Nice photo :-)
http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/bidding-opens-for-world-air-games-2013
November 15, 2010
Champion SlickSTART
A couple of months back an engineering friend of mine, Garry Darnell, recommended I put a SlickSTART on the Rebel to help with hot starts. Fuel injected Lycomings are notoriously hard to start when they are hot. The engine on the Rebel is well above 10:1 compression ratio and with display and airshow flying, I often need hot starts.
On many occasions, I was only just able to get it going and I never felt confident.
My initial reaction was "simple is best" and I'd rather not have another electrical box on the aircraft.
I was very wrong.
The SlickSTART was simple to install and it has transformed the aircraft.
Cold starts were always pretty easy but now they are ridiculously easy and most importantly, now the hot starts are easy too.
I never feel nervous starting it with the SlickSTART.
Last week I had multiple displays on the one day with a long cross country to get there with a re-fuel each way.
I did 7 starts that day, 6 of them hot - it started easy every time.
I just can't say enough about the SlickSTART - they are worth their weight in gold!
Here are some official words from Champion Aerospace:
SlickSTART™ is a starting booster that delivers up to 340% more spark energy than conventional mags. SlickSTART produces easier and more reliable starts every time, even when dealing with fouled spark plugs, poor priming, hot engine restarts, and extreme cold weather conditions.
Available for Slick magnetos (and most TCM-Bendix magnetos), SlickSTART is a magneto start booster that delivers easy engine starts every time. Requiring no maintenance, SlickSTART overcomes poor engine priming, and reduces costly electrical stress to your battery and starter. SlickSTART can replace TCM-Bendix's starting vibrators, used with retard breaker magnetos, or it can be used to boost impulse-coupled magnetos.
November 5, 2010
NSW Aerobatic Champs
Well I'm afraid this turned out to be an anticlimax for me ...
I'd spent the past year working on my Air show type freestyle flying but decided to have a real go at this competition.
The flying is quite different and I knew I'd have to work hard - and I did!
As soon as I got back from the Oakey event (below) I got stuck into the "Aresti" or competition training.
I trained most days. In the 2 weeks leading up to the comp I flew 25 training flights.
On top of that, I went to the location of the comp, Temora, 4 days early to train in the actual box.
Much to my surprise, I was the only person flying Unlimited - that was disappointing.
The other classes weren't too bad for numbers but overall it was a smaller comp than we normally see.
I flew the Q (qualifying flight) on Friday afternoon, and it went quite well.
The next night I was up most of the night feeling ill and the next morning decided it was best not to fly aerobatics.
The rain was literally rolling into the airfield and the forecast looked like we might not get to fly for the rest of the weekend.
All things considered, I decided to knock it off and head back home ... apparently I was lucky to get out when I did as the weather closed in.
There were still good things to come from my time at Temora. Matt Hall spent the week in Temora too, testing and fine tuning his Redbull Air Race aircraft. I've known Matt for nearly 20 years but hadn't seen much of him since he became involved with the Air Race. It was great to catch up again and learn all his news. Matt also gave me some excellent coaching - what he learnt through his Aresti training in Europe is truly amazing. Seeing the fine tuning that Matt was making to his plane has inspired me to play around with the set up of my plane - already I have made it much better. Thanks Matt. We also had a little fun, on one occasion we joined up in formation for a low pass and outwards pitch in front of the other pilots at Temora. I'm afraid my Rebel isn't as quick as the Race aircraft but she can hold her own.
Thanks to the organizers of the competition. Kay coordinated much of the event with Glen the chief judge and Greg the contest director. Sorry to have bailed on you guys but I appreciate the effort you put in - thanks guys! Also a big thanks to Kaos and Kelly at Temora for giving me a bed and feeding me for the week!!
I'd spent the past year working on my Air show type freestyle flying but decided to have a real go at this competition.
The flying is quite different and I knew I'd have to work hard - and I did!
As soon as I got back from the Oakey event (below) I got stuck into the "Aresti" or competition training.
I trained most days. In the 2 weeks leading up to the comp I flew 25 training flights.
On top of that, I went to the location of the comp, Temora, 4 days early to train in the actual box.
Much to my surprise, I was the only person flying Unlimited - that was disappointing.
The other classes weren't too bad for numbers but overall it was a smaller comp than we normally see.
I flew the Q (qualifying flight) on Friday afternoon, and it went quite well.
The next night I was up most of the night feeling ill and the next morning decided it was best not to fly aerobatics.
The rain was literally rolling into the airfield and the forecast looked like we might not get to fly for the rest of the weekend.
All things considered, I decided to knock it off and head back home ... apparently I was lucky to get out when I did as the weather closed in.
There were still good things to come from my time at Temora. Matt Hall spent the week in Temora too, testing and fine tuning his Redbull Air Race aircraft. I've known Matt for nearly 20 years but hadn't seen much of him since he became involved with the Air Race. It was great to catch up again and learn all his news. Matt also gave me some excellent coaching - what he learnt through his Aresti training in Europe is truly amazing. Seeing the fine tuning that Matt was making to his plane has inspired me to play around with the set up of my plane - already I have made it much better. Thanks Matt. We also had a little fun, on one occasion we joined up in formation for a low pass and outwards pitch in front of the other pilots at Temora. I'm afraid my Rebel isn't as quick as the Race aircraft but she can hold her own.
Thanks to the organizers of the competition. Kay coordinated much of the event with Glen the chief judge and Greg the contest director. Sorry to have bailed on you guys but I appreciate the effort you put in - thanks guys! Also a big thanks to Kaos and Kelly at Temora for giving me a bed and feeding me for the week!!
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