notch

Went for a flight with the noise busters. The Good: Low frequency noise hugely reduced. Quite a dramatic difference between on and off. Comfortable. Battery seems to last a long time. The Bad: When turning you head to the side the microphones pick up wind noise, which adds additional noise to the speakers. Not as good high frequency noise reduction as the best (most expensive) passive muffs. When a cell phone is close, the circuitry picks up transmission noise. Overall I'm keeping them. They are so much better @ low frequencies - which is what annoys my ears the most for long periods. I may wear ear plugs as well, (I have always done this when motoring, and it works well).

I would like to get a Revo, but at 105kg, 29m isn't big enough. I would really like a safer alternative to the synth. Interestingly, a lightly loaded nucleon 34 has B ratings, better than the synth.

Here's a good one: http://trailtech.net/tto.html

My snaps that hold my brakes the the risers broke the other day. Probably means it's time to get a new wing yay! My bank doesn't seem to agree with me unfortunately, so I'm looking to fix it. I know some wings have magnetic snaps that allow you to return the brake handles to a safe position whilst fiddling with your camera at 1000ft. Anyone know where I can get a hold of the magnetic version? Is there a DIY solution?

Wasn't that riser twist, and torque lockout?

Having owned both (VholdR 1080p), I find the camcorder video far superior, especially if it has video stabilization built in. I now have a helmet mounted sony HDR-CX130 (which is very small for a camcorder), and has superb 3-way image stabilization. An added bonus is that the video takes one picture at a time, and is not continually scanning line by line which can make for some funny video effects like those in the above video. As for mounting, I just used a bit of car bog to make a flat area, some rubber on top, then a bolt on the top of my helmet. A bit of neoprene on top (fixed by velcro) makes it very hard for lines to catch. I also have a wired remote which allows me to operate the camcorder whilst wearing it. -Nick

This has got to be the crux of your issue. Either H&E forgot to put it in, or it is so well blocked, it's hard to see. The PA125 (similar to H&E) has a 2mm diameter hole in the cylinder that leads from the exhaust to the head.

mmm, I have 40 hours, so failure is probably imminent. What do other PPG moturs use to secure the exhaust? Now that I think more about a rubber mount, I'm not confident it could withstand the heat. -N

They have a helmet / hard hat mount option.... -N

Hemberg, I guess that would mean shortening of the strap. I may try a small version of the rubber vibration mounts that hold the engine to the frame, if I can get a hold of some. Or just a stronger strap perhaps? How many hours has you motor done? Need to know how urgent this is Nick.

Hemberg, I knew this was an issue on some of the early PA125's, but I thought the offenders had aluminium muffler brackets, not later stainless ones. Yours looks like it's stainless. Off to check my exhaust mount now. Thanks, -Nick

Just found these: http://www.noisebuster.net/ If they do what they claim, they would be the dogs ballox for our application . easy to plug in your radio, and even get a mic option! I'm ordering some to test... -Nick

Usually, a much larger hole in the cylinder is required to facilitate the powervalve. The piston and bore end up becoming oval quicker with less contact area.

Motocross engines run at higher rpm - 14,000 is not uncommon. The wear on an engine of this type is exponential with RPM. A 125cc doing 9500 rpm will probably last 4x longer than one doing 14000 RPM. Also, PM engines have no power valves which increase wear on the piston and cylinder.

you can also get them quick (but not cheap) from RS or http://uk.rs-online.com Make sure you get the correct size & hardness.

You can try the 130cm prop, but you need new mounts as well. See here for the details: http://groups.google.com/group/pap_rm80_pa125/browse_thread/thread/43d2aa3764e1ac60/fa2686e88586cbcf?lnk=gst&q=130cm+prop#fa2686e88586cbcf -N

I have the PA125 with only the single vent opening. and have found that the gearbox cannot be completely drained without opening it up. Consequently when draining and refilling the 15ml that PAP recommend for this g/box, I always ended up with more than 15ml inside. This resulted in the clutch seal leaking. After I figured this out and only put 10ml back in when draining, there have been no leaks at all. I now have 40 hours on the gearbox. I went to a recent flyin here in NZL, and _ALL_ of the ROS125's we had there were leaking gearbox oil. Seems like a common point of failure. Some of the ROS owners claimed that they could never get rid of the leak even with new bearings and seals.

Just looking at the cert reports, a lightly loaded Nucleon 34 seems to have no 'C' ratings, just 'B's. A lightly loaded Synth 34 still has 3 'C' ratings. Does this make the nucleon a safer option? Not sure I'm quite ready for a "world champ" wing!

Hey all, I'm looking for a new wing after spending a year on a nova rookie (32m). It's been a great first wing, and never has made me nervous. However, after getting left at the end of the pack at a recent fly-in, would really like a bit more speed, so I guess I'm looking at a reflex. I'm thinking of the Revo 2 or the Airflex, but at 105kg I can't help but wondering if 28m is gonna make nill wind even more difficult. I know Dudek have larger sizes available but they all seem to be EN-C rated. Any suggestions? -N

FreeflyerNZ, where abouts in NZ are you based? Nick

I have a PA125 serial number 003. Issues so far: - Air box mount cracked - no biggie, pap sent a replacement & I strengthened it - Had to replace the gearbox screws - Replaced pull chord No other issues so far - 15hours to date. I'll keep an eye out for the things mentioned... Nick.

I have Dennis Pagen's "Understanding the Sky", and have found it hard to read, perhaps just a little boring for my tastes. Has anyone read "Meteorology and Flight" ? How did you find it? I have the 2nd revision of the PPG Bible and it's brilliant, highly recommended!