John Robert

This is a proud ad for WA. Gday Marty. I have traveled most of Australia, no disrespect but Adelaide/ Darwin via Alice is best done on a train where you are sleeping for at least 50% of the time. Taking that route you are going to miss the best part of Australia & also the largest by far " WA". The Southwest is absolutely unique in flora, with the largest trees in the southern hemisphere. After the Nullabor, Esperance is a great stopover & there are fantastic new facilities at the Cape Le Grand site which is run by volunteers for the Dept Conservation. The Hopetoun National Park is a great area to visit on your way to Bremer Bay. Continue to Albany & dont miss Mt Clarence & the views from the memorial. Denmark is worth a stop over on the way to Walpole & the valley of the giants. Denmark has an active aviation club & a unique airfield on the top of a hill. The drive through Karri forest to Manjimup is a high light to any holiday. Manjimup also has an active aero club where you may get a flight if your lucky. Not to be missed is the fire lookout on the top of a giant Karri tree South of Manjimup. Free to climb if your fit & game. Drive from Manjimup to Bussleton vis Donny brook & see the fruit orchards. Bussleton has the incredible mile long jetty with a rail line & under water sea aquarium. If your not into walking take the tourist train. A little South is Yalingup with probably the best surf in Australia. The Caves are also a must see, with guided tours every hour. There are a number of amazing limestone caves in the area between Yalingup & Augusta. Drive to Perth is an easy 2 hours from there. Perth! the Swan river, got to be the best location of any City in the world. Lousy architecture with virtually no history. Kings Park makes up for that with stunning views across the Swan River. The beaches in WA are the cleanest & best & they stretch for over 10,000 Km . Heading North Lancelin is a must for the fishing & FWD tracks over the dunes & if your game through to Jurian Bay on dirt roads & beaches. Sample the Rock Lobsters at Lancelin, in good supply due to loss of sales to China. Geralton is a good stop over, after there is a long drive North, but Shark bay is a must see. If you have the time the western most point of mainland Australia is Steep point. Managed by CALM & has amazing fishing. It is possible to catch Spanish Mackeral from the rocks off Steep Poit. Note FWD only. The view to Dirk Hartog across the North West passage from there is amazing. ( UNESCO's official listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage Site see Wikipedia) Next stop Carnarvon a lovely coastal town, famed for bananas & fishing. Ex mouth is worth a visit, you can get to swim with the whale sharks at Ningaloo if your there at the right time of year. Then through the mining towns, Dampier if you want to go game fishing. See the salt mines (lakes) the mountain of salt at Karatha. A short drive to Roeburme which was the main town in the North west in early days, better travel through & visit Cossack which has interesting old buildings & excellent fishing. Broome is a good stop over on the long journey North to Darwin. Treat your Mrs to a pearl neck & visit the pearl farms & try the oysters. Head North & stop at Halls Creek & say hello to the guy who looks after the airport, Take a flight over the Bungle Bungles. Next must see is Lake Argyle great camping & a good place to rest for a few days, before the drive to Darwin. Give me a call if you get to Perth,I will be able to take you for a flight & show you that SABC has the best grass runway in Australia. See <https://www.sabc.org.au> Good luck in your travels. John

I am surprised that Evans coolant has not been mentioned in the discussion of cooling. It fits in between oil & water. I have used Evans in my 914 since fitting it in a Jodel in 2006. I have also changed my Rotax powered CT to Evans. Down side is higher engine temps on take off & climb. But the advantages are that when cooling is really essential at 110degrees plus . Evans will continue whilst water looses all effective cooling as it start to boil. The other advantages as with oil cooling corrosion is almost eliminated. The system no longer requires a pressurised system. Water requires pressure to increase the boiling temps usually about 12PSI at ground level, for those more academically minded than me I am sure they would be able to quote the pressure at 10,000 ft. My guess is that the figure would be quite scary. John

The loss of the mag will result in less connection with members & management. That may be one of the reasons M & M have set up the survey which does not enable a comment such as "neither of these". I wonder what is the cost of the regular 4 pages of self indulgence & the criticism of past management we get in most issues. I would much rather see 4 pages of readers letters which seems to have shrunk in the last few years. There may be alternatives to printing our own mag, There are existing aviation magazines & the ones I have read seem to be struggling to find interesting content. The inclusion of RAA content in an existing mag may well help its survival. RAA could make a contribution which should reduce our current costs & help the private mags sales. The existing mag is an excellent way for members to advertise aircraft for sale but some costs should be borne by the person advertising . Inclusion of our private aircraft sales would be a benefit to any publication. Personally I must admit that without the private ads I could accept the demise of the mag more easily. It is not just the interest in the ads but it does help me determine the value of my own aircraft. It is espeially useful when I see a similar aircraft for sale & I can say to my wife " hey look at this , my aircraft is actually increasing in value. I told you it was a good investment." John Robert

I have just tried to complete the RAA online survey most appropriately named as managed by "Survey Monkey". This is typical of a managed survey that is designed to provide a known out come, the following question must be answered or the survey can not be completed. Quote: 18. Sport Pilot is currently delivered to 1500 paying subscribers. The production and distribution of the magazine is subsidised by the membership at large. This is not sustainable. I believe: RAAus should increase the cost of the magazine so subscribers pay the true cost. RAAus should invest in other delivery channels to ensure all members benefit from the content End of Quote: I DO NOT believe either of these is in my interests yet the only way to complete the survey is to agree with either one of these items & as a final insult, prefix that with an "I Believe" I will let RAA know that I think they are conducting a very shonky survey. I hope other members will do the same

The subscription to Oz runways plus the once only cost of about $ 250 for an A3 printer compared with the cost of maps all around Aus seemed like good value to me. John

I have a scale marked on the ipad & fit the wac chart to that, save the file & email it to my computer. I open the map in Gimp ( i only use linux) check the scale & print with an A3 Epson printer. I print both sides in colour & on plain paper the detail is close to a standard chart. The print leaves 40mm clean paper top & bottom. I use that for my flight plan & fuel planning.. I mark the Ctaf changes on the flight plan with a thick fibre tipped pen .I fold it to A4 & its clipped to an A4 clipboard, This gives me all I need for a days flying. I give the I pad to my passenger if I have one & ask them to follow the flight on Oz Runways. Works easy & stress free for me. I know I have a back up & every thing to keep me safe & legal .If I have a passenger,it keeps them interested finding landmarks. I also have instant access to the I pad if I need it without having the clumsy unit in my space. If I need to make notes I do it on the map with the fibre pen. Its only for 1 trip so I dont have to worry about reuse. Worked really well on a round Aus trip. John Roberts

I have a rotax 914 F3 which is set up for the constant speed prop but I am planning to use a ground adjustable. Can any one tell me what I need to convert the motor so I can use the GAdjustable prop/. Or better still if you have changed yoir F4 to a constant speed do you want to sell the parts? John

My first post . I don,t have much experience but am looking at the posibilities of repowering a Jodel D11 with something more up to date than the 0-200. I would not need more than 100hp & would prefer something that would save a few Kgs. I have nothing against modern liquid cooled 2 strokes in fact they probably would fit the bill. I would appreciate all the info I can get, if its genuinly experienced based . thanks to all the past contributore for the vast amount of info on the site John Roberts