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Peter & Alison Jones’s Kimberly Excursion

We started planning our trip in February, possibly a little late as we had to vary our itinerary to secure accommodation at El Questro and Adels Grove.  Our plan was to leave Bankstown on May 23^rd and tour for around 4 weeks.

Our first overnight was in Tibooburra, which was packed out as it was State of Origin V1.0 and it looked as though they had the only combination of cold beer and wide screen TV in NSW.  This was compounded by a headmaster’s conference for the School of the Air, which is based in Tibooburra.  We reckoned each headmaster deserved ‘six of the best’ by the end of the game.

An early start meant arrival at William Creek for a civilized lunch, again overcrowded for the South Australian Electricians Conference; well that’s what they called it.  More live sparks than conference but were they having fun.  Refueled then onto Oodnadatta via the incredibly spectacular Mount Arkaringa (Painted Desert).  Overnight at Oodnadatta in a donga was comfortable but the place is a non event.  The Pink Roadhouse boss who also does the refueling slept in delaying our departure, (fuel works out at close to $3/litre) but we still managed a comprehensive fly-around Kings Canyon and Ayres Rock-Olgas and arrived at Sails in the Desert just in time to make our sunset tour.

Hiring a car at the Bungle Bungles was not an option so we booked an APT package for both The Rock and Purnululu.  We had both previously been to The Rock but we enjoyed revisiting, particularly the sunset dinner where we watched the sunset over The Rock followed by a gourmet dinner in the sand dunes with linen, silver and fine wines.  Our tour pace was leisurely and following three nights at the Desert we left early for destination Bungle Bungles.

Our track took us direct to the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater. We were well provisioned with water, food and emergency beacons as this over the Tanami Desert.  I was surprised at how inaccurate the WAC charts were, missing vital ground features.  Alison noticed a vehicle parked in the scrub just off what was a major dirt road, we recorded the lat/long as this road and others similar did not appear on the current chart.  Our GNSS (GPS) took us right to the crater which was an amazing sight, from there we flew to Halls Creek to refuel, cancel Sartime and report the possibly errant vehicle.  Then on to the Bungle Bungles.  We had made it a practice to over fly all attractions before taking the ground tours and this worked well as the Bungle Bungles are truly spectacular.  We spent more than an hour doing variations of SP4.  We were met at Bellburn International airport by APT and chauffeured to their campsite, luxury tented accommodation.

The Bungle Bungles ground sightseeing is pretty much restricted to Echidna Chasm and Piccaninny Creek  (The Domes, Cathedral Gorge, Piccaninny Walk viewing platform) walks, although those in need of a vigorous days walk can try the18km trek to Piccaninny Gorge.  A lot of the really spectacular areas are restricted sacred sites, so on our departure and after consultation with Slingair helicopters we again flew several varying laps of the area including the helicopter route.   We would highly recommend this as these routes take you to areas not readily accessible from the ground and perhaps even more stunning than the tourist treks.

Ever onwards to Fitzroy Crossing and Geikie Gorge.  We were met at the airport and after loosely securing our superannuation fund, taken to the hotel by Mark, who kindly offered us the use of his car should we want to drive around town.  Late in the afternoon with winds forecast to pick up overnight we took up his offer and returned to the aircraft to securely tie it down.  We thought we would repay Mark’s generosity by topping up his car’s tank at the one and only servo, then proceeded back the motel on about 2 Km of straight “highway’.  It was after last light as we approached the motel and the red and blue flashing lights on the vehicle behind us clearly hinted that we should pull over.  The only available safe area was the motel driveway, situated in front of the beer garden packed with new arrivals from a coach tour.  So in front of these thirsty quaffers I was unceremoniously breathalised by the local gendarmerie.  Fortunately I had only been petrol sniffing and passed with unleaded colours!

Geikie Gorge tour was interesting, and while staying at the motel we enjoyed the rare treat of a Michelin chef at the motel restaurant.

After over flying Windjana Gorge and Curtin AFB we landed at Broome for our three night stay.  Our highlights here were Chinatown, Broome Museum, Gantheaume Point, the obligatory Cable Beach sunset walk and some R & R.

Departing Broome (now Class D airspace but with obliging ATC) we overflew the southern outskirts of the town then followed the coast to Cape Leveque with its very dusty but lengthy runway.  Not on the WAC chart is a long sealed runway only a few miles south of YCLQ and built for the offshore rig traffic.

We enjoyed Cape Leveque, in particular the oxide sandstone cliffs and the beach walks.  Again we had ‘Luxury Tented Accommodation’ and again we found these to be more than adequate.  And here again in the middle (or end) of nowhere is a gourmet restaurant.

Our next day’s flying was a long one.  Down to Derby for fuel before setting off for the Horizontal Waterfalls.  Our timing was good for we had a 9 meter tide and had planned our arrival for mid time between low and high tides.  The water was flowing at good speed through the channels.  After several orbits we set course to the Kings Cascades and Mount Trafalgar, both on the Prince Regent River.  These are pretty much enroute to the Mitchell Falls and are also worth the odd orbit or three.  Mitchell Falls is worth more than a few orbits as it is quite a long and curved cascade with another large fall to the east.  Kalumburu was our overnight stop - at the mission, interesting place with basic donga accommodation.  This area was also attacked during WWII and there are wrecked Hudsons off to the side of a now disused runway. If you can avoid refueling here, do so.  Barging costs are $900/cubic metre so fuel is around $4.50/li.

Overflying King George Falls we were surprised to see a small luxury cruiser at the base of the falls with a helicopter approaching the ship’s helipad, so added this to the bucket list.  Not that we didn’t get a great view of the falls before navigating onto Berkley Gorge then Kununurra.  Here we did some investigation for the April 2013 Fly-In.  Not only is this a destination in its own right, but a great gateway to all that the Kimberley region offers.

After an exploratory flight around the Cockburn Ranges, Home Valley and Emma Gorge we lined up on the approach to the dusty RW14 at El Questro. The three nights were only just sufficient as there are plenty of tours: Zebedee Springs, El Questro, Emma, Chamberlain and Explosion Gorges.  The lush rainforest areas, even in June, contrasted with the semi-dry surrounding areas and this would be even more so as the dry season progressed.

Our next stop was Tindal AFB and Katherine.  All the Restricted areas were active so we did the Victoria Highway run at 1500’ which activated the 500’ warning system on several occasions!  Tindal ATC were helpful in giving us a clearance direct to Katherine Gorge and then Edith Falls before an approach onto RW14.

Katherine Gorge was a great tour, heaps of Johnson crocs amid spectacular rock gorges.  Then onto Adels Grove where we met up with John and Elaine Stuart.  This was a dual purpose stopover, enjoying John and Elaine’s company and checking out Adels as a Fly-In destination.  We canoed up the gorge and despite several attempts to upend John in the river we only twice succeeded.  Adels has been added to the list as the September 2013 Fly-In.  Obviously a lot more info to come on the Fly-In destinations. 

So our holiday ended with a refueling stop at Concurs, overnight Charleville, and then Bankstown via Coonamble.

Some after-thoughts:

Some areas that we visited had Special Procedures that infer a high risk of a mid air collision.  We flew in May & June (shoulder season) and found other traffic to be minimal or nonexistent.  Helicopters generally operated below 500’ AGL, we gave them around 500’ clearance, and there were no issues.

Temperatures near the coast were temperate. But inland it was very cold at night and tented accommodation was well ventilated!  Thermals and socks are the go for a good sleep.

Used Oz Runways extensively and rarely looked at paper charts.  Mentioned earlier that WAC charts were inaccurate, they have been updated but not soon enough for us.  And how long ago were those dirt roads bulldozed?

We flew 22 sectors, 18 with headwinds, which added about 4 hours to our generic no wind plan.  To add insult to injury we flew IFR Coonamble to Bankstown with headwinds to Wyatt.  Then from Wyatt to top of descent we had a groundspeed of 186 Kts. For 6 minutes - that’s flying!

Itinerary: Bankstown-Cobar-Tibooburra-William Creek-Oodnadatta-Ayres Rock-Halls Creek- Bellburn-Halls Creek-Fitzroy Crossing-Broome-Cape Leveque-Derby-Kalumburu-Kunanurra-El Questro-Tindal-Adels Grove-Concurry-Charleville-Coonamble-Bankstown.

 

Cessna Service Bulletin

Below is Cessna’s Service Bulletin.  Of interest is SEB07-5-R04 (Ctrl Click to open) which seems to affect all pre 1985 Cessnas.  This is in effect a recall and the cost of the mod (parts & labour) is covered by Cessna providing it is carried out before December 2013 and by an authorised service centre.  This is not yet a CASA mandatory requirement but is a mandatory FAA.  However if it becomes a CASA requirement after Dec 2013 then the cost (around $1000) would be borne by the owner. https://support.cessna.com/custsupt/contacts/pubs/ourpdf.pdf?as_id=37282

Engine upgrade - from P Jones

If any of you are interested in any engine upgrade options for your late model Cessna 182 S or T mode! aircraft at anytime, or ever have the need or requirement to do any in service cylinder removals or repairs, then please consider the following information as portrayed below.

This first web link :- http://alamoaerospace.com/182S,htm  is for a upgraded 260HP engine & this engine has a more standard cylinder set up that can be easily oversized down the track if need be & also has the standard style & stronger pistons etc...Plus this engine will bolt pretty well straight into your airframes as it is pretty well physically the same as the original engine.

Then here is another one for a 310 HP TCM engine, of which is currently not fully certified/STC’d as yet, but it will be at some stage soon & is more intended for someone wanting some serious HP or for the likes of parachute operations etc:- http://www.txskyways.com/310HP Skylane.htm

As sadly the standard engines currently fitted into these late 182 S & T mode! aircraft have the same style of cylinders as what the likes of Bruce Rhoades Maule aircraft has, that we sadly had to renew all of the cylinders on recently, as you can’t oversize them if the bores get worn or rusty as they also have a odd ball & lightweight piston in them that no one has bothered to make as yet in any oversize. Plus due to the fact that the piston skirts are some .070” thinner as a consequence of these weight saving measures than the standard styles of pistons, we have also found that these lightweight pistons are also prone to crack up their skirts if the bores & skirts get worn in service thus developing excessive piston slap. This internal wear is generally externally portrayed by excessive oil consumption, say at a level of a quart per four hours or so of usage.

So if any such engine ever gets down to those levels at all & hopefully they never will, then do not persist with operating the engine & be prepared for the expense of potentially renewing al! the cylinders like what Bruce recently had to do.  Or then ideally put the money into such a replacement engine as portrayed above.  Of which the current respective costs to renew these types of cylinders can end up being around $16000.00 AUD + GST or so including their removal & installation.

The added benefit of the additional HP of these replacement engines will also help drag all the additional weight around that these new model aircraft suffer from with the additional gear in them

If any of you have any queries regarding these matters raised here, then please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime?

Regards

David Paynter . CEO

Brisbane Aero Engineers

Ph 07 3875 1555 Fax 07 3277 4116 0

Return to the Flinders Ranges By Rob T

Recently I asked my brother in law, Peter T and an old work friend Peter H (who I ended up calling PH Factor to save confusion) to join me on a 4 day fly-away to the Flinders ranges. The plan was to fly to Goolwa and meet up with our C182 Association friends Andrew & Jane, John & Elaine. Together we were to fly to Arkaroola for a couple of days before heading off in various directions.

Murphy's law in concert with la Nina messed that plan up from the start. On the day we departed from Canberra, Goolwa was anything but VMC thanks to a significant cold front. So the Pete's and I stopped overnight in Swan Hill. The next day conditions were no better at Goolwa so we decided to fly direct to Arkaroola. Unfortunately conditions at the Murray mouth didn't improve over the weekend so the reunion never happened. In the meantime we borrowed Dorothy, the Arkaroola Toyota 4WD, and had a great time bush-bashing around the place. We managed to fit in a quick flight to lake Eyre before heading back.

The SA coast weather improved sufficiently to make it an interesting return trip. We flew to Wilpena Pound and continued on the the Murray Mouth after a fuel stop at Renmark. Our esteemed presidente Andy met us at Renmark with some lunch and  assistance with fuel. We followed the Coorong to Kingston where I was encouraged by the low cloud to drop in and stay the night. The following day the Great Ocean Road with a pit stop in Warrnambool. John and Elaine met us and in true C182 Association hospitality provided morning tea in their Hangar. From there we tracked to Ballarat then home. Here are some pics;

EGT and CHT

I must admit I get a little fixated on EGT when CHT is a better measure of engine stress. Would love to get members views on this article: http://www.gami.com/articles/egt_myths.pdf
Cheers, Rob

Robert and Janine's Gap year

We  recently returned from a great trip to the Kimberley. The trip took 17 days all up and visited all but 2 Australian States and Territories. Here are some of our happy snaps;

White Cliffs

The Dig Tree

Bocce game at the Birdsville Pub

Chanel country meets the Simpson desert

Adels Grove

Lake Argyle

Emma Gorge (near Kununurra)

Bungle Bungle

King George Falls

Fishing Kalumburu

Buccaneer Archipelago

Cape Leveque

Broome

Waiting for the tide

Wolfe Creek crater

Lake Eyre

Uneven Fuel Feeding

Have you been flying along and watched your fuel gauges show that your left tank is going down while the right tank remains full even with the fuel selector on "Both"? This is a common problem with Cessna 182 Skylanes before the 1979 model year. And the real shocker is that while the right tank is remaining full the engine is actually running off of fuel from the right tank!

What causes the situation is the way Cessna designed the fuel tank venting system. When fuel is used from a tank it must be replaced with something, otherwise a vacuum is created which will either cause interruption of fuel to the engine or cause the bottom of the bladder tank to be "sucked" up. To avoid this in almost all fuel systems, whether they are in an aircraft, a car or a lawnmower, fuel that is used from the tank is replaced by air from the outside.

In the Cessna 182 Skylane this venting occurs by connecting the upper outboard portion of the left tank to the "L" shaped vent tube underneath the wing behind the left wing strut. This allows air into the left fuel tank as fuel is used. To vent the right tank, a vent inter-connect line is run from the upper inboard area of the left tank to the upper inboard area of the right tank thus, in theory, venting the right tank to the vented airspace of the left tank.

Unfortunately, wing dihedral, where the wing tip is higher than the wing root, was not sufficiently considered. When the wing tanks are full, the vent interconnect line is actually submersed in fuel and thus as fuel is used from the left tank, the air coming in from the vent pushes fuel from the left tank through the vent interconnect line into the right tank, thus replacing fuel that is used from the right tank. And even after enough fuel is used from the left tank to bring the fuel level below the vent interconnect line the condition will continue as fuel sloshing in the tank periodically gets into the interconnect line and pushed through to the right tank.

In really severe cases fuel usage from the right tank might not be indicated on the gauge until the fuel level in the left tank is as low as 1/3 capacity. The positive thing to keep in mind when experiencing this condition is that fuel is actually being used from the right tank and that fuel being used from the right tank is merely being replaced by fuel from the left tank. This means that even if the left fuel tank should go to empty you will not experience fuel flow interruption as long as there is fuel in the right tank and the fuel selector is on "Both".

This condition can be minimized somewhat by adjusting the position of the fuel vent behind the lift strut on the left wing, making sure that fuel caps seal tightly so that the "head pressure" in one tank is not altered by a leaking cap, and assuring that the wing strut fairing is sealed against the strut, thus avoiding burbling air right in front of the vent. However, in the end the design of the system does not allow for complete resolution of the problem. The Cessna Pilots Association has a handout available to its members that discusses this situation in even greater detail.

Beginning with the 1979 model year the Cessna 182 Skylane went to an integral bay "wet wing" fuel system with vents under both wings which went a long way to reducing the problem.

From http://www.cessna.org/store/buyers_guides/182/182_guide_excerpts.html