Stewart J

A number of years ago there was private African game reserve on a cattle station in the NT. The fella employed to look after the animals was from South Africa and one day, was out in a microlight checking on some of the animals. He'd been in contact with a helicopter muster pilot in the area and obviously overheard from on high.... " Hello down there, this is Qantas Flight QF_____ Sydney to Singapore, what's happening in your day?" and in a distinct South African accent came the reply, " Well, actually I'm just down here looking for a couple of Giraffe" Silence. Nothing more was heard from the Qantas Jumbo, but you can just imagine the pilot, after hearing that, turning to the navigator and asking, "Just how strong WAS that tail wind we picked up out of Sydney???"

That was worth it Pud, there're some clever buggers out there.

G'Day Watto, If you go to Ole Hartmann's site, Australian Aircraft Kits, home of Australian designed and made Hornet STOL aircraft kits there are clips of the Hornet doing water/riverbed landings. Worth a look.

Have a look at Australian Aircraft Kits at www.aircraftkits.com.au They have a Hornet which is a 2+2 and the Hornet AG is a true 4 seater. All metal and great prices. Will be looking to purchase from here myself, when I can sort the $$$. Hope that helps,

I'd go with Trangia as well. As Jay says, a little metho lasts a long time and the Trangia isn't just a stove, it's a whole cook set. Two pots, fry pan and small billy, so you can heat up your Rats or cook up fresh, and the whole thing weighs bugger-all. If you do get caught out without your Metho, a tin can, some sand in the bottom and a splosh of petrol will get you by. Just punch some holes around the top of the can so air can still get in when you put your pot on top.

Yes, the theory you probably can't have too much of, though slogging through it can be an effort. I'm hoping to build, so should know the anatomy intimately and as for the cool, hope I never have to find out. Cheers, Stewart

Thanks turboplanner. Never heard of Killathrill, (been bush too long obviously) but I did have to wonder about the calmness of the cameraman with that coming at him. It was sent to me, so thought I'd pass it on. Thanks also for the link to Niel Williams, now there's a cool customer, the experience shows and as he says, "......the information in this account may be useful. I hope it will never be needed."

G'Day All, don't know how many have already seen this, or if it has been posted before, but check this out. (Tried to attach it here but no joy) Go to You Tube and punch in THE BEST AIR RACE PILOT EVER. If this isn't doctored footage the this has got to be up with the best of them....:ah_oh: (gob smacked) Cheers........

Hi Big Kev, Not sure what type of 'craft you're after, but if you're considering doing any building yourself, then you may want to check out Australian Aircraft Kits, all metal fully enclosed ultralight aircraft kits They offer an all metal STOL Hornet. Its MTOW is 6ookg, making it LSA reg. Don't know if that's a problem or not. One of the links there is to Alan Sattler progress and the bloke sitting in the part finished 'plane is 6'8" (2.03) and he looks pretty comfy. Hope this is of some help, Cheers, Stewart

A Guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program. The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck. She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, 'If you can catch me, you can have me.' Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later puffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised. He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program. The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, 'If you catch me you can have me'. Well, he's out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape. Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs. as promised. He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program. 'Are you sure?' asks the representative on the phone. 'This is our most rigorous program.' 'Absolutely,' he replies, 'I haven't felt this good in years.' The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, 'If I catch you, your ar*se is mine.' He lost 63 pounds that week!!

You may have seen this one before….. The CIA were looking for someone who could carry out “wet” jobs for them, in other words, they needed an assassin, a hitman, so they recruited from the usual places- mercenary units, special forces, the Taxation Office, etc. All the possibles underwent vigorous training and one by one they were deemed unsuitable, until only the three best were left. These three were told they had one final test to pass and they would be called for separately. The first candidate was called in. Two men sat behind a desk and on the desk lay an automatic pistol. “Son,” said the older of the two CIA operatives, “you have passed all the tests and the training with flying colors. We believe you are the man we need for the job!” “Yes Sir! I believe I am!” “Well then, you have one final test to pass. Behind that door you will find someone sitting in a chair. We want you to take this pistol and go and shoot that person. Can you do that?” “Yessir!” and he took the pistol and stepped through the door. A moment later he stepped back out and said, “That’s my wife in there”. “Yes, we know”. “Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t shoot my wife”. “In that case son, you’re not the man we need. Leave the gun here and take your wife home”. Then they called in the next one and told him the exact same thing…. “Yessir!” and he took the pistol and stepped through the door. A moment later he was back too “That’s my wife, I can’t shoot her”, so he took his wife and left also. Same story with the last candidate. “Son, you’ve passed all the tests………the man we need for the job!” He takes the pistol and steps through the door. “BANG” the two CIA men smile at each other, “BANG, BANG……..BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG”, silence, then yelling and screaming and thumping noises, then silence. The door opens and the candidate steps out, wild-eyed and dishevelled looking “Jesus Christ! You could have told me the damn gun was loaded with blanks! I had to beat her to death with the chair!!!”

Thanks pelorus32 & disperse, just flicked an e-mail to Revolution and one to Rotamax for prices.

Thanks Mike, I'll give those sites a good looking over. cheers, Stewart

Have been in the Reserves (Army) in the NT for the last 20 + years and have marched a few times, in both greens and then in cams. Those time I didn't, we (my family) would go down from Darwin to a little town called Adelaide River, about100km south, for the dawn service. There is a cemetary there where the victims of the bombing of Darwin are buried and they hold the service there. Years ago we'd be some of about 30-40 people who'd turn up, (we live remote now and haven't been for the last 7 years) and this year my wife and kids who where up on a visit, went along and she said there where over 2,000 people there. Bloody good to see I reckon. Cheers, Stewart (Sgt)

G'Day All, if this has been covered in a previous discussion, please re-direct me, otherwise..... does anyone know if there are any suppliers of rotary A/C engines at around the 100hp range? I've looked everywhere I can think of on the net and though I've found some suppliers, they are all in the 200hp+ catagory. Everything else seems to point towards getting a 12A or 13B Mazda and doing the conversion yourself (plenty of sites & info on that). Any ideas? Cheers, Stewart

Excelent info from just about all of the above. has answered a lot of questions before they where asked. (Thought of though)

..as a young Ranger working for the NT Conservation Commission, at Ayer Rock in the early 80’s, I was instructed to turn up at the airstrip to accompany a film crew on a flight around the “Rock”. Met the pilot and a cameraman and a bloke who was ‘The Director’. Gave the pilot a hand taking the rear door off the ‘plane, helped put the film gear in the back (no seats, just a lot of bare aluminium) and in we got. We took off from Yulara and flew to the rock. Seemed to me that no matter what the pilot was doing, he couldn’t get it right for “Herr Director” “Slower, lower…higher, faster,…not there, over there!” I’m pretty sure the pilot was getting more and more XXXXed off as the morning went on. I was helping as much as I could by standing on the foot thingy when he told me to, which tended to make us fly sideways. (This made the cameraman happy) There was also a loud annoying sound that was pretty constant, “What IS that?” I asked “Stall warning” “Oh, OK” I figured if he’s not worried, why should I be? Eventually “Mein Fuhrer” was reasonably happy with what was in the can and we could go back. The pilot looked at me and said “Ever flown a plane before?’ “No” “Well, this is how to go up… this is down…..turn left….turn right, got it?” (muffled complaints from the back) “Yeah, seems pretty straight forward” On our way to the Olga’s, he pointed out a few other things on the dash to do with height and if you really were flying straight. (I already knew how to use a compass). After a slow turn around the Olga’s he gave me a bearing for Yulara and home we went. As we approached one end of the ‘strip (at about 90˚ left) I was thinking he’d take over. He just smiled at me and poked his thumb towards the ‘strip and I figured, “he wants me to turn that way”, so I did. The horizon went vertical, there were a lot of crashing noises from the back and yelling of “Jesus (something starting with F) Christ”. When I reckoned we were about right, I flicked it that way and there we were, reasonably lined up and coming in at about 30˚. (I knew the pilot was pretty cool, ‘cause during the whole manoeuvre, his fingers only flicked towards the controls twice). I was kicking the foot pedal things around a bit to try and keep us lined up when this subdued voice from the back asked “he’s not really going to land the f @*#ing thing too, is he?” The pilot gave me a cheesy grin and said, “I’ll take it from here”…….

Aeropup Good-o Thanks for that, I can be e-mailed through [email protected] and phone numbers are; (08) 89 759 940 wk (08) 89 759 759 hm would be good to info from someone with that much experience. Thanks again, Stewart

Anyone have, had or is thinking about getting an Aeropup? Have looked in the net a fair bit and have found some nice pics, a bit of video and have even got a quote (which seems pretty good for an aircraft kit of this size, under 20k firewall back) However, I can't seem to find any independant reviews/reports on how it performs, good and bad points, etc. Can anyone help out???? Cheers, Stewart

This is good Tomo, we've only just started yakking and not only am I getting good advice, but I've got you signing off with "cheers" :big_grin:. May need to down-scale my aircraft wishes to a two seater STOL with good load carrying capacity. Plenty of kits to choose from, and a damn site more affordable than the 4 place/2 + 2 kit options. Would like to stay with Aussie made (like the AAK Hornet), but the Zenair CH 750 is looking Veeeery attractive. See how things pan out. Not expecting anything to happen overnight and will learn more as I go. Cheers, Stewart PS, Put the 'strip designator onto my profile, 'cause that's where we live. If you're ever passing over, there's 1,300m of usable (unsealed), pretty much all-weather.

Thanks again Tomo, already had that link up and running. Shame about the one passenger bit but yeah, I think you're right and this'll probably be the best place to start from. There's a member of this mob near Darwin who I'll get in touch with and make a start next time I'm up there on leave. cheers, Stewart

Thanks for the welcome Tomo, Rec Licence? Not as yet, but will Google it as soon as I get off here. May be what I'm looking for, if I can carry passengers (private, not paying). We live in a pretty remote location in the NT and if things pan out right for me, then I'll be wanting to carry my wife, kids or friends in and out of town (about 500km by road) Cheers, Stewart

G'Day. Planning to....no, wrong, WILL be getting a PPL in the future and then will be setting my sites on a STOL kit. Obviously there are a lot of questions to be thought of and answered between now and then, and I figured there are probably not many places beter to get that info than from a lot of like-minded and more experienced folk. Cheers, Stewart