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FlyingVizsla

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Posts posted by FlyingVizsla

  1. Ian,  Just wondering if a category for "Aircraft" is a possibility.  I have a number of books dedicated to one particular marque eg DC-3, Lancs, or a particular type eg Bushplanes, or era EAA 1932, or locality.  These are usually devoid of personal stories but full of specifications, photos, lists etc.

  2. Ian, I had to set up most of the earlier books from scratch, because there was no, or little, response to the ISBN.  I have a couple of good ones with no ISBN, so I will try a dummy 00000..  I am intending to return to them and give them a fuller description and rating.  I am very busy at the moment, but the temptation to re-read is overwhelming!  I was part way through Jack Flyer and had to get back to the other books. 

    Technology has not been kind to me the last few months with my computer having BSoD constantly, then black screen and corrupted back-ups, exchanged under warranty, then discovered that File History can only be restored the old computer.  Now picking files off one by one, rename, save, update (lost about a month & half, incl all emails), my email won't connect to the server, I have to find a new accounting system, learn it and convert my data, my old mobile is on its last legs.  And the farm work is at top speed.  Never a dull moment here.  Now I have a pile of books I want to read again, and some I have not started yet (due to being so busy ...)  Love the site!

  3. A bloke at Childers Qld (where we are based) had an Airbike, the one that crashed. He sold the wreck, so don't know if the new owner got it flying. We followed him in our RANS S7 to a private strip. The Airbike went so slow (and low) that we kept losing him as we orbited, to avoid getting ahead of him. So they are not speed demons.

    • Like 1
  4. What happened to the pulsar?

    I had advertised it on Rec Fly YEARS ago - will have to look, the owner is a hard man to help. He needs to sell as he will never fly again, the wife wants it sold, long story. The prang was in his panic that the sun was going down while he was doing circuits (and lots of friends watching .... no pressure) he landed hot with a tailwind. Collected the fence at the end with the wing. Was professionally repaired, and he's been pulling it off and doing little things, I think, not wanting to give up his hobby. Mr FV says it is the best 912 he has seen. It is in our hangar and he pulls it through now and again. The age of the engine may be an issue, now RAA are wanting all the ADs etc done before returning it to the register. He shouldn't have taken it off. Looks sleek, ex VH register, goes like the clappers but needs an EXPERIENCED pilot as it is very slippery. I'll try to find the initial adverts with pics etc.

  5. Must be the season for it! Our Club has been offered several neglected aircraft, from a kit still in its crates to half built, to built and not flown for years. All from $Free to $Make Me An Offer. No one here has been keen to take on the challenge.

    A ProTech PT2, bought 20 years ago, still in boxes, engine turned over regularly. A Pulsar, repaired after a prang, but off the RAA register and not flown for 15+yrs. A Sapphire, not flown for years, off the RAA register, owner pulls it out regularly, turns the engine, cleans and services. Many more not flying, or partly built, never on the register, or taken off when the owner's health deteriorated. Ahh! to be young again with time on my hands to do them justice! Instead we are looking to reduce our fleet to give us more time to work on what we have.

    • Like 1
  6. Isn't Michael Monk the Australian representative for an overseas sourced RAAus aircraft as reported in Australian Flying? How do you spell conflict of interest if this is so?

    Each candidate has to declare any conflict of interest in their election statement. MM's is

    ---------

    Declaration of financial interests related to aviation

    Majority shareholder of Lockr Life Pty Ltd (LLPL) – provider of products and services to the aviation sector. LLPL writes and sells lockr.aero aviation logbook products for pilots and aircraft maintenance tracking. In addition to this, LLPL also distributes CTLS aircraft and related parts in Australia. LLPL also provides bespoke software and consulting services to aviation businesses on a national and international basis.

    ----------

     

    The other candidates have listed their Conflict of Interest in their Statements.

     

    I would rather have one with "skin in the game" than one without. In our previous elections there were candidates who had very little time with RAA and very little (if any) time around ultralights. Unless they bring strong skills in areas where the Board is deficient, they'll be passengers while they 'catch up'. I fear that RAA, unintendedly, is attracting people wanting to put on their CVs "Director on the Board of Australia's largest Aviation Organisation" and claim any advances as their own. I wrongly assumed members would have had lots of time in lock-down to think about volunteering for the Board to right the wrongs, improve our sport and make the world a better place. Instead there was apathy.

    • Like 5
    • Informative 1
  7. Have not seen Sport Pilot, not in the letter box, not on the RAA site, not on issuu.com and no word on when it is due - has obviously missed the 1st August publication date. Their website is pace.com.au

     

    Now this will put RAA into a difficult situation as the ballots must be received or at least post marked 25th Sept. I see the AGM (due in November) has been postponed to Feb 2021. The next "Meet the Candidates" is due 26th August. Lets hope the other three have done some homework on RAA, as they struck me as knowing very little about the issues, apart from Simon wanting RAA instructor hours to count towards a GA Instructor rating. I guess word got around Canberra that there was a Director position going as someone was not re-standing. I regret not putting my hand up.

     

    Michael Monk has said several times that this is his last term. He will not be standing again, so one of the other unpaid Directors will be the head of RAA. I just hope they have as much energy and time to travel around. Several existing Directors are employed full time elsewhere. At least MM gets around the country (& on live stream during the virus). The last time I saw so much of our leadership was back in the days of the AUF when Middo and Myles did our flying school inspections, and NATfly, but we were a much smaller organisation then, with mostly volunteer instructors and a lot of the admin done by volunteers, which caused some issues later.

  8. Voting closes on the 25th September, with usually a week or more for postal votes to arrive, then we will have two winners. The ballot papers will be in the August edition of Sport Pilot (which still hasn't arrived at our place) and another "Meet the Candidates" live broadcast 9th Sept. There are two vacancies, obviously Michael Monk is standing again, but it looks like the other Director isn't re-contesting.

  9. You can take out a "Non-Flying" membership - about $100 which includes the magazine, voting rights etc. There's also a "subscription only" membership. It will be on the RAA site. If your health (or whatever improves) you can still return to flying with a BFR and rejoining with a pilot certificate. Hope you do!

    • Like 1
  10. Well, just sat through 85 + minutes of the four candidates. Apart from Michael Monk, I wasn't overly impressed with any others. Seems to have attracted Defence Force, Canberra based candidates. I thought about standing, but decided I wasn't well known and wouldn't have a hope, but at least I knew a lot more about recreational flying. Next "Meet the Candidates" will be 9th Sept.

    • Informative 1
  11. Meet the candidates

    Election Candidate panel discussion - LIVE Wednesday 12 August 2020 at 7pm AEST

    As part of our election cycle this year RAAus is working to encourage more members to vote, and engage with candidates online. Whilst this idea was born out of lockdown, it is an ideal way for more members to “meet” potential directors and become more informed about those people elected to lead RAAus.

     

    RAAus encourages all members to submit questions prior to the live stream. Please email [email protected]

     

    The live stream will be independently moderated and will give all candidates an opportunity to openly engage.

     

    If you would like to learn more about the candidates you can view their election statements in the member portal, and in the August edition of Sport Pilot which will be landing in member's mailboxes soon. Also included in Sport Pilot are a ballot paper and return envelope. Voting in the RAAus 2020 Board Election closes on 25 September. There will be more opportunities for members to ask questions and engage with candidates throughout August.

     

    To view the live panel discussion this Wednesday 12 August at 7:00pm AEST, please click here for Facebook, or view on YouTube.

    • Like 1
  12. Log on to the RAA members' portal - go to Governance - 2020 Elections. There you will find the statements from all 4 candidates. They are:

     

    • Michael Monk (standing for re-election)
    • Andrew Scheiffers
    • Simon Ozanne
    • Danni Maynard

    • Informative 1
  13. What are you growing Sue? Jackfruit? Mangosteen? Lychee? Longan?

    Just about anything that thrives in the sub-tropics - Mango (3 varieties), Lychee, bananas (3 varieties), Guava (6 varieties), plum (4), peach, grumachama, Brazilian cherry, jackfruit (2), jaboticaba, 5 star fruit (carambola), Lonergan, Ceylon cherry, Citrus - Lemons (4), lemonade, mandarin (3), oranges (3 - Cara Cara, navels, Valencias), Lime, Kafia Lime, figs, Sugar plum, Black Sapote, persimmon, pomegranate, loquat (3), apple (3), medlar, bunya nut, macadamia nut, Saba nut/ Malabar chestnut, pecan nut, dragon fruit (3), lily-pilly, Burdekin plum, Quandong, passionfruit, Giant Granadilla, Cape Gooseberry, strawberry, mulberry, grapes etc. I grow a lot of vegetables. We have 86 acres with 30 & 2.5 acre cropping areas and 2.5 acres of orchard & lots of sheds.

     

    We need lots of sheds because Mr FV thinks he is living another 400 years and has lined the jobs up accordingly. He is currently restoring a 1951 Oliver Clertac dozer, a Cat 112F grader, David Brown 885 Tractor, trying to rebuild the motorcycle he got smashed up on in 1991 (he breaks nearly every bone, every 30 years and is now half metal - but not worth $6million!). Plenty of planes to finish building, repairing, hangars needing repair, equipment, etc. He just loves junk and the house, sheds etc are chokkers with things that don't work, will never work (analogue mobiles & TVs), are surplus, have been dumped on us by his sons (car bodies, dead HWS, rusted guttering....) can't part with anything! My father would periodically take stock, and decide that "this stuff is costing too much", whereas Mr FV will gladly build another $20,000 shed to house $100 worth of rust and spent about $30k moving all the junk (about 60 trips truck & trailer over 5 years) to the new farm. Bless him!

    • Like 1
    • Haha 2
    • Winner 1
  14. Sue is your newsletter online? Quite a few of us on here might like a link.

    Not on-line. It is our local group's newsletter which goes out to members before a meeting with lots of great information, but most importantly, the whereabouts of the next meeting and competition (fruit cooking) - we meet at members' properties. With no meetings due to the lock-down and the age of most members, I have filled the spare pages with more info. Normally half of it would be reports of the last meeting, the winning recipes, the raffle, fruit tastings, etc. It is picked up by the National body and I sometimes see my articles re-printed in other clubs' newsletters. Now, if you could convince Ian to create a "Gardening for Sub-Tropical Pilots" on the forum, I could populate it with Bunya Nuts, Bananas, Cape Gooseberries, Dragon fruit, Saba Nut, soil testing etc. :wink:

     

    Sue

  15. Out of curiousity what other things are you guys interested in like Cars, Boats, Gardening, Technology, Jobs, Home Maintenance ?????????????????

    Mr FV is interested in engines - in planes, graders, dozers, trucks, chainsaws, motorcycles. Aircraft design, particularly early ultralights and his "Golden Age" of flight, between WWI & WWII

    I'm interested in planes and flying. I also do a lot of gardening / farming. I put out a bi-monthly "Rare Fruit Club" newsletter of 20 pages with articles on unusual native & exotic fruits (growing and eating) and associated gardening information.

    We have both been quiet as there has been no flying due to the lock-down. In fact we have been busier than "normal" due to the Pandemic with about 400 years work ahead of us.

    • Like 2
  16. Been years since I was there as a local. They were a bit cheesed off with people thinking it was a public strip for Carnarvon Gorge National Park and slapped a big landing fee on them. Fair enough, they maintained it for the Flying Doctor (retrieving injured tourists ...) and their own use. They have to insure it for these uses.

     

    Google has errors in road names - It is Carnarvon Gorge road, not O'Briens or Wyseby (don't know how they came about). There is an airstrip closer at Bandana Station, down Bandana Road, off Carnarvon Gorge Rd, but looking at the satellite image on Google Maps, it is looking a little overgrown. They operate a tourist attraction there and may welcome fly-in visitors.

     

    Let us know how it turns out, as I have not been there in years and may be way out of date. I worked on the roads there for the local Council (there's a camp at Ingalala) and did some flood damage work.

  17. Three decades ago, young pilots would cry on my shoulder about how either they couldn't find a girlfriend who liked their flying or their present squeeze was demanding they give it up. Amused me that they never saw me as an option, maybe they saw me as 'one of the lads'. The only "offer" I got was from the LAME who saw the advantage in a partner who flew and owned a plane (ie could position aircraft for free and he could pinch the occasional instrument).

     

    This probably explains why I never married until my mid 50's - to a widowed aircraft builder & pilot who had a lot less hours than I had. Trouble is, he insists on doing all the flying and his hours are steadily creeping up.....

    Sue

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