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sfGnome

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  1. sfGnome
    Works fine on an iPhone. I couldn't tell whether I was logged in or not, but found by looking at the account details page that I was.
  2. sfGnome
    Over the last couple of months, I've spent a lot more time than usual in my back garden. Now, my back garden - along with the rest of the house, I hasten to add - is situated under Sydney's northwestern VFR lane, half way between the north and south lanes. The north-bound planes fly out the back of our place, while the south-bound ones fly out the front. Very convenient for plane-spotting when I get bored. What I have noticed is that the separation between the two lanes is not as distinct as you would hope. I have witnessed a small number of aircraft straying off both paths and thus flying straight over my house. The scary part (and I hope I don't get to read about the results in tomorrow's newspaper) was that this morning I saw an aircraft flying south, right along the track of the north-bound lane. It's clearly marked on the maps, and much more so on the Sydney Flying Guide that comes as standard with the VTC. I'm going to be flying this lane in the next couple of weeks. Previously I was alert. Now I think I'm alert and alarmed.
  3. sfGnome
    As an aside, in technical specifications in my line of work, 'should' is defined as the imperative - ie it means the same as must. 'May', on the other hand, means 'optional'. Hence, "may not" actually means that you don't have to not do something... English is a strange language.
  4. sfGnome
    Funny, I got my mag yesterday, and although I haven't read it cover to cover yet, it struck me as having a good range of articles. In fact, I thought it was one of the best yet. Everyone's different, I guess.
  5. sfGnome
    Ain't that the truth, Tomo. "Yes sir. I'd never lower the into-wind wing during a cross wind landing." "No sir. I wouldn't dream of crab-and-kicking it. Always lower the into-wind wing". Flaps half. Flaps full. Fuel pump on. Fuel pump not on. Whatever you say sir - it's your plane...
  6. sfGnome
    Anyone want to guess at a price? It's got a 230hp motor and it weighs 680 kg empty, so it's no rag and tube baby...
  7. sfGnome
    Thanks Motz. I really appreciated that post. Maybe it's this sort of discussion getting through to me, or maybe I already think this way, but I read a mate's story about his solo overnight bushwalk last weekend; all about all the places where he could have slipped over a cliff in the fog and how he ran out of water well short of the next creek, etc, etc, etc, and all I could think was "you crazy dope! Why are you boasting about being so foolhardy??" I wonder how many other people read it the same way I did, or alternatively how many though "Gee, isn't he brave..."
  8. sfGnome
    Of course it's appropriate, Frank. Just make sure that bub is sitting in a cockpit in the photo, that's all!
  9. sfGnome
    If you go to google maps instead of google earth (maps.google.com.au) and right click anywhere on the map, one of the options is "Report a problem" where you can describe what is wrong and ask to be emailed when the issue is resolved. This solution presupposes two things; a) that google maps and google earth share the same database, and b) that you'll ever get an email back...
  10. sfGnome
    I'm glad David brought up the issue of boats, because they are the cause of my biggest concern about A/C ownership. How many boats do you see parked down the side of a house, going nowhere? Too many, I reckon. I used to live behind a bloke with a boat, and every weekend he'd turn the motor over to keep it in good nick, but in the years that we lived there, that boat never got near any water. $50k might seem like a good idea while we're all enthusiastic, but will it fade over time and leave you with a very expensive paperweight (and yes, you could sell, but have you noticed how many a/c are for sale each month in the RAA mag?). Having said all that, I love building things, so the retirement plan definitely includes a little(?) bit of a/c construction. All I have to hope is that the money holds out that long.
  11. sfGnome
    What is it about drumless drummers? In my first band, we had a drummer with no drums. Had to get a friendly soul to donate a kit. Sadly after a couple of years the rest of the team decided that he really wasn't a drummer after all, and it fell to me to sack him. Difficult part was that he was my older brother...
  12. sfGnome
    Ok, to be fair, perhaps I should head in the other direction. How do you drown a singer? Shine a spotlight on the bottom of a pool!
  13. sfGnome
    That is beautiful, isn't it? Early in the video I was thinking "wouldn't it be great if it had retracts?", and next thing up go the wheels! So nice. Not sure about the wheels-up (almost) touch and go in the middle though - a bit ugly if he had a ground strike with the prop. Is it a one-off design or are plans available?
  14. sfGnome
    Does this mean that we can start with the drummer jokes? Can we? Huh? Can we??
  15. sfGnome
    ...or "Do as I say, and not as I didn't" Knowing that my BFR was coming up in the next month or so, last night I looked up the details so that I could book a time with CFI while I was at the strip this morning. Guess what? Turns out my two years expired yesterday, so I'm grounded (or restricted to dual anyhow) until the review. Like I said, keep an eye on the calendar!
  16. sfGnome

    Fun with Fog

    sfGnome replied to a topic in Aviation Videos

    I'll never forget my high school science teacher telling us about flying back over the channel after a sortie and how the rainbows weren't arches, but were full circles. Ever since then, I've wanted to see it for myself. Now, courtesy of your video, I've got a bit of an idea. Thanks. Still want to see it for myself though...
  17. sfGnome
    Thanks DJ. Out of interest, how is it that you don't need a student licence? Is it treated as a TIF, or is there some other dispensation?
  18. sfGnome
    Straight and level, you still have to be creating lift, which means that there will be some angle of attack. The dim, dark and distant recesses of my memory tell me that something like 4 deg is common. So, if your wing chord is roughly 1m, then the front of the wing is going to be roughly 70mm above the back in that case. Then again, I could be wrong...
  19. sfGnome
    Interesting seminar. Like Powerin, I didn't get any real surprises, but the gentle pace of the session meant that I could sit and really think about a few things that he said rather than just letting them fly past me. The other thing that it did was reawaken an idea I've had previously - to go and get some spin training. As a RA pilot, I've obviously had no spin training, but I also don't want to head down the GA path just to get a it either. I'm not interested in aerobatics so (very) unusual attitudes training isn't what I have in mind, but more just to find out a) what a spin feels like (and how easy or other wise it is to detect the rotation direction), and b) how close I'm getting to an incipient spin in my normal operations. Is there a way to do that without becoming a GA student?
  20. sfGnome
    My instructor asked for flawless landings all the time - he just didn't get 'em too often, that's all.
  21. sfGnome

    Here we go!!

    sfGnome replied to pudestcon's topic in Thruster

    Pud, I loved the shot from about 6:10 to 6:30. You couldn't have lined it up better if you'd tried.
  22. sfGnome
    Where I learned, it was all left hand circuits. One day my instructor told me that we'd be doing glide approaches from the dead side. Ok, thinks I. He'll let me do one power-on circuit so I can get the right hand circuit sorted and then we'll worry about glides. Nup! Half way down the dead side, off goes the engine, and Gnomey has to turn the 'wrong' way with the 'wrong' picture of the strip in my head and plant it on the piano keys with no power. Guess what? It seems that good ol' CFI had a better understanding of what I was capable of than I did. I'm pretty sure that yours will too. Oh, and be very careful about mental reference points. Consciously try to choose things that are not specific to your home airport. For instance, if you turn base above some particular landmark, then that landmark won't be there when you go to another airstrip. Instead, get a picture in your mind of how far you are from the strip when you're on down wind (because that will always look the same anywhere), and then turn at some point relative to the end of the strip (eg when you cross a line drawn at 45deg from the end of the strip, or something like that).
  23. sfGnome
    Ok - the first thing to do to see if anything is damaged is to solder back in the old switches. If it works, you're still alive. Next, use your multimeter to see whether pressing the switch makes or breaks the circuits. You might have a setup where one of the signals is connected when you push the button and one that is disconnected. When you've got that sorted, either the double pole switch that av8vfr suggested or Virago's relay would work, though it's probably easier to use the switch. Key thing is to make sure that it replicates the make or break conditions of the original switches. Generally with those switches, the terminal in the middle is the common one, one of the terminals on the outside will be normally open, and the other will be normally closed. So, one wire to the centre, and the other wire to the correct outside pin depending on whether that pair need to be closed or open when you push the switch.
  24. sfGnome
    Ayavner, you know how when we were kids, we thought that only mad people talked to themselves? It's time to become a little mad. Talk yourself all the way around the circuit (oh, and shouting yahoo at the top of your voice isn't a bad idea either ).
  25. sfGnome
    Typical uni students. Spend all their time stuffing around...
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