Building the new Bushbaby SAFARI

[ben]

Ek vang die skimp maar dit lyk tog mooi. Ja, dit is seker een van die groot redes om vir 'n BB te gaan want jy kan omtrent oral opstyg en land.

Ben
ZU-AJN

[Oupa-G]

The spats look nice and I can see me flying with them around Cape Town but on a long trip I will leave them at home.

Cheers Oupa-G

[Mogas]

I read somewhere that taking the landing gear unit as a whole, the wheel itself only contributes about a third of the drag component.
IMHO spats look nice but are only useful if you operate off paved runways.
Effort is better spent on fairing the leg, though Oupa's spring is nice and sleek already.
Mogas

[Oupa-G]

The Bushbaby is quite a draggy aircraft so if you want speed and a high wing go for the CTSW with it comes a price tag. Then you have a extremely efficient machine. The design objective is a robust bush plane. Taking off and getting on your track as soon as possible is worth 15mph cruise speed, not wasting time unnecessary in the circuit without compromising safety. another 15mph cruise. Taking less junk and packing more efficiently another 15mph and so you can catch a C210 where it takes just more time to mobilise the machine. I know from experience that the Citation could not beat me in the Baron to Plett if we both arrive at the airport the same time. I have done many long trips with my friend Charl he in his C210 and myself in the Baron which has a 25kts speed advantage, with normal leg lenghts if he takes off first I cannot catch him. From CT to Lanseria I beat him with 30 min. So speed is not all.


Cheers Oupa-G

[Oupa-G]

I'm of to Knysna to go and help Derek with the tuning of the Whisper engine. He is ready for vertical taxiing i will finally inspect the engine installation so the site will be a bit quiet.

Cheers Oupa-G

[Boet]

OUPA!

[Boet]

Ons soek bietjie vars nuus asb??

[Grumpy]

Ons soek bietjie vars nuus asb??

Oupa eet nou oysters..gee bietjie kans.

[Oupa-G]

Back from Knysna with Ystervark. Had a long day with Derek there were all sort of small problems compounding. Every body wanted to blame the EboXi but in the end the Eboxi was fine and it was silicone in the fuel line, plugs miss marked etc but we will get the Whisper in the air safely. I admire Derek who is a paraplegic that he tackles such a mammoth task from A WHEEL CHAIR he makes the average couch potato look silly. In the end we had both systems running but in the end the coil of the main system was erratic. We will replace the coil and the leads. I think the leads were damaged influencing there conductivity and if all the energy cannot go into the sparkplug that energy then can damage the coil. We will investigate this in depth. The only problem helping that far is the time to get there and back. Meanwhile I hear the fairest had good flying weather on Saturday and the Bosvark had to wait.


Cheers Oupa-G

[Learjet]

silicone in the fuel line

A very nasty problem to have. Encountered this with a boat once... the fuel turns the silicone into long hair-like strands which plays havoc with the fuel filters. No amount of flushing or chemical treatments worked and we ended up having to cut open the deck and remove the fuel tank for proper cleansing. Using silicone sealant anywhere near a fuel tank should be verboten.

[Oupa-G]

Learjet

That is exactly what I advised the tank must come out and all traces of silicone removed and then all fuel lines replaced etc etc because they creep in everywhere and then swell to block.

Cheers Oupa-G

[Oupa-G]

It was a lovely afternoon the temps were around 30degrees C and the Bosvark jumped into the air the prop is still under pitched but better then last time, the wind was on the runway about 10kts and it was the first flight with the new under carriage. Despite the warm OAT the oil temp was pegged in the low 90 never coming over 95 the oil cooler gave a nice 20 degree difference, it is nice to have an engine where the temps are nice within limits. The slight toe-in gave nice stability on take-off and landing and so-far I'm very pleased how the gear turned out. I will now quite happily accept a cross wind landing. I hope the weekend has fly-able weather so that I can take her for a walk to other airfields now that I have the papers.


Cheers Oupa-G

[Oupa-G]

Now that she is flying well the first step is the calibration of the static system so that we can believe the ASI. Both the MGL Voyager and the ordinary ASI have the same reading so that is against the same static source. So the static source must now be checked. This is easy nowadays with the help of the GPS and flying N,E,S,W and then a plain calculation. The wind component calculator on the Voyager is of great help. By sliding a ring on the static port the static pressure can be adjusted.

I will let know the results

Cheers Oupa-G

[Oupa-G]

I see the hits have passed the 67000 mark a response which is difficult to believe, maybe 66000 are from me .

Flew last night with about 12 to 15 knot crosswind. So I was testing the new gear and I can report that the gear is superb the 25mm that I moved the wheel axles forward is a big advantage to the ground stability. Now that I can trust the cooling system because it stays in the green all the time I can now start looking at other parameters, and yesterday it was very bumpy the lee side of Rondebossie berg did have its gurgles in the air. But the GPS GS was consistently higher then then the IAS. So I already know that there is a difference luckily it will mean the Bosvark is running faster then what the ASI is telling. I will quantify the difference and we will adjust the static source. Next week there is a ban on flying this FIFA business , between FIFA and the CAA it is not easy.Last night at the Microlight meeting we had a new member he has a love for flying and an interest in our grass roots aviation he works for the CAA and he is helping the members with their queries. Chris you will need strength to stand between the individuals with their own free thinking brains and the rules and regulations of the CAA. We will support you if it is for safety and we will try and help you to change the regulations so that the rules can serve the pilots to make flying safer. The rules must serve the people and we must not serve the rules Will keep you updated on the performance of the Bosvark.

Cheers Oupa-G

[Boet]

See you tomorrow in the Fairest. I have to leave before sparrows. Bringing Anton`s wings down.