As part of the extended 50 hour service I have been re greasing all the hinges and checking all fixings 

Part of that check was to clean and check brakes and also re grease the wheel bearings after so many landings 

• 

Jacking the aircraft up has always been interesting ..I am always concerned that I don’t damage something by squashing or bending whentaking the entire weight.

I remember in the barn build days loosely jacking the centre of the undercarriage and taking the centre wheel bolt out … not realising that the geometry of the u/c meant it immediately did a ‘Bambi’ on me and played her legs wide apart ! … moral of the story .. keep the legs braced or tied together if removing a wheel .. or have a grab point around the engine

20 minutes before display take off time I was trying to get my new go pro 5 to turn on and into film mode … decided I shouldn’t be distracted so gave up and focussed on getting me and the aircraft ready !

My ‘Box entry’ time had been moved from 1251 to 1245 and confirmed as opening the show. It was also confirmed that my exit time was 1251 .. so would be needing to call “1 min to exit” at 1250.

All pilots had been advised that we had about 3 min leeway in the entire schedule so literally any slippage or late entry or late exit would impact that for all others following .. no pressure …

Following, but actually before, the Red 1 question I had decided to get airborne around 1215 … this would give me delay time on inbounds to get airborne and also any delay time for flying clockwise around the island to join at the ‘designated’ SE corner for my entry into the display area

Having got airborne and turned towards the North coast I advised that I would prefer to cut across to a holding area nearer the fort at St Helier (as im so slow .. i needed to be holding closer to judge my entry time better) but remaining low and out of site from the crowd line ended up getting there much sooner than I’d planned so was holding for around 25 minutes .. it felt a very long 25 !

As I was familiar with the South coast I asked if I could orbit at Havre des Pas .. this was super easy due to the pool landmark and also meant a simple roll out to skip over the Fort when ready…possibly a 2 min hop in the wind at the time.

Air Traffic were getting a little concerned that we now had 3 of us holding on the South Coast between Havre des Pas and La Rocque… each flying in circles…

Also holding in a nice close but safe orbit was the Piper Pawnee and then a few minutes later .. the big old Antonov biplane … all 3 of us orbiting at below 1000’ and just in that South coast area … we assured ATC that we could indeed all see each other and that our successive orbits were such that we remained well clear of each other.

As the minutes ticked around to 1243 I decided to call – Heading for the display- and break out of the orbit to enter .. Display control approved and acknowledged and hopped over the top of Fort Regent at around 800’

I had decided not to enter, as last year, at 200’ but instead come in at 800’ ish .. fly to datum point and the pull the throttle … this would make half the people think it was about to plummet .. then enter into 2 (turned out to be 3) tight left hand turns down to 200’ and then power up and pull out of the dive and then a simple wing over. The practice on Wednesday .. albeit coming in from the other way, was ok .. but a bit “loose”in terms of crisp turns. Display day was much better  and pulled out nicely at around 200’ at about 80+ mph

The remainder of the display was fine with some steep and tight turns and a nice very slow pass at around 40 mph or just above.

Rememberd this year to call ‘1 minute to completion’ and broke out of the display line to traverse the front a little longer before pulling out and climbing to Norimont point for some steep turns and then downwind to final 

Flew the other evening and after some more fun, but weak attempts, at stall turns.. evidenced by the go pro footage review … I have reached the 50 hours of engine run.

Landed back and drained the hot oil into an old baking tray I found in the back of the hanger .. it was large and flat enough that I could get a good look at the oil and see that no foreign objects were in and also that, after all this time it had finally started to blacken … my previous early changes at around 5 and 10 hours showed it almost clear. So I have been working the engine .. which Jabiru recommend .. they say not to ‘nurse’ it and also not to leave it at a set RPM for long periods .. no chance of that 😉

Oil drained and eventually managed to get the old filter off .. thanks Graham for the loan of the thinner metal filter grabber vs my bike chain one .. which simply won’t get between the filter and the cylinder head fins which protrude just too much downwards to allow space.

Next will be the distributor caps, rotor arms and all 8 spark plugs. I checked the plugs around 4 hours ago and they all had the good healthy brownish tinge to them showing they were burning well.

I also plan to

– Remove all wing inspection panels

– This will let me check the aileron belcranks, clean and grease them

– I added numerous clip in access discs during the covering (small alloy disc – around 5” dia) .. will pop these out so that I can see all the turnbuckles and wire securing etc

– I grease the wing bolt/pegs regularly but have made a new one up as one of the alloy arms has bent over time with my man handling

– I have a new screen to put in P2 up front following the lady exiting problem ..

– I also aim to put a hoist under the engine and lift the weight off the undercarriage to I can remove the wheels and clean and re grease the brakes .. these got quite mucky last time .. partly as one was over tightened and rubbing but partly cos that’s how they work !

– Good clean up of the tailwheel which, of course, picks up all and sundry and then re grease.

– I’m also planning to get her trestles up and re check the wing alignment ,. Not because I think anything has moved but because it’s a relatively quick and easy check to ensure all is well.

– I have a landing wire to make up as one was just on the edge of its turnbuckle adjustment and so is minutely slack compared to all the others

– P1 panel has a quick removable centre section that holds all the primary (doesn’t have many !) instruments .. I hadn’t left this just clecod in as it takes about 3 seconds to gain full access to the rear of the panel. Now things have settled I can rivnut where the clecos are and then have proper stainless Allen bolts securing .. still will only take about a minute or so to gain access but will look neater

– Then a general hoover out .. amazing how much dust and grubs find their way into the bottom of the inside

– Following a problem with the Fuel filler cap – most prob user error, I’m going to put a retaining chain so that it stays close when filling .. the temptation to put it down somewhere else is too great

– The new (Big Tundra style) tyres are wearing really well .. miles better than the first ones which I guess had age hardened over the 4 hot and cold years build in the barn .. will give these a good check over but very pleased with how they are behaving on the hard runway

Aileron bellcranks .. cleaned and checked for tightness and then freshly greased .. also hoovered our grubs and  dust that had collected over the previous 9 months

You can see how grubby it gets under the plates .. so good chance to clean it all up

Top bolts checked as well .. and checked turnbuckle security

Pre label both ends of the cables at plug and distributor cap … yes, I know .. Port and Starboard .. but good old ‘L’ and ‘R’ never hurt anyone 😊

Reminds me of the old David Gunson after dinner speech recording … “I get in the plane and pull on my leather gloves with an L and R on the back … I don’t need this information .. it just prevents me asking stupid questions later “ 😊

Natty little cheek saddle brackets hold each side of the distributor cap down

Old and new rotor arms … classic pitting but oh so small compared to my old MGB Roadster

Cap pints were immaculate .. but change anyway 😉

Second cap however … showed signs of light dusting ..  looked like it could have been powdered rust .. but not much at all … on removing the rotor arm I could see the same just under the arm. After a brief a message with PHS we felt it worth checking the Service Bulletins as these may shed light .. I know there was one earlier for Defective Jabiru rotor arms but this looks like it may be the drive shaft may be ‘dry’

Will investigate online

(Later update .. got email from Gary C and it looks like it might simply be excess glue used hold the arm in place..very stiff pushing the new one back on so all good)

– The she definitely needs a wash again

I have had a niggling problem with the master switch which very occasionally seems to lose connectivity but, using the standby bypass works fine if this ever happens airborne.

I had ordered a nice new quality switch from LAS and, last Sunday, when it was F7 forecast and generally rubbish outside set about removing the old one .. investigating it and it’s connections and putting the new one in place , re using the red cover flap.

It turned out to be a really easy fix and the old switch which I def feel was suspect felt nothing like the quality positivity of the new switch … you do pay more for anything aviation but you can soon feel the difference.

Took about 30mins to replace and test

Now I look at these photos quite critically and I MUST get the rivnut gun out and replace those cleco panel insets with nice stainless blind Allen bolts ! 50 hour is up in 2 more engine hours so a list will be added to 😉

Its been a while since I posted as it’s been so busy at work and life’s in general ..

My mounting commitments, offering ‘that different raffle prize’ has kept me busy trying to plan various hops around the island in PA28s butlast week I did my first 2 separate sessions in the Sherwood .. all for good causes.

The first was a lady who just loved the sheer volume of fresh air and turn rates … and it taught me that I need to  have a good aircraft exit sequence for when we land. We had flown along the South of the island for around 20 mins and headed back in to land. Squeezed in ahead of a landing FlyBe Embraer jet I was asked to keep the speed up .. interesting challenge in a slow biplane …

Challenge dutifully accepted we did a lovely curving fast approach and a slightly springy arrival .. but all great fun in the setting sun.

On shutdown and exit all was going well with the standard Sherwood exit manoeuvre when I advised on the supporting your body weight as you ease ‘up and out’ at which point there was a slight involuntary move of the head forwards .. dead centre of the small wrap around front screen … CRACK … split about 8” down the middle ;((

I messaged Paul at TLAC before the engine was even cool and it’s in the post ! Handy anyway as I had cleaned the front screen with some non standard liquid months before and the edge had crazed … so good to replace .. should only take about 40mins .. need tweezers to hold the minute nylons whilst tightening the small stainless Allen bolts.

I had another flight planned for two days later so made up a small alloy support flange and two clecos had it firmly in place am not looking to dissimilar to a Spitfire rear view mirror mount !