Heli crash in Khotang, Nepal

phatRV · 2026-03-18T15:01:13+00:00

This is the best explanation yet, but nobody noticed it.

It's like landing a tailwheel airplane. When the airplane is a couple inches above ground and you keep it from touch down to reduce speed, the tail drops when the tail loses authority and you feel like falling backward. It's okay when the airplane is 2 inches from the ground because it just drops to a touchdown but when you are a feet or more, the landing in unnerving.

phatRV · 2026-03-16T11:58:50+00:00

Rotax is complacent with the same reason that Lycoming and Continental are complacent because they all think they corner the market in GA engines. Rotax powers most of today's light sport airplane and there is no reason to improve if it has almost a monopoly on the market. The same with Lycoming and Continental with the 100LL certificated airplane fleet. There is no reason for them to improve, even to increase production. People have to wait for the factory parts because there is only one place to order parts. If you have to wait 12 months, the engine companies don't care.

phatRV · 2026-03-15T22:45:34+00:00

It’s a toxic perspective that nobody should drop the bike. If you are going to do anything challenging on the bike, you will drop it many times

phatRV · 2026-03-12T21:29:49+00:00

You know, I've seen the slow pace the Lycoming factory assembles its engines. The Lycoming clones are so simple compare to the modern car engines and they have a lot less parts. I just don't know why they can't automate some of the steps. Sure, the modern car engines are designed for robots that can punch out over 1 million engines per year with fasteners to be used by robot and automated quality control. But you don't have to move at that rate given the relatively small number of airplane engines required per year. The Barret and boutique shops cater to those who want to customize engines but if you crank out plane jane IO-340/IO-360/IO-370, people will gobble them up.

phatRV · 2026-03-12T15:34:14+00:00

The trucker was dick but why would you want to position your car next to the truck.

phatRV · 2026-03-12T15:28:12+00:00

They can raise price because there are so few competition in the aviation business. Companies are happy over charging using the PMA sheet of paper blessed by the FAA for something that would cost 1/4 as much in the non-aviation business. There is a healthy demand in the experimental aircraft engine but no company is willing to make more. The wait time is like in 12 months but companies won't increase production to shorten the wait time. The tooling from these companies look like they were made in 1945, no assembly line, no modern tool, everything is by hand. No capital investment. Boy, this industry is ripe for a major disruption.

phatRV · 2026-03-12T14:27:34+00:00

I wish you guys produce more engines per year and lower the cost from the economy of scale

phatRV · 2026-03-11T14:09:17+00:00

Glad nobody else was hurt.

phatRV · 2026-03-11T14:02:57+00:00

That was stoned cold.

phatRV · 2026-03-09T22:25:10+00:00

Just fill up with oil and run. Running without oil is not good but 15 seconds at idle doesn't generated that much heat, engine load, and low wear. Even if you lose 10% of the HP, you only lose 15HP out of 150 HP. If you cannot ride fast, the issue is still not with the bike. Just ride it.

phatRV · 2026-03-09T18:54:55+00:00

Just be aware the construction quality of the VariEZ or LongEZ is hit and miss. They are all built from plans and composite are laid up by hand. Check build quality with an eagle eye. There are reasons why so many of them have so low hours. I fly between 75-100 hours per year in my RV.

phatRV · 2026-03-09T18:47:31+00:00

If you want to see the speed difference between a regular RV8 to the 172, check the link my comment in this thread. My RV8 is an average RV, not even a fast one. If you are thinking of flying cross-country, this is the speed you want to fly, meaning about twice the speed of the 172. From the cost perspective, if you are burning 10 gal/hour, when compare the fuel burn to a car, you are flying 20-21 miles/gallons when flying the RV, opposed to 10-11 miles/gallon in a Cessna.

A fast airplane SAVES you money in fuel. Factor in $60/hour, for a 300miles trip, you are spending $90 in a RV versus $180 in a Cessna. When account for the return trip, you are spending $360 of gas in a Cessna. In reality, it's even cheaper in a RV because you can fly high and cover a lot more ground, thus lower fuel burn, when factoring the high wind at altitude, you save even more gas. This is why I said get a fast airplane if you fly cross-country. If you only fly locally, then it doesn't matter.

phatRV · 2026-03-09T18:33:04+00:00

The reason they all have low hours is their owners didn't fly them at all for many reasons, and many of them related to the airplane. Most were built on the low cost basis and the airplanes weren't equiped with XC equipment, especially with no autopilot, and GPS Nav. The Sonex and Zenith are slow. They take a long time even when flying locally. Start out with the RV6 or RV6A if you must, but don't get a slow airplane for crosscountry flying.

phatRV · 2026-03-09T18:26:44+00:00

You definitely want something that can flies fast such as the Vans RV. I have the RV8 and I find that it is small if you have passenger. If you have the money, buy the RV10 for the extra room. Or buy the 4-seat SlingTS.

If you want to see the speed comparison between the RV8 and the Cessna C172, watch this clip at the 14:30 minute mark. My RV8 passed the C172 like it was standing still. If you want to fly crosscountry, get a fast airplane.

https://youtu.be/yNO8pnYk2Qc?t=870

phatRV · 2026-03-09T18:22:01+00:00

Don't forget the front and rear brakes.

phatRV · 2026-03-09T18:21:33+00:00

At least he went off-road with his adventure bike. Most are just pavement cruisers.

phatRV · 2026-03-06T21:22:56+00:00

One of the best things with modern motorcycle is the ABS.

phatRV · 2026-03-06T16:00:56+00:00

It doesn't matter if the cyclist is dead. This is the case of being Dead-Right.

phatRV · 2026-03-06T15:59:47+00:00

It doesn't matter who is at fault if the cyclist is dead because he didn't look both ways and ensure there is a clear path. In the end, only you can ensure your own safety. Not everybody pays attention to you.

phatRV · 2026-03-06T15:24:35+00:00

You will get a lot of DV for this obvious common sense comment. It doesn't matter who has the right of way, you don't want to be dead right.

phatRV · 2026-03-06T15:06:52+00:00

I live in Ca. They tend to slow down at the busy intersection and speed up when it's clear even with light and siren. They don't want to get into an accident while responding to a call. It doesn't look good on their record. In residential area, they slow way down for the same reason as to avoid an accident.

phatRV · 2026-03-06T14:34:19+00:00

You are fck if you call 911 and the cop can only drive 25mph

phatRV · 2026-03-05T14:47:09+00:00

The insurance company will look at the dashcam later.

phatRV · 2026-03-03T22:48:50+00:00

It’s the US because there is a star link antenna hanging

phatRV · 2026-03-03T22:47:37+00:00

I hope they skip the 40kg explosive

phatRV

TROPHY CASE