FlyBoy1960

Looks c c cold !

A few warbirds have been through the Gold Coast heading North this morning. I know of several from our club going up daybreak tomorrow.

Well, that 'could' be two-thirds of his business in coming years based on the decline of GA.

RS and E14 will cost you the earth !

Any good nut and bolt shop or bearing shop has them, all sizes and types

just asking, why do you think you can get away with a 48 V motor/battery when everybody else in the electrics is using nearly 10 times this voltage as a minimum ?

Paywall https://thewest.com.au/news/disaster-and-emergency/ultralight-plane-crash-62-year-old-man-dies-near-manjimup-c-6901171

I was wondering this also, It cant be throttle links for Rotax

there was an electric aircraft that crashed in Europe and was in a dam for 2 days or 3 days before it could be recovered. I read that when it came out there were no damage to the batteries and in fact (if memory serves me correctly it was the Norway CAA) were able to turn the batteries back on and operate the propulsion system. https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/14/norways-first-electric-plane-crash-lands-on-lake I can't find it now but there is a CAA report detailing how just about everything worked when the aircraft was recovered and inspected. There was no battery fire or any other issue.

in China you get what you pay for, if you pay the lowest possible price you will get the lowest possible quality if you pay a fair and reasonable price you can get best in world products. There are dozens and dozens of examples but something like an iPhone is a good example, they are not cheap Chinese products. If you pay the right price in China you can get anything you want to the highest possible standard of manufacture, quality and reliability

I would have to disagree with you unfortunately. You must buy a dedicated charger to suit the battery you are using. There are dozens of EarthX batteries at our airfield that I am aware of and they require a dedicated charger. None of these has ever caught on fire or even come close but you must use the Earth X battery charger. One of the guys had an AeroVoltz lithium battery which was subject to a service bulletin requiring it to be removed by the manufacturer. We put this onto a 10 amp hour lead acid battery charger and within about 20 minutes it vented smoke, within 25 minutes it was all over after quite a decent and hot fire. When it was venting on fire it was like they discharge from a propane tank on fire. A lot of directional heat and flames. This is why they required these batteries to be removed from service. EarthX are an expensive battery but if you use the dedicated charger the company has some sort of damage guarantee where they will replace the lost item if they ever catch on fire during charging

They only catch on fire when you use the wrong charger. You cant use a "normal" lead acid charger

I have flown in one of these at our airport and still consider this aircraft to be the most comfortable light aircraft I have ever been in. Different from a lot of ultralights it has a yoke control, massive legroom and massive headroom. The baggage area was also very large and could be accessed in flight. The owner was telling me they now have modifications in the luggage area to take snow skis and golf clubs. It was an amazingly comfortable aircraft, very stable and very enjoyable to be a passenger and also to try the controls, Good visibility in all stages except a really steep short field takeoff where the nose obscured some forward vision, A normal takeoff was much more visible over the front. The first models had castoring nose wheel they fixed this in later models which had fully steering nose wheel's.

Good news, i was driving up but worried it would be a waste of time with the "floods" Good to know they are wrong AGAIN !

the 472.5 kg is for the ultralight regulations in Europe. In other countries they are 600 kg with the design weight of 750 kg when the new categories open up. A normal one has 130 L of fuel with an option for 180 L according to their website. There is even one flying as a turbine which has been designed for military training for countries that can't afford bigger aircraft just to be used for training

My dream plane !

now I get it. I was trying to work out what it stood for I have only just worked out what LMFAO meant

I have close-up photos of this engine, i will see if i can find them. Taken about 4 years ago before the record flights.

The electric Pipistrel aircraft have been there for 3 to 5 years from memory. There was also an electric trike with lead acid batteries about 25 years ago so it's hardly the first electric plane in the UK ? Also an electric Cri-Cri from memory about 10 years ago.

I got this at a talk at our club also. Rotax Operating Temps.pdf

This is from Rotax in Austria Can I use Avgas? Yes, Avgas is approved. But; special consideration must be given to the lead contained in Avgas. This lead will be found in the oil and combustion area as it is not completely burned by the engine. Please note the following for Avgas use: Changing the oil every 25 hours Use a semi-synthetic oil as a fully synthetic oil does not capture the lead. Use Good operating practices such as high manifold pressure high RPM to minimize the build up of lead. An engine that is “lugged” will accumulate more lead as it is not burned off in the combustion chamber. Watch for sticking wastegate on the 914. Lead will gum this up as well. Good operating practices Successful operation of the 9 series engines depends on understanding its differences and treating it accordingly. The basic difference is that this is a geared engine that is designed to run at 5500rpm. The other conventional aircraft engines are direct drive and run at about 2500 RPM. Gearbox: anytime you have a propeller and pistons connected you can have problems, huge forces are at work and the gearbox is able to handle them but the operator must treat the engine properly in order to maximize the longevity and reliability. This is not a snowmobile or chainsaw, do not use rapid throttle movements as this causes undue wear on the gearbox. Smooth and steady is the mark of an expert. Avoid low idle speeds; at idle the piston pulses are more pronounced and the gearbox has to deal with a lot of pulsing. This is worse when compounded with a heavy prop. (Rotax has a limit for the propeller “moment of inertia”) Do not take off or cruise at low engine speeds. The engine was designed to take off at 5800rpm and run its whole life at 5500 rpm; the ignition, carburetion and valve timing are all designed to be at their best at this rpm. o Low piston speeds actually contribute to piston wear as the “rocking motion” duration is increased. o High prop loading at low rpm increases stress throughout the drivetrain. o More combustion byproducts (carbon and lead) build up in the cylinder head with low engine speeds. Avoid excessive carb heat; this is not a C-150, this engine is not prone to carb ice so the teachings of the average C-150 pilot are not relevant. If safe and sensible a quick check for a normal rpm drop when carb heat is applied is all that is needed.

Best choice you could make going to the Rotax. The Subaru aircraft at our strip have all failed at one time or another

Interesting video, provoked a few new thoughts.

Now, you just need to fly each one !

All of the German registered ones have a chute, it's required by law over there.