seb7701

Just to clarify, police forensic crash unit (FCU) do establish the cause of the incident as well as subsequent cause of death on behalf of the coroner, as required under the Coroner's Act. FCU police officers in many cases do have specialist aviation crash training and in any case are very highly trained in crash/incident investigation. One of the issues is that ATSB undoubtedly have the best investigative resources, but unfortunately do not investigate all aircraft incidents, generally will not touch RAA incidents and even if they did, their investigation is conducted parallel to the police investigation and they are prevented from sharing the contents of their investigation until they release their findings much later down the track. Edit - speaking in Qld that is, but Howard Hughes said it perfectly.

G'day and Welcome James - love the skyfox!

Yeah, you got me....I watch 'My Kitchen Rules'...

Agreed.... I will watch a bad flying program 10 times over rather than master chef and the rest! Seriously, though, check out those YouTube's I mentioned - great stuff!

Seen 'dust up' a few times now and whilst I'm sure the main dude is a good pilot (second only to his dad who is 70+hrs and still flying ag...), the show is a little lame. 'Flying Wild Alaska' is a great show with gnarly skills shown by just about everyone I've seen hop into a plane!! Hongie, if you're looking for net stuff, jump on You Tube and check out 'A B29 frozen in time' - quite amazing story and also 'Alaska Bush Pilots' which was a Nat Geo series with Jared LETO. Also a terrific watch!

Hi Guys. Just how plausible is it to fold the wings on an X-air (standard) and store it in/on a trailer? I have seen the promo vid a while back where they showed X-Air wing fitment, but promo vids might not tell the full story. I am an unashamed drifter fan, but love the look of these x-airs. Much the same speeds, but probably more comfy and much easier wing removal. What are your thoughts people?

Did my ab initio on SB and finished on a wire braced. The first obvious difference was the fact that when you land a SB, you have much more float and time to think as a beginner when landing. When you get to a wire braced, you basically fly it to the ground, because there is far less float (if any) depending on approach speed. As the boys said, WB feels much lighter and I am lead to belief much stronger. Just my 2 cents...

No question about it - if it is Drifter related, Wayne is THE man alright. The extra $1000 is nothing compared to getting ill-fitting sails from someone inexperienced with Drifters. NO ONE knows drifters like Wayne!

Sorry about the hold up - here's some snaps of the supercat I was interested in a while back. It really was a beautiful example. Is this one being rebuilt?

Is the crashed one the green and white one which ditched into trees after takeoff? If so, I have a series of photos from the owner when it was last for sale. Really nice little machine and well priced also from memory. Can post the photos if anyone is interested in what a nice one looks or looked like.

Thanks Maj - nicely done. I have always been fascinated by Bantams and wonder often how they would compare overall with the like of X-Air's and Drifters. Windsor68 beat me to the punch - I too have often wondered about getting one from NZ, particularly with the exchange rate so favourable. Interested parties might also take a look at the Recreational Aircraft Assn of NZ website which has a marketplace also. Always Bantams listed there. I imagine they would be pretty straight forward to pack into a container? The website is http://raanz.org.nz/wiki/pmwiki.php

Beautifully done Chris. Having had a solo forced landing the day before my RAA flight test, I know what is happening in the cockpit (and your mind). I hope to maintain such composure and professionalism if there is a next time!

Hi Micko and welcome. First up, I can't help you with an opinion on weight shift, however 3 axis training will certainly open the door to a wide variety of aircraft types and allows you to switch and change as you please. I kicked off in a Drifter (and still would rather fly them than anything), but it made flying the likes of Jabirus and Tecnams largely a non-event. Learning on the high drag, low inertia types does make you a better pilot in my opinion, and that includes weight shift I guess! P.S. I'm jealous - love NZ and would happily move there I think! Best flight ever was with Ruth at U fly Wanaka!

Bring on the questions- there's more than enough drifter gurus on this forum, let alone with the tried and true Aussie drifter!!

Might be an old video, but it put me on the edge of my seat!!!

Hmmm, forgive me Bill, but I did mention that you may have had a proposition for him....

Agreed. There are obviously many facets to consider in this incident and I see no harm in doing just that - CONSIDERING aspects of the situation - particularly if they make any one stop and think about whether they could be doing something a little better. Despite discussion being focussed somewhat on aircraft condition, most would be aware that incidents are usually the culmination of a number of little factors that have all come together and in some instances even just pointed to bad luck. Yeah, there's been some chat about this one and a few highlighted aspects, but I am yet to read anything which has crossed any boundaries or resembled anything offensive or similar to a 'witch hunt', not has anyone taken any great notice of one measly witness. Oh, and whilst I'm done with this thread, as someone brought up earlier, if we are to wait for a coroner's recommendation before doing a little self initiated quality control, we could be waiting a long time.....

Monty, you are spot on IMO. In my line of work, a subtle one to one is the first port of call, but if that fails, then it is may well be necessary to go to the next level. If you see someone modifying the rules for themselves, you simply need to think to yourself "What is the worst that could happen here - could someone be hurt or worse? If you answer is yes, then you need to speak to someone. There are plenty of options for us without having to go straight into combat mode. And yes, you might just save someone from themselves!!

One of the overriding purposes behind a coronial inquest (in a situation where there is no chance of criminal proceedings), is to simply look at the incident and to ascertain whether anything may be implemented in order to prevent reoccurrence. As mentioned in Andy's post, the coroner, I imagine, will be focussed mainly on this particular incident unless there was something link to other incidents with an apparent similarity in their likely cause. In honesty, if an investigator does their job properly and does know of the youtube footage, they would include it for the coroner's info. As you can guess, the investigation is likely to look at the aircraft, the operator and operating environment and the videos do fall under the second category obviously. The bonus is this - a coroner (normally....) doesn't just listen to a one sided or ill reported newspaper article for their facts, they take them from a variety of relevant and reliable sources, anything that might help in fact, gather all the info and look at the overall picture and go from there. I certainly know only the smallest fraction of the facts in this case, but if one of the scenarios in my mind holds true, then I would like to think that this incident does not necessarily hold catastrophic consequences that some may fear. Again, I DO NOT know all of the facts.

Can I dare ask what happened at Inglewood? PM if necessary...

Yeah, that line didn't benefit anyone did it.

Not at all trying to further dampen what is already a tragic situation, but heartless as it may sound, articles like that are a bugger to the RAA cause in times like this. Nobody means any harm by them, I acknowledge that as they are juts a product of a bad situation, but is causes a little consternation to know that the general public will read the article and see phrases like ....“He knew what he was doing. He respected life and wouldn’t take risks.” They then would probably discount pilot error and look straight to the aircraft being flown and say, oh, well, that's another one of those bloody ultralights crashing again. What do you expect. I know am am re-hashing what was touched on at the beginning of the thread, but I get the impression that the poor souls in question should have gone home safely to their families at the end of the day had a few different choices been made along the way. Regardless of what might or might not tick me off, my heart truly goes out to the families.

G'day there. Not sure if you're familiar with this site, but is the NZ equivalent of the RAA and has a vast listing of clubs. If you wade through them, they often have a website with club details and hire rates etc. The site is - RaanzWiki | Main / HomePage Also, if you find yourself a little further down in Wanaka, then go and see Ruth PRESNELL at U-Fly Wanaka and she will sit back and let you take her for a spin in a Tecnam. The aircraft my be something you have experienced in OZ, but the scenery from 9000ft is not!! I took a fantastic mountain flight and was back to the strip in 60mins. She was NZ$235 p/hour last year when I went. Totally mindblowing!!!

If that is Terry Kronks, that radial sounds 10 times better in real life!!!

Hi Farri. You raised a very logical point re th bottom end becoming the top and from my limited mechanical knowledge, the majority of engine wear occurs at startup, so it what you are saying re the inverted engines does make sense. I am aware of Wayne's preference for the 503's and, come to think of it, will have to ask some time how many hours he gets out of one. I love the simplicity of the air cooling and the general reputation of the 503, hence my interest. Will keep investigating....