It was a really hot day, and they suspect "vapour lock". The aircraft took off out of the field and back to the aerodrome that evening. I'm assuming the report will be in next issue of Flight Safety Australia. I haven't been up in that particular aircraft since the incident, and I'd prefer not to for a while, or atleast not performing emergency training procedures in it.
"pumping the mixture" - is not in any emergency procedures I am familiar with?
I'm assuming he was trying to stabilize the engine as it was rough running. When your engine fails at 300ft after takeoff, I guess you just go into reaction mode. It all happened pretty quickly, it wasn't until just before we touch down that we were able to make a mayday call.