Monday 4 January 2016

       RansMail #155 May 2014 
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I was very sorry to learn that Terry Francis had passed away.
He set up & ran 'Reality Aircraft' which sold the popular Escapade & Kid aeroplanes & was known to many enthusiasts.
Terry was diagnosed with cancer late last year & lost his battle against it, passing away at the end of last month. 
There's service on Thursday 15 May in Salisbury.
 
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CAA. ORS4 No.1020: Exemptions concerning the maintenance of microlight and SLMG class ratings in UK PPL(A)s, CPL(A)s and ATPL(A)
These permit:
1. The holder of a UK PPL(A) to keep a microlight aeroplane class rating valid in the same way as an NPPL(A) holder.
2. The holder of a BCPL(A), CPL(A) or ATPL(A) to keep a microlight aeroplane class rating valid in the same way as a microlight aeroplane class rating issued to a UK PPL(A) holder prior to 1 February 2008.
3. The holder of a UK PPL(A), BCPL(A), CPL(A) or ATPL(A) to keep an SLMG class rating valid in the same way as a microlight aeroplane class rating issued to a UK licence holder prior to 1 February 2008.
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/ORS4%20No.%201020%20Exemptions%20concerning%20maintenance%20of%20microlight%20and%20SLMG%20ratings.pdf
 
UK CAA General Aviation Reports - Latest Incident Occurrences processed by Safety Data in April 2014.

Ian from Devon sent pictures of his new Rans S4 nearing completion at Dunkeswell - it's the very last UK kit .

A Simple Ethanol Test - the easiest test for alcohol I have seen mentioned.
Put a few oz. of petrol(gas) in a glass jar. Add a few drops of red food colouring. Shake and observe. If there is ethanol the petrol will all turn pinkish. If not, the food colouring will just sink to the bottom in drops. [Does it work that well ? mike]

New Readers join us this month.
Roy, based at Westfields strip, Hailsham East Sussex, owns a very smart Taylor Titch he built many years ago.
Brian Goldsmith, I have been flying flex-wings for 10 years, and now want to fly 3 axis, I like the Rans, but need to find out if it will 'live' outdoors (covers), as Clench does not have hangarage. [Not really Roy, unless the covers are all over as the skins don't like lots of UV, mike].
 
Good gen. on Loctite  515/518 etc. (by Tim Engel & found on Jabiru forum).
I won't pretend to speak for Jabiru on what can be used in their engines. However, I use Loctite 515 and 518 quite often and I'm familiar with them.
515, 518, 5188 and 574 are all similar anaerobic sealants that cure in the absence of air. They're all very similar, with differences that make them specialised for certain purposes. For most engines (I work on a lot of Lotus car engines), they're essentially interchangeable as 515 and 518 are very similar.
518 has a thinner viscosity, is easier to spread, and has a longer working life before it sets up to the point that it can't be spread around any more. Useful on large flange joints that might take longer to dress & despite being less viscous, it has a better gap filling capability than 515. By comparison, 515 is more stiff out of the tube, doesn't spread as easily, and sets up quickly. If you didn't get it spread as well as you would like on the first pass, it will quickly become difficult to spread any better. 515 is often listed as a direct cross-reference to Permabond A-136.
Once the joint is closed, sealing out all air, both have an initial green-cure strength in about 15-30 minutes, depending upon the ambient temperature, and require 24 hours to achieve full strength. Once fully cured, they have very similar sealing ability.
5188 is a variation on 518, and has superior performance in oily conditions. Perfect for an engine. However, it's difficult to find, often requires a special order with a 10-tube minimum buy quantity, and has a one year shelf life before it needs to be thrown away. If you have it, use it, it's great. Otherwise, 518 is my first choice.
574 is a high temperature formulation that is used in commercial ovens and other high temperature applications. It would work in an engine, but it's high temperatute capability isn't required.
Once the joint is closed and securely torqued, all four squeeze down to a very thin film thickness of 0.0005" (0.0127 mm). For joints where internal clearances are critical, like opposed engine crankcase halves, a thin sealant is important. Some sealants have thick enough films to adversely affect bearing clearances during final
assembly. For instance, Permatex Aviation Form-a-Gasket has three times the film thickness, at 0.0015" (0.0381 mm).
In North America, 515 is more common in wholesale industrial supply companies, while 518 used more in automotive applications and is found more often in retail automotive parts stores and hardware stores. 518 is my first choice for Lotus car engines only do to it's relative ease of use and application. I use 5188 when I can get it. I'll use 515 for small joints if that's all I have, but I avoid using it for large joints where ease and speed of application is more important. I'm comfortable with 518 for the Jabiru engines. But again, I won't publicly counter Jabiru specs.
BTW. All four, 515, 518, 5188 and 574 are if they get in the wrong place become very effective Threadlockers !  So always use a proper Loctite Threadlocker for fasteners, if you get sloppy & sealant gets into a bolt hole, you will have a very difficult time getting that bolt out next time. The shear strength is similar to that of a high-strength red Threadlocker.
Since the assembled film thickness squishes down to 0.0005", it's not necessary to apply a lot. More isn't better. I spread a thin film, rubbing it into both mating surfaces with a flux brush or my finger. Then lay a paper towel over the joint and lightly pat it down without rubbing. Then peel it off. The light pink hint of
sealant is all that is required when it's fully applied to both sides of the joint. With that little applied, there's minimal chance of it oozing into a bolt hole during assembly. If you apply a jelly-red layer of sealant, or just run a bead of sealant down the middle of the joint flange, that's too much, and you can't control where it goes when the joint is closed.
Richard Arkell reports from France on the Sherwood Range (with Jabiru 2200) he rebuilt & test flew.
Now we are down to a 75% chord blade angle of 12 degrees on the ground adjustable Duc Swirl Propeller fitted to the Sherwood it is going moderately well. The 2 up performance is subjectively much better even though the actual figures are not vastly better. With this blade angle the rate of climb does not suffer so drastically as the weight goes up so there is a sporting chance the owner Paul at over 100kg may be able to fly it with a brave light instructor and minimum fuel.  The old  certainly seems to go better when revving hard. Interestingly with the high drag Sherwood top speed has not suffered with the fine prop setting but fuel consumption does and it is still blowing quite a bit of oil out of the breather. That seems a small price to pay and the motor is smooth and quiet in flight thriving on the high revs. Flat out in level flight it is just about on the 3300 continuous rev limit at a little under 80 MPH at which speed the airframe noise is pretty loud. Quite what it would be like at the 100 mph VNE I hate to think.!
Terry took photos on our outing mid April when we had a near perfect flying day here at Chauvigny - airfield at top left.
 
A/c Battery Care (Jodel forum, Pete Hokitika N.Z)
Smart chargers are a great thing. IF YOUR BATTERY IS GOOD TO START WITH. There are smart chargers and there are smart chargers !
First thing to do is check the resting voltage (after a 24hr stand down from any charger) and hope that it's banging on about 13 volts. That will tell you the beast is possibly OK. If it's just over 12 volts, it's flat or Ffffffaulty. Get a basic 'No Frills' slow charger and set it on for 24 hrs and re check. Smart chargers can be a bit too clever for their own good sometimes, especially with a suspect or very flat battery.
Rod suggests - Sometimes you can "persuade" a dead battery to charge again by applying a much higher charging voltage than usual and when (if) it starts to
charge ( look at the ammeter ) reduce the voltage after a while to the normal 14.4.
U.K & SSDR - Single Seat De- Regulated a/c - increase in weight etc. (BMAA forum SSDR update by Geoff Weighell.)
The CAA is they hope to issue the initial exemption, ahead of the ANO change, on May 14, or close to. Part of the cause of delay has been the post-consultation work that revealed previously unconsidered circumstances arising from the first very simple concept. But it is on its way.
The Rans S10 Sakota, by Philip Rowley (UK)
Way back in 1995 I decided I should really have my own aircraft and after a bit of research decided a Rans S.6 or S.10 would do it.  After getting a test flight in each I was seduced by the S.10`s looks and handling, it being a bit like an airborne equivalent of a 1970`s Triumph Spitfire !  I later found out that the S.6 would have suited my needs better but it was still a lot of fun while I owned it.
It took a couple of years to put together, extras like a bigger oil tank, polished alloy foot plates, red velour seats, extra rear windows to increase vision, etc, all took time but the end result was a very nice aircraft built to my requirements.  Test flying was done by John Whiting at Felixkirk, rolls and loops being carried out on his first flight so we assumed he was satisfied !  The aircraft then lived at Goodwood for a short time before moving to Popham.
Picture from Air Britain lists & taken by John Hamlin
Getting into an S.10 requires a certain agility but once in the comfort is good and the visibility good except downward, the wings being right at your shoulders, but as it wasn't designed as an observation platform that is not a fault and good clearing turns or a hefty sideslip soon gave you a view of what was underneath. Vision over the nose for taxi was OK with little need to weave, the brakes on mine being cable meant they would slow you down with little chance of tipping and I would taxi with the 582 at about 2,000 rpm to avoid the gearbox 'chattering', brake shoes being cheaper than gearboxes.  The take off roll was around 50 to 100 yards depending on weight and wind and usually flown off from three points as there seemed to be no advantage from raising the tail.  Even though it was very short coupled there was little tendency to swing if you were quick on your toes with the big rudder. Once airborne climb rate solo was about 800 fpm but with a high attitude so weaving or lowering the nose was a good idea.  In the cruise I used to go cross country at about 80 knots so it was a viable touring plane, standard tanks gave about 2 hours with reserve but another tank could be fitted behind the panel if needed.  I saw a visiting Scandinavian S.10 at Cranfield with the extra tanks and a cockpit fit like a 747 but personally I found two average adults meant you had to watch your loading.  No doubt some S.10`s were being flown overloaded and there were some problems with the trim limits if you pushed it.
Aerobatic handling was nice, but very low energy so care could be needed, the enthusiasts would fly solo from the centre of the cockpit using one rudder pedal from each side but I found no problem just staying on the left. Landing again benefitted from the big control surfaces and was quite short if you had the correct speed. Crosswind limit was high at around 15 knots I think.  I was approached by some guys who had bought one to use in a group and they were regularly flying two big guys and full tanks, then using high approach speeds and were wondering why they were having trouble handling and landing it.  I have taken mine into the 300 yard grass strip at Leicester with a gusty crosswind rather than use the tarmac and used about half the runway.
Overall I was very happy with my S.10 but children came along and I bought a Robin DR400.  Obviously these are my personal opinions of an aircraft I knew well and had built to a high standard, having said that for my type of flying (generally pootling around from strip to strip enjoying the view) a S.6 would have been a much more suitable aircraft.
 
Rotax 912 series- expensive ignition 'black box' stops working ? (BMAA forum 13th May, Trevor Sexton)
In the April edition of Microlight flying there's an article about problems with 912 engines that have not been started for some time.
Apparently a capacitor in the SMD electronic module dies, requiring a complete new module at considerable expense.
A friend of mine has this problem, engine not started for 1 year due prop issues.  ??? Why does this Capacitor die ??? 
We are going to borrow a SMD that's been sat in a box for several years, what's the difference ???   How can dealers hold spare SMD's if they could die ? 
BTW. Heard mention that the capacitor can be reactivated, how ???  Heard too there are companies that will take the SMD apart and replace the defective part ???
 
When inspecting your Bing carb. don't damage the diaphragm
by pinching its edge & ruining the darned thing when tightening down the dome cap.
 
Folly Farm Fly-In, West Sussex, Sunday 08 June 2014 from 11.00 a.m.
Shaun, the owner 07861 651941, flies a Rans S7.
Tony, flies a Thruster T300, 01273 464466, (07940 010991).
All welcome, landing free, PPR as below.
Please advise Tony tony.sbs@btinternet.com if you are likely to come – with:
Name, aircraft type, registration, where based, club, POB. - We might have to limit numbers.
Sign in at the flying hut/blue site office at North end.
Tea, Coffee and water available there & some basic BBQ food.
Toilets on site in a Portacabin in the yard, north of the flying hut.
Folly Farm entrance is on the South side of Holmbush Lane (leads into Bramlands Lane),almost beneath the high voltage power lines, Woodmancote, BN5 9TJ
Strip 100 ft AMSL, Undulating, Length 600+ yards with obstructions at ends, Barn at N, Trees at S.
Position 50 54 29N 00 13 50W - or OS Grid Ref. TQ 246 137 (Bearing 334 degrees 1.8 statute miles from Devil’s Dyke Pub).
Latest Google Earth imagery is June 2013 and should be very helpful.
Circuits Left hand at 800 ft QFE, Main runway 16/34 to East of and roughly parallel with the high voltage power lines. [Secondary runway 08/26 landing towards the high voltage power lines, BE CAREFUL if you wish to use, 350 yards with trees at both ends & gap at East end.]
Aircraft parking is likely to be to the West of the main runway, at end of "landing run". Please Note, Approaches to avoid annoying locals are better from the West:- Clappers Lane runs roughly NS 300 yards East of Folly Farm with the majority of local houses on it, so please try and make circuits for Runway 16 further East and for R/W 34 avoid individual houses to the West.
Radio should be monitored, using Safetycom 135.475, call ‘Folly Farm Traffic’
 
Little known but essential Service Bulletins for the SportCruiser were highlighted on their forum.
SB-CR-017 Replacement of rivets for bolts in the area of the main landing gear attachment.  https://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/18706158/284750304/name/SB-CR-017_R0.pdf
SB-CR-016 Inspection and replacement (if required) of the nose landing gear (NLG).   https://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/18706158/1690125010/name/SB-CR-016_R0.pdf
 
Old RansMails are now on line courtesy Peter Greenrod. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4702449/Ransmails.pdf
 
 
 
Mike.
 
 
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