Chris Byrne

I still have the screens in the tanks over the outlet holes, in fact I still have the small plans sumps. Maybe its not necessary to still have thes sumps but I am pleased I still have the screens. My main tank screens are raised in a dome shaape and have a very large surface area, probably 10 square inches. I have a finger screen (removable) on the sump under the seat. This is about 1 1/2 inches up from the bottom of the sump so a lot of crap can sit in the bottom of the sump before going to the engine. The sump is removeable. Its drain outlet (water sampling) is accessable from underneath the fuselage. No pumps in the sump but an Airflow performance pump/filter combo sits under the other thigh support to feed the injected 360. I still have a gascolator on the engine side of the firewall. I probably do not need it as the fuel has already passed through 2 sumps (water collection) and three filters before it gets to the gascolator. I may well remove it. The Airflow performace filter is very good, it has a large area and is very fine.

I tried to get some 3 years ago and talked to the Australian supplier but it was way expensive. From memory they were going to have to order it from overseas and there was a minimum amount etc. I think it was going to be around $400.00 for a Gallon. Things may have changed. I went for the Fleckstone spray cans. I bought a box of a dozen from the importer at about $15.00 a can. So far it has stood up well. I am sure its not as durable as the Zolatone but its done me. Its also in most hardware stores.

I have a Cozy with a sump under the right rear thigh support. Both tanks feed to it. The only valve I have is a shut off valve at the fire wall. The only time it is actuated is for maintenance. It has a spring to hold it in the open position. I have a cable (bowden) from the front seat to close (pull against the spring tension) it should I need to. Its a simple setup, if I have fuel in the tanks, the engine will run.

If you are after push/pull Cable Craft cables then go to the VANs website. The will do them any length and are very reasonably priced.

Hi John. Thats a very good speed you are showing there, you must have a very nice example. Certainly great planes these, especially considering we can carry four. As for the wind readouts on the GRT, these are dependent upon two figures, the TAS and the GND SPD. The ground speed should be right as it comes from the GPS. The GRT will will always give you what looks like the correct wind direction and speed. The wind speed/direction is only as good as the TAS and GPS ground speed. In my case I know at the GRT is giving a TAS that is fast by 5 kts at high speed so the wind read out on my screen is inaccurate as it has computed the wind from a TAS that I know is out. In your case suppose the the GRT TAS was reading slow by 15 kts (an exageration) it would show you that you had a tail wind on that flight. Only way to know the wind read out is good is ensure that the TAS is correct, you can calibrate the GRT TAS, I havnt got around to doing mine. I have confirmed that I am reading fast using the triangle ground speed method but havnt bothered to correct it on the screen as yet. Oh, just to confirm the error is in the static system of my aircraft and not the EFIS. If I calibrate the EFIS it will compensate for the static error.

Marmite is not a competitor, its not a patch on Vegimite. Its made by the Pom's and you discribed it well. On the other hand, I have just finished my morning toast and Vegimite, beautiful.

Drew and Amy. Very sorry to see you two leave our shores. We have gotten used to hearing the "Yanks" at our flyin's. You two turned up at more places there were canards than us locals, and were always good company. Hope it works out well for you both back home. Thanks for coming! Will catch up again I am sure. Chris.

Sounds like they supply the "copy" version of the blades with the Dremel. A real FEIN blade will last close to the whole project as long as you dont drop it. I bought 2 cheap ones in Hong Kong once and they had a very short life. Better off paying the $ and getting the real deal.

I think the manual says keep it 18 inches away from moving metal. I spoke to GRT or one of the avionics people (may have been Stien) and was advise to keep it as far away from interference as possible. Mine is in the end of the strake.

I will second the the thanks to Bruce for a job well done. He JUST DID IT! And as a consequence quite a few builders came out of the woodwork for a look at some very nice aircraft. I think we had one of everything. Maybe next time if we can get a Cozy III and a Velocity for comparrison would be great. I gave a few rides, that was one of the main reasons I went. I have become a real enthusiast for these aircraft, especially since finishing it and its great to be able to share the pleasure. I just wish I had 3 front seats. Wayne was good enough to unbolt his Hertzler Silver Bullet for me and I took it for a quick test. My test flights were not that scientific as I was giving rides at the same time however I think it is slightly faster than the Catto but at this stage I am not sure by how much. The most impressive thing is its smoothness. I have always had some vibration with my Catto and despite static and dynamic ballancing I have been unable to get rid of all of it, maybe one of the blades is slightly out. The Hertzler was smoother. I have always been happy with the performance of the Catto but I know I am going to be happier with the Hertzler. I will give it a thourough test when I get my Silver Bullet. As Wayne said, my Silver Bullet is already being made. I emailed Gary, he responded when he woke up with an email and a formal order form. I gave him a ring once I woke up and he was already gluing together the blanks. Thats 14 hours since my first indication that I wanted one. Talk about good service. A good idea and organisation by Bruce was turned into a good weekend by all those who turned up. Looking forward to seeing those who came without their plane arriving in their own in the years to come. Also thanks to Wayne whos hangar was the base for the two days.

Im with Wayne. Mines is a bit heavy but its comfortable and its a joy to sit in for 4 or 5 hrs on a long flight. What makes it so! Temperfoam in all seats. I could save 10lbs there Two AP servos. 5lbs Steel roll over protection 7lbs Injection Pump and filter for IO360 4lbs Fuel sump 3lbs Forward hinged canopy (est) 8lbs Electric nose gear 4lbs Gear Fairings 2lbs 2nd Alternator 3lbs And I probably have a bit of extra filler that I shouldnt as well. Thats close to 50lbs. I could but wont take it out. Mine tips the scales at 1254lbs as it is. That weight will allow a 4 hr flight with IFR reserves with 365lbs in the front 90lbs of kids in the back and 70lbs of bagage (if it fits) and still be 100lbs below MTOW. We are very comfortable, (as long as the bagage is well stowed), the AP flies, I listen to music and the kids watch videos. Its a cruising machine and the extra items (weight ) makes it a great cruising machine. And its still not to shabby with one up and a light fuel load.

Does anyone have info on accomodation in Seymour? I may be taking my Wife and kids and need a place with a pool and a few activities close by to keep them amused while I spend most of the day at the airport. I have noticed 2 caravan parks. One is mentioned on the website. Both have cabins that seem sutable. One has a pool, but both seem uninspiring from a google earth photo. Maybe a Motel with a nice pool. Does the town have a community pool? If I am by myself I just need a good bed. If anyone has any info at all it would be appreciated. Thanks

There are lots of folk on this forum how have a tag (profile) that states 13B or 20 B rotary. I ask! How many are flying? How many will still have a rotary 2 yrs after their first flight? (or Subie) How many will reliably achieve the performance and reliability of a LYC Can the flyers who once had a rotary and now have a LYC speak up? I know I am going to piss a few of you off! But there are to many of you who will end up frustrated and out of pocket. I want people who come onto this site and see all these 13B's and 20B's in the profiles of builders to know that very few of these planes fly or are close to flying. The ones that do get airborne have or will have all sorts of problems! One day someone may get it right, but it aint happened yet! Burt and Nat have given us fantastic airframes. Both say dont stuff with the engine. If you want to be able to drive to the airport in anticipation of a flight with out worrying about the engine for God's sake put in a LYC. There are 2 or 3, people in the EZ world who have the expertise to take alternative engines further but for the rest of you, wait till its been done. I dont want to see builders spend 5 to 10 years building and then go through the disappointment and possible life threatening engine problems when they should be enjoying these fine aircraft. Nuf said! Chris Byrne, who once thought about installing a Subie, but saw the light and realised it was a train! I now fly a IFR Cozy IV that achieves 165kts on 26L/HR at 13000. Its fun, I hope all of you can experience it one day!

Nice story Dave. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Heading into the north east now and the clouds begin to force me down long before the airspace does. Pretty soon I’m at 1500’ indicated over a sea of tree tops and little hills. I like the view but just not feeling happy. Thirty DME and I look at the hills ahead and can no longer see space under them, just grey. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Im guessing that was somewhere around Mittagong. I have a guy in my hangar right now who is trying to get up to Hoxton Park but cant get past the hills.

Just one thought. The Jabiru is made in a mold and I am guessing that its vacum bagged. The builder does a small amount of glassing (hand layups). One thing to look for with a resin system is the ease at which it wets out when laying up by hand. Some are better than others. The Araldite may well be fine in this regard, I have never used it. I do know of one that was built (Long eze) some 20 years ago with some form of the Araldite system so it certainly can be used successfully. As I said just a thought.

If I were building again I would be using this epoxy by ATL. KINETIX R246 LOW VISCOSITY http://www.atlcomposites.com/products/epoxy-resins/laminating/index.htm# ATL used to manufacture PROSET under licence. My bet is this is pretty similar to PROSET. I looked at the specs in '98 when I started and would have used it then but at the time the rules here in OZ meant that you could not deviate at all from what was used in the plans. I tested it and Nat was willing to test it as well, however it was too much of a problem to ship it to him. I have used a small amount of it on my aircraft. I ended up using MGS 335 which I originally imported myself direct from Stuttgart. At that time I asked to become the distributor here. It (285)became available here soon after through a friend of the people associated with the manufacturer. I believe a couple of builders are using it and that it is considerably cheaper than MGS. And since the #$@% has fallen out of our $ I guess it is even better value.

Drew. As I mentioned before, great photograpy. Thanks for the kind words. Have sent an email with reference to getting a copy. Regards Chris

Maybe you should print a copy of the two EFIS screens and stick it on his console. Circle the TAS and fuel flow. Just out of interest Where Is shows the trip distance by car as 1823km (1141 SM) and 18 hrs 36 mins. Exactly 15 hours longer. They base their assumptions on 100km/hr (62 mile/hr) so you may be able to shave 2 hours from their time. My car would have used 144 L of fuel, the Cozy used less than 90 L. I had good conditions but even in nill wind I would have used 128 L

Just thought I would share a bit of my latest trip. I had a thirty year school reunion to attend and erect a monument dedicated to my father. Anyway I wont talk about the trip on the way accross, it was into head winds and at times I was down to 120kts. The way back was another story. Wudinna to Mittagong. 758nm in 3 hrs and 35 minutes at FL130. The pictures show the story, note the GS 225kts and the fuel flow 26.5L/HR (just less than 7US Gals). GS in cruise never less than 215 in the cruise. Spodman from ATC saw me on the way across and said G'Day, hope he got to see the trip back. Oh, nearly forgot. After my fast ride I arrived back over 8/8ths and couldnt get visual at the MSA (no aids) so had to divert to Goulborn (40nm). I sat on the ground for an hour and then crept back below the clouds. Pretty amazing to think a plane built in the back yard can achieve such performance. Keep glueing, sanding or whatever.

Chris. If you just have the standard FACET pump then you need to get something like I have. The pump I have is to supply the engine in case the engine driven one falls over. If your pump is not capable of taking the place of your engine driven pump then your set up is not correct and I guess you should not be flying. The plans pump is not sufficient for an injected engine. I think there are other pumps around that do the same job as mine so you may have one of those in which case I will stand corrected. I know the certified pump for an IO is up in the $300 to $400 range maybe more. My pump/filter was around $300 plus if I remember correctly. My set up puts out about 26 or more PSI if I recal correctly and delivers 180L/Hr (42GALS)to the engine. Cheers Chris

Chris. Thats the Airflow Performance pump and filter assembly. They sell that setup for IO360's. It comes as a set with a couple of the small interconnecting pipes bent and fitted. From memory it has a check valve in it as well. It costs a bit though and I only use it for a few minutes each flight. I guess all the fuel goes through the filter though. My fuel comes from the main tanks to the sump then through the pump and filter that you see to the fuel tap just before the firewall. Then through the firewall into the gascolator into the engine driven pump to the injection metering assembly. From there through a purge valve to the spider. The spider is on the underside of the engine. I am not sure if I would instal a purge valve again. Its there to circulate the fuel and help with hot starts but I havnt had to use it yet.

I have a sump. It hold 3 Quarts (2 useable) I like it. One of the reasons I went for it was that I cant be trusted to switch tanks and that I was having troble finding a good spot for my Andair valve. I just have a cable operated tap on the firewall. The only time it is off is for servicing, hopefully it will not have to be used for a fire. If I did start the engine with the valve off it would run at idle for about 2 mins before stopping so I can never get airborne with the fuel valve off. It has its own vent as well as the tanks being vented. The main tanks are also linked to each other via seperate vent. I have tested it extensively to ensure that fuel flows to it in as many configurations as I can think of. Main tanks stay relatively balanced but at times one gets about 2 or 3 Gals lower than the rest. This unbalanced feed is caused by yaw. If one tank did empty there is still plenty of flow from one tank to keep the sump full. Anyway it works for me, its easy to manage the fuel.

Mine is a porker. But it flies nice. Ready to fly weight just add fuel and a pilot. Includes headsets etc. Cozy MIV IO360 Catto 3 Blade One P-MAG One Slick. Stainless Steel firewall. Electric retract. Electric Speed Brake. Electric Trim. Forward hinged canopy. Steel roll over protection. Temperfom seats. Gear fairings. Central fuel sump. IFR 2 Axis TT AP. GRT Dual EFIS. Sby round dials. Garmin GNC 300XL GPS. SL30. GTX 327. GMA 340. 1256lbs C of G 110.2 inches. Weighed by certified aircraft weigher.

Dave. Your story about the Nullabour Roadhouse bought back a few memories. I have probably spent 60 to 80 nights at the Nullabour Roadhouse. We used to use it as a base for tuna spotting (early 80's) and on some nights there would be 8 aircraft there, 337's and Shrike Commanders. Had some very good fun at that place. Back then we used the bitumen between the roadhaouse and the old roadhouse (staff quarters) as the landing strip and didnt use the dirt ones that much. Even had to cut down the fence to get access to the main highway and take off on that after a night of too much rain, motor bike coming one way so took off in the opposite direction. Wiatreses much better back then by then sound of it to. The beach at the Head of the Bight (your picture) had at least 50 sharks on it one day. Must have been mating or something. Every beach between the Head of the Bight and Pt Lincoln had sharks on it that day, must have seen at least 400. Only saw it once in 3 years of tuna spotting. By the way I crossed the Gulf in the exact same spot as you (Pt Pire to Whyalla) about 3 months ago on my way to Wudinna which is 60nm east of Ceduna, grew up there. And hey the RAAF guys will want a ride in it one day when the novelty wears off the PC 9's.

Here's mine. Cozy IV and Grove brakes.