IanR

There are two for sale in the US at the moment if you have deep enough pockets !

Was a fantastic weekend. Very dry out there though with plenty of dust. I also heard that there were 120+ aircraft - although also didn't see any at the dinner. Its always tense at home after one of these flyins as I start discussing which extra aircraft we NEED to supplement the Auster There were nine Austers there which is pretty good - but the interesting stat was nine C180 - have not seen that many at one flyin for a while. It was also announced that the annual major flyin would be at Echuca for the next three years The seminars held on the Saturday were interesting - including one from CASA on Part 61 - where many in the audience tried to shoot the messenger ! Mark Skidmore was also there and warned everyone it would take a while for reforms to start to take effect.

Yes. We arrived yesterday. 30 knot headwinds made for a very long trip.

If anyone is interested - the Antiquers have their big annual flyin at Echuca this weekend - lots of VERY nice aircraft will be on display.

I didn't realise there were only two flying - the other one being based at Wollongong.

This Ryan is WW2 vintage PT22 - the military version with the Kinner radial.

This has sort of been covered by a number of the replies - but in my view its up to you to actively get yourself in the right frame of mind before you decide to go ahead with a landing. It may be worth adding a line your your pre-landing checklist of doing a self assessment - sort of a wakeup call - am I ready to land. The key area of concern I saw in the initial statement was you were on mental autopilot - I think we all get that at some stage in various activities - but with a concious effort you can for a short period pull yourself out of it without resorting to adrenalin hits !

There has been a nice Auster for sale up in CAB - four seats - restored - for under $30K from memory

Tailwheel endorsement is fun and challenging - my son just did his in conjunction with the MPPC endorsement and loved it (he only got his PPL last year). Certainly teaches you to understand all the controls ! The other one thats purely fun if you can get a second person is formation although many schools would require a minimum hours before they will teach that.

When I originally bought my Auster it had an impeccable history on the leakdown tests - all around 78/80. However, I got an annual done before I took delivery and one cylinder had dropped to 37/80 - the aircraft had not been flown much in the previous year. Turned out to be corrosion in one valve cause by sitting - as well as a loose valve seat. The history of leakdown tests is just that - history - what it is now is what matters. We got the cylinder done immediately and has been perfect since. I know its not a Jab motor but these things happen in all

Some that I have always liked from the warbird area - DH Mosquito and the Bristol Beaufighter (and of course the Auster but I may be a bit biased !)

I dropped my Auster in to have its annual done - and sitting in the hanger was VH-KXR a polished Cessna 195 which I have seen there a few times since she was imported. There is something just right about the looks of the 195 and I instantly fall in love every time I see one What other aircraft have this effect on people ?

looking forward to seeing it - nice things

The SIDS documentation for each model is available on the Cessna website - what a number of people I know are doing is listing everything that has to be complied with and trying to link as much as possible into the normal inspection regime.

You would have to research the SIDS for the 120 - it may not be as bad as the metal wing ones - not sure

I am in the middle of doing my floating hull endorsement this week - such fun - may have to start looking at whats available.

Interesting stuff carb ice !! When I picked up my Auster from Redcliffe it was really bad on icing. Had to use carby heat quite extensively including on reduction of power at top of climb - quite a warm environment but high humidity. Here at Camden it very rarely needs to be used at all - although per normal practice I always have it on hot while descending and prior to landing. I have also had quite a few instances of it in an old Piper Cherokee 180 I fly. Some are worse than others.

Terry, not sure why you would not fly just because of this ? The Carb Heat is there for a purpose - to be able to fly safely in these conditions !

210 is a lovely aircraft to fly but with the retractable gear is more expensive to own than a fixed gear - both insurance and maint. And $150K is at the low end

I love the look of the RV14 - has great payload and still good speed

Its a lovely thing that one - but with any Cessna at the moment you would need to check SIDs status as that "could" be expensive

That was the one - must have been a recent decision. I was looking forward to having a second one in Camden to do some formation with

Its same as mine - the wartime Lycoming O-290-3. The ad is here http://www.aviationtrader.com.au/adverts/austertaylorcraft-mkv-2/

No it's the one that's been for sale for while in the aviation mags. Fully restored. Not sure if the sale has gone through yet though.

Hi Kaz - going well !! Missed you at the Auster Moth Rally - fantastic location for old aircraft at Luskintyre I think a large number of the MK4 and MK5 were delivered in 1944 - I have heard that another one will be coming to Camden - it served in the same squadron as mine !