligence I followed this post with great interest. I use to be an AOPA member but all the political nonsense that was happening was off putting in the extreme and I did not renew my membership for 5 years. I renewed it today. The RAAusboard are a law unto themselves and do not seem to realize their moral obligation of transparency to their members. They have us in a stranglehold since they hold all the cards with regard to LSA and Ultralight registration - will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of years. I may even re-register my aircraft in GA category until the RAAus settles into being a professional organisation.

RAAus minutes Dear Moderator I was alarmed to discover that you have seen fit to censor what I took to be very reasonable if robust discourse between members on an extremely important topic - if the same situation had arisen in Federal Government it would amount to a constitutional crisis of significant magnitude. You state the reason for doing so (the censorship) 'has been included for transparency where practical' I am afraid I do not understand what this sentence means. Many of us feel that the RAAus board is not functioning with its membership as the primary focus of importance for a number of reasons. My posting was altered by yourselves and in doing so lost what I truly feel was a lot of its impact. I stated that 'any RAAus member with more than two brain cells to rub together must surely see etc etc' - this was deleted. It was not rascist, personal, offensive, sexually innapropriate, or designed to invoke civil unrest. It was worded to make the readers sit up and react - which a lot of them need to do -if they really want to maintain our current very limited freedoms as recreational pilots. Please do not stand in the way of this intention - my posting was passionate and that was its intention - unless we react and proact now, our aviating freedoms are on the chopping block. I had previously thought that the RA forums were an area in which we could react with "no holds barred" - provided the content was appropriate and legal. Mine was both of those things and yet was censored - please explain.

Sad late entrant to this forum - I was an AOPA member but let it lapse because I had been persuaded that the RAAus would best support my aims and aspirations as both a PPL and a Pilot certificate holder. I own two aircraft and find the current RAAus board lacking. They are badly managed, secretive, and cuurently seem to be the very last people I would involve to support and aviation issue I had. Further- I am 'bomb proof' at the moment because I hold both a current PPL and Ultralight licence - but I view the future with the current RAAus borad at the helm with dismay. I'll await events - but may well rejoin AOPA (their caps are really nice - just a joke) Docjell

Thanks for you hard work Pembs - I very much hope other members will see the importance of these proposed changes. I would be happy to pay a fee for a 'personal' copy of the information I am entitled to - provided that the information is available on the website - as it should be - for all members. Earlier reference has been made by another member on the forum to the fact that he/she is prepared to send copies of the latest financial report but quotes "this must not enter the public domain". Why not? What has the board got to hide! This is the RAAus not some secret society! If there is information regarding the dissemination or distribution of OUR money then surely we should be privy to that information. I do not want our current board to think this is some sort of witch hunt - it is not. I simply feel that their dealings should be open and available to our members scrutiny at all levels - the 'public domain' is irrelevant - if everything is above board (pardon the pun) what is there to hide? Regards Docjell

Then do it Bandit 12! There is a significant groundswell of opinion that is not prepared to continue to sanction this undemocratic secrecy that seems to be the current RAAus comittee's stance. We'd welcome some new and active members prepared to stand up and make a noise!

Thats a rather trivial response isn't it Cficare - bit of a dummy spit? Surely any member of RAAus must understand that there are sections of the constitution that at best serve us badly and at worst may be perceived as secretive. The apparent failure recently of the books to balance is a case in point. I don't think Pembs is embarking on a personal crusade for his own benefit - he's trying to rattle some of the apathy out of our members and get the committee to be open and honest with us. I don't for one minute believe there is malice afoot - they are just not on the same page. If you truly believe that the boards failure to openly provide a means to review our accounts and minutes is truly democratic then perhaps we are wasting our time. The old aussie adage of "she'll be right mate" might well have been true in pioneering days - it's most certainly not all right now - and this is another example of apathy and submission. But perhaps I go on too much - I just want everyone to remove their blinkers.

My email was an honest and open request to be provided with information regarding minutes and financial information from an ostensibly democratic organisation to which I belong and to which I pay fees. I was astounded that there was even a hint of hesitation - the refusal was a surprise. I am only requesting that the information is available by means other than personal attendance in the ACT. Of course only a handful of members attend meetings - we live in a vast country ( and surprisingly a lot of it exists outside Victoria) - so surely it is not unreasonable to require RAAus to disseminate important information by means other than personal attendance. Thank you for your offer of advice Regards,Chris

Hi Adrian - the J230 is most certainly not a short field performer by any means. Don't consider a strip shorter than 500m. I fly mine down the approach at 55-58KIAS - any faster and you'll drift down the runway for ages. Dut to the geography of our local strips, including mine, I,ve bought an Evektor Sportstar which is great. A Foxbat would have been my other choice. Short field performance and cruise performance are inversely related - depends where you want to compromise! Captain - I'd say 500m unless you are a complete adrenalin junkie with unlimited money! Cheers

Hi Aiko - I agree with David wholeheartedly. If you're wanting business trip flying reliability think Command instrument rating in a GA twin as a minimum. Fair weather flying for pure pleasure is the way to go and a Jab 230 would be a perfect choice - leave Qantas to do the fretting! Have fun Cheers

OOps - the alzheimers again - of course Pembs isn't our NQ rep - Steve Runciman is - and an excellent if frustrating job he's doing as well. Can't tell these trike pilots apart you know

Basscheffers - you can request what you like, as I did recently. I wanted the latest AGM minutes and audited accounts. Section 36 of the constitution states that these may be made available to members at no charge "for viewing at the RAAus offices in the ACT - by the member in person". You were quoted the clause and then rather pompously concluded by saying "As such I am unable to comply with your request" As I live in far north Queensland this is effectively a prohibition clause and needs to go. Eugene Reid further believes that the minutes should be 'confidential' apparently. The RAAus elected officers are controlling OUR aviation interests with OUR money and should be OUR representatives. They are not currently - wake up everyone - kick off some of that appalling apathy, stand up and make our voices heard. Pembs has "put his hand up" as you suggested and is struggling to inject some sense and redirection into the RAAus as the member for North Queensland. We need to unite behind him and get some action happening.

We are treading on very thin ice Guys- we need as an organization of recreational pilots to wake up and get active. We are NOT being represented by our board if they are not prepared to publish minutes of meeting and copies of the audited accounts of OUR organisation. Two days ago I requested that I have emailed to me the aformentioned and the reply was that due to Para 36 in the RAAus constitution "she could not comply with my request" since she was only obliged to provide the information "to any RAAus member, without charge, IN PERSON, AT THE RAAus OFFICE IN ACT. We live and fly in Australia - I am not prepared to undertake a trip to Canberra from Townsville to view what is mine to view by right - it should be available on the internet. We are as a group trying to promote recreational flying and to divorce ourselves from the gross over regulation that pervades Australia - and no one seems to care at the moment! We need to take back control of our organisation - if the current encumbents can't hack it lets get someone else in there who can! Cheers Chris Jelliffe

Guys - certain clauses in the constitution are quite simply unreasonable and do not serve the best interests of us, the members who are funding the RAAus. I recently requested that I get emailed to me the audited accounts and was firmly put in my place as follows " Please refer to Section 36 of the coinstitution etc....as such I am unable to comply with your request". Section 36 asserts that members may without charge view the accounts and minutes of board and other meeting, these documents must be viewed in person at the RAAus offices in the ACT!!!!!! This astonishing clause is completely unreasonable in a country the size of Australia, and needs changing now. The RAAus is OUR organisation, funded by US, for the purposes of promoting recreational aviation in all its forms, not for the personal self promotion of a select number of individuals who seek to be, for want of a better analogy, big fish in a puddle. The assertion that minutes are confidential is utter crap -and dangerous crap at that. We must challenge the board big time so that they are working for US and not them. They are our voice in the broader aviation world and their decisions will have far reaching effects on us, the recreational pilots in Australia. Open your eyes guys and wake up now. We all need to have uninhibited and unobstructed access to board meeting minutes and accounts - that information is ours by right. If Eugene Reid doesn't see that, he needs to go and be a President somewhere else.

A subject very close to my heart - I solved the comfort thing in my Jab 230 by buying en Evektor Sportstar instead Cheers docjell

Ross - my apologies - hasty and unnecessary- sorry to have been so rude. I learnt to fly in the UK ,where virtually any lowering of power setting mandated carby heat - I don't think I can bring myself to throttle back without reaching for the carb heat control without a tremendous effort! I routinely apply carby heat as soon as I slow in the circuit and remove it about a minute from touchdown - something I was chastised for doing in Townsville when I revalidated my PPL in '99.

Thanks Ross - I can hardly believe you wrote that.Not mentioned because it absolutely goes without saying for any pilot with more than two brain cells to rub together

More useful thoughts guys - thanks. I think this is a fundamentally important issue If the engine dies unexpectedly at any stage of the approach/landing the safety of the aircraft and crew is seriously compromised with potentially fatal consequences - especially at a challenging strip such as ours which is rough, surrounded by trees, with take off and landing distances reduced by the significant foliage at either end. I contacted Jabiru today and spoke with one of their engineers who volunteered the following wise council Idling between 850-900 is best set at idle taxi and not stationary with brakes on consider changing the idle jet from 35 to 45 adjust the idle screw (this had been done) look at the float level (??? will consult a LAME! what do I look at?) Always use a powered approach, only closing the throttle at flair He recommended 1600rpm for base and 1100rpm for finals He seemed to know what he was talking about- thoughts on an email/posting! Chris

Thanks everyone - seems to be a common problem which I think is unsatisfactory - might give Jabiru a call. Yes - 120 HP 6 Cyl jab engine with the old style 'grovel between your legs' throttle. Is there much of a difference between that and the firewall mounted throttles- and if so why? Chris