Building the new Bushbaby SAFARI

ben · Postby **ben** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:48 am

Good morning Oupa and enjoy your birthday today

. I wish you brilliant health for the coming year and please keep us entertained for many more days, months and years

.

Ben
ZU-AJN

DavePike · Postby **DavePike** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:00 am

All the best on your birthday Oupa

Postby **Tailspin** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:41 am

Happy birthday Oupa.

Hope you have a wonderful day. May you be blessed with everything you wish for.

pprop · Postby **pprop** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:01 am

Baie geluk oom Frans mag die Vader jou seen en nog baie gelukkige en voorspoedige vliegjare gee

Grumpy · Postby **Grumpy** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:44 am

Happy Happy Happy............. Oupa Youngster............ Many more wished. You're such an inspiration to the beginners of this fantastic hobby.

grostek · Postby **grostek** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:53 am

Happy Birthday Oupa,

May the coming year be everything you wished and hope for.

Kind regards,

Gunter Rostek

Johannvanniekerk · Postby **Johannvanniekerk** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:22 pm

Geluk met die verjaarsdag Oupa!

bryan · Postby **bryan** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:36 pm

Veels geluk met jou verjaarsdag Doc, mag jy nog lank gespaar wees. dankie vir jou nederigheid en mooi voorbeeld vir ons almal. En mag jy min callouts he in hierdie tyd.
Groete
Bryan Erasmus
ZU BFR
Wings PArk
Oos London

Oupa-G · Postby **Oupa-G** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:06 pm

Thank you for all the good wishes I took my not so silent partner out to dinner tonight we have been married for 42 years and today was also our wedding anniversary she was really sooooh supportive of the whole Bosvark project. In times of cash flow shortage times as happens when the receiver takes his slice of the cake, she supported the project while I paid all the other bills, she would come up for the money to buy the MGL and the the variable pitch prop and then again for the PProp she gave me four lovely kids and we are reaping the fruits of grand children, the grand children are always in oupa's workshop and they also love to tinker. The weather also looks fine for to-morrow I want to do some longer distances with constant power settings
I'm planning on 5600rpm for an hour or two just to see where I stand. The tanks are filled to the brim and I will do it very accurately. I also helped a fellow aviator with his 503 decoke on the annual inspection I was not happy with the movement of the rings in the pistons , so I advised that a decoke was on the cards. I have yet to see an owner that will not do maintenance if it is in the interest of safety. The inspection through the exhaust ports is not to be under estimated. I saw the pistons today with the lower rings so tight because of carbon that it was almost impossible to get the rings of. The pistons were bead blast cleaned and there was evidence of severe heat on the piston dome. So I'm advising dual EGT's I will show some foties to-morrow.

Cheers Oupa-G

KFA · Postby **KFA** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:27 am

Hi Oupa, geluk met die b day en troudag. I am looking for the name of those beads, if I ask the suppliers arround here they give me those blank looks. Would greatly appreciate. You can pm me with the info. Many thanks
Stefan

Oupa-G · Postby **Oupa-G** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:40 am

Stefan they are glass beads very non abrasive. They are hard to find , the place I used to get them have closed down but I will source them . I got a supplier of abrasive grit that was through the WaterJet people but what they use is to abrasive we only want to take off carbon and surface rust. I'm of for fuel consumption tests.

Cheers Oupa-G

Boet · Postby **Boet** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 6:39 pm

I have a 5 liter bucket of micro glass beads.... if it will be of any help. I am on a long weekend in the Frazerburg area. Just briefly signed in to say HI!! Hope Oupa had super birthday yesterday!

Oupa-G · Postby **Oupa-G** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:43 am

Sorry I have been off line ,but Saturday morning I filled the Bosvark full of fuel and was off to do the fuel consumption tests. Two minutes in to the flight I had planned on a cruise climb I was 700 feet agl when a funny noise came from the engine with serious power loss, Changed to the backup system, put the fuel pump on with no change the compulsory landing was due in the imminent future. The gear absorbed the wheat field surface. The Bosvarkie side slips like a dream and it was very easy to plan the precise position to land no floating. I ended not putting a scratch on the machine. Cel phone came to help and I soon got a lift back to my hangar and collected the Cruiser and my trailer and brought the Bosvarkie home in one piece through the farm gates from wheat-field to wheat-field till I was at the hangar an absolute non-event. The sudden stoppage puzzled me so before I came to any funny conclusions I quickly swapped engines and brought the engine to the workshop. When I pulled the cylinder all the screws were loose and there was evidence of somebody that had previously worked on the engine, the sprocket on the camshaft was loose and the valves got out of sync and BINGO. The lesson: I will not accept an engine without full inspection. The engine that is in the Bosvarkie now I have rebuilt personally and I have checked at every level, it was the engine I had the detonation with and I have brought the engine to GS specs with low compression pistons and the GS camshaft. Here are some foto's long overdue.

Cheers Oupa-G