Aircraft updates

Well, it is inevitable, I suppose. Sooner or later, an aircraft will face some challenges. Our Jabiru J160 has experienced its first teething issues. It looks like No.3 cylinder's piston ring fractured, creating more blow by and the increased crankcase pressure pushed out the engine oil through the breather as well as the rocker chamber vents causing No.1 and No.4 cylinders to overheat and seizing their rings in the grooves. Sigh.

We're in the midst of sorting out this challenge so in the meanwhile, 'Eve' (the name of our J160) has been grounded for 2 months now. It has been a highly frustrating time for Denis, Darren and myself. However, that which does not kill us makes us stronger. We're confident that our experience with our aircraft and engine will help us to serve our customers in the region better. There's no substitute for experience.

In the middle of all this, my first child was born! Isabel arrived on 6th March 2008, weighing in at 2.91kg.  I still think its more impressive to state babies weights in pounds. So, most of Flughaven's operations have been delegated to Darren, while I spend time playing with my daughter. hehe Needless to say, he's not too impressed. But he's doing a great job and we're glad to have him onboard.

So, till we've sorted out our engine issues, there's not much to do but sit around and hangar fly.