Guest disperse Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I went for a fly in the Sierra !! Well I lost my Natfly virginity this weekend ..... and no I wasn't by myself anyway we drove out to wellington thursday night and mrs sperse and I headed out to Narromine Friday morning just in time to see the Sierra take off away from me come back, come back !!! I think Gary heard me cause he was back in about 15mins and I got to drool allover it .... sorry to everyone that touched it after me.. Back to wellington that afternoon (in laws) and back to Narromine early morning Saturday morning for a pre arranged flight ........Nooooo !!!! Rain. long story short. Gary found a short break in the rain and we went up ........ was rather rough and the sierra just rode through it with absolutely no harsh bumps ..... into a 45degree turn in the rough, then HANDS OFF .... I don't think it rolled in or out a single degree ........ throttle back and pull the nose up into a stall , and it just sat down, dropped it's nose and started flying again..... Most people know I have very little flying experience...... so my test fly came down to a simple feeling of comfort and ease.... did I say comfort I got to meet slarti when he brought the cheetah in. And spent a while in Ians tent (hidding from the cold in the morning... Thanks for the loan of a coat Ian). also meet Paul (SHAFS64), Big pete and little pete. and of coarse DaveC Had plenty of fun and throughly enjoyed myself .... Check these few pic's out ...... I think it suits me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultralights Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 good thing was, the rain wasnt very heavy, just light intermittant drizzle. not enough to stop you walking around. occasionally it would rain harder, but only for a few mins at a time. actually it meant you could walk around all day and not break out in an all over sweat, and it kept the dust and flies down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Sat night You never know who will sit down next to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushpilot Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 The thing that I got the most out of was some of the Forums: The 2 hours on maintaining Jabiru engines was extremely useful; told me lots of things that I had not contemplated.. Also interesting that Rod Stiff announced that he is working on a Jabiru helipcopter; to give Robinson a run for their money... Seems he has some work to do before it's certain, but he is keen! Caught up with Ian - and was spell-bound by the mega-sized pics he had of the Millennium Master; I dragged a few other pilots to the RFF tent to see the photos also. I think it will set a new standard for LSA / Rec. aviation. Cheers, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Good stuff guys. The helicopter project sounds interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Niiiiiiiiice! Told you that you would enjoy it Troy. She flies herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayble Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Hey, nice pic ! Thats us ! ( ann and Ian ) Ann and i decided the weather sounded iffy and went to Shep instead. Very good Thai food in Nixon street and very friendly people at the airstrip ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David C Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Hello folks .... Just manged to dry out my clobber and load a few photos . It was a good weekend , as is usual for the Narromine do , weather , excepted . Met up with quite a few members , some old faces , some new . The general consensus was that the numbers were down , both attending aircraft and trade stands . Here are a few photos Dave C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shafs64 Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 that weather changed real fast.on friday i was stealing sunblock from RAA tent. and saturday it was gray and wet. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David C Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Sounds like a mixed bag of aircraft and weather. Dave, what was the rag and tube turnout like? Maybe next year my friend if you are brave enough to travel there with me. I should own a rag and tube by then. In a word ... Disapointing .. Just a few out of a total of about 300 aircraft attending . We need to make the numbers up next year , what do you say ??.. Dave C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slartibartfast Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 You never know who will sit down next to you Hey - we were there first. The dinner sucked - I didn't win anything ;) Great pictures everyone. I only took a few. I'll go through them later. I'm still recovering. Selling aeroplanes is hard work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 There is always something that is funny at Natfly - one time when I had just bought my first CT I ended up sitting at a table at the dinner where everyone owned a Jab - even sat next to Cliff Banks. This time most funniest thing that I experienced at Natfly was at the dinner on the Sat evening again - not only did I get landed next to Geoff and Slarti but my father won one of the Raffles - a darn XCom Headset What say we have an auction soon and see if we can raise any money for it and donate it to the GYFTS program that Carol Richards has started to help a young pilot get into training - what sayeth all? Oh, and you would never guess who won the Recreational Flying Headset and Tent - the Secretary of the SAAA ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastmeg2 Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 This was my 2nd year at Natfly and the first time I flew there in my trike. Flying from our private strip south of Goulburn, getting out early while I could before the wind came down to the ground (20kts headwind from NW @ 500ft AGL when I took off) I met up with Ian Willis and his son Matt in their trike (From Nowra) at Crookwell. We managed to get up high out of the stronger headwinds and increase our groundspeed from 30kts to 40kts (for 60kts IAS) and landed at Cudal to eat our sandwiches and drink hot tea from my thermas. A quick assesment of our fuel showed that I might make it the remaining 70Nm to Narromine, but Ian would not. So we diverted to Parkes. Parkes advisory radio on the CTAF was very accommodating and gave us a straight in approach low level on RWY22. Now one of the great things about 4 stroke trikes compared to the 2 strokes we used to fly was the ability to taxy up to the Avgas bowser and "fillerup". I'm not complaining about the 171.9c/l price with that kind of convenience. To that point we'd flown in what was probably the worst conditions I've flown x-country in in a trike for headwinds and bumps. Parkes-Narromine was easy. Flying time 5.5hrs for 200Nm. I won't write about the time spent at Narromine since others have already covered that off. I originally intended to make the return flight either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. The weather dictated that it was Sunday morning. After packing up my soaking wet tent and watching the weather gradually clear from the North I got in the trike and taxied out, to queue up for departure. Even on a Megafauna fly away I have not seen so many aircraft queued up on the taxyway. I was impressed. From takeoff I quickly climbed to 1000ft AGL, still over the runway and turned south. This time the GPS ground speed was 70kts and stayed at 70kts all the way past Parkes, Forbes, Grenfell and Young. It was not until I got to about Binalong that my ground speed started to drop below 65kts and the smooth air stopped. Tracked north of Yass, north of Gundaroo (staying outside Canberra 3500ft CTA step), across lake George and before I knew it was doing my low level downwind over our strip to scare away to Roo's, then turned back to land upwind. Flight time was 3.5hrs for 200Nm - 2 hrs less than before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fred Bear Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Well done mate :thumb_up: Quite an achievement with the weather, speed, distance and all. You should be proud. I'd love to do it one year in a rag and tube. Real flying, real slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbleboy Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 First Natfly and loved it. Oh that original Piper J3 Cub! Hope I didnt soil it too much! Got 170 photos for my full size build commencing soon! Scotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigPete Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 Well - We've done it again. RAIN - Both Ian and myself have once again brought rain to a very dry area. An invoice will soon be on the way to the Narromine council requesting payment for our unique "RAIN" service. If you're in dire straits and need water - just arrange a fly-In and invite us. :thumb_up: Had a great time at NATFLY 2008, both myself and my grandson (LittlePete) enjoyed Ian's hospitality, (and the hot X buns) had some great talks with Ian's dad Jack and also enjoyed catching up with Ross (Slatibartfast), Shafs, Disperse, the two Geoffs (Red Cliffs) John, Cliff, Hazel and Ian, Jabiru Joe and Victor, Mark D and many more. Also found a SPECK on the Dova Skylark after Mick had polished it!!! and met the lovely Helen (Micks wife). Saw lots of aeroplanes (really ) and enjoyed the cameraderie of all and sundry. :big_grin: Had a great trip home dodging the rain and enjoying a brief stop at Griffith (met up with half the flyers who departed Narromine that morning. Even refueled the Pioneer 300 at Echuca before heading home (in the car). Alltogether a very satisfying trip - 7 hrs flying - 635 miles and 105 liters of fuel and Fun, Fun, FUN. regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Good to see you and young Pete up at NatFly:big_grin: even if we did get a bit wet on the way home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antzx6r Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Ops Manual Forum I had big plans on getting there with my x country almost complete, but the weather let me down. One thing I really wanted to attend was the ops manual forum. Did anyone catch it and could you give us a brief run down??? Did it fill us in on what's new like endorsments and restrictions etc.? Cheers, Ant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 A couple of extra photos I know that others have posted similar photos, but thought that some might be interested in the following from Natfly 2008: The dust/wind/rainstorm that came in from the SW (I didn't photograph those that came in from the east and all other directions). [ATTACH]5338.vB[/ATTACH] The jet and it's low pass ..... I want one. [ATTACH]5339.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5340.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5341.vB[/ATTACH] A couple of other general shots that show the sky and the vibe on the Thursday. [ATTACH]5342.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]5343.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]5344.vB[/ATTACH] These are all just off my phone so apologies if the quality is not all it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RLP Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Soo...from the pics....It's a Jabiru fly-in, and some other 'planes came too?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slartibartfast Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Yet another guy I wanted to catch up with but didn't, even though he was there. I figured that by standing next to my plane all weekend everyone would know who I was and come say hello. What's the story? Geoff? Glen? Chris? Mick? I must look real scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 G'day Ross. You are a bit like Mick with his Skylark. I walked over to have a chat with you both about 5 or 6 times over the weekend during dry periods and every time you were deep in conversation with what I assumed was an interested customer ..... and I know to keep away at such times. So I usually then went over & sat with Ian who also had lots of customers, and meetings with the RAA etc, but his coffee and hotties were good, and his photos of the MM had a pornographic effect. Regards Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slartibartfast Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Geoff, I think I speak for all of us when I say "ewww". I certainly didn't want to catch up while you were under the influence of the Millenium. I definitely was busy most of the time, and it looks like paying off. I'll catch you another time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Soo...from the pics....It's a Jabiru fly-in, and some other 'planes came too?. There certainly were a few Jabirus there & I couldn't find 1 unhappy J owner ..... but there were lots of other brands and they were all smiling too, even though the weather was suss for much of the time. It's a credit to Rod and everyone at Jabiru that they have made such a contribution to the success of recreational aviation in Ozzzz, and it has changed the way these aircraft are used as there was lots of discussion between owners of circumnavigation (or is it circumcision?) of the country etc ..... although other makes will certainly do that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Ross I should have added that I reckon that you did a good job getting there when you did as I assumed that you would have been stuck down your way when the weather came thru on Thursday evening/Friday morning. I had given up on your arrival and all of a sudden there was your Cheetah, looking better in the flesh that it does in the pics. And I have nothing but respect for eastmeg and the other trike guys who also made it through those conditions. That was a bloody good effort. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now