Another Newby from SA

[Thirsty]

Hi All, thought I'd better introduce myself after lurking around here the last few weeks. I'm from the southern suburbs of Adelaide. I got my PPL back in the mid 80's and last flew in the early 90's. During one of my many moves I lost my logbok and licence but as luck would have it CASA have my details on their system so thankfully I don't have to "do it all again"!

 

I love the idea of recreational flying and things have changed a lot since I last looked at this. I'm in the early stages of looking of looking for a 2 seater low performance aircraft - maybe something like a T300 or T500. I plan on using it just for fun and one day upgrading to something like a Jab/Savannah/Foxbat.

 

Anyone from Adelaide on these forums? It'd be great to catch up with others with the same interests,

 

Tony

 

 

[dazza 38]

Welcome Tony, There are a few guys here, from Adelaide.I hope you enjoy your RAA flying.

 

 

[farri]

Welcome tony,

 

I fly for fun,I`ve had my Drifter for 25 years,flew it this afternoon,still enjoy flying it as much as ever.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[Guest basscheffers]

Your closest airfield is likely to be Aldinga; probably Australia's best recreational airfield but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of low performance going on there. There seems to be more of that at Goolwa, Gawler and Murray Bridge.

 

I fly from Parafield, though I am not sure for how much longer. I might move to Gawler and may even change aircraft - go to the dark side so I can go fast and upside down. (In a syndicate, so it remains affordable!)

 

 

[Thirsty]

Yeah Aldinga is the closest but also the dearest. I looked around and Goolwa/MB etc are all a fair bit cheaper to hire a/c to get the licence. I'm thinking about commuting to MB maybe to get the licence then use Aldinga as home base when I get my own aircraft. You're also right about teh LP stuff - there doesn't seem much of that going on in SA at all.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Hi and welcome Tony. I'm from Morphett Vale and fly out of MB. Aldinga is becoming a really great field but is expensive. Martyn Smith has to charge high rates to pay for his new planes, new hangers and the paving of all taxi ways later this year. Mind you, he has certainly enlivened the 'ultralite recreational side of things in this area.

 

As for MB, the Recreational Pilots Academy and best school or the 2 on offer. RPA only offers Jabbie LSA55's but if you can fly one of those, you can fly anything, so it is said. They have very nice crew/training rooms and good instructors.

 

The other school, name escapes me.....always, has more makes to choose from and is therefore dearer.

 

As for training areas, I would certainly recommend MB as there is flat land all around, unlike Aldinga with hills and gullies, Tiger Country.

 

Nobody, unfortunately, has low and slow models such as Thrusters. I have raised this point with RPA and it was received with interest but not acted upon as yet.

 

I'll send you my phone number by p.m.

 

 

[Acky]

Hi Tony,

 

The other school at Murray Bridge is Murray Bridge Light Aircraft Flying school, and it is where i am currenly training. I personally have not had any issues at all, and couldn't be happier. I've done training in J160 and J170, but have settled on the J170 for now. There is also a Gazelle and J230 available. I'm much happier with the choice of newer aircraft than the other school have to offer. Each to their own i guess.

 

Welcome aboard and good luck.

 

Acky

 

 

[Thirsty]

Hi Acky, thanks for the welcome mate. I'll likely check them both out before I commit to one or the other. I'm thinking about Goolwa too as it's closer to me. Will check them all out then decide I guess.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Goolwa!, gee, how far do the Southern suburbs go ;-) Where are you, Sellicks Beach?

 

 

[Thx1137]

Make sure you factor in travel time and costs into your costs. I travelled to MB when learning to fly the Jab and my car fuel use made it dearer to fly the MB jab than to fly the Aldinga SportStar. That may depend on how long you fly each session of course and if you have a cheap running vehicle. :-)

 

 

[Thirsty]

Deskpilot - I'm in Morphett Vale. Goolwa is only something like 50K's from here while MB is probably close to 90. I ride motorbikes so cost of getting there shouldn't be too bad. Maybe I'll take a ride to each of them and see which is the furthest.

 

PS - I'll give you a call sometime to discuss - been very busy lately which is why I haven't gone for a fly yet.

 

Thx1137 - yeah I had already thought of that. It's really annoying that the dearest flying school (probably in Oz) is the closest one to me. The difference is something like $50 an hour compared to the others and that's going to add up pretty quickly.

 

 

[Thx1137]

That wouldn't be comparing similar aircraft I expect. The jab is a lot cheaper than the sporty. :-) I love flying the sporty but I love the price of my syndicate jab more :-)

 

 

[Thirsty]

Yeah fair enough. The rates in MB seem pretty damn good!

 

 

[CatD8]

Newby from NZ

 

Hi there. I am new to aviation but am quite keen on building a kit plane, an R80 Bushcaddy to be precise. Just wondering if anybody could tell me the maximum allowable engine weight for this plane as I would quite like to use an EA81 Subaru engine?

 

Cheers

 

Derek

 

 

[Thirsty]

Hey Derek, are you sure you've posted this question in the right forum topic mate?

 

 

[Thirsty]

Well I've now got 6 hours up and the CFI reckons I'm right to solo next flight! We've come a long way in a short number of hours I reckon. Funny story - the CFI was showing me how to land across the strip (directly into wind) off a glide approach (practice engine failure in cct) - we had just about touched down when he noticed the gardener mowing the grass next to the strip and we were heading straight at him! CFI takes over and shows me a "special" technique - just after touching down he kicks hard right pedal and the LSA did almost a 90 degree turn away from the lawnmower guy. All fine except we rolled the right tyre off the rim!! His punishment was to get out and walk back to the hangar (200 metres) while holding up the right wing with his shoulders while I taxiied the ac back.

 

Note: There was no danger of hitting the guy - he was a long way away. CFI just didn't want to scare the c**p out of him :)

 

 

[Latestarter]

Well done thirsty! Good luck with the solo.

 

Loved your landing story.

 

cheers

 

 

[Thirsty]

Thanks mate. You know, I remember clearly the terror when I soloed the first time when I did my PPL back in the 80's. I never wanted to experience that feeling again but guess what? I will next week! Oh well, I survived the first time and I reckon I'll be right this time too :)

 

 

[Acky]

Thirsty,

 

You're landing story wasn't New years eve by chance was it? I went for a fly then and did the diagonal on the runway (rwy 27) as well. Was a pretty windy day! was much much better new years day :)

 

cheers, and good luck :)

 

 

[Jayz]

Lol love it

 

 

[Thirsty]

Acky no - it was yesterday. It wasn't very windy, CFI was just trying to run me through 1000 different situations to see if I was ready to solo. I'm wondering now if he's ready :) (Just kidding, he's a very good pilot!)