Mike Gearon

Yes, one of the AOPA episodes mentions exactly this and the guy flew it all the way in. I heard just now on the news about the Australian crash. Condolences to the pilots family.

Check AOPA podcasts. “there I was” https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/there-i-was-an-aviation-podcast/id1240482999 A Numbrr of episodes involve landing in trees. The thing with “There I was” is the survival rate is 100% or the pilot couldn’t go on the show. I try to listen to each episode and take away what they’ve learned and retain it. Did a straight line trip recently over country I couldn’t glide out of danger from 9,500ft . I remember looking down at Mt Bulla and thinking that snow is the only landing spot I’ve seen. It was quite a relief to get back to safer country and without a BRS I’m unfortunately going to have to admit to being a bit wary of a repeat. Next trip will be my more usual more westerly route with plenty of landing spots in glide range. I did have a “take home” from one of the episodes which was to look out for younger growth. Younger plantation trees being a better option. Certainly save one pilots life on that show and I did spot some of these type of plantations on the trip.

Progress report. Rudder connected, seats in. Elevator and aileron controls ready to connect. Tyres on so we can proceed with hydraulics.

The build is getting exciting. Nice to see rudder pedals in. Sort of move backwards to go forward getting skins on then removing to deburr. We will leave the side skins off while doing avionics. Heaps better access. Stuff coming from overseas should be arriving soon. Firewall forward Titan kit air freighted and we expect that in next week. The UL520t engine due within the next month. UL520turbo motor should be a month away. Garmin isn’t far off. Tomorrow we will have rudder cables sorted and control sticks in place. Moving onto seats and wheels next week. End of October we might be getting close to flyable. It could possibly be 2 aircraft built by end February…. Rans currently has a 3-4 year wait for factory built S-21 aircraft and still around 12 months wait on the kits. We have 2 X Titan engine on order with delivery possibly mid 2023. ULPower engines around 3 months wait so I expect we will see how the engine performs. I’d still prefer that a mixture control on the UL rather than rely on the ECU programming. That’s the change I’d make if it was possible. Top 2 pics this afternoon. Bottom pic is where we were a week back and looks of course more finished. We do have to get the firewall back on to run the rudder cables with a foreword support bracket through the firewall.

That damage is very confronting. You guys have been through an awful lot. I liked your plan to change the throttle linkage. Hopefully it’ll become more positive at both idle and WOT. The current arrangement isn’t good at either end.

Dubbo flight today. 9,500ft added about 5kn and safety factor over the divide. Bloody cold though. Had ski pants on and multiple layers. Had to grab that jacket you see to wedge behind. Kidneys started getting painful from the cold coming through seat and in a rush to get out before fog set in I’d forgotten the cap. Jacket and Bob Tait took sunscreen duty. Definitely investing in one of those stick on sun screens to push into the appropriate roof area. Thankful to John for bringing Guy down in that beautiful 4 seater tail wheel. Wish I’d gotten a pic. TD Used to live at Tyabb until John purchased 4 months back. I managed a horrible landing at Dubbo. Guy did 2 circuits in the Nynja with me right seat and way better landings. 6:50am departure, stop at Tumut for fuel I didn’t need and wheels down at Dubbo 11:35am. 400nm averaged around 100-103kn gs. I finally worked out how to work that spring up top. You can lengthen or shorten it to get exactly the right wind correction for course. It’s just in front of Bob Tait wrapped around. Trimmed out and hands off for a fair portion of the flight. Really enjoyed the trip and meeting John and Guy. Guy is the good looking chap left seat in Nynja. Rex out of Dubbo and Qantas back to Melbourne from Sydney.

There should be a new Nynja in the area tomorrow. French island to Dubbo then she flies further north with new owner. Videos.. Yesterday wet paddock dislodged wheel spat. Landing at Tyabb a little hot. Seemed to float forever and reality on review was quite a short float. Bottom pic all cleaned up ready for Dubbo just now parked next to the dry runway! IMG_1542.MOV IMG_1539.MOV

I had that area inspected before returning to French island. Left the nosewheel spat amd gave it a good wash. Aircraft now clean again at Nic’s much drier runway. A lot to be said for farm runways on hills.

First video is why we are building the S21’s. Really tough to get into the air this wet and the S21’s will just lift off without drama very quickly. Second video isn’t one of my finer moments. On phone with the bank manager and distracted thinking I was leaning against a normal height fence and not Nic’s special low runway rabbit fence. Nic just kept working. Build moves quickly because Nic is an awesome worker and also because he researches really carefully prior to each days work. Manual and YouTube’s then we just go and we go fast! I’ve learned since back from USA I can’t match pace. 52 y.o to 64 y.o and my only option is to slow down. Fuselage is challenging. Lots of panels to match up. We are onto controls next week. Rudders, sticks and putting wheels on should see the week out. FullSizeRender.MOV IMG_1535.MOV

Progress. Plenty of YouTube’s along with the manuals. 05 degrees out then when we finally finished riveting we were 0.00 fore and aft. Nice to have it tweak itself perfect. That baggage compartment is a little tricky. We ended up quite neatly fitted. Wheels next after floor pan tomorrow. Only been back a week and we have made heaps of progress.

Had a bird strike today. Softfield take off in Pipistrel from French Island. Not great conditions of course but wanted to get it to Tyabb for avionics repair. Kept it low way longer than I normally would and super lucky not to have a prop strike. I heard the thump and immediately focused on possibility of vibration. Runway pic is Tyabb. Somebody had an interesting excursion. My farm runway not much better. Returning in Nynja with a rainbow. Nynja is such a delight to fly. I think the Rans S21 will just be a bigger faster version of this. Easy versatile aircraft.

First flight in winter. Quite a cool weather performance upgrade. IMG_1461.MOV

Well, I’m not completely sure. Could have lost points (cents) for being off Center line. However, no deduction as that’s not the criteria and it was a nice squeaked in landing. Well done! however…..That’s maybe a 15kn head wind. Looks steady, if it has a gust component that’s obviously going to potentially pull you back into the air during flare if timing works against your flare to gust speed. That headwind to ground speed was maybe a what 25kn ground speed… I guess my point is a student landing the Foxbat or Nynja is going to have an easier time of it in the Nynja. It loses interest in being airborne once near the ground. I’m just now back in Melbourne and plan to fly the Nynja part way to Lismore. We could have a land off competition somewhere 🙂 …except I have to work hard on Rans S21 build to get my 51% component sorted.

I’ll bring the dollar.

I’ll bet a dollar they are only 150mm forward of trike position. That’s close to missionary position.

Yeah, here’s a comparison. No wonder it’s “a handful” Floating aircraft. I get what you’re saying. I was getting a heap of float doing IFR training in the Cessna. 90kn stabilised descent then you come out of the Foggles and have to get slowed down. I do however think the Foxbat is prone to float and it is as such not a great student aircraft. A22 floats and A32 really floats. I recall seeing a video of Ido landing the Foxbat short field and pulling the flaps on touchdown. That seemed to sort it.

I talked to an ex military pilot recently (USA) . He just gave up on CASA conversion. Mine apparently has moved to a senior decision maker and that was a while ago. They have been very helpful. It’s just slow. There must be a number in my position. I can understand not wanting to go on a NGT VMC checkride. My last USA flight was with a really experienced guy. Ex everything including a long stint in accident investigation. Preflight I noticed each time we flew he did a thorough walk around and checked detail like rudder cable connections etc. Never touched the controls on my take offs and landings. Also, shadowed the yoke in close. That’s experience on display.

Funnily enough I talked to the old Nynja importer and he mentioned a tail wheel version in Australia and it was a real handful. I later ended up talking with the owner/ ex owner because he was considering being a ferry pilot for the Nynja I’ve sold. That’s my job it seems up to Dubbo next week on its way to Lismore as change over point. Answer as far as I know is that it’s possible but you’d not want to. Tail is already a handful! I noticed you flew the A32. Nynja is about in between the A22 and 32 in performance. 105kn cruise 5400rpm. Doesn’t float like the A32. Very well behaved.

2 1/2 hours IFR simulated flight with an ex IFR examiner and a simulated checkride….Can’t say it went perfectly. Was bloody surprised how well it did go. Transitioning from Omaha departure to Minneapolis Center then to grand island tower then reversed and I handled all radio and approaches without a heap of difficulty. Approach to Lincoln I screwed up radio call and tower covered for me. Midwest people are generally really nice! Surprised how IFR suddenly becomes achievable. Only problem my instructor had was that I may “finish up” in Australia. I took that as confirmation I’m on the way to the finish line. I’ll pursue IFR in Australia and finish up FAA IFR in USA next year. Couldn’t do IFR exam in Lincoln so booked it and took in Honolulu. 84%. I’d have liked better. From reading on IFR exam in Australia it seems harder? USA has some 1200 questions they’ll present 50 from and 70% pass rate. Oh yeah, spectacular tree Waikiki. Moana Surfrider.

Flew with chief instructor Rich again today. First time I’ve done all radio work. 2 approaches, 1 extended hold and a course reversal. Rich sorted my previous problem with distraction during radio or gps programming. When on GPS scan back to just attitude and more importantly trim out for hands off then go hands off. Worked really well. Almost 2 hours and I enjoyed it and wasn’t tired. Bloody surprised! 1 more flight tomorrow with the instructor instructor then off to Hawaii for 3 days then home. Good part is I do IFR exam at Honolulu. Booked. IFR aerobatic. I turned that sucker upside down and tried it. It insists on upside down.

Thanks for that. I flew with the instructor instructor today. 67 year old retired from the airlines and an extensive period in the FAA. I was surprised because he wouldn’t let me off any radio calls 😀. When I really gave up he just called approach with “say again” I had to step up. Just the right amount of assist on the approaches. Definitely helps to mix up the young instructors with the hugely experienced ones.

Only another week then heading home. IFR has been a journey I’d really prefer to have had a better map for. After first lesson and a basic understanding of the fine control and scan needed I’d 100% ask to sit back seat on an approach with my own approach plate open and watch and listen to com and record on a hand held GoPro. I think that’d be 20 hours ahead of the 40 hours I’m at now…. Speaking of maps… that little blue aircraft in the approach plate below makes such a difference. Also being able to make notes directly on the approach plate in foreflight. Not sure if AvPlan has similar. If I do IFR in Australia this is essential to stay ahead of the aircraft. Just circle the FAF and notate altitudes and call out altitudes and I realised yesterday I can augment the Garmin navigator and aircraft nav aids just by zooming in on that plate. Instructors make such a difference. I thought I might give up on myself or Hunter would give up on me after a truly awful approach with communication induced error and no real recovery and a real missed approach. I decided to leave it behind and he brought his A game to help setup the Garmin. 90kn approach held and it was near perfect. FullSizeRender.MOV

Hays, Kansas. Flew the TD S21 Titan 180hp with Marc while Randy was in the Tricycle with Rotax 915is. 140hp. We predictably climbed out way faster then predictably the rotax turbo gave a bit of push up high. FL105 Pics. love that taxi camera in the G3X! TAS 130kn at FL105 37lph and about the same from Rotax. Nic and I have returned to the Titan 180hp with whirlwind ground adj prop. I’ll discuss in another thread why. Like beautiful scenery out the window I never tire of seeing aircraft come alongside. I stopped filming just as Randy peeled off like a dive bomber on a run. Only just found out he used to fly aerobatic shows. No wonder he can make the aircraft do things I’ll never dream of repeating. FullSizeRender.MOV

Back from OSH Kosh. Flew with chief flight instructor Rich. 1.9 hours. I did okay. Debrief I found out I’m spending a buck and a quarter and only have a buck. We will aviate and navigate but not communicate next few lessons to get back to 75 cents. Then see if we can manage the dollars worth. I’m now doing AR Sim. A phone app that progresses your radio. Only problem is it demands a strong American accent. Refused to accept “Hawker” until I had it pronounced hoahrkerrr. Horka won’t do it. We don’t realise the w and r are barely pronounced in genuine Ozzie English. Pics. Flight today. Rich the chief instructor Mosquito helicopter at Osh Kosh. I’ve heard Victa lawnmowers that sounded more healthy. Fascinating to watch that tiny helicopter hover and turn. Tiniest of pilot inputs. I never want to fly one.

Well, we have a mutual aquantaince who was very vocal on why I shouldn’t train IFR. It did flip me into glider training and I’m thankful for that experience. I then went on to floats in Alaska and one of the guys there was a Kiwi. Fisher and Parker engineer who developed that wonderful direct drive. He had just completed IFR and told me how much it improved his flying. I’d also read a book on the accident curve. At 350 hours and IFR the rate of accidents reduces dramatically. Bloody statistics. Annoying as they are they you can use to separate fact from biased opinion. Time and money? At 64 I’ve just sold the business that took most of my time for over 2 decades. I guess a few of us are at the age where we both have loads of time and aren’t sure how much of it we have left. Is it better spent watching tv? Probably not. Money? Difficult subject probably best not discussed other than I’m very happy to have spent the say 20k AUD I’ve put into this. I noticed when I came back to CTAF’s last year after initial IFR training the radio calls and situational awareness were suddenly so easy compared to being under the hood talking with ATC. I have 20k invested in safe flying at this point. Radio and situational awareness hugely increased in VFR conditions minus whatever farm machinery induced hearing loss and whisky induced cognitive decline is going on. IFR flying… My Lincoln NE dentist pilot friend/ fellow Rans S21 builder was explaining while I had mouth full of dental tools how he did IFR 20 years ago then flew IMC and was so shook up he had his commercial pilot brother fly him home. I also listen to “There I was” The AOPA podcast on pilots who,survived some bad shit. Yeah, don’t do it. Practice…. If I make it through I’ll practice and maintain proficiency. 6 approaches and a hold per 6 months isn’t that arduous. I’ve been amazed how the scan starts to happen on its own. My personal favourite is V and inverted V. That rudder ball is a slippery little sucker in IFR. No nose to horizon to sort. Amazing OSH Kosh fact….. I get to show yesterday and 2nd stand I see is the Diamond 4 seater with 40ft wing. Spectacular aircraft.. have to have a look. Then I see Marcel. Marcel has flown his Husky into my farm runway and I’ve known him for 40 years. What are the chances! We will watch the OSH Kosh night show together with wives tomorrow night.