tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271002292024-03-05T19:46:27.660+11:00Sierra Del BarĂ³n RojoThe epics of my Beechcraft Sierra.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-54308324176943196112009-06-14T20:22:00.001+10:002009-06-14T20:26:19.136+10:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIFaExa9kvxTkpvUWeW5jIi0YKVGy1Ig9T0Dqpssj010FHJwb6l_LfL41yyhpDpME63fYBtjJN-VXWmBdVrdWyybt51O1uvrdfYD9tT4eqwTng64izN-ZLO2OET7K_7R5oGKTeQ/s1600-h/P6135247.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIFaExa9kvxTkpvUWeW5jIi0YKVGy1Ig9T0Dqpssj010FHJwb6l_LfL41yyhpDpME63fYBtjJN-VXWmBdVrdWyybt51O1uvrdfYD9tT4eqwTng64izN-ZLO2OET7K_7R5oGKTeQ/s320/P6135247.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347127377345938098" /></a>Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-25366634430020517202009-06-14T20:08:00.005+10:002009-06-14T20:20:03.707+10:00Weekend flying<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuM5tm6qGeIXMVlWqjeZzzL839Y4sD7L0jOilqJAYlALeeZYwpteCghX6odgcXHNs8idqkpAfyp4YF37p4PTON7-W7BDe2dEHuCvEmq-jjP0aIENKg8kBJy6Mr8PCm9hYckDff_A/s1600-h/P6145327.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuM5tm6qGeIXMVlWqjeZzzL839Y4sD7L0jOilqJAYlALeeZYwpteCghX6odgcXHNs8idqkpAfyp4YF37p4PTON7-W7BDe2dEHuCvEmq-jjP0aIENKg8kBJy6Mr8PCm9hYckDff_A/s320/P6145327.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347125606564502274" /></a><br />I got my tail-dragger endorsement on Saturday and landed on a 400m strip and then a 200m strip. This was great practice and I want a Citabria, or maybe a C180.<br /><br />I took a photo of the Sunset on the way back home to Canberra - isn't it nice?Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1152530586804757242006-07-10T20:52:00.000+10:002006-07-10T21:48:43.986+10:00Tamworth and Armidale 08-09 July 2006The big trip, it was a toss-up between flying to Lightning Ridge or Tamworth Armidale.<br /><br />Tamworth is a Class D airspace with Class C airspace above it. The Tamworth controller controls both airspaces from the tower frequency.<br /><br />I have never flown into Tamworth before, and have only flown into the Albury Class-D airspace as part of my training. I have, however, flown into Bankstown several times, but it is a GAAP with special procedures.<br /><br />Tamworth used to a simpler class-D airport only requiring a holding-point ready call, but now there is a NOTAM stating that Taxi Clearance is required, so it is a bit of a mixture. They also expect a departure report so that other traffic and the controller knows what you are doing. In fact, all through the area you hear departure reports from the non-towered aerodromes, however, you do not seem to hear them when departing Wagga Wagga, for example.<br /><br />The trip up was over fairly friendly country with lots of places to land. I knew approximately where the airport was, but I couldn't see the runways, nor the tower until I got 4 nm away from R30R. What assisted greatly was that a Dash 8 was on final approach, so I got to follow that aircraft to the centre-line. Needless to say I asked for copious taxi instructions and I was shown the fuel bowsers and several access gates to leave the airside.<br /><br />What was fairly interesting was that both tower frequencies were locked together and the tower controller was also the SMC.<br /><br />The trip between Tamworth and Armidale was quite interesting because I had to climb at Vx to clear the range and climbed to 7500'. Uralla was directly on track and conveniently it is 10nm from Armidale making inbound calls very easy.<br /><br />I have also not flown into Armidale's aerodrome but I was reasonably familiar with its location and orientation because I used to visit it. I spent 5 years in Armidale during my University days and have fond memories of the town. The main runway R23/15 is on top of an escarpment, and the runway itself is elevated slightly above the surrounding land - maybe to assist with drainage, but such a situation is a trap causing pilots to approach the threshold too low. R23 has PAPI lights which assist, and when you fly just north of the town at 5000' and aligned with the centreline you are right on the glideslope. Of course I do not have such long finals, but the Dash 8's do.<br /><br />There was a southerly wind, and as you approach the threshold of R23 the wind is blowing down a slight downslope and then suddenly drops into the valley where Armidale lays. This causes a considerable amount of sink which requires more and more power on the approach until closer to the landing blocks. One way to avoid this is to be higher than the PAPI lights and to land further into the runway. To make matters worse the wind was a cross-wind as well, more inclined for R27 than for R23, however R27 is grass and a long way is a long way to taxi and backtrack along.<br /><br />Well I visited my best man and his family and the next day I took the number 2 son over the Gorges near Armidale, a 36 minute flight, and my friend and his number 3 son on a city flight before departing for home.<br /><br />I was delayed as I had a call of nature and then I decided to buy a chocolate, one of my vices, and I eventually got to leave at 0255. I had a severe headwind of 20 - 25 Kts so I decided that morning that I would fly directly from Armidale, to Nundle, cut-across the Tamworth Class C airspace (with permission) direct to Scone and thence direct to Canberra. The trip from Armidale to Nundle was over a fair bit of the great divide but there were several good looking flat spots I felt I could land in should I need to execute a forced landing. When I arrived at Scone there were quite a few paddocks and a good airstrip, but then I really hit the tiger country.<br /><br />The country between Scone and Wallerawang is the worse country I have ever seen to fly over. On my direct track there was absolutely nowhere to land. I would have felt more comfortable had I tracked further to the west.<br /><br />Here is a shot of Wolgan River in the tiger country that ripped from my video camera.<br /><image src="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/WolganRiverS33-14-E150-20.jpg"/>Wolgan River.<br /><br />You can explore my tracks at <a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060708yscb-ystw-yarm.kmz">Canberra, Tamworth Armidale</a><br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060709ArmidaleGorge.kmz">Armidale to the gorges near Hillgrove</a><br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060709yarm-ysco-yscb.kmz">Armidale Scone back to Canberra</a>Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1152528642381070822006-07-10T20:42:00.000+10:002006-07-10T20:50:42.393+10:00Burning hours 03 Jul to 04 JulI needed to use up the remaining hours in order to perform the 25 hour oil change before the weekend because I was planning a long trip.<br /><br />9 circuits were performed on 3 July, which used up 36 minutes.<br /><br />One City Charlie (clockwise) 2 was flown for 13 minutes on the 3 July.<br /><br />One City Alpha (anti-clockwise) 2 was flown twice for 28 minutes on the 4 July.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1151842340314013952006-07-02T21:21:00.000+10:002006-07-02T23:13:36.320+10:00Exercise at Merimbula - 1 Jul 2006I needed to put about 4.5 hours on UMS before the next oil change and so I planned a trip to Merimbula and then Moruya as the weather was better in those directions, otherwise I would have headed North West to Parkes and then back via Wagga Wagga. <br /><br />I left CB fairly late because I was waiting for the weather to break a little before I left home for the airport. Start permission was required for circuits and General Aviation aircraft, probably due to the volume of RPT traffic and the weather conditions.<br /><br />The wind was quite interesting on takeoff from R35 comming from 290 degrees magnetic varying between 15 and 25 Kts (290/15G25), this is 60 degrees to the runway heading making the crosswind component of 13 to 22 Kts. R35 was used because R30/12 has not been available for a couple of months due to work in progress. <br /><br />The flying conditions were not ideal with some turbulence being caused by wave conditions. While I was flying South East to Merimbula my Gliding compatriots were at Bunyan gliding field contacting wave. <br /><br />I performed a right-hand circuit onto R03 at Meriumbula due to the prevailing wind conditions and local regulations: all circuits to the east. <a href="http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/publications/current/ersa/FAC_YMER_8-Jun-2006.pdf"></a><br /><br />After landing I exited on the one and only taxi-way and had to turn past a Rex Saab that was about to embark on its journey. I tied UMS down on the grass using my ropes and sand-pegs I carry on board for such occassions, and I stood on the wing and videod the Saab's takeoff.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Rex.jpg"><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Rex.jpg" border="0" alt="" />A Rex Saab</a> on takeoff roll.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/Rex.wmv">Video</a> of the Saab taking off.<br /><br />The plan then was to walk into town for my weekly exercise, having decided that it was too much bother to carry my foldup bike onto the plane because it would involve two trips. For those who have travelled with me they will note that I carry a large flight bag and headset, a cooler bag that contains my Gell-Cell battery pack and GPS equipment, and usually a bag of supplies, which amounts to full hands.<br /><br />The walking trip into town was interesting because one of the locals kept stopping their ute every 500 m and I walked passed them several times, but then I worked out that it was his young son riding a bicycle on the bike path I was using. I also passed several local pedestrians and other bike riders using the path for their exercise as well, including a grand-mother on a bike with her two grand-children on bikes, one of whom was on a tricycle. <br /><br />It certainly would keep you fit going to and from town to the airport. The journey is not too long and the rewards of the restaurants and a good sea-food lunch are quite enticing. <br /><br />I didn't have enough time left before last light to hang around for a snack so this time I walked to the bridge and crossed the road to the local garage to purchase an ice-cream and a bottle of ginger beer. Of course I walked that ice-cream off on the way back to the airport.<br /><br />The next leg of the journey was to head to Moruya up the coast and over the ocean. I put my helicopter pilot's life vest on but I needn't have as I was always within gliding distance of the beaches. I almost flew over to Montague island and buzzed around but I was concerned with the time and prevailing conditions.<br /><br />When I got to Moruya VH-VEZ was practicing circuits, a Cessna 441 twin. I overflew the airfield at 2,500' and positioned myself so I could watch a couple of takeoffs and landings. Due to the time factor I decided not to land and decided to head home, this saves me a few dollars in landing fees anyway.<br /><br />The weather deteriorated with cloud base dropping from 7000' to 5000' near Braidwood.<br />I decided to decent to 4,500' to avoid cloud and to fly around Mt Pallerang ELEV 4146' to avoid most of the turbulence. I even thought that I might have to approach Canberra via the Burbong route but the cloud base lifted once I got closer to Bungendore.<br /><br />Just after I received my airways clearance a medical emergency was declared on a Qantas RPT flight and I was set into orbit until instructed otherwise. The orbits just seemed to go for ever, and with the westerly wind I was swept back a nautical mile on each turn. Just like gliding but I wasn't allowed to change level.<br /><br />When I was permitted to head to R35 the wind was 270/15G25 and it seemed to take forever to reach the threshold. Once I established white arc speed I looked at the GPS and it indicated 67 Kts - I was doing 90 Kts IAS. After deploying the gear and 15 degrees of flaps I was at 80 Kts indicated and it felt like I was just hanging in the air. <br /><br />I yawed UMS into wind because it feels cool to do rather than drop the wing and fly with crossed-controls. I was careful to maintain my approach speed of 80 Kts on base and final. As I drew closer to the ground I maintained left ailerons, wings level and right rudder to straighten up, and back-pressure to keep the nose wheel high until the speed dropped off. This landing was better than my takeoff and UMS certainly has no trouble in this cross-wind. It is great to own and fly a low wing aircraft, and all that glider training has been very helpful with cross-wind and down-wind takeoff handling.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060701YSCB-YMER-YMRY-YSCB.kmz">VH-UMS tracks</a> for google earth.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1150666731018189772006-06-19T07:23:00.000+10:002006-06-19T07:38:51.036+10:00Bankstown and back - 18 Jun 2006We had another family social affair in Sydney, and despite the fact that a flight to Sydney from Canberra is a marginal flight (because you can almost drive door to door faster than you can fly up and arrange transport) I decided to fly again - I need the hours.<br /><br />UMS seemed to zip along at almost the same speeds as it did before I polished the whole aircraft because this trip took the same time as the previous, the return trip was slightly faster however. It does look nice now it is polished,<br /><br />This flight was uneventful because I am now used to the speeds this machine does on descent and coordinating the tasks when I get busy. I was number two for R29 right, with all 3 runways R29 Centre and R29 left active (yes there are 3 parallel runways).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/publications/current/ersa/FAC_YSBK_8-Jun-2006.pdf">Bankstown airport</a><br /><br />Bankstown airport adjoins the Sydney CTR.<br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/ysbk.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/ysbk.jpg" border="0" alt="" />The crowded airspace</a><br /><br />More later - I have to go to a training course for work.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1150542063737884602006-06-17T20:20:00.000+10:002006-06-17T21:13:37.566+10:00Canberra - 17 June 2006What a wonderful day to go flying. My day started at about 8:00 am and I went to Super Cheap Auto and purchased a tube of 1-minute Araldite, and picked up a nozzle for my window sealing caulk tube that I forgot last time I was there, and some Wax and paper towels.<br /><br />The next trip saw me at JayCar, a local electronics supplier, where I purchased some cable armour, a super-bright LED tourch and some other items and headed out to the airport.<br /><br />I removed the covers from the plane and undid the pilot-side plastic trim and got out my socket set and undid the nuts holding the pilot-side windscreen in the door. This screen had been put in with Silicon Rubber sealant (silastic) and leaks like a seive when it rains. It took about 1/2 an hour and I had the screen out. The next job was to run around the fibreglass lip and cut the silastic away. The silastic grips very well to the fibreglass but not very well to the plastic screen at all.<br /><br />Once I was satisfied it was clean I then laid a bead of caulking compound right around this lip and then replaced the screen. I pressed the screen down onto this compound so it spread out across the lip and then held the screen in place with the original screws, washers and the nylock nuts. I then went around the lip and ensured that the bead has spread so it covered all the gaps. I also added additional bead around the outside bottom of the screen to ensure that the bottom of the screen was doubly sealed. I then replaced the trim when I was satisifed I had done enough.<br /><br />The next job was to polish the aircraft. I applied the polish to a small rag and rubbed it over the wing and it dissappeared! So I had to put more on. I did the upper surface of the wing, the stabilator the top and sides of the fuselage first. Then I got on my back and crawled underneath the aircraft and added polished to the entire bottom of the fuselage from the front cowling to the back tail-cone. Then I added polish to the bottom of the stabilator, and to the bottom of both wings. The whole process took ages. <br /><br />When I inspected the upper sections of the wing to remove the polish I noticed that it didn't have any powered wax on it, so I applied more polish and did the wings again. Perhaps the polish had been sucked into the paint.<br /><br />Anyway I then went around the whole plane, top and bottom and removed the dried wax which came off easily and left the paint very shiny. In fact the green stripes look very green and I could see my face reflecting from the bottom of the fuselage.<br />The polishing took about two hours and boy am I sore.<br /><br />I then grabbed my can of trusty white-lithium spray-on grease (what will they think of next) and lubricated both control columns. Wow what a difference that made to the friction! <br /><br />I also greased the seat rails and they slide very well too, and I lubricated the chain on the trim wheel - what a difference that made as well. Almost as good as the difference in the aircraft after we lubricated the aileron hinges and control linkages with Slick 50 One Lube.<br /><br />I had been at the airport since 9:00am and it was now 13:30 and I was getting hungry so I packed up my gear and broke for lunch, well not quite. When I got to my truck I realised that I had not wound the cable armour onto my battery-pack cable and splitters, so I spent half-an-hour winding the split armour up all the cables. The hope is that this armour will protect the cables while in the aircraft from things such as the trim pulley chain, the seat latches, and feet when the cable is lying on the aircraft floor because I place the battery supply behind the front seats and run the cable forward to the PDA on the control column and the GPS receiver on the dashboard.<br /><br />So I bought some lunch close to the airport, but not at the airport because I hate airport food, and when I got back I took my flight back and started the plane and refuelled. To my horror I noticed that any spashes of AvGas instantly take the polish of the wings, so when I parked it I had to add more wax to the wings near the fuel caps and will remove the dry wax in the morning.<br /><br />Anyway I warmed the engine and 25 minutes later I took UMS for a City Charlie 2 flight. Charlie stands for clockwise and 2 is the longer flight path. This long flight is about 30 nm which is not far at all and takes about 15 to 20 minutes in my plane. <br /><br />I was cleared for takeoff and 1102' later I was in the air, this is one up with full fuel at an airfield elevation of 1885' and an OAT 55.4 F, which I think is pretty impressive for a heavy machine. I turned right at about 500' and backed the manifold pressure back to 25" and the revs to 2500rpm and I had to lean it and it climbed like a homesick Angel. It loves the cold air and it wasn't long before I had climbed to 4000' AMSL.<br /><br />I was a little bit off track because I haven't flown a clockwise city flight for a long time, everything was backwards and almost unfamiliar from this way round.<br /><br />Since Canberra airport is running with only one active runway due to extension works on the cross runway it is very busy and I was delayed to permit 737s to land. <br />I took this as an opportunity and requested permission to orbit Kambah. The response was orbit as much and where you like, so I circled my house 2.5 times (3 passes) and headed towards Mt Stromlo where again I was advised there would be delays. So I requested some additional airwork and was given the instruction fly wherever you like but remain west of Black Mountain tower, so I got to buz around in the West of the city as well.<br /><br />I was eventually cleared to track back to Lk Ginninderra and then to the Race Track and over the Ainslie ridge for right-base onto R17. All these delays and orbits extended my flight to a long 22 minutes, almost the same amount of time I spent warming the aircraft up.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060617YSCBC2.kmz">The C2 flight path</a>Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1150114226900671392006-06-12T21:22:00.000+10:002006-06-12T23:55:54.703+10:00Bankstown - Sydney 12 June 2006I took UMS up to Bankstown to pick up my wife. <br /><br />I was delayed again, as usual, due to the heavy loading of frost, plus I refueled the aircraft and stopped the engine and got out to wipe the ice off the wings and had some trouble restarting.<br /><br />I managed to take off 1.5 hours later than planned.<br /><br />The trip to Bankstown was initially flown at 7500' and took 1h 2m and I saw ground speeds of 143 Knots and used a total of 47 litres of fuel. <br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Bankstown.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Bankstown.jpg" border="0" alt="" />The circuit on arrival at Bankstown</a><br /><br />You cannot fly directly from Canberra to Bankstown because of Restricted Airspace and Dangar zones, of note is the Wilton Parachute drop zone, which must be flown around, hence the large deviation in my track from Mitagong to Picton and then back to Menagle.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DeviationWilton.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DeviationWilton.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Deviation around Wilton Parachute drop zone</a><br /><br />The Wilton runways and drop zone are relatively easy to see from the air, you often see the Parachute canopies and Paracutists decending to either side of the Hume highway. I think they have an Eastern drop zone for those that fail to make it across the highway.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/WiltonRunways.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/WiltonRunways.jpg" border="0" alt="" />The Wilton runways</a><br /><br /><br />The return trip took longer with the headwind and the later half was flown at 8500', with ground speeds of 123 Knots, and a total of 40 Litres of fuel used in 1h 12m. I wasn't flying as hard to minimize the cabin noise for passenger comfort. <br /><br />The air was crystal smooth above 6500' on the way back and perfect at all levels on the way up to Sydney.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/BankstownTakeoff.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/BankstownTakeoff.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Bankstown Takeoff</a><br /><br />It is a little difficult to takeoff from R29 and turn south as runway heading must be extended and flown at 1000' to underfly the approach path that is maintained at 1500' and until you are right of the 2RN radio mast, because 2RN at 1500' is the inbound reporting point for joining cross-wind onto R29.<br /><br />Hoxton park is also fairly close to 2RN, and with the inbound traffic, you need to keep a very keen lookout. I saw 3 aircraft on the inbound track and several aircraft to the west of me. I always feel uncomfortable in this airspace because there are many helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on days when the weather is great and they are concentrated in the airspace below the radar control steps.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1149943841683942682006-06-10T22:42:00.000+10:002006-06-12T21:22:21.540+10:00Inclement weather - 10 & 11 June 2006<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/IDX0894.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/IDX0894.png" border="0" alt="" />The onset of inclement weather</a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/IDE00005.200606101130.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/IDE00005.200606101130.png" border="0" alt="" />The infrared image</a><br /><br />Well today I couldn't see the horizon, so no flying. <br /><br />I went to the airport and took an old bedsheet as a rag and cleaned the streaks of the landing gear hydraulic oil from underneath the aircraft. UMS has had a serious haydraulic leak before I bought it and the inside under the floor boards the belly skins are coated with landing gear fluid, which is rather tacky like treacle and some of this fluid still manages to flow and exit between the skin at the rear of the wing root and then flows along the under belly. <br /><br />At the annual, when we lifted the floor boards, and removed inspection plates to service the pulleys and torque-tube bushes we noticed that the floor was covered in this stuff and it was so tacky that we found a $25 socket glued to the floor.<br /><br />The fluid is quite difficult to remove. It came off once I wet the rag with AvGas from the fuel drains though, and half an hour later the outside belly skins were cleaned from the front to the tip of the enpennage. I also removed the dirt and grease left behind in the airstream of the landing gear from underneath the wing and the flaps and cleaned the engine oil overflow from the nose wheel hosing so now the bottom of the aircraft is relatively spotless.<br /><br />The orignal source was caused by a problem in the hydraulics which was fixed before I bought the plane, but even so, I will keep an eye on this, and the level in the gear-motor reservoir, because we had to top it up at the annual. <br /><br />The contanimation made the under-belly skin quite rough, aerodynamically speaking, which would have increased the drag a little. I also intend to polish the aircraft when the weather is better and I should start seeing a better speed or economy as a result.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1149680878341332662006-06-07T21:19:00.000+10:002006-06-08T21:32:31.126+10:00Quick trip to Bathurst - 07 June 2006<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/YSCB-YBTH-YSCB.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/YSCB-YBTH-YSCB.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I attempted to leave at 06:50 but my plane's wings and stabilator were covered in ice. It looked like a mixture of frost and clear ice and it was fairly thick in places, so I had to wait for the sun to rise to melt the ice. I was not prepared to takeoff with any ice on the wings, having heard stories about the extra weight, induced flutter, and distruption to the airflow that ice can cause. Some say a wing's lift can be decreased by 30 percent and the drag increased by 40 percent by small amounts of ice no thicker than sandpaper on the top of the wing. I had leading edge ice, wing ice and also ice extendind down from the leading edge to underneath the wing just aft of the leading edge chord. Some say it would have melted just after takeoff - but they are not flying my plane, and I know how my plane climbs from a high density altitude airport at MTOW.<br /><br />I studied the lie of the land in GoogleEarth before planning this flight, because low cloud had been predicted from the night before. I planned via Yass, then Cowra, and then over to Bathurst, because the land is lower towards Yass and because the weather forecast was better at that time of the morning along that route.<br /><br />Well I left Canberra at 4500' and continued along my planned track until I was handed-off by Melbourne Centre. I then gradually climbed to 8500' above the cloud tops but under the radar steps and kept my eye on the cloud cover. <br /><br />The cloud cover direct from Canberra to Bathurst was solid 8/8 and set at 6000' AMSL but as I approached Cowra I could see that it was breaking up. This cloud bank was basically trapped above the mountains and quite extensive. <br /><br />The section of the route from Cowra to Bathurst was subject to Few cloud at about 6500' and was easy to pass. Due to the fact that I had been delayed by an hour, as soon as the way was clear of cloud, I headed towards Bathurst cutting out Cowra. <br /><br /><br />My passenger was not ready when I arrived so I was delayed at Bathurst by about an hour, and during this time the clouds to the south had started to lift and break-up a little.<br /><br />Because I knew I was flying into a headwind and since Canberra was clear when we left, I returned directly from Bathurst to Canberra. <br /><br />We had to deviate track a little and to request our own decent profile to remain clear of cloud after we were granted airways clearance back into the Canberra control zone, and despite the headwind and small deviations, we made fairly good time back.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1149424180819753842006-06-04T22:18:00.000+10:002006-06-15T00:29:01.663+10:00Canberra to Moruya - Sunday June 04Well I had my wings clipped on Saturday, and had to drive up to Campbelltown to a 50th birthday party, to return later that night; we got to sleep at 01:30. <br /><br />I had itchy feet and had to fly on Sunday, it's one of those pilot's things, it just isn't right not being able to fly. <br /><br />The trip tracks can be found at <a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060604YSCB-YMRY.kmz">YSCB-YMRY</a> and <br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/airports.kmz">airports </a> for GoogleEarth <a href="http://www.googleearth.com">GoogleEarth</a>. <br /><br />The weather was predicted as SCT / FEW clouds at 6500', lowering to 6000' ft on the coast, but broken at Merimbula and SCT at Moruya, or so they said. I decided I was going to fly to Merimbula and take the fold-up push-bikes so we could ride into town, and I made contact with a passenger, and said that the weather forecast is a little marginal but let's try and get to Merimbula.<br /><br />Well the weather was not as predicted, and there were bits of scud dangling down under the clouds, so we turned East and crossed the escarpment so we could decend in a valley to fly to the coast. We also decided to discontinue Merimbula as a target and headed back up to Moruya, which was our return leg. We flew through many patches of rain with varying droplet sizes. The best thing is watching the water run up the windscreen and out over the side windows - we have no wipers. The worst rain is when the droplet size is so small that it doesn't coallesce and just sits on the windscreen until sufficient gathers for it to form bigger droplets. Sometimes the small droplets are ice and then they just stick there, but we had no icing on this trip.<br /><br />We intercepted the return track and were flying in sunlight and we could see that the way down to Merimbula along the coast was clear. So having flown over to our return-track we were now an hour ahead of where we planned, and thus we flew back North and landed at Moruya and visited the Aero Club and had lunch.<br /><br />While we were there the weather lifted so the wait was a positive thing in this case, and it is always good to be where the weather is better.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/cross-windR18.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/cross-windR18.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Turning to join cross wind just past the windsock near the intersection of R23/R36 - which is now behind us. Yes we fly over the ocean.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/R18%20YMRY.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/R18%20YMRY.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Final to R18 Moruya - there is some turbulence throwing UMS around.</a><br /><br />UMS was parked on the grass outside the club house and some grass parrots decided to feed closeby. My zoom was at its limit, and I couldn't get close enough to them to get good shots, but they looked pretty contrasted against the Orange paint scheme on UMS, so I had to take a shot.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Birds.0.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Birds.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Grass Parots near VH-UMS</a><br /><br />It took 1h 8m to meander around cloud and change track back to Moruya and only 38 minutes to return from Moruya to Canberra, including nearly a 250 degree turn to join track and a cruise climb to 6500'. We were 47 nm from Canberra at top-of-climb and very quickly had to call into for airway's clearance. During the decent phase we saw ground speeds of 168 Kts. UMS is a slippery aircraft in a power decent, while I am trying to keep the engine warm. Such speeds cause problems for me because the controllers do not expect my plane to go so fast. I still haven't educated some of them who keep calling it a Beechcraft Sundowner. The standard cruise speed is 131 Kts, which is considerably faster than a Sundowner and a Cessna 172 for that matter.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1149249568640625352006-06-02T21:45:00.000+10:002006-06-10T21:04:24.266+10:00Warnervale Sydney Canberra - 28 May 06<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/panel2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/panel2.jpg" border="0" alt="" />UMS panel</a><br /><br />The weather the next day saw BKN to full cloud cover in the Warnervale region, where it nearly always rains when a southerly change hits.<br /><br />I own two bouyancy vests and fitted one before leaving Warnervale because I had planned to fly out at 2000' and then head down the coast on decent to Victor 1 at 500'.<br /><br />I reached Long Reef at 500' AMSL and made my Victor 1 call. By the time I had reached North Head my radio calls had provided me with a response - I had company.<br /><br />So from here on the reporting saw that the accompanying aircraft was in front of me by 10 to 15 nautical miles. I slowed down to 108 Kts so I could point my mounted video camera at the scenery while all the while I was looking out to see if I could find the aircraft.<br /><br />I caught up with WWM when I approached the start of Port Hacking. A Cessna 150 looks small when you are 5 nautical miles behind it!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/WWM.avi">Catching up to WWM</a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/wwmC150.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/wwmC150.jpg" border="0" alt="" />WWM a C150 near Port Hacking</a><br /><br />I saw WWM turn in and head across the skyline near Sutherland Cronulla, and I was catching up with it fast. By the time we got to Jibbon Point I announced that I would have to overtake on the right very soon, to which WWM wiggled its wings and headed left a little.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Sutherland.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Sutherland.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Turning back out from Cronulla</a><br /><br /><br />I decided to increase pitch and manifold pressure to work UMS up to 120 Knots. I overtook WWM and then climbed up to 1000' to the bottom of the radar step. <br />Further along I climbed to 2000' near Stanwell park while keeping my eyes on the hang-gliders launching from the cliff, and then a gradual cruise climb at 300 fpm underneath all the radar steps heading towards Mittagong, and from there up to 8500' for the trip back to Canberra.<br /><br />The flight data can be found at<br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060527-28-V1.kmz">Wagga Warnervale Victor 1 Google Earth track</a> and my local airport markers at <a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/airports.kmz">Airports for Google Earth</a>.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1149244835943963912006-06-02T20:25:00.000+10:002006-06-15T00:24:42.463+10:00Canberra Wagga Katoomba Richmond Warnervale - 27 May 06<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/EasternWagga.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/EasternWagga.jpg" border="0" alt="" />An Eastern Dash 8 on the glide slope at R05 Wagga</a><br /><br />Well I flew my daughter back to Charles Sturt University, we had 140 Litres of fuel and two people and my girl's luggage, which filled the luggage compartment, the hat tray, and the the second row seats. It was basically fairly light luggage except for a few books and an oil heater.<br /><br />It took 3 or 4 trips to fill the plane, and quite a long time to unload and shuffle the luggage through the Wagga terminal.<br /><br />The boys arrived fairly promptly, 3 of them, to escort my daughter back to Uni. Everthing except one bag fit in the large boot of the friend's car, along with the driver's toolbox. I instructed my daughter to find some friends who drove and she was just following my instructions I guess - because she doesn't have a driver's licence yet.<br /><br />So I bade my daughter goodbye and then parked UMS alonside the fuel bowser and filled her up, probably 7 litres aside shy of full-fuel, which was enough to fly from Wagga to Warnervale, and then back to Canberra via Victor 1 the next day, and still have plenty spare for some local flying as well.<br /><br />The cloud was FEW to SCT at 8000' when we left Canberra, but as we approach Wee Jasper a large clump of cloud had formed with a towering top that probably exceeded 10,000', and I was still in controlled air-space! So I informed the controller that I would have to change course to avoid cloud, and he asked by how much, and I said 30 degrees. We flew on that heading until class E airpsace and I eventually got to turn around the cloud and head back and intercept the track at Tumut using the VOR.<br /><br /><br /><br />We flew VFR on top of SCT to FEW for some time, and began the decent into Wagga about 20 nm out, from 8500' down to 2000' in about 10 minutes - which was just about right.<br /><br />After refueling and waiting around for lunch to settle, I set off and performed a cruise climb @ 94Kts to 9500', which took forever. By the time I had reached Boorowa the cloud base was changing from FEW to SCT and then BKN, so I was forced to decend to 7500'. <br /><br />Further along towards Oberon I was forced to decend to 5,500' and the trip across the Blue Mountains was made at this altitude until near Richmond, which had to be flown at 4000' clear of cloud. <br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/BlueMnts.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/BlueMnts.jpg" border="0" alt="" />Looking to the south-east while crossing over to Katoomba</a><br /><br />I had originally planned to fly from Katoomba to St Albans and then across to Warnervale but the cloud was such a concern that the controller permitted me to change track and head Richmond direct to Warnervale.<br /><br />At the edge of the control-zone steps on the Sydney side of Richmond I decended to 3500' and went into class G airspace and was sumarily dismissed by Sydney Approach and left to my own devices (without even a request to squawk 1200 - just a goodbye) to find Warnervale on my own across the tiger-country near the Hawkesbury river.<br /><br />This part of the trip was almost IMC with visibility significantly reduced by smoke from a bush fire that was blowing towards the Hawkesbury river - no one cared because it was going to blow out with the southerly wind pushing it upgainst the southern shoreline of the river. <br /><br />I decended down to 2000' in the thick of the smoke, and with the overhead cloud somewhere around 4000' it was beginning to get dark. <br /><br />The large factory and the hangars at Warnervale became obvious as I got closer and I slowed down to 80 Kts by dropping the landing gear. I was in communication with the parachute operator and by agreement I was to pass the centreline and approach from the East of the field while he dropped the parachutist (meat-balls) from the western side.<br /><br />I joined a long left-hand down-wind for R20 and had a Twin, a C150 and a C182 jump in front of me - I saw them all. Partway mid down-wind a Jabiru announced it was overflying the field at 2000' and heading west and there he was cutting in front of me at 1100' AMSL right through the circuit, about 1/2 a mile ahead of me. I am not sure what QNH he was running? I quickly called that I was in late down-wind R20 position and actually had to fly wider and longer than I wanted thinking he was in circuit, and so I announced it looks like I am number 3. To which this Jabiru quickly turned left to the west and I realized he was not in circuit. <br /><br />I corrected my position report and continued my approach but I had to contain my speed while watching number 1 come in for a touch-and-go. It looked like a C150 and seemed to take for ever to get down, roll along the ground, and then take-off again.<br /><br />Warnervale is now a very busy airport because quite a few planes have moved there from Bankstown due to the increase in Bankstown parking fees and navigation charges. There were operational twins and DC3s parked on the grass on the Northern end, as well as the regular planes, parked along the wires on the southern end of the field.<br /><br />The flight track can be found at <a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/20060527-28-V1.kmz">the trip</a>.<br /><br />(I don't have any still images so I ripped these images from my video camera - hence the lower quality.)Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1148081726435777372006-05-20T09:25:00.000+10:002006-05-20T09:35:26.436+10:00Trip to Jindabyne cancelled again - 19 MayI was planning to take Liz to Jindabyne but she needs be back at 13:00, and since a cold-front is comming from the south about the time we would be there, I decided not to go.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/map.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/map.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1148078745120125412006-05-20T08:27:00.000+10:002006-05-20T09:51:26.990+10:00It's a dog's life - 13 May 06Well Thunder's harness worked well, she sat in the cargo hold and looked out the window in the cargo door. <br /><br />After we got to 7,500' she lay down and slept. She didn't wake until I slowed down for the circuit at Moruya 32 minutes later, then she looked out the window again. <br /><br />I wonder what was going through her mind? She seemed to enjoy watching the trees and then the clouds go by as we climbed through scattered cloud. She didn't display one hint of motion sickness as evidenced by the fact she fell asleep, nor did she seem uneasy when we came in to land. No fear of heights. <br /><br />The noise in the back of the aircraft isn't bad, I have had passengers remove their headset in row 2 and say it isn't too loud, so the cargo hold ought to be quieter again. It was noisy enough though because I had to speak loudly to draw her attention, so on a longer trip she might have required ear plugs. <br /><br />Thunder occasionally looked forward between the gap in the 2nd row seats, but preferred to look out the side-window most of the time, just like she does when she travels in our cars, except the window doesnt open in the plane.<br /><br />I gave her a big feed as reward after we landed, and we walked the beach, and she played in the surf. It took her a while to get into the surf though, I had to walk up to my knees and call her in. It was cold and she wasn't that impressed with the waves and preferred to walk the beach instead. <br /><br />She obviously enjoyed the trip as I had no difficulty getting her to jump back into the aeroplane. Well, when I say jump, I mean put her front paws in the cargo hold and wait for me to lift her in, because the cargo hold door is about 1 meter (3ft) above the ground, and is of sufficient size to take an adult and certainly children or a dog. <br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/cargo%20door.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/cargo%20door.jpg" border="0" alt="" />The cargo door is full sized</a> <br /><br />Thunder stayed awake the whole way home (which took 38 minutes) and was seen to be a happy looking dog looking out the window as we taxiied past the Regular Public Transport terminal, and because she didn't get sick, I suppose she might be invited to travel with me again some other time.<br /><br />I am still trying to remove the dog hairs from my plane and from my car.<br /><br />It's a dog's life flying to the beach - what a beach!Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1148043149249816582006-05-19T22:48:00.000+10:002006-06-05T19:35:21.230+10:00Annual Maintenance - 11 May 06VH-UMS flew to YRID for maintenance.<br /><br />I flew out in the previous afternoon instead of the morning of the 12 May because I predicted fog, and just as well, because Friday morning was fog bound.<br /><br />The trip down was VFR on top until the holes in the cloud layer changed from Few to Scattered. I decended through a big hole and remained clear of cloud at 3000' AMSL from South of Albury right through to Melbourne. Having to fly clear of cloud has happened to me recently on 3 occassions either going to, or leaving Melbourne. Before then I have never had any long flights clear of cloud.<br /><br />The maintenance went well, I identified several items I wanted repaired and we repaired those as well as perform the regular maintenance and the mandatory Aviation Directive (AD) inspections. I assisted with the compression testing, and magneto re-timing, cleaned the spark-plugs, removed the excess lead build up, lubricated the landing gear and all the bushes and control circuit hinges. We removed the 2nd row seats and removed the floor boards and the flap-motor access plate to identify and rectify the chattering that occurs in the flap while deploying it when the propeller is not spinning and loading it. The chattering was caused by the left-hand flap torque tube binding in the bush which is in a rib near the wing root, suitable lubrication saw this rectified. <br /><br />I also noticed a squeak when you pull the elevator right back, which we identified as a cable pulley not turning, and we lubricated that pulley's bushing to rectifiy that noise as well.<br /><br />All up there are many lubrication points that needed to be lubricated and after the control circuits were done the machine feels better to fly and the ailerons feel much lighter to the touch.<br /><br />We also checked the gear-retraction and verified that there was 1/2 an inch clearance between the tyre and the wheel-well housing. The ASI indication and the gear interlocks when the aircraft is below takeoff speed.<br /><br />I found that the throttle cable was loose because it was missing a nut on the screw which holds the cable clamp to a bracket on the bottom of the engine casing, infact the casing bracket was loose too, there were meant to be two screws in the bracket but only one remained so even the bracket was loose. Those IO360s sure vibrate. The missing screw was replaced and a Nylock nut was used to fasten the cable clamp.<br /><br />During this process we identified that the articulating sleeve that the throttle passes through was bent, and the bent section was catching a bracket. This sleeve protects and guides the inner part of throttle cable which is connected to a lever on the throttle butterfly valve. The sleeve can also rotate around its long axis - must have a ball and socket joint on the end - and during this rotation the bend would catch on the bracket and cause the throttle to stick. The clearance of this sleeve is very minimal between the engine casing and the landing gear steering ring support bracket depending on how much throttle is engaged.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Before%20shot.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Before%20shot.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The bent sleeve can be seen in the photo, along with the cable clamp that needs to be set at a slight upwards incline, and the steering ring, and the bracket, as well as the throttle leaver in the idle position. <br /><br />This sleeve has been straighted and the cable clamp is now set on an angle so it is inclined with the sleve when full throttle is selected. The interior of the throttle cable and sleeve has been lubricated with Slick 50 One Lube, which is wonderful stuff; we used it to lubricate all the difficult-to-get-to bushes. <br /><br />I was so impressed with this lubricant that I have purchased my own can which I can use for lubrication between my regular maintenance intervals. I have extrapolated that I am flying UMS about 180 hours a year, which is a fair bit of flying, and I land on grass and dirt strips, so keeping parts clean and then lubricating them is probably a good idea.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1147168818075795452006-05-09T19:46:00.000+10:002006-05-09T20:05:12.043+10:00Mountain Wave - Tuesday 9 May 2006<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Wave%20MSL.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Wave%20MSL.jpg" border="0" alt="" />The MSL pressure system that causes wave</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8556.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8556.jpg" border="0" alt="" />This is enough to stop you going to work</a><br /><br />It didn't stop me however, I have to be at work during core hours, and I have already been granted permission to fly VH-UMS to Melbourne this Friday for its annual inspection - sorry, it would have been fun.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8558.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8558.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8546.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8546.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Well excitement, the kind of weather that turns a glider pilot on has occured before we even wake.<br /><br />Spectacular wave fronts stretch all across Canberra's skies.<br /><br /><br />Mountain Wave is caused by a steady wind stream being uplifted with standing wave patterns formed by mountain ranges. In the Canberra Cooma region this mode of excitation is formed under some conditions when we have strong westerly winds caused by the displacement of high-pressure systems at this time of the year.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1147081250295540102006-05-08T19:19:00.000+10:002006-05-20T20:17:17.116+10:00Bunyan - Saturday 06 May 2006I took vh-ums and one PAX down to Bunyan for the day.<br /><br />I was duty pilot and believe it or not we had 9 trial instructional glider flights. I was very busy collecting names and indemnity forms. All launches were 5000' AMSL for $80 a flight varying between 12 minutes and 25 minutes each.<br /><br />For the trip home we got into the plane at 16:30 and warmed the engine up and then taxiied back-tracking R27 for a downhill takeoff into wind - the best combination.<br /><br />The flight to Bunyan took 34 minutes and the flight home took 30 minutes wheels up to wheels down. Canberra Approach vectored us South West due to traffic and it was sometime before I was allowed to intercept the desired outbound radial 174 Magnetic.<br /><br />Sunday was a washout, with extreme westerlies blowing in low continuous cloud cover. There was probably wave at Bunyan, but I was happy to be inside where it was certainly warmer. <br /><br />I was hoping to fly to Moruya with the dog as a trial. I bought a harness for our dog Thunder, and the intention is to take her to the beach in the plane. I looked up the regulations in CASR Part 91 and I can accomodate our dog in the cargo-hold. My cargo hold has a large comparment which accepts two foldup push-bikes and has a bench seat. We will place appropriate absorbent material and plastic over the soft furnishings in the hold in case the dog has an accident. VH-UMS is actually a 4 + 2 seat Aeroplane, it is licenced to carry 6 people, but the last two must not weigh over 90 kg combined weight so thunder is well suited at around only 38 kg and could actually be accompanied by my daughter - but she has gone back to Uni.<br /><br />Thunder loves water and has never been to the beach and Moruya beach allows dogs, so we can't miss this opportunity. Of course if she barks - I won't hear her, and if she is sick - she won't go again. She loves travelling in our cars so we will see how she goes in the plane.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Feed%20me%20now.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Feed%20me%20now.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> This is thunder having a snack</a> As you can see Thunder is big and appropriately named. I think I better bring something like a milk-crate to help her into the plane.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1146400227176366832006-04-30T22:08:00.000+10:002006-04-30T23:11:55.490+10:00PDA mounting bracketSaturday and Sunday saw foul weather so I couldn't make the return trip to Jindabyne.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8544.0.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8544.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />I have been annoyed sometime by my PDA mounting bracket which is a commercial unit that I cable-tied to the control column. It was always getting in the way of my map board and I had to place the map board between the seats when I want to manouvre because the PDA power-lead would catch on the board. Something had to be done, and it was the last straw when I wiped out the PDA bracket when exiting the plane.<br /><br />So Saturday afternoon I made a paper template and took it home that night and thought about various mounting arrangements. I wanted a mount that sat higher on the control column and didn't foul with anything in the cockpit whilst presenting the PDA in my face so to speak and without obscuring the instruments.<br /><br />That afternoon I hunted around my garage and found some suitable building material, a small plastic chopping board that we used to take camping. I used the paper template and my bench saw and cut out the following: a base plate with a split to accept the control-column, and suitably sloping plastic sections to hold the PDA bracket at an angle while the control-column mounting plate fitted vertically to the back of the control wheel. Yes everything but the PDA bracket are to the back of the control-wheel where it can't catch anything.<br /><br />The plastic strips were glued with 5 minute araldite and screwed with self-taping screws after drilling a suitable clearance hole through both peices. The sloping strips were also glued and screwed to the commercial PDA bracket so nothing would go astray in the cockpit. The flat mounting plate has 4 holes drilled in it, and with the two stop sections that abutted the bottom of the control-wheel, the unit was mounted with the assistance of foam rubber and cables ties to the back of the control wheel, with the PDA bracket overhanging and forming the section that abuts against the top of the control wheel and held there by gravity and the cable ties.<br /><br />The PDA now sits high on the column, and when I move my seat forward I can see the fuel gauges and the ameter and the clock and of course all the flight instruments are clearly visible and the power cord on the PDA falls in the centre of the control wheel well out of the way of my map and knee boards, should I choose to use them.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Plan%20view.0.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Plan%20view.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Part 1 is the backing plate, part 2 the sloping strips that abutt against the PDA bracket, part 3 is a strut to strengthen the sloping strips and part 4 are the tabs that prevent the backing plate from yawing on the control wheel because these tabs are abutt against the bottom on each side of the centre of the control wheel.<br />Four holes, for the cable ties, are marked as circles with crosses.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/PDA-bracket/Angle-bracket.jpg"/><br /><br /><img src="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/PDA-bracket/side-view.jpg"/>Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1146386425811404422006-04-30T17:56:00.000+10:002006-04-30T19:02:27.580+10:00Temora Airshow 2006 Apr 16These are some older shots from a trip in April where I took my wife's cousin's husband. English is so troublesome with disconnected relationships have a look at <br /><a href="http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/relation.htm#Algebra">http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/relation.htm#Algebra</a> and <br /><a href="http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23761">http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23761</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8487.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8487.jpg" border="0" />Some people really travelled to the airshow in style</a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8486.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8486.jpg" border="0" />DC3</a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8507.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8507.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8489.jpg"></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8508.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8508.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DCP_8510.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DCP_8510.jpg" border="0" />A Bird-dog Cessna 377</a><br /><br />Links<br/> <br /><a href="http://www.dc3.com.au">www.dc3.com</a> <br /><a href="http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23761">A question of cousins</a><br /><a href="http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/relation.htm#Algebra">Relationship Terms</a>Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1146174700653659502006-04-28T07:35:00.000+10:002006-04-28T08:35:03.953+10:00Canberra Adaminaby JindabyneHere is one of the valleys on the way to Jindabyne from Canberra. I am looking for somewhere to land - a thing you do when you are a pilot, in case the engine cuts out.<br /><br />We are at 8500' AMSL and cloud base was at 7000'. Note how the colours are washed out due to the haze.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Adaminaby%20DCP_8532%20(11).jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Adaminaby%20DCP_8532%20%2811%29.jpg" border="0" />A valley to land in</a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Adaminaby%20DCP_8532%20(4).jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Adaminaby%20DCP_8532%20%284%29.jpg" border="0" />The snowy mountains - with snow</a><br /><br />You can just see the snow capped peaks.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/Adaminaby%20DCP_8532.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/Adaminaby%20DCP_8532.jpg" border="0" />Adaminaby Airstrip from 8500' AMSL</a><br /><br />I orbitted over Adamindaby airstrip and took this shot.<br /><br />After landing at Jindabyne I talked to the locals from the Jindabyne Aero Club, they had the Gyro planes out. The main rotor blades auto-rotate due to the forward motion of the machine as it is driven by the rear-propeller. At least the rotor is free-wheeling and the only concern here is that the nut doesn't come off. I do not like small helicopters because I have seen how they are put together. I must find out how much these gyro machines cost because it looks like relatively inexpensive flying. It costs me about 17 L of fuel to takeoff in my machine.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.arising.com.au/aviation/short-gyro.wmv">Press this to see a Gyro takeoff</a>Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1146142607121054022006-04-27T22:43:00.000+10:002006-04-27T23:01:12.893+10:00Bunyan - our Gliding Club field<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DSCN1029.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DSCN1029.jpg" border="0" />VH-UMS</a><br />Well Anzac day 2006/04/25 saw VH-UMS down at Bunyan. After having been to Jindabyne, landing at Bunyan was a breeze on R09.<br /><br />The large wheels on UMS don't mind the rough paddocks. UMS doesn't bounce around like a C172 after setting down.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DSCN1040.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DSCN1040.jpg" border="0" />VH-MLS</a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DSCN1041.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DSCN1041.jpg" border="0" />VH-MLS towing VH-GAS</a><br /><br /><br />The other photos are of VH-MLS our Pawnee Tow plane towing VH-GAS. See how the glider is airbourne first.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27100229.post-1146132228408600512006-04-27T19:37:00.000+10:002006-05-20T20:21:19.086+10:00Merimbula back to Canberra<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DSCF2298.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DSCF2298.jpg" border="0" />UMS at Merimbula</a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DSCF2361.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DSCF2361.jpg" border="0" />Author</a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DSCF2369.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DSCF2369.jpg" border="0" />The storm front</a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/1600/DSCF2381.jpg"><img style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1356/2846/320/DSCF2381.jpg" border="0" />R30 is 1.679km long</a><br /><br />The first photo is me getting ready to check the plane and the second shot is me flying. It is pretty dark, due to those storm fronts comming in, so I do not have my snap-on shades attached. Yeah I have those big aviation glasses, but mine are nearly plane glass with a small reading channel.<br /><br />I managed to land at Canberra before it started to rain, some 30 minutes before last light. The tower controllers did turn the runway lights on to improve our chances of locating the runway.<br /><br />The storm front held off long enough and the rain was only quite light, and no thunder, lightning or hail eventuated.Ralphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535963952930752712noreply@blogger.com0