Monday, 4 January 2016

    RansMail #148 October 2013
Fritillary, Sussex UK. (photo J.B.)
300 Kg SSDR is coming & would helpfully embrace single seat Rans S4 & S5 'planes too.
The UK CAA have produced this interesting document.  http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1350&pagetype=90&pageid=15117
The LAA say: Go to SSDR Consultation, a covering letter from the CAA with links to the complete Proposal package and Annex, and the email address for individuals to comment.
Safety Data - UK CAA General Aviation Report for September 2013

And their latest Radiotelephony Manual Amendment 1, Edition 21 of CAP 413.
Roger Lewis has some interesting stuff on his site, not about the latest edict but on the through bolt saga generally.
Wooden A/c Structure Courses by the Light Aircraft Association
Available dates: 13th November 2013; 11th December 2013; 15th January 2014; 12th February 2014; 12th March 2014. Cost £95 includes lunch. Telephone LAA HQ on 01280 846 786 to check availability and/or book.
Richard Arkell's French Report
Both Jodel and Sherwood are OK and I have just fathomed getting the battery to charge on the Sherwood. Flew it Sunday afternoon with new electric carb heater and now operative regulator. All quite satisfactory: I am starting to trust it a just a little more as it has not shown much inclination to stop or otherwise misbehave. The temperature had dropped quite a bit here over the last day or so and it was cool in the cockpit plus cold on the hands. My last job will be to look at tailplane incidence or perhaps fit a trim tab as it takes quite a bit of forward stick at 70mph 'fast' cruise. With a microlight helmet and headset on it seems very quiet and smooth engine-wise as most of the noise is wind noise. Otherwise my time has been taken up plotting my next project, I need something challenging to think about. I have currently, three contenders in reverse order; a Pitts S1 from bits in Germany, a Piel Saphir with nearly complete airframe (very nice but too expensive as no other bits with it and in pole position a mainly complete Menestrel HN700 airframe. English blogs are interesting and informative but how anyone finds time to build from scratch is a mystery to me. It is a lovely little aircraft and these airframe parts are a bargain, but it does need a lot of bespoke stuff to finish it like canopy, motor mount and gear where there is no real choice but to buy most or all of those parts new, not to mention sourcing a motor and prop. I am in the process of writing to Nicollier to see if it can be converted to an HN800 Weekend 2 as the real market nowadays in France is with ULMs. It would be  cheaper to buy a new set of plans than pay for the CNRA process. It looks touch and go that you could get it legitimately light enough without using a Jabiru. Jodel have done this with the D18/D185 but getting under 450kg with 2 blokes up and fuel must be a challenge and probably would involve some inventive accounting. There is absolutely no prospect of making any money, it is just therapy !

Ulrich Klausing, Canada (Rans S4 and Piper Cub).

I haven't to report much change about my own flying though I was just home for a planned week off work: went up with the Piper for a local flight with Richard, who lined us up a good deal on a flip flop radio. I was planning  to fly to Watson Lake (2hrs) or Haines Junction & do some landings there, also planned to take the Rans up too, to "burn the rust out of the engine". But on Monday I suddenly had to return to work. The new wagon driver the company had hired went into a ditch with the rig. He's lucky he is still alive. The tractor separated from the trailers and burned to the ground. He must have jumped out before it hit the bottom of the 30 feet deep ravine. Last I heard he was driving around in a wheelchair in Ft.Nelson Hospital and asking for smokes !
3 days earlier Ken Rombough from Carcross ,Whitehorse delivered the town a stunt ,they probably won't forget that soon. He landed his Seawind 2000 right in the centre of this little Alaska Highway town.  I met Ken again this year and 2 years ago, at Dan Reynolds fly in at  Dawson City. He  usually  flies his homebuild yellow RV 9 (I think it is). See his story in the Fort Nelson News http://globalnews.ca/news/864103/breaking-plane-crashes-in-fort-nelson/ 

I did a low fly by at my place . This is a large pasture . The owner is not using it himself , Kevin my neighbour has his five big Belgian Horses on there and he wouldn't mind me I landing & would get the horses into a coral. I will check it out first for rocks and other hazards. My  trailer is in the yellow bushes to the left.


Coming down to the Flying Show ? 30 Nov - 01 Dec at Birmingham NEC (Geoff Weighell BMAA forum).
Why not fly into Birmingham Airport and get EGBB in your log book?  Discounted handling fees by Signature Flight: Below 1 tonne £45.52 &<2 t. £64.54 (+ VAT) includes parking up to 24hrs & transfer to/from the International Train Station + a short walk through to the halls at the NEC. Quote 'BMAA' to get the special price, conditions apply, contact Signature Flight for details. Signature Flight Support- (EGBB) Birmingham Airport ph.+44 (0) 121 782 1999 24H; e-mail bhx@signatureflight.co.uk
Prolific British a/c builder Dave Stevens (Damyns Hall, Essex)
Has bought a Pulsar - an almost complete new/old ~1997 kit with Rotax 582 having the yellow bungs still in, 2 boxed props (wood and a ground adjustable) composite wing skins and L/E "D" boxes, lots of blue and brown foam ribs etc. It's complete except there are no main spars ! davestephens@dssl.co.uk  if you can help.
Last Sunday in September A free LAA landing pass took the Rans S6-116 round London into Elstree. Then quickly onwards to complete the Capital's encirclement to be back at base in time to meet flex-winger...
Jeremy Campbell who 'bladed' down to Jackrell's Farm with 582 power non-stop from northern Lincs. in 4 1/2 hrs. He had very strong lumpy winds oop north !


The same day Clive (Jab. Escapade  West Sussex UK).
Took off Hadfold at 1120 hrs, wind straight up the strip at 10 kts gusting 15 & a pleasant flight down to the coast. Flying directly downwind, a comparison between ASI and GPS indicated the wind was higher at 15 kts & gusts of 18. Nice air to fly in, with very few lumps in it ! Called Sandown from Thorney Island and learnt they had 050 at 10 kts. Joining the circuit it was perfect to land into.
Lunch hour there, then headed back & the wind died off to a steady 8 kts as a trickle of planes came in.
The vis was not fantastic, but the wind certainly wasn't an issue & landed back at Hadfold after a long straight in approach & unremarkable cross wind.
Popham's 'End of Season' Fly-In last Sunday was surely going to be rained off:
But the wx Saturday was really good, so instead of waiting, flew over the Solent to Sandown for one of Carla's famous  bacon butties.
Rotax 912 4-stroke Vibration was down to a very worn gearbox. (Rotax forum, Mark Jackson)
The splines were worn on the prop shaft and slipper clutch, and the dogs worn on the drive gear.
Roger Lee adds: Gearboxes should last, but they need to be inspected at their regular inspection intervals. Many gearboxes with the proper maint. and care can last to TBO without any issues other than shimming, but improper care or lack of care can cause a gearbox to need heavy maint. prematurely if let go for any time. Things that can cause premature & vibration are:
wrong type of engine oil, too heavy a prop and/or prop inertia, failing to do your friction torque check at the 100 hr or get the gearbox serviced when the test results are too low to meet specs. Running the engine rpm too low on a regular basis, severely out of balance props. Prop strike checks are important to find abnormalities the eye can't see, just because it runs after a strike doesn't mean it isn't damaged.
Jackrell's Farm  A looming Oak at 21 threshold, which hitherto made it hairy flying in through the gap, has gone !
Approach to 21, Google Earth, oak ringed.
Now opened up & only background woodland trees.
NotamInfo site.  http://notaminfo.com/
Dave Massie has added the Benelux countries, Norway, Denmark and Malta to the international maps. No NOTAMs at the moment, but they will be along as soon as this update settles down.
Gramet, a cloud/wx route forecast tool (I've added it to my Touring links 'pack').
Free quick to use shows picture en-route cloud versus time -  useful for low level VFR too. http://www.ogimet.com/gramet_aero.phtml.en
Pete Skysail in Sussex GB mentions really good discounts on PLB/EPIRBs 
Mailspeed Marine (free delivery but based near Crawley). He bought a McMurdo 220 at £100 off list price (now £170). http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/search.bhtml?productNumber=&keyword=PLB&brand=&leaf=&x=0&y=0
Warter Aviation (GB) supply AVGAS or UL91, delivered in bulk road tanker or ISO container, and in drums.
Alasdair Ross, Rans S6 performance 582 RotaxMy a/c is up and running & going through yet more paperwork for the Flight Test bit,. I don't seem to be able to find any official climb fig's at max all up weight ?  We got 700/800ft/min mid September on a very warm 17 degree C, 80% humidity day.

Sandown, Isle of Wight's new owners have the official opening of Carla's new cafe, Saturday 19th October. (Peter Jackson hmfc)
Former wartime ATA pilot, Mary Ellis, will be 'cutting the ribbon' to mark the opening of CJ's cafe new home, adjacent to the tower. For those of you unaware, Mary was one of the 'Spitfire Women', who during her wartime service with the Air Transport Auxiliary delivered many types of aircraft from factories to aerodromes throughout the country. Read more of her experiences in Flying Against All Expectations  Everyone is invited, please come along and show your support for Carla and the team who worked very hard during the summer. Normal menu service resumes at 12 noon.

New Readers welcomed this month are -
Marcos Silva, Salto, Uruguay
My first language is Spanish & I am a 44 years old, experimental aviation and ultralight aircraft enthusiast , and have long wanted to build myself a small plane. I'm starting to build  Dave Edwards Affordaplane. http://affordaplane.com/.  I've considered the S4/S5 Rans but  don't know if the plans are available ?
Tommy Thompson. Kitten & Hangar south-west of Pilot mountain state park, Surry county, North Carolina
I'm 59 with a private pilots certificate and a repairman living in North Carolina with rolling hills here and plenty of trees mixed with farm fields. I have been flying 42 years & was a US Army 82nd Airborne Paratrooper doing demolitions & now own a J3 Kitten with Mosler 4 cycle 37 hp & a 38:1 sailplane as well.  I built a small 40X40 metal hangar on the farm with a grass strip out back. I have Light Sport Certificate for E-LSA planes too. I am thinking about buying a Rans S4 with a Rotax 503 and 30 hours on the airframe & engine. It's nice trying to learn some things about them too.
Where can you buy replacement sail for the S4 and how much do they cost ?  Aircraft Spruce use to have sails for $1700 but don't offer them anymore.
www.tommythompson.blogspot.com   video of my Kitten http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT5YH_yjZaM
Chris Bell. Currently I'm a learner. Finished 10 hrs on Cessna 150's at Breighton under Mickey Kaye but have a couple of mates that fly 3 axis who've been kind enough to give me some airtime (Kolb and a Xair). I'm looking at lessons with Rob Mckellar at Beverly as I work in Hull so should be able to get some evening flights in.
Steve. I started my aviation journey a few years ago with a foray into the light helicopters.  After 20 hours circumstances and finances changed - I became a dad.  Not wanting to leave aviation entirely I test flew in a PA28 which I found mundane but I'd still go for a fixed wing licence - after all I did enjoy the views. On trying an Ikarus C42.... I was hooked... motorbike performance with that raw feeling of not being sat behind a tonne of metal & a year and a half due to the Welsh climate, completed my licence in 2013. Then bought a run down CFM Shadow (G-MTHV), the engine  was rusty pieces in a box..... broken control rods and cables, holes in the wings, rotten fuel tanks and an antique GPS system.  The log book showed it had only flown for 25 minutes in the last 13 years, nothing from 2000 and then a check flight in 2011. Due to the myriad of missing components I opted to buy a second CFM Shadow that had unfortunately been crushed in a hanger collapse incident (G-MVRP).
So, where am I now?  After fitting the engine, re-wiring the cockpit, replacing the control rods and cables, replacing some instruments, swapping the fuel tanks and a whole host of other little jobs I am tantalisingly close to that Permit. Only a front tyre to change and do wing patches. 
Here is a video of me running an engine test, I give no apologies for the huge grin that I'm struggling to hide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Hi1s-J-H8
Francois van Loggerenberg.
BB -- 'Just South of J.F.
Reclassification of the London Control Zone 
Lee-on-Solent Aerodrome Traffic Zone Establishment,
Old RansMails are now on line courtesy Peter Greenrod. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4702449/Ransmails.pdf
From Tony Fowler

Mike
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