Phil_P

Fair comment, I figured that build quality at least would be comparable across the vertex range. However, to a reasonable extent, I am also a believer that you get what you pay for, and if the vertex sets are only 35% of the price, I tend to suspect that it's not only hype and advertising that has resulted in the differential.

How about injecting the input from a small directional shotgun mic. that you have pointing up at your wing? )

These are 'jawbone' microphones. My experience with a version of them has been ok but not great. also fairly fragile. On a side note, I have also made up some diy custom earpieces using clear silicon. I coated my lug liberally with vaseline, plugged the ear canal with something I could get back out again then put one of those outer ear, hang in yer tab type earphones in place. Then I squirted some silicon round the whole lot. You then sit around being deaf for a couple of hours till the silicon has 'gone off' enough to form a good skin, then with some jaw wiggling and ear massaging the whole lot can be persuaded to pop out. It then takes a couple of days to go completely solid, but you are left with a completely custom fitted earphone that keeps out nearly all ambient noise. I use mine on track days on the motorbike. Even with the vaseline it does dry out the skin round your ear, and you also pull out a multitude of tiny hairs when you remove it. On top of that, I would never EVER suggest that anyone else be so completely stupid and reckless (not to mention tight fisted) as me, and repeat this. NO SIRREEE BUD!

I have a Yaesu multiband, a VX2 and two ICOM airband sets, an A6 and an A24, and I'd have to disagree about quality on the Yaesu being better. The ICOM's build quality is superb, much more robust feeling than the Yaesu, and the audio quality on both receive and transmit is better on the ICOM. I imported all of my radios direct from the USA, and even with VAT and shipping added (should you be unlucky enough to attract customs and excise attention) were a bargain compared to UK prices. I would heartily suggest this as an option. Some vendors may be creative on customs declarations so I understand. While the size of the ICOM may be an issue, it will fit into a chest holster with ease, although this does make reading the display, or pressing the buttons tough. The larger size of the ICOM set is actually a bonus here, because as you are more likely to need to change frequencies on an airband set to speak to different agencies, the small size of the Yaesu controls makes this more problematic. I have done a simple mod to an 'ASA' brand pilots headset that has allowed me to fit it to my helmet, the mod being do-able on most headsets of the standard 'David Clarke' pattern. I have just ordered an adapter to allow me to use standard aviation jack plugs to connect to the Yaesu. I have also fitted an active noise reduction system to the headset, the effect of which has to be heard to be believed. I will be flying with both sets, the Yaesu for comms. between flying companions, and the ICOM for speaking to ATC for zone penetrations etc. If you were interested, I might be persuaded to part with the A6.

Just bought a Garmin 295 from the US for a couple of hundred. Twenty quid jeppesen database and a free European basemap download and I'm sorted. Replaces my aging GPS90 that will get saved for backup duty. All sorts of bells and whistles.

Try Mark Leavesley at Leavesley Aviation, he is UK importer for Adventure stuff now.

Well it doesn't give silence, so you should be able to detect changes. The note changes as revs change are detectable but very muted. What you may find is that any distraction from wind noise is seriously reduced, possibly making it easier to diagnose or spot engine issues. Phil

Absolutely bl**dy brilliant!!!! Flick the switch and WOW!

I have just spent a pleasant afternoon diverting myself from this dreadful weather, by installing the active noise reduction (ANR) kit that I got from Headsets Inc. in the USA. For those who aren't aware of these systems, what they do is measure the ambient sound in your headset earcup, shift it 180 degree out of phase, and then inject that back into the earcup through a second speaker element. This has the effect of cancelling out a huge chunk of ambient noise, particularly in the sound spectrum where the passive sound reduction of a conventional headset is at it's least effective. when it came to the fitting, there was a minor problem insofar as the wiring provided isn't set up for a P.T.T . switch in the headset ear defender dome, nor is there any obvious way round the problem. However, I found after a bit of tinkering, that the coaxial shield on the mic. plug cable was in fact wired to the required plug tip, so I was able to utilise that as my P.T.T. conductor. The ANR modules come as ready built inserts, comprising the normal earphone speaker, the extra cancelling speaker, and the pick-up microphone for ambient sound. Ready wired onto the back of this is the electronics to generate the 'anti-sound'. these form a slip in replacement for the original headset speaker which is completely removed. I had opted for an extra £10 worth of cable which incorporated the power feed for the headset together with new aviation style plugs for microphone and earphone audio. This meant I had a very neat install, with no need to run an extra power cable from a 9v battery case. Probably took me a couple of hours to splice all the required cables together, following the very comprehensive and clear instructions. Everything hooked up, continuity checked and ready for sound check and..... NO BLINKING BATTERY IN THE HOUSE! A hurried trip to Netto, and we were all set to go. I slipped on the helmet and heaset and stepped out into our yard. We are only about thirty yards from a pretty busy road, so there is a constant rumble and swish as cars and lorries fly past in the current wet conditions. Although dulled by the conventional headset, there was still a clear level of ambient noise. I then flicked on the power switch on the supplied battery box, and after about a half second delay, just about all the background noise simply vanished, to be replaced with the lightest of white noise hisses in it's place. It was truly remarkable. I can hardly wait till tomorrow to start up my motor outside to see what effect it has on those frequencies. At the moment, it looks very promising indeed. Total cost was about £130 delivered from the States, including £25 VAT and handling charge from the post office. Probably only a saving of about £15 over buying from the UK, but sometimes you hit lucky with the VAT thing. It sounds like a lot, until you compare that with the cost of a complete aviation ANR headset from someone like Bose or Sennheiser, which is likely to come in between £400 and £500. My hearing isn't great after a debauched youth of live concerts, so protecting what I have, while at the same time making radio communication much clearer is a real boon. I will report back tomorrow after a live engine run. If anyone is in my vicinity and would like to try my set up, they will be more than welcome, and if anyone decides they'd like to go down this path but lacks the knowledge to do the conversion, I will happily do it for cost plus a contribution towards my red wine consumption.

Brian, welcome to the group, it's nice to have a new face from your side of the pond. You will find that most of the folks on here are from the UK, so knowledge of US based training is likely to be limited. You may find a different perspective regarding equipment from us, than you will get from an American club or group, mainly because a lot of us have British or European made units. This will either help you make a decision or confuse you completely. There is a good Yahoo group that goes by the name of PPGbiglist which will probably be able to give you more US centred advice, but in the meantime, please stay and visit with us to tell us your tales from America.

Today I've been working on the engine of my Adventure F3. I didn't like the look of the standard air filter, apart from anything else, the mesh of the foam has such huge openings in it, I doubt if it would filter out a small dog, never mind dust. A filter like that is just asking to accelerate piston and bore wear. I have had good experiences with K&N filters from my motorcycling, and I managed to pick up a couple of brand new ones off fleabay that looked like they'd do the job. Fitting it however wasn't just a simple slip on job. Once I discovered the retaining screws for the original filter were accessed by sticking an allen key through the foam of the filter, the removal was straightforward. It's a really crude system though, with the air intake into the carb throat being a simple flat plate, with the filter foam glued to the plate. This is probably the least efficient intake shape that there is. As luck would have it, I had a big chunk of delrin (acetal plastic) bar that was just the right diameter to fit into the K&N filter opening. I cut about a 30mm length of the bar, and marked it up and drilled it for the mounting screws. I then bored through the centre to the exact diameter of the carb throat intake. Left like this, I would have still have had the same 'flat plate' intake however. The next job therefore was to flare out the inlet hole in the delrin into a smooth trumpet bell shape. I then machined some grooves in the outside surface of the delrin to give the rubber round the mouth of the K&N some purchase when the retaining jubilee clip was tightened. I also found that there was a 'step' in diameters further on in the inlet tract, between the metal and plastic inlet manifolds. I cured this by again machining a smooth transition between the two parts. As it's now getting a little late and I don't want to disturb the neighbours, I will have to wait till tomorrow to find out if any of this work has produced any benefits. The worst case scenario is that nothing will have changed in performanc, but at least I will have a decent high efficiency filter keeping some of the c**p out of my engine

Got an old paramedic squad suit if you get no other options. would just have to deface the badges. Phil

As I'm that kind of guy, I have my old Garmin GPS90 with aviation database, which can still be updated using some aftermarket software to tweak the database (thanks Doc!). It 'only' has an 8 channel receiver, but it's never failed to give a good fix in an aircraft, and it's very robust. Although Garmin no longer support this device, they recently sent me a replacement antenna for one I misplaced, for free. Thumbs up for customer service. If you can find one of these cheap you could get a real bargain! Then I back that up with a HTC TyTn PDA/Phone (cheap upgrade on Orange) and run GPSDash which lets you scan in and use any map of your choice, including current CAA charts. I'm not sure if that fulfils an obligation to carry said charts or not.

I got one of the Suunto's from the US for not much more than that one. Compass seems very reliable, even in the metal environment of the car, you can recalibrate it in about 30 seconds before you fly, just to be safe. It's also an altimeter and barometer together with a slightly slow and coarse variometer. Oh, it tells the time too I've also got a really good Suunto scuba wrist compass (magnetic) that is very resistant to being off horizontal.

Normally I'm not one to complain about spelling on internet forums, mainly because my spelling is pretty awful at times, and I'm not the internet police. But personally, I wish people would refrain from 'text speak' on the forums, as there is no limit to the letters you can use, you can take your time composing, often with built in spell checking, and thirdly because it can at times be incomprehensible. Just a thought, and it might just affect the response you get.

My last comment was made because I for some reason thought the prop line was above the hang points. DOHHH!

What surprises me is the thought process; Oh, my 'biner is half open and I'm in imminent danger of falling to an untimely death, I MUST TAKE A PHOTO OF IT!!!!

My only thought is that although those hang points give you that attitude when static, when thrust is applied, won't that alter things?

Latest Update; I think I must have rattled some cages at 'Click & Buy', as despite them saying they couldn't refund my money, I have just had an email saying that they are doing so (and it's going through on my C & B account as we speak). I wonder if the prospect of legal action made them nervous?

I would guess (and it really is a guess, as I can't be arsed going to my shed for the micrometer ) that the tape is about 0.2mm thick. Balancing is a very real issue, as even a small mass has a great effect when spinning at 2.6k RPM. What I did was as follows; 1) Cut two identical pieces of tape and mark its long axis centre line in light pencil. 2) Set the first one, with it's longitudinal centre-line along the very extreme leading edge of the blade. 3) using a cloth, slowly worked the tape to the blade shape, while excluding air bubbles. 4) Burnished with a piece of hard plastic to get rid of any tiny creases. 5) Used the same plastic to rub the edges of the tape to thin them slightly. 6) Made a paper template of the blade by tracing round it, marking where the strip was positioned. 7) Transfer the template to the other blade to provide positioning references. Repeat 1-5 on the second blade. At '5' above, this may also have pressed the foil slightly into the wood, which isn't an issue, unless I decide to dispense with the tape at a later date. Oh, and removing the backing sheet from the tape is an art in itself

Pete, would it be OK if I sent you a single double width strip, perhaps a little over width for you to cut the widths you want? PM me an address and I'll get on it. Phil

I'm wondering if next winter, it would be an idea to pull apart the Solo 210 'Plus' on my Adventure F3B (yes, I know I haven't flown it yet, but I'm an inveterate fiddler) and have a two stroke specialist do some port work on it. Then polish and radius stuff like the inlet and exhaust tract and reed block, maybe optimise the squish clearance, and fit a K&N high efficiency filter. It's not usually too hard to extract an extra 10% power and upwards, without doing stuff so radical that it reduces reliability. Part of it is making the machine unmistakeably mine, and getting the best out of it, so ultimate power gains aren't the goal. Thoughts anyone?

I have a roll of ex RAF 'Speed Tape' which is battlefield aircraft repair tape made by 3M. It is a self adhesive aluminium foil, quite thick and will hold it's shape when deformed. It is rated for aircraft wing leading edges over mach 1, so should be up to the following; I have just applied a narrow strip, about 20mm wide by 200mm long to each prop blade leading edge, over the outer 30% of the radius (excluding the final curved portion). With careful application it can be rubbed down, leaving no creases at all, and should provide a high degree of protection from stone chips. Great care is required, because once it's stuck, it's STUCK! If anyone else would like a couple of pieces to do the same (or three if required), then I'd be happy to cut you some. I suspect it would even conform to scimitar bladed props. I'll take some photo's if anyone is interested. Phil

WARNING WARNING WARNING DO NOT GO TO THE STORES HOME PAGE, Y VIRUS SYSTEM JUST IDENTIFIED IT AS HAVING A VIRUS PRESENT! I SUSPECT MY POSTINGS HAVE HAD AN EFFECT, AND NOW HE'S GETTING NASTY!

Does anyone else use Bosch W5BC plugs or the NGK equivalent BP7HS (standard on Solo 210). I'm thinking of putting in an order for the NGK's, but there is a minimum £10 on the cheapest source I've found. If anyone would like one or two spares (probably the single most common two stroke engine failure route), then I can get them for about £1.80 each. If anyone wants me to check if I can get their plug equivalent, then tell me the type.